The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-10-17

the London Standard instead OF the
Times, as was his custom. His tamen.
tations over this piece Of stupidity
were cut short by the discovery Of an
astonishing article upon the editorial
page Of the paper-an article which
created within him a sense Of grave
p~erplexity. He read the headlines
thrice and glanced through the text
twice, neither time with any very def
mite idea of what he was reading. His
fingers shook as he held the sheet
nearer the window for a final effort to
untangle the incredible thing that lay
before him in simple. unimpeachable
black and white.
"'Pon me word" he kept repeating
to himself feebly. Then he got up and
went of in extreme haste to find his
wife.
my DEAR" he said to her in the car
riageway, Il must speak with you
alone" She was just starting OF for a
drive with Mrs. Rodney.
bad news, Carney? ?" she demanded,
struck by his expression. She was fol-
lowing him toward a remote corner of
the approach. He did not reply until
they were seated much nearer to each
other than was their wont.
Read that" he said, slipping the
Standard into her hands. "Wot do
you think Of it,"
my dear Carney, I don't know.
Would you mind telling me what l am
TO read?"
"The Medcroft thing. Right there"
She read the article, her husband
watching her face the while. Surprise,
tncredulty, dismay, succeeded each
other in rapid changes. She was read
Ing In sheer amazement Of the dOings
Of Roxbury Medcroft in connection
with the county councils subcommittee
in London! The story went on to re-
late how Medcroft. %implacable leader
OF the opposition to the ''grafters," sud-
denly had appeared before the commit
tee with the most astounding figures
and facts to support his charges Of rot
tenness on the part Of the "clique;" bis
unexpected descent upon the scene had
thrown the opposing leaders into Z
panic; every one had been led to BE-
lieve that he was sojOurning In the
east. As q matter Of fact, 1t was soon
revealed. he had been In London se-
cretly working on the problem for
nearly three weeks, keeping discreetly
under cover In order that his influence
might not be thwarted. His array Of
facts, his bitter arraignment Of the
men who were trying to force the
building bill through the council, stag
sered the whole city of London. At
that writing 1t looked - though the
bill would be ~overthrown, its promoters
had been 80 completely put to rout
The committee would be compelled to
take c~ognizance Of the startling expo
The people would demand a full
~thrashing out Of the obnoxious deal.
Roxbury Medcroft's name was on ev-
cry ones lip. The Standard had profit
ed by securing a great beat"
The Odell-C arneys looked at each
other in wonder and perplexity. what
does It mean?" asked the lady, her ,
eyes narrowing.
"L0ok here, Agatha. this papers 1T
least two days old. Now. how the
devil can Medcroft be in London and
Innsbruck at the same time. He was
here day before yesterday. wasn't he?
I'm &C offended unobserving"-
Yes, yes. he was here And this
paper She paused trresolutely.
Says he was there. Pom my word.
it's most uncanny.. There's some mys-
terry here"
"I've got 1t, Carney! This II not
Roxbury Medcroft."
"Good Gawdv'
This explains everything. Heavens.
Carney! This fellow Isis her lover!
She's running about the country with
him. She's"-
"Her lover? Cad, my dear, he may
have been so at one time, but he's the
other ones lover now. take my word
for It.. say. pom my soul. this 10 q
charming game your friends the Rod
neys have let us into. They
my friends! Yours. you meanr' she
retorted.
"Oh, come now! But let 1t 60 at that
They know. Of course that this fellow
isn't her husband. and yet, BY CAD.
Agatha. they've gone about deliberate
" palming him on on "a u the rsal
article. They are actually sanctioning
the whole
'stop a moment. Carney" interrupt
Cd his wife. "The London chap may
be the fraud. Let MS 60 slow. my
dear"
"Slow1 How the devil can We %
slow IN such fast company Mol This
fellow II the fraud. And they knew
It too. They all know It They
''Rubbish! You forget that the whole
Rodney tribe 10 up In arms because
Medcroft ID making love to his wife's
sister. They're not assuming anything
there. let me tell you. And hes not
Edith's lover. r. he's not her husband.
he's playing q part that she under
stands and approves. And this thls.
my dear Carney. may account Tor the
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