Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-06-30
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Bow of Corn CoIored Ribbon
TOriginaL.l

a young man spoke the words in a
we'll modulated voice and with a def
erential tone. Then, without waiting
for a reply, he dropped on one knee on
the sloppy stone, regardless OF the mud
or the crease in his trousers, and en-
deavOred to tie the shOestring. Alas, it
was broken in the middle.
If an united shoestring in the street
is misfortune, a broken shoestring is
a tragedy. The girl, seeing the state
OF the case, would have been appalled,
but for that reliance on the sterner sex
natural to women. She waited for him
to get over the difficulty without in
the least concerning herself about it.
The gallant fellow looked at the bro
ken string. thought rapidly, then plung-
ed his hands into each of his dozen
pockets. From one of them he drew a
corn colored ribbon that had bound to-
gether packages of cigars; then. get
ting rid of the broken shOestring, he
laced the shoe with the ribbon.
There" he said. rising and standing
with lifted hat; that will serve till you
reach home"
The girl gave him u smile and a
''Thank YOU. and went on her way.
Grafton Hatch watched her retreat
ing figure till it had passed out Of
sight. He was not conscious of the
impression she had made on him; it
simply occurred to him that he would
like to meet her again, and when ii had
occurred to him once it occurred to
him again and again. Indeed he kept
on thinking so till at last it became
mania with him.
Months passed before he was re-
warded by another sight of the charm
er. It was springtime, and he was
riding in an open electric car. A car
coming from the opposite direction
sped past him, and he had such a
vision as one may gain from a flash of
lightning on dark night. 1t was the
girl whose shoe lie had laced, and in
buttonhOle of her corsage was the
bow of corn colored ribbon he had
used for a shoestring.
The fire smoldering in Grafton
Hatch's bosom at seeing this evidence
Of the impression he had made burst
into IL fame. But the pleasure he took
in the discovery was married by the
thought that living as he did in great
city the chances were that he might
never meet the girl again, or, if he
did, possibly under circumstances pro-
hibitory to his having Il word with
her. The distressing complication well
nigh threw him into a fever. He sig
nailed the conductor to stop the car,
with Il view to following the one just
passed, but on looking back saw that
it was already far in the distance and
realized the impossibility of catching
It,
Hatch spent u great deal of time try
ing TO cOnjure up method OF COM
municating with the girl who wore his
cOlors, but could think of none ex-
cept personal advertisement, and
from this he shrank. Nevertheless, aft
er long period of distress he tried it,
but whether his ad. never met the
girls eyes or she did not care to reply,
he did not hear from her.
During the following summer Hatch
visited the SeaShore. There were Il
number Of resorts scattered along the
coast, and the place where Hatch was
stopping was separated from the one
adjoining it on the north by an inlet.
1t was not very broad nor very deep,
but there was no bridge across it and
unless a boat was handy there was no
way to cross it except by swimming.
One afternoon Hatch went with party
OF friends TO the inlet for crabs. The
lines were baited and the crabs We're
hungry. One of the ladies of the
party. a girl who dotted on Hatch, got
crab within reach of her landing net
she was trying to land Hatch as
well-but was unable to get the crab
into il. She called on Hatch, who was
also in the act of landing n crab, 10
help her. Hatch was about 10 relin-
quish his prize TO hasten 10 her as
sistance when, suddenly darting Il
glance at a party on the opposite bank
of the inlet who were gathering up
their nets and crab lines preparatory
to departing, he saw a sight that
changed the whole current of his in
tentions-the girl whose shoe he had
laced And still she wore his colors.
Hatch took in the situation as a gen.
eral who perceiveS that without Il
desperate sortie his enemy will escape
him. The girl struggling with the crab
heard u splash and. looking on the dis
turbed waters. saw Hatch swimming
in straight line for the opposite bank.
She watched him till she saw him
clutch the bank. draw himself up and
dripping. hat in hand, stand before n
girl with a bow of corn colored ribbon
in her buttonhole.
Then she gave. up hope. The crab
meanw lille had got away.
That was the last seen of Hatch by
any OF his party that season. He
walked away with the girl with the
bow OF ribbon and did not return to
his hotel till late at night He was
soaking wet. but the weather was hot.
and he was soon quite dry; besides,
what were limp and rumpled garments
10 a man who had found his love.
The incident had been witnessed by
soNmany persons that it was a commit
tai on the part of the lover. and the
girls, friends were not slow in connect
ing him with the bow OF ribbon she
a II. -. 4