Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-01-07


upset me, and hailing cab jumped in and
gave my address In few minutes was at
my house, and as was about to pay the cab
man he inquired in an injured tone, "Sha'n't
wait for you, Mr. Grahnmr
] was used 10 that sort OF thing by this
time, so told him that was uncertain how
long would DO detained and gave him his
fare.
1t was almost a surprise to me that the
front door opened with my latch key, and
entering my room / looked distrustfully
about, half doubling that it was my own
sanctum, and expecting to see another George
Arthur Stevens reclining In my arm chair.
even touched the familiar objects on the
mantel piece, and ran my fingers over the
notes of the piano before 1 was absolutely
sure that was at home.
Then sinking into my great chair 1 ran
over the events OF the day and concluded
that 1 was crazy. Raving, stark mad, /
thought myself, and the story OF the man
who knew that he was insane, and kept it to
himself came to my mind. decided that l
must act as that man did, and dissimulate, In
order to conceal my disordered condition, for
l felt that was but harmless lunatic at
worst
Now, at the present moment, conclude
that 1t is Nemesis Confound i'll
III.
OCTOBER 18th, 1887.
For some days after my last meeting was
quite myself. went out, met Miss Earle
several times, and each time grew deeper and
deeper in love with her; and she-it seems
almost a sacrilege TO mention it-she has
grown very different of late, and her manner
toward me has changed. Were it not for
that, life would be. worthless. All, when l
win her, feel as though there would be no
such thing as trouble Imagine myself a
knight Grant striving against the powers of
enchantment to gain my fairy princess. But
shall / wini By the way, know her full
name now. 1t is Gladys Murray Earle. Isn't
that pretty namei 1t just suits her.
Well as / have said, the first few days
were uneventful. A slight incident occurred
at a dinner party that was somewhat un-
pleasant, and forerunner OF other trials
Before we went down to the table a strange
old gentleman rushed up to me and grasped
me by the hand, keeping up most outrageous
string of questions en- matters knew nothing
of all the time. To avoid any unpleasant ex-
plantations and to preserve the peace, l an
swered in a preoccupied manner. At the
dinner table, however, the old gentleman
was my vis-a-vis, and once in awhile broke
in on my conversation with Miss Earle, ct
whose right hand sat. Suddenly, during a
lull in the conversation, he exclaimed:
"By the way, how is Miss Rothmerl Oh,
you sly fellow, you; the last time heard
from Hampton you were engaged to her.
Pretty girl; lots of money; suppose it is
still on, isn't itl You were pretty well gone,
as remember. You should have seen him,
Miss Earle" continued the old fogy, address
ing my partner, 'head over heels in love
with pretty girl this summer l didn't be-
lieve it possible for a fellow like him to be so
utterly crushed. He went about all day with
the most woe begone expression No doubt he
has told you all about it.n The amiable old
fool had been saying this in a loud tone
which had attracted the attention of all the
other guests, and seeing that he held an in
terested audience he went on:
"Miss Rothmer, you know, was in love
with him all tho TINS, too. Look how red he
gets. Nothing to DO ashamed of, my boy,
and she used to tell my daughter that she
wouldn't confess that she liked him, because
she enjoyed making him miserable. All,
girls have hard hearts, sometimes, Miss
Earle By the way, Markham, when will the
cards be outg"
''Markhamg' cried the hostess from the
other end of the table. "Why, Mr.. Brown,
you must be mistaken. That is Mr..
Stevens"
My vis-a-vis elevated his glasses and
stared at me for moment. ''Stevensl" he
muttered; ''Stevenss Humph! how long
SINGER The host seeing that matters were
getting uncomfortable broke in at that june
ture:
"You are getting old, Brown, and can't
see we'll I've known Mr.. Stevens for the last |
ten years" Brown got mad at the alluslon |
to his age and kept quiet, whilo Miss EarlJ |
1nn bod of ma fnr a mn M h-l
ingly remarked: |
''How is it to have q double, Mr.. Stevensn |
A doubled / wouldn't have minded dou.
ble-it was the hundreds objected to.
1t may have been mere fancy, but Miss
Earle seemed distant and reserved the rest Of |
the evening.
The next day, however, all my fears were
set at rest by receiving an invitation to Il
o'clock tea at her aunt's house. The tea
was yesterday, and / went, of course. l got |
there very early, before the crowd came, and
had half an hours quiet chat with my love.
She looked sweeter than ever, and was ex-
ceedingly agreeable. All, shall ever dare
to tell my love9 When the rest of the guests
began pouring in, beat retreat, and
walked slowly toward my rooms building
castles in the air as fair as the sunset-which |
was particularly brilliant.
As / got about three blocks from home, |
passed beneath an awning that was stretched
from the church door to the street, for a we'd
ding had scarcely got past the door when
an usher ran down the steps, and roughly
caught my arn destroying a most beautiful
thought.
"Where are you goingg" he asked, hur-
riedly. The man was IA stranger to me, but
1 knew Nemesis had hand in it. Before
could answer, q couple of other men ran
down to where wis.
"What do you mean, Sirg' Numbered
irate old gentleman in dress
suit; "explain yourself, sir"
eyes, that's the groom" 1 heard lady,
who had just joined the group, whisper to
a companion.
That settled it, understood it all, but 1
wasn't going to be dragged into any wedding
ceremony because | CHANGED TO look like ths
Grant bridegroom. l shook the man off who
had hold of me, and turned to the old gentle
man.
"Oh, Toni Oh, papal' sobbed voice
from the church door 1t was the bride. |
Papa grew actually purple with rage.
"Calm yourself, Mr.. Rothmer; calm your
self, u whispered another man, as papa threat
ened to burst.
'Calm the devilr' cried Mr.. Rothmer.
'fWhat do you mean, sirF' This was to me.
The bright buttons and blue coat of po-
licemap arrived on the scene.
whats thisP' he queried, hoarsely.
Just what I'm trying to find out, officer"
answered, getting my speech for the first
lime. This is evidently lunatic asylum
that has got loose" l stepped back step,
Mr.. R. to collapse with anger.
The officer looked at me as spoke, and
then touched his hat respectfully.
81 beg pardon, Mr.. Thompson; didn't
" L i A.. /
turning to the coterie, growled in that tone
that eharacterizes a New York policeman: