Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-08-16
DAILY SHORT STORY
A soMNAMeULIsT.
IOriginaLl

Edward Collins. lie nhu naII4eI d
widow with daughter. Anna Way
land. The wife and mother had died
leaving a small portion of her estate 10
her husband and the balance 10 her
daughter Anna was n lovely girl and
extremely fond of her slepfather,
whom she had been brought UP to con
slider a father and who was all she had
TO cling to. But circumstances &C
CURED to cause me 10 think that my
uncle was not worthy of her cGnh-
dence-tbat he was trying 10 possess
himself of her estate. which had be
come entangIed. At any rate he was
very much worried over something
connected with the matter. and l in
ferred that he was afraid of the law.
which is very stringent with guard
ians.
The house was under the care OF
Mrs Lawson. who had been its man
ager for many years--a grumbling old
woman whom my uncle and his ward
were perpetually trying TO keep In
good humor, but always failing.
Put two young people of opposite sex
under the same roOf and in time there
is bound to be q love affair. Such
was the case with Anna Wayland and
myself. But it was nipped in tn" bud.
IA a boy I had been troubled with
somnambulism. but / had not walked
in my sleep since was fourteen. Now
whihe in my uncle's house | had re
lapse, and with very Notifying re
suits One night I'm summer when we
all slept with our doors and windows
opcn 7 suddenly awakened standing
over Anna Wayland's bed. She awoke
at the same moment, and as the full
moon was shining in at the window
she recognized me at once. l was in
no condition to explain the matter: in
deed, I bolted from the room without
n word The next day I endeavO-ed
to set myself right, but Anna was not
I'm n mood TO listen to nay excuses.
The consequence was that by the time
she showed a conciliatory disposition
was too much dis2runtled to make
an explanation. From that time 1
stood in the position of a sinner
One day my uncle called me into his
study and told me that "shyster at
torney'' was trying TO bleed him in the
matter of his administration of his
wards estate Certain papers ne"es-
sary to his clearing himself of viola
ton of the law which he supposed
were In his safe were not there, The
safe stood i'm hall room next to his
own. and he alone knew the cOmhina-
ton. ! asked him If Ihe had ever writ
ten the combination on paper and left
il where any one could see it. and he
cd Eaf hn 10
with me as to what il was best TO do
whether It would be advisable for him
To pay hush money OF throw himself
on the mercy Of the courts. / advised
doing nothing till he was obliged to dV
something. This was all he could do.
A few days later l surprised Mrs.
Lawson and Anna Wayland in an ami
mated conversation. From few
words | heard | was sure that they
We're talking about what my uncle had
revealed to me and That Mrs. Lawson,
who had been Annals nurse. was using
her influence to convince the girl that
her stepfather was rObhiug her.
Trouble thickencd around my uncle.
Papers necessary to enable him to
show a clean management of the estate
were continually missing. no matter
where he kept them. He had no office;
consequently he must keep them at
home. and he always locked them in
the safe Meanwhile the lawyer, who
had in some mysterious way got wind
of his position. was threatening him
with exposure if he did not give him
money. The household was not a
pleasant one. was not on good terms
\
Lawson to believe that her stepfather
was Swindling her out of her fortune.
I had become convinced of my uncle 3
innocence and treated Anna all the
more coldly for listening to her adj
wiser, though I would not advise her
myself
One night | woke up under Circum-
stances involving a coincidence l would
not have believed had it not happened
| to myself. l w<is standing in front of
my uncle's safe. Mrs Lawson had the
safe door open and was rummaging
the contents. The start | gave Mt
waking caused her to turn, and when
she saw me she gave q moan and sank
down on the floor
Never did the right thing to do occur
u
room, without stopping to put on other
clothing than the nightshirt / wore,
called to her, Come quick and. will
prove your guardians innocence" In
her nightdress she followed me and
we found Mrs. Lawson hurriedly pick
ing up papers that lay on the floor and
putting them into the safe.
Il will do that for you" said, and
pushing her aside / gathered the pa
pers and took them to my own room.
AS soon as the culprit had gone Anna
insisted on going with me TO my IN
cle's room, waxing him up and telling
him that we had solved the mystery
that was troubling him. He was as
tOnished that one who had so long
been trusted In his family should have
proved a villain, but was greatly re-
lleved at my discovery.