Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-06-02
DAILY SHORT STORY
Told Just in Time.
I0ririnaL1

lOrlRlndi-I
''I beg pardon, SIR said a gentleman
to another standing on the deck of
Hudson river steamer. as that Pough-
keepsie?'
Eyes, sir" said the man addressed.
He was tall, spare man, with mutton
chop whiskers and a professional look
about him.
beautiful river" remarked the first
speaker.
Every"
"By the bye, can you recommend me
to hotel In Albany|'
1.-The Blank is a good house"
The questioner shuddered. II would
prefer another house The fact is
stayed at the Blank once and passed
very uncomfortable night"
"Was 1t the fault of the manage
mentY'
"Oh, no. The room was comfortable
enough, though there was a political
convention in session at the time, and
/ was obliged to share my apartment
with stranger. But we were both
comfortable, having separate beds.
Before we went to sleep we got
into an exciting discussion which
heated my brain and possibly ac-
counted for what followed. There
was another cause, however l had
eaten roast pork for dinner. Pork
never agrees with me, and this especial
piece was not properly cooked. When
man eats well prepared pork he's
very unwise, but when he eats badly
cooked pork he's a fool. Well, the dis
cussion grew bitter. The mans views
were ridiculous. and since he was quite
deaf l was obliged to shout very loud.
SO that those occupying neighboring
rooms began to cry shut up"' Give
us n resty' and such reminders that
we were annoying them. Finally when
some one threatened to call the police
we stopped disputing and went to bed.
"Now, l never have walked in my
sleep but two or three times in my life.
Ever been a sleepwalker, sir?"
Never"
"That night dreamed that the man
from the other bed was standing over
me with n knife. / awakened with a
start, and my heart was beating most
numerically. The other fellow was
snoring in his bed After lying awake
an hour l went to sleep. Then / dream
ed again, but this time the dream was
on him. l dreamed that l got out of
bed. took my razor out of my satchel.
went over to the bed where he was
sleeping and stood over him. There
was a light in the hall which shone
through the tranSom over the door so
that l could see him plainly. His
breast was bare, and the sleeve of his
nightshirt had crawled up so far as 10
leave one arm bare to the elbow.
seemed to take a fiendish delight in the
situation. l did not intend to kill him
at once. but to take long time about
it. / drew the sharp edge of the razor
lightly over his arm in several places
also over his breast, only skin deep
just enough to draw blood. He must
have been a good sleeper, for it didn't
awaken him, though he drew up his
arm and turned over.
"All this was dream, mind you, but
it ended quite differently. Suddenly
awoke and found myself in the position
have described.
well, sir, the horror of that position
shall never forget. 1 wish / hadn't
begun to tell you about ii. 1 have
never told a human being before, but
the moment 1 began to talk to you
there seemed to be some impelling mo
, tive TO draw 1t out of me-"
| Never mind that" said the Other
, impatiently, 'we're approaching tn,
: Poughkeepsie landing. Finish you
( story"
F, II was so demoralized that in shut
&, ting my razor l tried to shove it bacl
} into the handle and cut cash in IN!
hand that bled all over the floor"
; The narrator paused. took out Inf
1 handkerchief nervously, then put i
back in his pocket.
go on" said the listener.
"Now, what's the first and main idei
t that came into my head, do you sup
t poser"
y ''I don't know. Well be at the doc
= pretty soon, and you told me you wer
: going to get off here, believe"
e "Why, no. didn't. What made yo-
T. think that?"
/ "Oh, go onr'
y 1.-The idea that absorbed me was tina
d I'd be accused of an attempt at mur
n der. 1 was all of tremor. 1t SCENE,
/ as If my heart had stagnated. woul,
:. rather have died than have got bac
DtO i lciI lildl HlllSl yet Outy ttU
at once. 1t was almost morning, and
: was TO leave by an early train.
I dressed as quickly as possible, threw
$ my things into my bag, collecting M
e wits sufficiently to be sure 1 left moth
h ing behind to incriminate me, thoug
e this was of no use, for my name wa
t on the hotel register. and stole dow
e and out of the ladies' entrance withou
: meeting any one. The railroad statio
1 is very near the hotel, and 1 passes
t through it and over to the river bank
n for had some time to wait for IN
= train. Where are you going in such
: hurry?"
: I'm going to get off,"
do you live here"