Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-10-17
DAILY SHORT STORY
FROM THE DEEP.


IOriginaIl
My dear wife Games to me literally
from out the deep. One afternoon the
mate called TO me from the forecastle
that he saw a boat on the starboard
quarter. The eventstthat followed} in
rapid succession are 'as fresh i'm my
mind as on that eventual day, but new
er till now have 1 been,completGly hap
DIV. for not since thenstill now1have 1
been free from dread.
I ordered the vessel putt Off a couple
OF points andsas we neGred the boat l
could see thatGt was an, officers boat,
probably the captains gig that had
belonged to some ship. l could see
something lying.in the bottom. and as
we got the boat'uuder our bows it was
plain that the something was 4 wom-
an. She was brought aboard uncon-
scious and carried below. l gave up
my room TO her and directed that she
have every attention. The truth is
that when ! saw ther lying on the deck
oblivious 10 all about her there was
something in her'face that drew. me
strangely TO her.
As soon as she was provided flor l
ordered her boat to.be hauled on,deck,
and examined il. 1t waS'an OIL boat.
and il had been so battered thati1 could
not read The name There YVES moth
ing about it to identify 1T. At 9'oclock
that night the woman came to'herself.
but the StewarCleSs said that she was
TOO weak TO be questioned. The next
morning the newcomer had revived
sufficiently to talk. but said 'that she
could not remember single. event in
her past life. / had known similar
case where Il man.had been .shipwreck
ell and nearly starved. On recovering
consciousness he had, like this woman,
forgotten the past. ndirecfed the,stew-
artless to search thelwoInan'S clothing
for some mark. andt she found on an
undergarment the letter -. This was
all there was in the away of possible
| identification.
In time the woman came on deck
and sat wrapped i'll blankets, revived
| bv the fresh air. For the want Of a
| better name we,called her Miss Query.
I y
but whether she had been married or
not of course we couldn't tell. Not all
of us considered her pretty, but to me
| there was something infinitely more
engaging in her expression than mere
beauty, an expression retieding some
| great past grief. | took her into my
heart. and she has kept. her place
| there to this day.
We had picked up Miss Queery not
far out of New York on voyage to
the Pacific and Japan. insisted on
her making the ship her home until
we returned TO America. for, in the
| first place, l loved her, and in the sec
ond common humanity forbade my
| leaving her i'll foreign country to
| shift for herself. She had no other
course but to acceTE my hospitality and
completed the long voyage with us.
our return was ONE persistent plead
ing that she would become my wife.
She resolutely declined on the ground
that she might have Il husband. In
vain | argued that the chances We're
that one of her age was not likely to
have been married. She said she would
not take that one chance. At the same
time she gave every evidence that she
loved me. Indeed. the fact that we
must be separated by an uncertainty
was as great grievance TO her as TO
me.
Before sailing on another voyage
discussed with her what course we
should pursue. proposed that we
take action to discover her identity.
Then if she had not been married our
A. 1t, =
out that she had husband living,
she could choose between us.
Your past life is dotted out" said.
land there is 10 law to prevent your
marrying whom you like" To this she
replied. Suppose after marrying you it
should come TO my knowledge that /
had a husband. would you consider 1t
my duty to leave your Certainly
not" | replied IF you knew today
r YOU had husband living, a husband
K identified with that past obliterated
2 life, and married me, 1 would not
r blame you"
This ended the argument, for she
gave her consent, though the maria &c
: was to be of the Scotch order simply
mutual pledges in presence Of wit
l neSScS.
Three voyages my wife made with
j me. during which we We're both SUI
, prcmely happy. At times ! noticed a
dread cross her brow and knew what
= she feared. But l laughed at her fears
/ and assured her that on the high seas
i nothing could part us.
We were stopping At hotel between
r our third and fourth voyages. One
.
: paper-she always scanned the papers
= when ashOre-and, suddenly glancing
{ at her. / saw her shiver with some In
tense emotion. AS soon as she had col
p ieCted herself she said: