Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-01-13
DAILY SHORT STORY
AN AFTER DINNER STORY.
tQriginal.J

The gentlemen rose andf stood re-
spectfuIly while the ladies' retired.
Then the former lighted cigars while
the latter had coffee in the drawing
room. Mrs. Ernest remarked that she
had heard that the first meeting OF
Mrs. Amory with her husband had
been very romantic and asked Mrs.
Amory TO tell about,it Mrs. Amory
complied, telling how the man she was
to marry had surprised her in street
costume when she had intended that
he should .see her In evening dress.
This led to- other stories of similar
kind, each smore vapid than the lasI
One of the party, a newcomer among
them, sat upn oticed by the rest. When
the CONVERSELY ON Jagged one of the Ia
dies said to her:
Il Judge. Mrs,.-I beg pardon, didn't
catch your naLue-that you can't con-
tribute to these\ interesting episodes'or
you would haveAdone so already"
There was n trifiinS incident be
tween me and the man / married. but
L fear it would soundttame.7
I'm sure it wouldsnot. Dell lit by
all means
"Mr. Hardy Hardy,is my iname-in
the summer of 1S9- owned yacht.
He invited small party to ego sailing
with him. | among the number. The
truth is he had been in love with me
since the previous Christmas, when he
had saved me from DEATH my dress
having been set, aflame by|a burning
Christmas tree"
II should suppose that ttwouldi have
oil in,
remarked one of the ladies, taking a
fresh cup of coffee.
so L did. His coat tails caught fire.
Selling them. l Rugged them to my
bosom. extinguishing them. 1 saved
his life but retain a scar on my'breast
to this day"
Several of the ladies put down their
coffee cups. All were Interested This
was something far more stirring than
anything that had yet been produced.
LAS 1 was saying" continued the mar
rator Observation-Disclosures was
his first name-got up the yachting
party on purpose to propose to me-
After luncheon every one left us alone
together in the cabin. Fitzherbert
pleaded with me for an hour. standing
out with madenly modesty. My hus-
band l told him. must be brave. cool
in the presence of danger and. withal, |
resourceful' Would he replied. that |
might find an opportunity to show at |
least that / can die for you
"Delightfulr' exclaimed several lis |
teners In unison.
suddenly l saw him start. l listen |
ed, with him. and heard strange noise |
without Then something struck the |
yacht and we were thrown against the |
side. which had now become the floor. |
Then there was n further change. and |
we stood on the ceiling. The yacht had /
been caught in squat unprepared /
and had turned turtle"
BEG pardon said Mrs. Amory. |
What do you mean by turning turtle?"
"CapsiZe,' replied the narrator i'm
perturbably. "Of course the water
rushed in, but the air caught In the
cabin prevented its being filed. We
stood in water up to our necks In al
most total darkness on the ceiling Of
the cabin
Good gracious" exclaimed the party
at a breath.
"Fitzherbert at once took advantage
of the situation to show that he pos
sessed every requirement to be my
husband. Taking me in his arms, he
said to me: DO not be alarmed. This
is nothing. Trust TO me-
''The yacht was full of fishing tackle.
and n fishhook fortunately caught in
his clothes Pulling on the line to
which it was attached, he drew up n
reel
MY plan is complete he said.
Hold on to the reel i shall dive and
rise to the surface beside the yacht,
taking the line with me. When l am
free shall pull you out by the line.
Courage
Now, there was just one best place
to attach the fishhook. Notwithstanding
IL don't like to mention it,
DO so'' You must '"Tell u.s.
came from the group at breath.
1.-THE seat Of his trousers. Giving me
q parting caress to reassure me he
dived, and in about a minute / felt a
pull on the line
What terrible situationr' excIaim-
I'd Mrs. Ernest.
ut was the moment of my life.
the line under water, was |
guided down the companionway and |
under the gunwale, then rose to the
surface. where Fitzherbert caught me,
me to the yacht. and we
,rawled up on the bottom. from whence
we were rescued later by q tug
The lady ceaSpd IN cpooL- md ovorv, |