Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-09-16
DAILY SHORT STORY
RawsonviIIe's Sensation
Copyright. 1902. by the S. S. McClul


thousand inhabitants, went to bed. Be
fore o'clock Wednesday morning
there was Il buzz of excitement up and
down its length. Two events had hap
pened while 99S Of the inhabitants
slept the sleep of the just.
One of the general stores was owned
by George Carter. He was bachelor
of forty, who boarded with the Widow
Brown, and the widow had reported
his mysterious disappearance. AS
Deacon SpOoner put the case to the
crowd while standing on the horse
block in front of the store:
George Carter has vanished off the
face of the earth, and it devolves upon
this community to unearth the myS-
terry"
The community first declared its be-
lief that the missing merchant was
bankrupt and had run away to avoid
his creditors.
When the clerk had shown by the
books that that belief could not hold
water. the community looked for other
reasons ana found them. 1t was known
to all that he accompanied the Widow
Spicer to Sunday evening church. and
the inference was that he had asked
her TO marry him and then disappeared
to avoid n breach of promise suit. The
widow was called upon TO give convict
ing evidence. She either couldn't or
wouldn't
Gentlemen" said the deacon as he
mounted the horse block again, 1--WE
are on the trail, but we haven't found
the body yet"
\ search was made of the abandoned
red sawmill, of the creek north of the
village and of the garnet Of the store,
but no one was found drowned or
hanging by the neck. Nevertheless the
public proposed an inquest. and Squire
IIaddon was brought to the front.
After duly mopping his heated brow
with his well known yellow silk hand
kerchief lie said:
Il don't know much about inquests,
but l allus supposed that You had to
have somethin' to inquest on. But if
the freemen of this glorious communi-
" wish me to so ahead I'll do so with
the greatest of pleasure
1t was not only apparent to the free
men that there was no dead body be-
fore them to call for Il verdict. but that
Fourth of July Grafton, and the pro-
posed inquest was therefore choked
off
Joseph Taylor, the village carpenter,
had a wife named Polly. He had gone
over to Snow Hill to work for a week,
leaving Polly alone. 1t was now sud
denly discovered that her house was
shut up and that she hadn't been seen
since the afternoon before. Here was
mystery No. .. Deacon SpoOner was
still itching to deliver that Fourth of
July address, so he remounted the horse
block, called for order in u loud voice
and said:
"Feller freemen, this ERE case is as
plain as a knot on log-that is. it's
plain to me. George Carter and Polly
| Taylor have eloped together and scan
dalized the fair name of q town which
never even had n dogfght before.
When that devoted band of pilgrims
left the shores of old England to-
But he was choked off right there.
Every man and woman in the village
was sure that the key to the mystery
had been found, and what the pilgrim
fathers did was of no consequence.
How blind they were not to have
guessed the truth at the starti Polly
Taylor was good looking, smart and
inclined to be frivolous, while her hus-
band was so serious minded that he
did not believe in husking bees. Be
fore nightfall twenty different people
had remembered her saying that
George Carter was a good looking man
and of George Carter saying that he
wished he had met her years before.
Things had been talked over so
many times before supper that it seem
Z ed as if there was nothing more TO
say. But Ii swas hardly over before
the Methodist church bell rang out
| fire alarm. There was no fire. Dea-
con Spooner had simply got new
| idea and wanted to submit it to the
| freemen OF Jacksonville. Once more
lie mounted the horse block to indulge
in n fervid address. This time he
meant TO land the pilgrim fathers in
good shape, but he planned to blind his
audience by first stating his belief
that the husband of the heartless wife
ought to be communicated with at
once.
His declaration was received with
enthusiasm, and a boy was hired to
ride over to Snow Hill and tell Joe
Taylor that he was wifeless.
1t had come o o'clock when a thun-
derclap shook the village-Ihat is, Joe
Taylor and his wife appeared. She
had gone over TO Snow HAl to see him
about the contents of a letter thathad
arrived at the house. and he had re-
turned with her. Men and women
were still gasping for breath and Won
dering what next when George Carter
came driving into town. He had been
over to Grafton to see his brother,
who had been. accidentally hurt. The
news had come after the Widow Brown
had gone to bed.
There was no failure. no suicide, no
elopement. Honest George Carter
hadn't thought of beating his cred