Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-12-21
DAILY SHORT STORY
An Old Mans Story.
IOriginel.1

when l was 4 young man there
were two ways of carrying. money
one in Il knit purse with rings, the
other in money belt. One autumn /
was travelling in the west for the pur-
pose of buying grain. and had with me
the currency wasn't worth much. If
you went into u store to buy anything
and planked down q ten dollar bill the
first thing the shOpkeeper did was to
wasn't counterfeit The next thing
was to take out Bank Note Reporter
and turn over the leaves TO get at the
standing of the bank issuing the bill.
Then, like as not, he would hand your
bill back to you, telling you that he
hadn't any change. That's the reason
L travelled with gold.
"Well. one day L was riding along a
road when Il man overlook me and
got into conversation. He asked me
if l could give him change for "A two
dollar bill, and l took my purse from
my pocket, slipped one of the rings
aside, drew out four Mexican quarters,
Il five franc piece, worth % cents, and
Il half dime. The Mexican and French
coins were common in those days, and
what l gave him was equivalent to 81.
You carry your money in purse
said he. why don't you use money
belt? They're safer
They're so safe that every thief
goes for them the first thing he does.
We may as well use the purse. It's
handler, and if robber wants your
money he'll get it anyway.
L prefer the money belt he added,
then began TO talk of something else.
AT nightfall we stopped ut tavern.
1t was dilapidated place. half the
shutters gone and the porch rotted
away. l didn't like the looks of the
place, and the landlord was as rascally
looking a man as ever l set eyes on.
The room he put me in was in keeping
with the rest. The plaster was half
down from the ceiling and the lock on
the door was broken. | hung up my
trousers, with the purse i'll one of the
pockets. on the bed post, then pulled
the cotton 'cOmfOrt'-that's what we
used to call those things, though how
they got the name l don't know-up
over me and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night l awoke
with the idea that there was some one
in the room. At first l thought it might
be imaginary and had come from a
dread of the man who had taken an
interest in where l kept my money,
for L had gone to sleep thinking of
him, but l heard Il board in the floor
creak and made up my mind that some
one was really moving about. How
ever, l valued my life more than my
money and lay perfectly still. There in
the gloom l saw something white come
toward the bed till it stood within a
yard of me. 1 showed no sign of being
awake. and presently an arm was
thrust out. a hand fumbled for the
pocket of my trousers, was withdrawn,
and knew my purse had gone with it.
l listened till | heard a faint sound
which L knew was the closing of the
door. then, turning over, | went to
Sleep
My grandfather, as l have said. told
me this story great many times,
though he didn't remember ever having
told it all, and l knew that at this
point he expected me to express sur
prise that he could take the loss of his
purse so coolIy.
Grandfather | said, "how could
you go to sleep so easily?"
''Well. my boy, l had escaped with
my life. and that made me feel very
comfortable"
Go on. grandfather"
The next morning rose early. made
some inquiries about my cOmrade of
the day before, but when the landlord
told me lie had gone at daylight |
didn't manifest any surprise or dis
appointment. | feared he might be in
league with the man and make some
excuse 10 detain me. Fortunately |
had the ten dollar bill the thief had
given me with which to pay him for
my keeping, and he took ii so readily,
without examining it. that | knew he
was glad to get rid of me, thinking that
had not discovered my loss in his
house. He gave me in change the five
franc piece and two of the quarters I
had given the thief and 1 rode off,
iStIinS Siflu ~ get away lIOln SUCH Il
villainOus place.
Instead of travelling straight along
the road TO the then village of Chicago,
as would be expected. ! turned north
ward at the first road l came to and
that night reached a point where st
Joseph, Mich, now stands. 4 sloop
went to Chicago twice a week. and in
a couple of days l crossed the lake and
reached port without accident. There
bought my grain
My grandfather paused. and l knew
that he had arrived at another point
for question.
But, grandfather, where did you get
money to buy grain with? | thought
the thief had taken your purse"
$50 he did. boy: so he did, but he
didn't get any money. You see. hav-
ing to travel that way, every fall 1