Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-03
DAILY STORY
THE PRESIDENT.
[Origknal.l

| el the<twO friends joined one of those
| touring parties the managers of which
send ,people offilike children in care of
q nurse They found it Convenient
| during their travels when speaking on
| subjects in which they desired not to
| be overheard to use the sign language,
| with which, of course, both were, per
| fectly familiar; not thatfthey we've OBJ
| trusive in this respect, flor they were
| careful not to thus converse with their
| fingerssin company, only using it'when
| no one1waS very near them.
One day on the steamer going out
| they were walking the deck The
weather was rough-they were moving
| against n strong, northeaSter-and very
| few passengers were in their steamer
| chairs. The wind tnterfered with their
/ hearing4so they naturally fell into fin
| ger TALK Hubbard was speaking:
II suppose all of us unwedded men
| have our ideas of marriage so far,as it
| pertains ITO us individually. In my own
case l considerfit dependent upon two
| thinGs-irst. | would know the. girl
would marry on sight; second. propin-
| guilty that is. l must he thrown n good
de1ll in her company"
'T)id YOU ever decide on sight that
you,would,marry girl?"
'TE have already met with such q
case Do,you see that girl over there
reading a magazine? Well. as soon as
| laid eyes on her felt that 1 could
pass my life with her happily"
.'1,hen why not try to get her? Your
first; requirement has been reached.
andtthe second is likely to be realized.
Youl Will probably be together on this
trip two months
"Ehat is exactly what 1 propose to
do"
Thet two men soon, after adjourned
to the lSmoking cabin. passing the girl
i'll question, who still had her eyes
glued totthe magazine. Hubbard soon
after secured an introduction and be-
gan to pay her occasional attentions.
These size received calmly, she
would these of, any, one she might meet
travelling and did mot expect to meet
after the trip was$finished. Neverthe-
less she never Stunned them. and Hib-
bard found in her a great storehouse
of food for conversation. He never
wearied when in her company, and his
friend Dexter found him quite dull
when he was not with her. Indeed.
before the vessel reached the French
coast Hubbard and the lady We're at
least boon companions. They made
tour of Switzerland and northern Italy.
and on reaching the steamer for their
return werel considered by the other
members ofsthe touring party to he
engaged.
That they We're mot was no fault of
Hibbard's, for he had proposed at
Chamounix while the highest peaks of
the Alps looked down on them. The
young lady had not refused him; she
had simply declined to give an answer
until after their arrival in America.
Whether this was because she had not
made up her mind that she flowed him
or wished to make inquiries about him
or doubted the constancy of his feel
ings for her she did not tell him, and
he remained in ignorance of her rea-
son. The voyage homeward was nat
urally Il period of profound suspense
to Hubbard, but no reasoning cor plead
ing would induce the lady to alter her
resolution, and he was obliged to suf-
fer
They returned to their respective
homes. Hubbard to New York and she
to Albany, where she lived part of
the time. At parting he endeavored to
persuade her to fix date for him to
go to her and receive his answer, but
she declined to give him any satisfac-
ton. When they parted he did not
know that she would ever send for
him.
Hubbard, being dependent on a small
salary. concluded that the lady feared
he might not be able to give her a liv-
ing except on the borders of poverty. |
But this was a surmise. He reached
home month before his college duties |
were to commence and two weeks |
later received a letter from an institu- |
ton in Boston similar to the one in |
which he taught offering him a much |
larger salary than he was receiving |
He took train for Boston the same |
evening and in the morning was usher |
ed into the office of the president of |
the institution that had made the offer. |
A woman sat writing at a desk with |
her back to him. Presently she arose |
and turned.
Hubbard saw the girl with whom he
had made the tour.
She came forward, a tinge Of red in
her cheek.
1.-The PRESIDENT" exclaimed her
lover
''The president. have built and en-
dowed this institution. / had a sister
who was a deaf mute and thus became
interested in this work.
"And you used the sign language in
your family?" exclaimed the professor.
remembering with horror the words he
had spoken in finger talk to his friend
more than two months before
Eyes, and your proposition was
known to me the first day 1 saw you.
You but interpreted my own resolution
with regard to yourself"
She spoke the last word with averted
head, and Hibbard, advancing took
1,oy- In |