Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-10-02
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Mysterious Key
IoriginaL.l

beyond her depth and was seen to go
down. She was brought ashore in an
unconscious condition, having sunk
twice before the man reached hefa I
assisted in her restoration, persisting
after others had given her up, and
brought her back to consciousness.
While working over her l noticed
around her neck gold chain to which
was attached a singular looking key.
Her first act after opening her eyes
was to grasp the key.
Later sent to her rooms at her hotel
to learn of her condition and was in
vited up to her parlor. She was lying
on lounge, dressed in a becoming
morning gown. She had not yet passed
into middle age, though she was near
ii. Her face was rather interesting
than beautiful.
Il suppose I must thank you for
bringing me back to life" she said,
though would be more grateful had
you let me de-
You have experienced great trou-
BILE" I said. when we suffer. we
think there is no more happiness in
store for us. When we cease to suffer,
we forget that we have been misera-
BILE"
She put her hand to her bosom as if
to assure herself that something she
carried there had not been lost.
'.Your key is SAFE" 1 said. 81 kept
an eye on it while we were working
with you and saw you grasp it the mo-
ment you revived"
1t occurred to me to make an attempt
to thaw this woman out of her melan-
choly. 1 spent two months at the re-
sort. meeting her constantly ON the
| beach and being with her in sailing
parties and other amusements. L sue
ceeded in restoring her to normal
condition, but in doing so lost my
heart.
1 well remember the evening l asked
her to be my wife. We were sitting
on n veranda overlooking the beach
and the water. The wind had been
offshore all day and had now died
down. The swells were coming in slug
gishly l always liken the ocean in
this condition to- n lion beating the
sands with his tail.
Through sheer Kindness" / said, Il
have tried to bring you to more
healthful frame of mind. Now 1 wish
to see you happy that you may make
me happy"
Her reply was a sudden clutching for
the key.
Tell me-" I said-"I have earned
your confidence-what is the mystery
of this key?"
Listen she replied. "and you shall
know
Il am n married woman. Words can
never express all L have endured from
my husband After q long course of
brutality he left me- Before doing so
he hung this key about my neck, with
the words: L am going to be Il wander
er and may never return. l give you
one chance for happiness. If you can
| find the lock that the key fits, you will
learn something that may prove of
great Importance to you He believed
that 1 could never find it and wished
only to tantalize me, though 1 could
never understand why. Now l have a
fancy that in that box there may be
something that would release me from
my legal connection with him."
"Why do you think that?"
From hints he dropped from time to
time
"Show me the key"
She did So and 1 examined it close
ly. 1t was neither n door key nor
trunk key. 1t looked rather as if it
fitted the wards of lock intended to
keep valuables. 1 studied the matter
for some time, then said:
81 can understand how n woman
would consider the problem impossible
of solution. To a man it looks COM
parativeIy easy. Confide the matter to
| nd 7 will -lof I 10
She took the chain and key from her
neck and handed them to me. Then,
without looking further into the future,
hoping for something did not know
what left her and the next day re-
turned to the city.
We met again in six weeks.
81 have solved the problem of the
key" 1 said.
She was too excited to speak, and
continued:
II had a hundred duplicates of the
key made, then sent one to every safe
ty deposit company in each of the lar
ger cities of the United States, asking
the manager if it would fit any of his
compartments used for storing valua-
bles. Last night 1 received a letter
from the president of a st. Louis COM
pany stating that the key would open
a compartment in their vaults stand
ing in your name"
"Well?'' she asked breathlessly.
"That is all know. Will you go
there to learn the rest?'
ST will start tonight"
"Within a week she returned and,
flushed with excitement, told me that
she had found valuable securities that
she supposed her husband had squan-
dered; also confession that he had
served a term in the penitentiary for
| defalcation.
Before he married your l asked.
"Yes''
"You knew nothing of thisY'
"No."
"There will be little trouble in Sc
curing an annulment of such a mar