Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-06-23
DAILY SHORT STORY
Why She Would Not Marry.
IOriginaI.I

morning, INFORMED the miners llNlHg
there that they were brother and sis
| ter. built a cabin and settled them.
| selves. Mark Golfer bought a claim
| and every morning, shouldering his
pick and shovel, went out to work IT.
while Sarah remained at home and did
| the Homework. Sarah was good
| looking woman thirty years of age
and had not been long at Lone Star
Gulch before she was sought in mar
| riage by several miners. She, however,
! declined the attentions of them all, de-
claring that she was devoted to her
brother and would not leave him.
There was one, however, who per-
sisted. This was Ralph McCann. He
was q fair haired. blue eyed fellow of
twenty eight and had very attractive
way with him, especially for women.
He soon made Roadway with Sarah
Golfer, who did not from the first turn
to him the cold shoulder she had turned
to her other ,suitors. Mark Golfer, in
stead of rejoicing in the prospect of
being relieved of the support of n sis
ter, frowned on her acceptance of the
attentions of Mccain. whom he at last
forbade the house. Mccain appealed
to Sarah to stand by him in preference
to her brother, but Sarah did nothing
but weep and wiring her hands. Evil
IDENTIFY she was bound to her brother by
some extraordinary tie, and 1t was
plain that she had fallen deeply in love
with the stranger.
One evening after working hours
Golfer and Mccain met on the road
I,
ranged on either side and known as the
town of Lone Star Gulch.
Golfer" said Mccain, "I would like
some explanation with regard to your
objections TO my attentions to your sis
ter. We are devotedly attached to
one another, l have some money and
good claim and can give the best Of
references. If there is any reason that
I can explain away
"All l have to say to you, Ralph Nc
Cam. is to let my sister alone"
Il certainly Will If she desires it or
If you will give me any good ground
for your opposition"
"You say you'll let her alone if she
desires ii. Do you mean to tell me
that she doesn't desire it?''.
me, but her heart
Golfer turned white. He made as If
to draw his revolver, but instantly
changed his mind.
LET her alone" he cried fiercely
and strobe away rapidly.
The next morning n note from Sarah
was left at McCann's door begging
him to desist from any further attempt
to win her or even to see or communi-
cate with her, adding that she could
never be his wife as long rs her broth
er lived. Mccain. knowing by the tone
of her letter that she was in earnest,
made no further attempt to see her.
One afternoon when the coach passed
through Lone Star Gulch n stout wom-
an with a resolute look on her face got
off with her clothes tied up in bundle
and put up in the only boarding house
in the place. What the woman, who
called herself Mrs. Wilbur, was to do
in this out of the way mining town did
not transpire, but there was a surprise
among the citizens when 1t was known
few days later that she had gone to
live at the Golfers. The surprise was
occasioned by the fact that Golfer and
his sister had lived entirely alone, new
er receiving any company, and there
was not a family in the gulch where
any one, especially as unattractive a
woman as Mrs. Wilbur, would be less
likely to find board.
The day after the event there were
rumors of high words being heard in
the middle of the night at the Golfers,
but as there were no evidences of trou-
BILE, except for the grim appearance of
Mrs. Wilbur and a certain whipped cur
look about Golfer, no one could surmise
what had occurred-that is, no one but
Ralph Mccain, who got his explana-
ton in this wise:
Having need to go to a neighboring
town for some blasting material, he set
out early in the morning and was re-
turning in the afternoon when he saw
Sarah Golfer on the road coming to-
ward him.
"where are you going?' asked Nc
Cam when they met.
From the man with whom have
been living"
"Your brother?"
81 supposed he was my husband" re-
pAlGd Will u III uCI
voice, "but I was deceived. He had a
wife before he married me. His name
Is James Wilbur, and his wife has APP
peared with proofs Of her marriage to
him.
Mccain sat for a few minutes thun-
derstruck, first incensed at the wrong
that had been done the woman he
loved, then a joy yelling up in his
heart that there was no insurmounta-
bic barrier between them.
$50 this is the reason you chung to
Golfer. You supposed you were his
wife. Why did you pass as brother and
sister?"
"He forced me to It, making a pre-
t,nded confession after we were mar
ried that he had been involved in I'M
fortunate business transactions that
would cause criminal prosecution If he
was found. His real reason was to