The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1906-08-30
Pulling Signature
forIgInaL1


Come up tonight. have something to
tell you. Don't fail. That which has ap-
peared crooked will make straight.
Unfortunately there was one thing
about the note that I could not de-
cIpher-that was the signature. It
looked more like z. w. Native or Ma
line than anything else, but 1t might be
almost any name. The handwriting
was masculine, so / might infer that
my correspondent was a man. But he
might be a man or an orang outang or
q Hottentot, either Of whom could have
written as good hand. l thought
over every man knew whose conduct
toward me had appeared in any way
crooked. but could think OF no one
except Ned Nolan, whose initials were
E.V.
1t was as possible to twist 4. v.
Nolan out Of the scrawl as anything
else. Why he should expect me to
come and see him l couldn't imagine.
He had owed me $40 borrowed money
for six months, and saw nothing to
make anything straight about 1t ex-
cept by paying up.
finally settled down to the opinion
that this was the explanation and dis
missed the matter from my mind. I
certainly had no intention to hunt up
Nolan and took no notice of his note.
In about week l received another puz-
Gle In the same handwriting and with
the same signature. 1t read:
| have no answer to mine OF last week.
! suppose you blame me. write this to
make sure you have received my note.
This came by messenger, and re-
piled by the person who brought 1t,
Neither Of the notes received gave
any location. They simply gave the
date. This was my reply:
What you owe me is a trihe. but
should suppose your self respect would
have prompted you to make 1.-THE crooked
straight long ago
wrote this on a slip OF paper, folded
1t once and was about to address It
when thought it wasn't worth while
to address line written ON scrap,
80 gave It to the messenger as it
was.
This was about the time the Span
ish.Amerlcan war broke out, and, be-
ing lieutenant In the national guard,
/ went to Cuba. When came back to
Montauk Point, between wounds and
fevers there wasn't much left of me.
A number Of nurses came down to
help US along, some of them patriotic
young ladies who served without com
pensation. One day, awaklng from
a sleep, saw standing at the foot of
my camp cot the only girl had ever
loved.
Pity was In her eye and doubtless
In her heart, though she had refused
me a long while before, and It was
on account of this refusal that
had been content to go to tuba. In
deed, had been desperate enough to
prefer to leave my body there OF
course the meeting was embarrassing,
but my condition did not admit Of her
thinking Of a past situation, and she
at once began to busy herself in the
matter OF making me more comforta-
BILE.
When ] got better she would sit by
me and read to me. and longed to
reopen the matter that had been be-
tween us, but the moment ventured
the slightest reference to anything
leading up to 1t she drew down her
features forblddInglt. and was forced
to deslst. One day she told me that
she had met a friend OF mine. a Mr..
Nolan. did not speak enthuslastlcal-
" Of Nolan. and she was curious to
know the reason. Men do not like TO
give each other away to women.
certainly did not wish to tell her that
Nolan owed me a tribe Of $40, as she
would attribute my opinion of him
solely to that II did. 30 said:
"oh. he writes an exRcrable hand.
He wrote me letter once. In which
he said, That which is crooked will
make straight then signed his name
In such a crooked fashion that II I
, hadn't known his motive In writing I
might have supposed his note to be
FROM some one else"
She made no comment on this, but
went away, and I didn't see her till
the next day. Then I asked her to
write letter Tor me. Nnen she nanu-
ed me the letter to read over sprang
up In bed.
by lover
Her handwriting was identical with
that OF the two letters I had received
supposedly from Nolan. Then I re
membered that we had lived since our
acquaintance In the same town and I
had never seen her handwriting.
How do you sign letters to your
friendsf' l asked.
} "Emmallne"
"Wrlte It."
She wrote "Emmallne." and II was
the identical tiy track had seen twice
before.
or course there was an explana-
ton, Intending 10 reverse her deci-