Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-09
DAILY SHORT STORY
The LpvIiest Girl imaginable
LOriginalD

girls imaginable. Who is she?'
"Katel Ward"
Kate Ward" Then, afterta>pause,
"Are youth first lover
'Well, no, not exactly. ThereJwas a
fellow she met several yeaTs ago-a
measly.sort of chap. 1 fancy who was
so despcrs tely in love with hhr that she
took pity 'pn him and engaged herself
to him. It\vas broken off, however"
did you get all this information
from her?''
by no means. She simply told me
that she had been,engaged- My infor-
nation came from her cousin, Anita
Griffithy'
"AnitaaGriffith!"
"You seem surprised. Do you know
her?'
"Yes-no. DidIshe give yoWthe cause
of your fiancee's break with--the other
fellowY"
We'll, yes. Anita was, indirectly
mixed up nNthe matter. Young Steve
Griffith was Ned into gambling by the
other fellow,1 as you calFr him, and
feeced.'
Indeed"
81 judge fromNthe way youl take the
information that you' know something
about the affair yourself
AZ know that Steve, GriffithSis a little
villain, always gambling, always bor-
rowing. In othert words, heiis dead
beat"
"Of course all this is nothingito me.
Kate was in duty Ibound to tell me she
had been engaged The cause of the
break was another matter"
Surely you are' not concerned in
that"
Besides, 1 wassmyself, engaged be-
fore"
ITO whom"
Anita Griffith"
"PhewI And that is how you got
this story Was she, too, the loveliest
girl Imaginable? >
"Well. to tell the truth, l was much
pleased with Anita, but l knew all the
while she cared nothing for me, and
that cools Il fellow off after awhile"
"Oh, yes; it cools thin off, decidedly,
or sets him on fire. But how did this
change from one girl;to the other come
about?"
1T was this way: Anita introduced
me TO Kate, and when she found 1
fancied her she nObly left Kate the
field When 1 asked Kate to marry
me and she told me that she had been
engaged. I vast troubled. for l feared
that she loved the fellow and was go
ing to marry me- only because l was
good match financially. l confided in
| Anita, who put me in possession of the
| facts" ''''
'She was verytkind to you"
YES. Not mary Il girl would have
acted so disintereshedly with a man to
whom she had been\engaged."
"Did it ever occur to you that she
might have had a mOtive?'
"What motive could she' have posi-
bly, had?"
1.-THE other fellow"
"You mean that she wanted to get
him for herself?"
That's what has occurred to me-"
IF you knew her, you would not
have so bad an opinion' of her"
II do know her"
What? You know her-intimately
VERY intimately. 1 am her aftianced
husband"
! 'What-you? You the man she was
| in love with all the while? My dear
| fellow, l congratulate you on being en-
gagged to the loveliest woman imag-
inable.'"
Thank you And the speaker arose
and left the ROOM That evening. by
special appointment. Miss Katherine
Ward received him in the small parlor.
| having given orders that she was at
home to no one else, not even her fiance.
Pardon this intrusion" he said;
| IN, Ofa
an interview, 1 have discovered GER
tain reasons for your action in break
ing with me-"
Not through me. L was pledged to
secrecy and kept my promise"
1.-THE story that l drew young Steve
Griffith into gambling and fieeced him
is false"
Il had the word of the girl to whom
! you are now engaged"
81 will not accuse her. l presume
her brother lied to her to account for
money he made away with"
A pallor slowly spread over the girls
face.
ITO prove what say, here is a letter
written by Steve Griffith an hour ago
denying the whole story"
81 don't want to see it. 1t is too late.
We are both engaged.
ST am not My engagement was
broken this afternoon"
"On what groundr
"Well, since l must tell all or moth
ing. the man who has supplanted me
with you innocently told me story
proving conclusively that the woman
to whom 1 was engaged had caused
the breach between you and me. As
soon as l knew the facts L broke my
engagement. You are the woman
love and would marry. If not you,
will die unwedded."
Six months later.
81 congratulate you on your engage
ment to your former fiancee, Miss