Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-09-19
|APuzzling Signature
(Original.1

original 1t looks as though fly had
escaped from an ink bottle and
dragged itself across the paper:
Como up tonight. have something to
toll you. Don't fail. That which has ap-
peared crooked will make straight.
Unfortunately there was one thing
about the note that could not de-
cipher-that was the signature. It
looked more like E. w. Native or Ma
tine than anything else, but it might be
almost any name. The handwriting
was masculine, so I might infer that
my correspondent was man. But he
might be man or an orang outang or
a Hottentot, either Of whom could have
written as good a hand. 1 thought
over every man l knew whose conduct
toward me had appeared in any way
crooked, but I could think Of no one
except Ned Nolan, whose initials were
II. V.
1t was as possible to twist E. V.
Nolan out Of the scrawl as anything
else. Why he should expect me to
come and see him couldn't imagine.
He had owed me $40 borrowed money
for six months, and l saw nothing to
make anything straight about 1t eX-
cept by paying up.
I 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 I received another puz-
zle In the same handwriting and with
the same signature. It read:
have no answer to mine Of last week.
I suppose you blame me. I write this to
make sure you have received my note.
This came by messenger, and l re-
piled by the person who brought it.
Neither Of the notes l received gave
any location. They simply gave the
date. This was my reply:
What you owe me is trife, but I
should suppose your self respect would
have prompted you to make 1.-The crooked
straight" long ago.
l wrote this on a slip Of paper, folded
1t once and was about to address it
when 1 thought it wasn't worth while
to address line written on a scrap,
so I gave it to the messenger as it
was.
This was about the time the Span
1sh-American 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, awaking from
q 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 long while before, and it was
on account Of this refusal that l
had been content to go to Cuba. In
deed, l 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 past situation, and she
at once began to busy herself In the
matter of making me more comfOrta-
BILE.
When I got better she would sit by
me and read to me, and I longed to
reopen the matter that had been be-
tween us, but the moment ventured
the slightest reference to anything
leading up to it she drew down her
features forbiddingly, and was forced
to desist One day she told me that
she had met a friend Of mine, a Mr..
Nolan. did not speak enthusiastical-
~ of Nolan, and she was curious to
know the reason. Men do not like to
give each other away to women. l
certainly did not wish to tell her that
Nolan owed me trifle Of $40, as she
would attribute my opinion Of him
solely to that If did, so said:
"Oh, he writes an execrable hand.
he wrote me letter once, IN which
he said, That which is crooked will
make straight then signed his name
I'm such a crooked fashion that If
hadn't known his motive in writing
might have supposed his note to be
from some one else'
She made no comment on this, but
went away, and l didn't see her till
the next day. Then asked her to
write a letter for me. When she hand
ed me the letter to read over I sprang
up in bed.
by Jovev'
Her handwriting was Identical with
that Of the two letters had received
supposedly from Nolan. Then re-
membered that we had lived since our
acquaintance In the same town and
had never seen her handwriting.
''How do you sign letters to your
friends?' I asked.
"Emmaline."
"Write It."
She wrote "Emmaline," and it was
the Identical fly track I had seen twice
before
OF course there was an explana-
ton. Intending to reverse her deci-
sion, she had written me to come to
her, but when she got my note she
vowed she would never speak to me
again. 1t even made her angry when
she knew that it was intended for No
Ian, and had lot of trouble to con-
vince her that it wasn't,
It's all right now. We've been mar
ried FIVE years. My wife writes a
worse hand and her signature is no
more Ineligible than ever. She is