Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-06-12
The Daily Short Story
A WARNING.

Ihey were sitting in the smoking
room Of a Chicago hotel. eight or ten
of them, mostly drummers. telling
tales of the supernatural. Hardly one
of them pretended to he telling per-
sonal experience, but all were ready
to admit that there are more things
in heaven and earth than can be ex,
planned by any philosophy.
Guess we all admit that, don't we.
boysY'
''All but Jim Parker. here" replied
one of the boys. "He hasn't a grain
of superstition in his make up"
Jim turned around. He looked the
sort of man who has not "a grain Of
superstition i'm his make up
Don't know about that, Harris.
Guess you and / haven't travelled to-
gether for two or three years, have
we?'
Not since the Worlds fair summer"
We'll. it was that September that
was converted. Tell you bout it if you
like"
They all liked, and he told them.
"You boys have often chaffed me-"
he began, because 1 always take the
same rooms here If / can get them
the bridal suit on the sixth floor.
Don't you suppose / know as well as
any of you that only n married man,
accompanied by his wife and eight
small children. can afford to take a
bridal suit? But l have an affection
for those rooms, and you aren't likely
to guy me out of il. When I came
a -.
hotel was so full that L had to take
those or nothing and naturally decided
to take those.
con the night of Sept. 8. which should
have been the last night of my stay
here. 1 had n most unpleasant dream.
l dreamed l was in a little country
churchyard. didn't remember that
l had ever been there before. Two
men were digging a grave. 1 stood
idly watching them, wondering for
whom they dug 1t. One of them look
ed ut his watch. Time we We're on
he said; then to me: Come, sir, get in.
We're waiting for you / drew back
in horror. No. / won't get i'm. l don't
want to get in You're all were wait
ing for, sir. Hurry up; can't stop all
day And he reached out his hand to
draw me in. But / broke away. shout
ing: No, I'm not coming. Let me be-
The effort TO escape woke me up,
but the impression did not pass with
the dream. 1 could still see the church.
yard and the houses near by and hear
in the distance the shrek OF a passing
train. Then the boy knocked at my
door to warn me that had a train to
f.-l, 81 I hi lob
through my breakfast and got over to
the station. There l found that ! had
a few minutes TO wait. 1 ran across a
friend, Johnson Bowen. ut that time
manager at the Cosmopolitan theater.
You remember him, of course? We
walked up and down alongside of the
train, chatting and smoking. \ boy
came out and spoke to my companion,
and he. with word of apology to me,
followed him on the train, shouting
back: See you later. Jim. Be on the
smoker
Left alone. / sauntered forward to
the engine. The engineer was potter
ing about his little cab. Something
about the man struck me as familiar
and unpleasant. He turned. No.
didn't know him, but l was sure l had
seen him. l faced back, puzzled. 1
passed the baggage car and had reach
ed the rear end of the smoker when the
conductor pulled out his watch and ex-
claimed, Time we were off, then to
me: Come. sir, get in. We're waiting
for you.'
Where had / heard those words be-
fore? 1 glanced at the conductor. To
my horror, saw the face of one of the
men who in my dream had been dig
ging my grave. I started back. mutter-
ing: No, l won't get in. / tell you 1
don't want to get in You're all we're
waiting for, sir. Hurry up; can't stop
all day And he held out his hand to
help me, for the train was starting.
But 1 broke away from him, shouting:
No. I'm not coming. Let me be, tell
your
''The train pulled out of the station.
l realized with disgust that 1 had miss
ed an appointment that evening with a
big customer at Louisville all on ac-
count of dream. / came back to the
hotel. The clerk sympathiZed with me
for having missed my train. but did
not see how had managed to do it.
Within three hours the boys were
shouting on the street: 'Extry paper!
Awful railroad disasterI Full &C
count of the collision! Many lives lostr
1t was at s o'clock that the train pulled
out of Chicago, leaving me on the plat
form. 1t was at $40 that that train.
the 1ier.' as it was called, collided
head on with a milk train. Nearly all
the occupants of the smoker. in which
certainly should have been had
been on the train at all. were more or
less injured. Nearly dozen were kill
ed. Among these were the man to
whom l had been talking and the boy
who called him away. l went out to
One Hundred and Eighth street, the
scene of the wreck. and found that the