Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-04-14
DAILY SHORT STORY
IOrigirEal.l
A RIDDLE SOLVED.


nothing except what'they earned from
day to day Agnes, .whO was az farsee-
ingtgirl, would not lconsent until they
hads accumulated enough for a start.
One day. however, she SURPRISED her
lover .by telling himt she had conclud
ed to do as he wished and work out
the problem together instead ofSSepa-
rateIy, and they were married.
The ceremony had been performed
at her mothers, where they proposed
to remain temporarily, and the couple
went upstairs to their room. Agnes
had a happy look on her face, which
she strove in vain TO hide. The cause
was soon explained. Going TO cup
board, she took out a wooden stocking,
bulging with something heavy in the
foot, and swung it before her nus
bands face triumphantly.
What is it?' asked Leonard.
"a, windfan" Turning the stocking
upside down, she poured its contents
gold coinst on the table Leonard
stared, at them. while Agnes put her
arms about his neck and gave him a
hug.
Where did theyI come from?
Agnes. cdleU 4ueEulOuS VOICE
from below.
Poor Umother," said the girl, her ex-
pressive face turning from delight to
sympathy she is much depressed at
losing me. l must go down and COM
fort her. Meanwhile you may count
our treasure Coming, mOther"' And
she ran downstairs.
When the young bride returned to
her room the money was lying on the
table just as she had left it, but her
husband was nowhere to be seen.
Leonard she called. Leonard,
dear. Where areayOuY
There was no treply, and, thinking
he was playfully hiding from her, she
searched for him, tbut her husband was
not TO be found. There was a back
staircase, by which he might have de-
scended, and she went down. opened
a door at its foot; and called. There
was no answer.
Agnes spent the night imam agony of
dread. She thought she could not Ell
dure another such night, but she did,
and many more, for her husband did
not return to her. Slowly she became
more hardened to her sorrow, but when
four years had passed she had become
no more reconciled to it than the night
her husband had forsaken her. Mean
while the money she had SO joyfully
turned over to him had all been used
in buying comforts for her, mother.
One day she received through the
mail an envelope pOstmarked at n min
ing town on the Pacific coast. In il
was a certificate of deposit in bank
payable to her order for 81 900. Ac-
campaigning this was a bit of faded
yellow paper on which was written In
a mans handwriting, though unknown
to her:
Dearest gnes-Replying to your last
letter saying that yORl are willing to ac-
cept a stated sum. cousenting at the same
time to my expected marriage. 1 send it
to you with this. After the honeymoon CD
l hope in a measure TO resume my rela-
tons with you. Your loving b.
In vain did Agnes puzzle over these
two singular Enclosures. She could faith
ON neither. The money she would not
use; the note she would have consider
ed an insult had she not believed it was
intended for some one else. She finally
determined to send both back through
the bank on which the certificate was
drawn. She wrote n note calling the
cashiers attention to the mistake, ask
ing him to forward it to the depositor.
Exactly twelve days from the day
she mailed her note with its Enclosure
there was a knock at the door, and,
opening It, there stood her husband.
She fell in a swoon, and he caught her
in his arms.
When she revived she was lying on a
sofa. while Leonard bent over her.
'Oh, sweetheart" he said, Il fear l
have done you a great wrong"
why did you leave me?" she moan
ed, throwing her arms about his neck
as If fearful to lose him again.
Then he told her that when she had
gone down TO her mother he had shak-
en- the stocking to make sure that moth
ing more remained In it, and the note
she had received by mail had fallen |
out. Taking it as evidence of her guilt. |
he had fed. resolved never TO see her |
again. He had gone west and made |
money. Wishing that she. notwith- |
standing her sin, should share in his |
good fortune. he had sent her the ST. |
600 and to explain the cause of his hay |
ing left her had inclosed the note Her |
reply had come to him through the |
bank where he had deposited the mon |
ey.
Then Agnes saw through the riddle |
and gave him the solution. The money |
she had given her husband had come to
her "a legacy from an aunt for whom |
she had been named. She had heard |
strange stories about this aunt in her
youth that were now confirmed by the
letter which had evidently been kept
with the money in the stocking.
-Four years of misery" said Leon
ard mOurnfully. that might have been
years Of happiness gone out OF our
lives through my laundering stupid
ity"
But" said the practical woman. /
after all, Providence may have turned II
my aunt's sin into a benefit for US. /
Your going away under a misunder-
standing has enabled you to concen-
70 Off ~,