Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-09-29
DAILY. STOR Y.
a DELAYED WEDDING.
1Original.l

| but il waSn't-had called on the morn
ing of his wedding for final wor,
with his fiancee in order TO make sur
that nothing had been forgotten. The!
were to be married at high noon, an,
| II was now IL o'clock. But the groom
was in costume. even to the bouton
Mere. and the bride needed only to pu
| Il few finishing touches 10 her toilet.
After giving and receiving few
| final reminders Mr.. Peter. accompanied
| by Miss Blossom, his bride TO be, wen
| into the hall and through the from
door. backing himself out i'll order tC
keep UP his instructions and his eyes
on his fiancee till the last moment. He
descended tie steps in this reverse or
der. then turned. and the door closed
at the same moment.
Now. in anticipation of Il coal strike
Miss Blossoms father was getting in
his annual supply of fuel. a coal wag-
on had just driven away. and the
HEAVIER had forgotten to replace the lid
on the coal hole. The consequence was
that as Mr.. Peter turned and took Il
step forward he felt himself sink. and
in another moment he was knee deep
in a coal heap.
The only injury he suffered was
scraping the skin off his left arm. He
looked up and saw that he could 81
most reach the round opening above
him, but TO do so would require =
jump. To jump on heap of coal Is
like jumping on a quicksand.
When he was thinking what to do
suddenly the lid was clapped on the
coal hole. Some one passing had seen
the opening in the sidewalk and. sup
posing he was doing kindly act, put
on the lid. Mr.. Peter cried out. but too
late. The benefactor-to some one else
than Mr.. Peter-passed on.
From an anticipated wedding cere-
mOny in fashionable church. in the
presence of fashionable assembly.
to a coal hole even with the lid off and
sunlight is not pleasant transition,
but with q closure and darkness Mr..
Peter found it narrowing. especially
as he might not get out in time for
the wedding. 1t is singular what
thoughts will pass through the brain
at such Il time. Many person upon
learning OF some calamity has had an
I'LL INV iiS Va "iAA'
Mr.. Peter was Il college bred man
and. being impressed with the readi-
ness with which he had reached his
present position. remembered an adage
of the ancients. Easy is the descent
to hell" This he kept repeating-or
rather it kept repeating itself without
asking his permission-till he was re.
minded that he had better he devising
some method of escape.
But there was no escape. The only
egress was shute for the coal. but
this was not practicable for Mr.. Pc
ter because it must be opened from
the outside. In fifty minutes his we'd
ding would be due He saw the peo-
pie assembling. the bride and her at
PENDANTS going TO the church. then
waiting for him in the vestibule; ush-
ers going TO the doors and looking up
the street for him. anxious faces: the
bride troubled and finally in tears.
This is what Mr. Peter saw in the
coal hole. and it was what occurred.
He took no note of time till Il clock in
church tower near by struck the
hour of H. Then he knew that the
wedding party was waiting that pc
Rod Of suspense which must lead to
he knew not what had begun.
At the last stroke of the clock he
heard step In the adjoining apart
ment-doubtless the cellar Only Il
board partition separated him from it.
He cried ont There was an interval
of silence. then voice:
What is it? Who is it,"
Mr. Peter. drcading lest the person
would take to flight. cried Justify for
help. After some delay the coal shute.
which fortunately was above the par
tally filed bin. was opened by a scrv-
ant. and Mr.. Peter stepped out.
The first thing he did was to look at
his watch. 1t was five minutes past II.
up the stairs, he gained the
bathroom and a glance in mirror
showed him a dusky face. Plunging 1T
and his hands into basin of water, lie
buttoned his coat as high as possible
over his smudged collar and. descend
ing with lightning speed to the street,
ran toward the church. On the way
he passed an empty cab. which he
hailed, and few minutes later dashed
up 10 the church.
Three ushers were straining their
eyes up and down for him. Mr.. Pc
ter was hustled inside, where he was
greeted by the bride to be with min.
Cling of anger, tears and signs of re-
lief There was no time for explana-
tons. since the guests had already
Deen kept too long waiting. Mr.. Peter
.ook his proper position, with his sup
ports, on the opposite side of the vesti-
Dule, there was creaking of the organ
bellows, and the divided wedding par
", uniting in the center aisle, ad-
to the strains of wedding
march.
Mr.. Peters coat being black and his |
rousers dark gray, his shirt collar be- |
ng largely covered and his sleeves |
pulled down over his cuffs, showed no |
marks of his residence in coal bin. |
But Mr.. Peter was badly ratified. He |
made the responses wrong, fumbled in |