Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-01-05
slightest degree. Naturally u. first my

s'A4o ISC ~ ~ tkot H.
commission n how to get safely
through it all was the only thing OF
Importance to me. 1t you keep this
in mind perhaps . will be able to
judge me less harshly. My only thought
when the carriage came to q halt was
how to escape from those two pur-
Suers, and that more or less pervaded
my min during what followed SO that
ordinary matters which at another
/ time would have been at nee clear to
me, meant nothing at all. You see,
the instant tina carriage came to a
%standstili someone threw open the
door, and I heard a voice call Where
said, Here he isl ! took it that they
thought l vas best man, but would
! soon discover that ! wasn't when l
came into the light. There wasn't II
chance to slip away, or ! should have
done so. and vanished in the dark, but
everybody surrounded me, II seemed
to think 1 was all right. The two men
who had followed We're close behind
cycling me keenly. I'm satisfied that
they were to blame for that wild ride
we took in Pittsburgh. j soon saw by
the remarks that the man l was sup
posed to be had been away from this
country for 10 years, and of curse
then they would not be Very critical.
| tried twice to explain that there was
"a mistake, but both times they misun-
derstood me and thought | was saying
| couldn't go in the procession be-
cause l had not practiced. ! don't
just know how 1 came TO be in such
a dreadful mess. 1t would seem as if
ii ought to have been "a very easy thing
to say l had got into the wrong ar
riage and they must excuse me, that l
wasn't their man, but, you see, they
gave me no time to think nor to speak.
They just turned me over from one
man to another and took everything for
granted. n /, finding that L would
nave to break loose and flee before
their eyes if l wished to escape, re-
Elected that there would he no harm
in marching down the aisle as best man
i'm a delayed wedding, if hat vas all
there was to do. l could disappear as
soon as the ceremony was over, and no
one would be the wiser. The real best
man would probably turn up and then
they might wonder as they pleased for
i would be far away and perhaps this
was as good a place as any in which to
hide for half an hour until my purSuers
Were baffled and we'll on their way
seeking elsewhere for me. ] can see
now that l made a grave mistake in
allowing even so much deception, but
l did not see any harm in it then, and
they all seemed in great distress for the
ceremony to go forward. Bear in mind
also that l was at that time entirely
taken up with the Importance of hiding
my message until j could take it safely
to my chief. Nothing else seemed to
matter much. If the real best man was
late to the wedding and they were will
ing to use me in his place what harm
could come from it? He certainly de-
served it for being late and If he came
in during the ceremony he would think
some n else had been put in his place.
They introduced me to your brother
Jefferson. l thought he was the bride
groom, and | thought so until they laid
your hand in mine!"
OH" she moaned, and the little
hand went to help it's mate cover her
face.
~ knew it," he said bitterly. II
knew YOU would feel just that way as
soon as you knew. / don't blame you.
| deserve it! was a fool, a villain, a
dumb brute-whatever you have a
mind to call me-! You can't begin to
understand how I have suffered for
you since this happened, and how I
have blamed myself"
He got up suddenly and strobe over
to the window, frowning down into the
sunlit street, and wondering how it was
that everybody to be going on in
exactly the same hurry as ever, when
for him life had suddenly come to a
standstill.