Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-06-19
A D4 LEX STORK.
ON THE BORDER.

roo u, his ha ndS clasped with tight
grip his, head bowed on his face ev-
cry evidences. of distress. On a bed lay
young girl. She was either uncon-
scious orNsleeping, for she was very
low, ,and it was impossible to tell
| whet her itNwas sleep Oricoma.
/ ''Tlaey are. fighting atithe front" the
/ old man unused, ''aIsi If anything
| should happen to Bert it would turn
I the sscale. Eut If anything does hap
pen she mush not be todd. Still. would
| 1t not be betterIfor heYto know it and
die instead of Hvingi on the life of
/, Slesolation iniStore for fher?
THE doctors opinion that she will
weather the storm and get well l have
ntl lie confidence in Is dt his opinion,
or { 'oes he sayiit to keep me upY'
Tie nurse came in land begged the
ol6Isl nan to gotto bed. He refused, tell
ingNher to goj Unto room across the
hallNl lie downIand Iessve him to watch
aaonS If anything Important occurred
heNwon Id call her. :She went over to
thetbedA laid her handlo on the sick girls
forehead and Hooked lat her long and
anxiDuslya THEN sheeturned and told
him THAT itAwas not best she should
leave Butkhe firmly refused to go
lfimselrs andSshe1 took! a book and went
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Ever since her tmother died. he
musesi,on. "Sh has been all have had
to live<for. Sometimes it seems TO me
that alf the love she has had for me
has been merg ed in iher love for Bert
That's, natural. All sthe love / had for
my parent was nothing compared with
the loves bore her mother. And when
her mother died / gave it all to my
little girN
Il wol tder what's going on down
theEe. Last nights dispatches were
that,a fight couldn't be put off twenty
four hours. We know what ;they do
almost as soon as they do it Pert
must tskee his chances-one out of
three or sfoIgr or five, L suppose-while
here lies\ tAe girl he loves and who
loves him, hs wing not Oneschance in n
dozen. If he's dies she willjnever smile
again. If she dies 1 will never sriile
again, but ha--he is young. He can
forget or repia ce the old with the/ney"
Curious thoughts run through the
mind of onet ira suspense. Thefold man
fell to conjtuiIrg up vail sorts OF posi-
BILE happenings. He; fancied/ his girl
again in health, her! lover safely re-
turned. their meeting. In their happi-
ness he forgot that hes would be left
alone or remer ubering ittwIs mitigated
that they We're happy. He pictured
Bert Il physician wreck coming TO find
the girl he loved gone; the young mans
agony. followed by settled gloom
This came the nearer home ito him. for
it was what hevwould iha0e TO suffer
himself.
Then he went back to{ the period
when she whose life hungSby thread
was jumping her rope, rolling her
hoop. He saw her grow from child to
maiden, from maiden to woman. How
quickly it had all come about, And
now if she died. what had all his ef-
forts to raise her. her studies, her ac-
complishments. Eailed? All swept
away at the celSirrg of a heart to beat
And her longer uife., what of it? Every
effort he had made .or should make
would be neutral hed.
The patient StiI:reds The watcher was
about to go into, the ,other room and
call the nurse vixen the girl suddenly
with a strength phat. astonisbed him.
sat up and fixed tlser eyes on vacancy
or, as it seemed, some one in the center
of the room.
Bert, Oh, Bert, Have you Gomez"
She stretched forth her arms, and
the focus of her vision seemed to draw
nearer to herself. Her arms folded.
she raised her face as though for
kiss, then fell back, on the pillow.
The old man sprang to the bedside
and was Joined a moment LATER by the
nurse, who quickly slipped her arms
under the invalid and raised her. See
ing no sign of life, she placed her hand
on the girls heart. Then she looked up
and said
"Shes gone"
The old man went to a table, sat
down and, placing his'armston it, rest
ed his head on them. The nurse laid
the dead girls arms beside her, turn
ed, looked at the old man pitEingly and
left the room. The case was closed for
her, and in day or two she would be
ready for the next one.
The old man remained where he was.
The clock struck the hours successive
ly-1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Then there was the
sound of boys running in the street
below and shouting:
Extra Great battle at Santiagow
The old man started up. Going into
the hail. he rang for a servant. One Of
them had been up all night to summon
doctor If needed. He responded at
once, and his master ordered him TO
bring him a paper. In it was tele-
gram announcing the last battle of the
Spanish American war. with partial
list of the killed and wounded. Among
the former was the nai-'e Lieutenant
Albert HibbaId.
AS the old man read it something like |
a smile fitted across his face.
Thank Cod" he said, ''they have |
gone together! Providence, who re-
leases the young and leaves the old to |
endure has pernitted me to Witness