Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-12-06
DAILY. STORY.
A DEAD EASY THING.

him, had been voyaging in eastern seas
with his yacht. He was young man
of twenty-four and a resident of New
York, and while he was known among
his set as good fellow he was also
known as a conservative.
When the yacht got around to GER
tain port in Spain the owner went off
one day to view the leading cathedral
by himself. AS a matter of fact, the
other three had said that they would
rather see one bullfight than ten cathe-
drals, and they were left to enjoy
themselves in their own way. Mr..
Yonge saw the cathedral from the out
side and from the in. While he was
visiting the interior two ladies passed
him, and one deftly slipped IL note into
his hand. He made out that the note
slipper was girl and the other her
duenna. His heart gave several jumps
ere he got outdoors and found oppor-
tunity to read the note.
You are an American" read the
note. land | appeal to you as an Amer
lean. Five years ago an uncle of mine
who desired to get possession of my
fortune had me shut up in the convent
called the Sacred Heart. l have been
a prisoner ever since, and it has been
given out in America that l am dead.
Once Il week i am allowed to visit the
cathedral, but am always closely
watched l saw you week ago and
determined to appeal TO you. For
heavens sake, rescue me from this liv-
ing death. If YOU can place ladder
against the northwest corner of the
wall surrounding the convent at 10
o'clock on the night of the 18th. | can
persuade Sister Mary TO permit me to
pass into the grounds and thus escape.
Bring Il rope twenty feet long with
you. Bring horses or IL carriage. There
is no way you can answer this except
in person.
Some conservatives would have stop
ped to analyZc Il bit, but Mr.. Ionge
didn't. There was IN American girl in
distress. and it was his duty to rescue
her He would mount the wall, pun
her up with Il rope ana then take her
aboard his yacht. He would then
steam away, and who was to catch
him? He had it al! planned out before
his impulsive companions Sot back
from the bullfGht. They did not see
the matter as he did.
Whea Mr.. Yonge had announced in
cast iron tones that he intended to res
cue the girl single handed if his friends
We're afraid to tackle the job with him
they could do no less than Offer their
services. One of them was sent to buy
Il rope. another to look for Il ladder and
the third to survey the wall. Gonge
himself saw to the provisioning of the
yacht and the ovcrhauling of her ma
chimney He would steam out of port
the minute the damsel was aboard.
When the night of the 1lth came al
was in readiness. 4 vehicle was pur-
chased outright instead of hired. Moth
ing had transpre1 to arouse the suspi-
cions of the people in the convent, and
ii was looked upon as dead easy
thing to make the rescue.
The night was dark and rainy. 1t
was the night of all nights to rescue an
American damsel from a Spanish con
vent. Yonge had Only two compan-
ions. One drove and was to act as look
out. and the other was to hold the foot
of the ladder and help the rescued girl
to descend without breaking her neck.
Not IL dog bayed or cat meowed as
the angle of the wall was reached. If
Sister Mary had done her part and if
Miss Britomarte had not tainted away
while waiting, then i've minutes would
see her out of that and laying plans to
give her uncle a surprise party. There
was n feeling of the heroic about him
as Yonge mounted the wall. The water
ran down the back of his neck and
filed his side pockets, but he was not
He was on top of the
wall fishing with rope and trying to
locate the damsel when half dozen
lark lanterns flashed at the foot of the
adder and six strange men appeared.
They had not come to assist in the res
,ue of Miss Keith, but were in the uni
form of the police and spoke with COM
frankness.
Mr.. Yonge was ordered to descend or |
AXE a bullet from a revolver, and a |
minute later the handouts were slip |
BED on the trio. There were two other |
carriages close by, and presently the |
hree vehicles set out and made |
Irive of six or seven miles to stone |
Darn in the suburbs of the city. Here |
he prisoners were put through the |
bird degree in great shape. When the |
sergeant of police got through detail
ng the enormity of the offense they |
we're white as milk and thin as water.
The least that any of them might eX-
)ect was an hour on the rack and
wenty years in Il dungeon. The aver
lge American has commercial mind.
These three men had. They began to
ticker for their lives. To their great |
oy the sergeant was willing to listen. /
He finally admitted that If the convent |
we're heavily reimbursed, the police /
,aid for their time and if the yacht |
would put to sea instanter the ends of |
Justice would be subserved 1t must be |
ash on the nail, though, and no shay
ng down.
AS Mr.. Yonge had got his friends in
% trouble, it was up TO him to get them
,ut. He made a draft on his Spanish II