The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-04-18

Louisa, straining her eyes, watched the
excited crowd pouring out Of the sta
ton in the wake Of porters and Of piles
OF luggage. Jabbering. shouting and
pigmies; men In blouses. and men IN
immaculate bowler hats, women
wrapped in furs, clinging to gigantic
headgear that threatened 20 leave the
safe refuge of an elaborate couture OF
of well fixed gargantuan hat pins, mid
~inettes in fashionable skirts and high
heeled shoes, country women In wool
shawls that tapped round their bulky
forms like the wings Of an overfed bat,
all hurry1ng and jostling n another
n g mad endeavor to avoid the on
rush Of the fnnumerable ~tax-autos
I which In uncountable numbers wound
In and out of the slower moving traffic
like the erratic thread Of some living,
tangled skein.
Just the everyday prosy life Of a
small u ambitious capital struggling
in the midst Of an almost overpowering
sense of responsibility toward the whole
OF Europe in view Of Its recent great
colonfal expansion.
Louisa gave an impatient sigh.
Even the strong ones of the earth
get wearied Of the daily round, the
common task at times. She and aunt
were due to dine at the British en-
bassy at 8 o'clock; it was only half
[G-L Ivy EL!I obviously 1TlOOSSlDl6
to Sit another two hours in this unre-
sponsive hotel room in the company OF
red velvet chairs and the bronze Psyche
Aunt, in conjunction with her maid,
Annette. was busy laying the founda-
tons OF an elaborate toilet. Louisa
was Tree to do as she pleased. She got
q serviceable ulster and q diminutive
hat and sailed forth into the streets.
She did not want to think or to dream,
mol perhaps did h altogether wish
to work off that unusual feeling Of ex-
c1tement which had SO u~naccountably
transformed her ever since Luke's letter
had come.
All she wanted was to be alone and
to come out Of herself for awhile. Sic
had been alone all the afternoon, save
Tor that brief half hour when aunt dis
cussed the obvious over a badly brewed
cup of tea; 1t was not that kind of
"~alone-ness" which Louisa wanted now,
out rather the solitude which a crowd
give.
There is a kind Of sociability In any
room, be 1t ever so uncompromising In
the matter Of discomfort, but a crowded
street can be unutterly lonely, either
cr4 ne SO or kindly as the case may be.
10 Louisa Harris. the commonplace
society girl, accustomed to tea fights,
to dances and to dinner parties. the
loneliness OF this crowded little city was
emlnentiy welcome. With her dark
ulster closely buttoned to the throat.
ING small h tied under her chin, with
everything on her weather proof and
questionable. she attracted no notice
from the passersby.
NOT n head was turned as, with
q breath of delight, she sailed
ioft9 from under the portico of the
motel out Into the muddy, busy street;
not one glance OF curiosity or interest
l SO -tTeplV haGf0uyn1 IN W.
foreign capitals on q solitary female
hgure. II 1T be young and comely, fol-
ioWed this very ordinary looking Eng
fish miss.
To the crowd she was Indifferent.
Ihese men and women hurrying along,
nothing Of Luke. nor that She. Louisa
Harris. was the happiest woman on
earth.
She turned back toward the Boule-
ward, meaning to take a brisk walk al,
along the avenue of trees which makes
town and which ultimately would e
her back to the Care du Nord and the
Palace hotel. 1t was a walk she had
o1ten done before; save for one or two
pussy corners on the way, 1t would be
ra1rly solitary and peaceful.
Louisa stepped out with an honest
British tread, hands buried in the pock-
cts of her serviceable ulster, head bent
against the sudden gusts of wind. She
did not mind the darkness of the IN
Lighted, wide boulevard, and had every
intention of covering the two miles in
a little more han half an hour.
How the time sped! It seemed as If
she had only just left the hotel, and
already surely not a quarter Of a mile
away she could see glimmering the lights
OF n Place Namur, the half way point
of her walk.
She vas in the Boulevard Waterloo,
where private houses with closed porte
cocheres d nothing to the municipal
lighting OF the thoroughfare.
Trans had been rushing past her In
endless succession: but now there was
a lull. Close by her a taxi-auto whizzed
quickly past and cane to a standstill
some 100 yards away, heal the pave
ment and not far from an electric light
standard.
Louisa, with vacant eyes attached on
that cab, but with her mind fixed on a
particular room In a particular house
in Grosvenor square were lived a mar
of the name of Luke de Mountford
continued her walk. Those same va
can't eyes of hers presently saw the
chauffeur Of the taxi-auto get down
from his box and open the door of the
cab, and then her absent mind was
suddenly brought back from Grosvenor
square London, to the Boulevard Wat
erloO IN Brussels, by q terrible cry OF
horror which had broken from tina,
same chauffeur's lips. Instinctively
Louisa hurried on. but. aver as she die
so, a small crowd which indeed seemed
to have sprung from nowhere had al
ready gathered round the vehicle.
Murmurs of What 1t it? What Is
it?" mingled with smothered groans o.
terror, as curiosity caused one or two
Of the more bold to peer into the
gloomy depths Of the cab. Shrill calls
brought a couple Of gardens to the
spot. In a moment Louisa found her.
self a unit in an eager. anxious crowd
asking questions, conjecturing, won.
dering. horror struck as soon as +;
plausible n graphic explanation cam,
from those who were in the forefron'
and were privileged to see.
"A man-murdered-"
But howT
The chauffeur got down from hi.
box and looked in
What did he see?"
"A man he is quite younf
only about 20 years Of age"
stabbed through the neck"
Stabbed? Bah?"
Right through the neck, I tell 70,
J y i11cf halnw tho ~ ~. -,