Rock Island Argus., 1904-01-22
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Loan of a Nickel.
[Originai.l


lady who sat next 10 me opened hand
satchel. but. not finding what she ex-
pected. was evidently much distressed.
Nearer came the puncher and more dis
turbed appeared the lady.
Fare" said the conductor.
Il handed him 10 cents. SuppOSing
that | WAS paying for the lady beside
me. he punched twice and passed on.
will you kindly give me your ad-
dress:' asked the lady. Il wish to re-
turn your loan"
What loan:" | asked.
You paid my fare
Rather say the conductor made q
mistake"
Your address. please"
1 took out my card with my address
engraved upon it and handed it to her.
The next day Il messenger brought
me an envelope containing nickel.
y couple of weeks later l received by
mail Il ticket marked Complimentary
10 an amateur entertainment given for
charity. was puzzled. Such tickets
are not usually complimentary. Be
sides. | was abundantly able to pay.
Curious To learn more of the matter
attended the show. which was given in
Il small theater. My seat was one OF
the best in the house, right in among
the creme dc In creme. Beside me sat
Il lady who looked at me as if she
wondered how |. not in the swim-I
was Il newcomer to the city-could
have got into that part of the house. |
looked over the audience with n lor-
gnette. but saw no one | had ever seen
before. When the performance was
over | left the theater no wiser than
when | entered it.
On reaching my rooms | put my
gloves in my Overcoat pocket and felt
Il small parcel. Unwrapping it. | open
ed little paSteboard box and took out
Il scarf pin of Il unique design. There
was nothing to identify it. and l con
cluded it must have been placed there
by mistake when MY coat was hanging
in some public place. After that |
thought nothing of either mystery,
though | longed for one glimpse of the
woman | had loaned ii nickel
Two years later | was travelling in
a railway carriage in England. and,
though it was early in the afternoon.
| fell asleep. When | awoke | noticed
that there had been Il change in the
occupancy of the compartment. Be
fore me sat IL lady, and the moment
looked at her | saw that she was the
woman whose street car fare | had
paid Her eyes We're bent on book
and she gave no sign of being aware
of the presence of one she had met be
fore. Since she was not looking at me-
/ had plenty of opportunity To look at
her.
Now, defy any one 10 be looked at
by one in whom he or she is interested
and not betray consciousness of the
fact. 1t seemed to me that the lady
was reading very rapidly. | waited
TO see how she would act when her
glance fell upon me. She did not seem
inclined to put down the book and
when she did so took pains to avoid
seeing me. My diagnosis of her ac-
tions was that she had recognized me,
but did not wish to give me a chance
TO open an acquaintance Then the
guard put his head in and said:
Tickets
Here was a pretty chance for re-
venge. l fumbled in my pocket for n
ticket which | purposely failed to find.
watching the lady'S expression as did
so. She showed no especial interest in
my discontinue, but turned and whis-
pered something to an elderly man, her
beside her
What? I'm! Can | be of any as
sistance 10 you. sirE''
Il am sorry TO trouble you. but my
funds are all in letters of credit and
Permit me. sir" And. taking out |
his pocketboOk, he asked, To what |
point?''
Il am travelling for pleasure. and it |
doesn't matter | shall stop where you |
stop. draw money. and then | will not |
Inconvenience myself by having TO |
send you the amount of your loan"
LAS you wish. sir" Then to the con-
ductor. Ticket to Edinburgh, please" |
and my fare was paid.
| proposed to keep in touch with the |
travellers till l could learn more about |
the lady. who gave no evidence what |
ever of seeing anything in the incident |
to point To former incident. | ex-
changed cards with her father with |
thanks.
ON the evening of my arrival at Ed |
inburgh l called on my benefactor to !
return my loan. He had gone out. but |
his daughter responded TO my card. |
AS she entered the room | saw her
east n quick glance at the pin | wore in
my scarf. then look away in evident !
fear that | bad noticed her interest in
IT. The pin was the one | had found |
in my own coat pocket after the chari-
~ entertainment at the theater. \
sudden revelation flashed through INV
brain. 1t had been put i'll my overcoat 1
pocket 10y the lady who sat next Ia me
in the theater, who was her confeder-
ate.
Il am fortunate" | said. lin the on
portunity to thank you for a delightful
evening several years ago at a theater
and for the beautiful souvenir yoU
gave. NE of the occasion