Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-05-01
DAILY. STOR Y.
A BARGAIN IN AGE.
IOrigmal.1

You have \the beautiful and the de-
cayed. The fancy is fed by the former
and we know that all life springs from
the latter.
l speak advisedly, because in the
party 1 havegin mind Twas the male
part of the material from which a
match was gmade. / was thirty-three
and Nelly Smith was eighteen. We
had started In for Irritation at Rome
at leastishe had; if she hadn't chosen
me she would have, chosen the only
other unmarried maniin the party. Colo
mel Peters, q man of fifty continued II
at Florence and closed it up on the
Grand canal i'll Venice. Fortunately
for us her mother was in Paris and
damage it was done before it could be
helped. Whether any had been done
could not be Determined till the mother
joined us, which was to be expected in
few days Then she would look me
over and determines the matter.
We We're watching the feeding of the
pigeons III the center of the ducal pal
ace or some other rectangular court
was too wrapped fin lOvemaking to take
any mental note of such things when
who should come numbering along but
my old friend lied Headed Tom" as
we used to call him, but whose real
maine was Thomas Sayles. Though
Tom was forty and red headed, l was
! glad in my heart that he had mot joined
us sooner. for l had no confidence lest
the fiirtatious Nelly would have at
least used him to bother me. / intro
duced him to all our party. and at noon
| took him off to cafe to lunch.
Well there was Il pair of us. l be
gan by pouring my Hood of happiness
into his ear, but noticing impatience /
asked him if / bored him. He took ad-
vantage of being permitted to speak to
pour Il counter current into my ear.
He had met widow in his travels, had
done endless picture galleries, crossed
the Alps in her company and was mad
ly in love. When | asked her age Slis
face fell. and he told me that she was
far too young for him-from twenty
four to twenty-eight. l comfOrted him
by telling him that there Were fifteen
years between me and my little Nell.
The lady was to meet him ut Venice.
and they were to see the carnival to-
gether.
We'll make her one of our party"
I said.
Il dare say she'll be delighted" he
replied warmly.
When / rejoined Nelly shetwas chop
fallen. She had written herfmother of
her engagement. giving my age and
guess at my income. HermOther had
written that / was too old for her,
especially as she must go to school two
years longer.
If she thinks I'm going to be barred
up In that horrid Geneva prison two
years longer she Is nightly mistaken"
she said; and 1 swore L would elope
with her If it came to that.
A few days later 1 met Tom hurry
ing along, and when 1 asked him where
he was going he told me that he was
about to receive his fiancee, who was
coming a little ahead of time to attend
to some important private affair. He
asked me to go with him to the sta
ton, and l copsented. When the train
came In and the lady alighfed from the
coach who should L see but my old
friend the widow of another old friend,
Bob Smith. Then it flashed upon me
that she was the mother of my Nelly.
'Why, Walter Jonesv' she exclaimed.
"Can 1t beT'
eyes, it Isl
Tom, seeing that he had no occasion
to introduce us, led the way to a car
riage. The widow and 1 dropped a
little behind, and she whispered,
Don't say anything TO Mr.. Sayles. but
come and see me tonight at o.
She declined to permit either of us
to drive with her to her hotel and told
Tom that her fatigue would prevent
her seeing him till the next day
Tom didn't get much out of me on
our walk. His fiancee did look young,
but not, to me, under thirty-five l was
laying my plans for the evening. when
| expected Il struggle for her daughter.
called punctually at and found her
alone.
Its singular that 1 did not know
you," she said, from Nelly's descrip-
ton. She gave your last name
Jones is a common NAME" 1 re-
piled. 1t is singular that 1 did not
II.
''Smith Is not unusual" she replied,
with faint smile. Besides, Tom Is
not competent to describe me as 1 am"
az have been surprised" said. that
you object to my union with Nelly on
account of the difference In our ages.
Tom tells me that there Is about the
same difference between his age and
yours. He gives yours at from twenty |
six to twenty-eight. He Is over forty"
She looked down at the floor. Pres
emily a smile began to hover about her |
still, beautiful lips.
Suppose" she said = suppose we
make a bargain. / will give my con-
sent to your marrying Nelly, though I |
think she is still too young to marry. |
AS for me, you VIII permit me to re-
apraa fO vnur