The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-12-03

''Small,- amount! 10 my, certain
knowledge there are more than ten
thousand dollars in his safe this night. y
"a safe /? But that is dangerous.
Anyone seeing q safe in your house
would guess at once that it held
Hush, Phil! No one would ever
guess the secret. It is built into the
wall. And out Of that safe, sir, q hand
some dowry is to come for me when
marry with his consent, = said Sylvia,
gazing tenderly into his handsome face
as he bent above her. to steal kiss
from her half willing lips. - -
Blind, foolish, infatuated Z Yes, she
must have been all that, or she would
never have betrayed that sacred secret
of the household to one Who was al.
most stranger. Binder still that she
did not notice the alteration in her
lovers manner after the secret was told,
and the eager, restless wayin which he
presently glanced at his watch and re-
GREETED that he must leave her because
he had an engagement to keep with his
lawyer. who was tosarriye at Clinton by
the last train-the train that they heard
even then, skrieking and whistling its
way past the farm.
After he had goneAafter the magic
influence of his presence had vanished
Sylvia, in the quiet of her own cham
Der thought tremblingly of what, she
had done. % s11sz
At midnight Sylvia was reused from
dream of her lover by q loud cry in
the lower hall. ~
. Her grandfather's yoicei And then
! heavy steps. low, fierce mutterings. like
curSes-a short, fierce struggle, and a
crushing blow. fss98 SO q Il
s. I'm coming, grandfather Oh,
what is itp'' cried Sylvia, lighting her
lamp with trembling fingers, and
only waitingto throw on her dressing
gown. & q ea e e faze8
No. one answered. She sped down
the staircase and stood at the foot,
aghast with horror.
j. There lay her kind, good grandfather
al her feet, apparently dead, bathed in
the blood that flowed from a wound in
the forehead. And before her two
masked men were busy trying to open
the safe that held the money.
Help murder! thieves r screamed
Sylvia, reckless of her own peril, as she
flew to the front door and threw it wide
open ZMUgg ~
There that girl Shoot her, Dickn'
y
so familiar to her ear.
Crouching to avoid the bullet, Sylvia
few into the garden, and into the arms
of man who stood below the steps.
Hush, dear! It's only George" he
said. as she cried out :'The police,
are here on the track of two burglars,
and-and I came with them, with my
dear mother. Sylvia, to warn you. I'm
sorry 10 say that Phil Carr is one"
He drew her aside to where his moth
er stood, as the rush came from the po-
lice and farm hands who had been
stealthily summoned to aid them.
Shots were fired, furious struggle
took place within the hall, and then the
prisoners came forth, handcuffed and
unmasked. .s+
For the last time Sylvia Lee looked
upon the face of the man who had SO
well nigh been her ruin.
They raised the poor old doctor, and
found that his wound was only super
fetal. He was about, we'll and strong
as ever, on the second day afterward.
But Sylvia laid for days in the grasp of
brain fever. and it was very pale and
delicate little bride that was given by
the doctor to George Maxwell just be-
fore the Christmas DAYS set in.
And only three people have known
the story of Sslvia's lovers until this
day, when 1 have told it to the world.