Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-11-04
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY.
Thief and Hero.


lit was Il young man of some twenty
two or twenty-three years of age,
whom / knew Log sight. 1 was very
much interested i'm him. for his father
had fought courageously ut Magenta
and had been killed OH the field OF bat
tie, leaving his widow and son by no
means we'll provided for. The young
man came very rarely to the club and
had never seen him touch card be-
fore. / was stupefed, therefore. To see
hiEi holding the bank, and Il good bank
it was, too, for there were plenty OF
notes aud gold coins heapcd up in
front of him.
How much:' called out one OF the
players.
"'Oh- laughed wealthy farmer.
M. de Mertens is I'm luck's way. He
can safely keep his bank open.
II noticed that the young mans face
was deadly pale and there was an ex-
cited look in his eyes.
"'Open bank he said. And it seemed
as though the very words changed the
luck
in a quarter of an hour his bank was
cleared. Another man took his place
ami the play went on. 1t got SO excited
that /. too. was fascinated and Joined
in There was no room to sit down at
the table. so continued standing, hold
ing my hat in my hand and throwing
my winnings into it, | had q run OF
luck and went Oh playing in the most
excited way until | was startled by
some one calling out, You are being
robbed, captaiIf..'
Il started and instinctiVely seized a
hand which had knocked against mine
through my sudden movement 1t was
NJ. de Mertems' hand. and he held the
$40 note which lie had just taken out
OF my hat. The wretched mans face
was conVulsed with emotion. Our eyes
met His were dilated with terror. and
there was Il look in them that seemed
to hold me spellbound.
NJ. de Mertens is my partner l said
haughtily To the man who had warned
me, and l am surprised that you shoIld
dare to bring such an accusation
against a gentleman whose reputation
is so well known
THE individual who had called out
had never been to tile club before and
did not know VI. de Mertens at all. We
had all been standing round the table
close To each other, and on seeing
another player put his hand into my
hat il was very natural that the man
should have thought il his duty To
warn me. ON hearing my explanation
he apologiZed most humbly TO NJ. de
Mertens, and several of the acquaint-
anceS OF the latter gathered around and
expressed their regret that such an in
suit should have been offered him.
We then continued our play. and NJ
de MertcnS soon after left the club.
Three days passed. and | heard moth
Ing more of the young man. In shield
ing him as had done, my first thought
had been OF his father. and had deter
mined to save from disgrace the name
or the brave soldier OF Magenta. OF
course l could quite understand that
the young man should now shrink from
seeing me again. but still il struck me
as rather strange that i'm some way.
either direct or indirect. he did not at
tempt to express his thanks.
"One evening, however. Just as | was
going out To pay some visits, my order
~ informed me that lady wished to
see me. | went into the drawing room.
and there | found woman OF about
forty-live years OF age She was very
dignified looking. and there was an
open. honest expression about her face
which fascinated me.
IL am Mime. de Mertens.' she said
simply My son told me everything
about the affair at the club. and L have
come to thank you with all my heart
for having preserved for us intact the
honor OF our name
Madame l began; but she inter
rupted me I'm her emotion and nervous
ness.
My son had got entangled i'm vari
Gus ways, and in desperation had taken
to play. 1t appears lie had lost every
penny he possessed that night You
know the rest. alas
II felt very much embarrassed for
the poor mothers grief was terrible to
witness.
He is young, madame. You must
not take it to heart so, l stammered.
1t was just "A moments weakness. l
will see your son, and
NO. captain she said. shaking her
head sadly. he is no longer here.
He has enlisted and is already on his
way with the regiment
We had all been listening attentively
to Captain Joubert's story, and when
lie stopped speaking there was silence
for ~ few minutes.
And what happened to NJ. de Mer-
tens, captain"
"He is dead. Six months ago /
received letter from Kelung-a pitiful
little letter-written with very pale ink
and on a sheet of paper that was all
crumpled and yellow with age. There
were only a few lines for me to read.
1 know them by heart They were as