Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-03-08
DAILY SHORT STORY
WHERE LOVE MAY BE.
Lcopyright. 1909. by T. c. McClure.l

/ The trend of the,sho-e lay hard and
/ black and ragged in the moonlight.
Long, even sweIls lifted the yacht Ike
a cork on their giant blossoms. poised
| her there for a moment land then went
/ sliding landward. Far rwzly on a tiny
! black dot OF an island a sleepy little
/ lighthouse blinked with lazy regularity,
now white, now red.
! In the cabin the piano itinkled mer-
| rily, and snatches of raGtime and ex-
cerpts from the latest musical farce
were greeted with much laughter and
noisy applause.
There was not even catSpaw Of
wind The yacht lay bec;dmed, riding
| over the swells like great white sea
bird with folded wings.
In two chairs near the wheel sat a
man and girl. The girl was dressed
in white. Her face was hard and set
Her eyes We're fixed ON the distant
point where the breaking 'waves out
lined the shore in frothing white. The
mans eyes We're regarding the girl
gravely. His mouth was set tightly
so tightly that harsh lines appeared and
gave his usual careless, jovial face Il
new and Il far less attra ctive express
sion. But presently the harsh lines re-
Taxed somewhat. and the man smiled
a rather artificial smile and fraught
with much cynicism. He leaned toward
the girl.
AT least" lac said slowly u have
been thoroughly honest for once"
The girl did not move, and for some
time she did not speak. When she did
it was one questioning word in a color
less voice:
Why
The man laughed, as if:he We're i'll at
ease.
Why He repeated her question.
I'm sure don't know. Believe me, l
seldom am guilty of the weakness Of
telling the truth-the whole truth. You
are the only one who has ever heard it
from my lips, although voice
Acknowledgement gossip would give
you the story somewhat amplifed and
with host of narrowing details"
II thought the girl began
THAT / really was possessed of the
money my appearance and bearing
seem to indicator he finished quickly.
They all think that. 1t has been
amusing generally Well, the fact is l
haven't Il sou. I'm punctnred balloon,
n social confidence man, Il rank-par-
don the phraseology-fol f1usher; but,
please heaven, with you i am honest"
The girl turned her eyes and looked
at him steadily. In the moonlight her
beauty made him faint and sick at
heart with hopelessness.
Why" she asked again simply.
"Because-because," he stammered,
there was something about you differ
ent from the rest of womankind-
something that touched my respect
and pride and-and'-
He looked at her and smiled. The
girl bit her lips.
Il wanted you to know what manner
Of man l was" he went on. II had to
tell you even at the imminent risk
of losing - oh, everything" he ended
vaguely.
rs poverty such a disgrace?" she
asked.
Yes" he said slowly. at is blight
ing. belittIing, mean"
is poverty never anything but igno-
hle:' she persisted
Never" he replied.
"And you say you've told me the
whole TRUTH" she still questioned.
He nodded. The girl rose. Her eyes
flashed.
You haven't" she said, with spirit
You haven't said word about why
you are poor You haven't mentioned
to me that it was because you shout
dered your fathers obligations, which
you might quite as we'll have evaded
had you been so minded
The cause is immaterial. It is the
effect that counts" said he.
You shall not say that" she said
holly.
For Il moment he was tempted to |
take her in his arms and tell her that |
nothing should matter, nor height nor
depth nor powers nor principalities. |
lie was a starving wanderer, and here |
was food. Then cool. calm Judgment |
returned
2 Exit your pictured hero" he said !
evenly. "Slow curtain, red slide on the |
calcium light. creepy music. You have |
Overdrawn him somewhat"
They stood facing each other The |
moonlight glinted on the polished brass
work OF the rail and pinnacle. The /
sleepy little lighthouse blinked its red |
ami white with stole regularity. The |
piano was accompanied by |
voices raised in gay snatches of song.
The girls fingers worked nervously /
The tears oyerfowed her eyes and ran
unheeded down her face. The man
stared helplessly. In the cabin the song
came TO an end amid much laughter
ana clapping of hands.
The man came close TO the girl He
Intended to relieve the tension of the
situation by n bit of felicitous chaf.
Instead he found her hand In his and
his eyes very close TO hers. 1t was
like a groan that escaped
him.
God help me. how 1 love your he
c-fn7 all his Darf nm arnoffor, In h. !