Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-10-17
The Argus Daily Short Story
WHY THEY WERE GENEROUS BY M. MONROE JAMES
Copyrighted, Literary

In 10 l was invited to make a
Memorial day address in my native
town of Eastport. When the exer-
, cises were over I wandered among
the tombs. watching the friends who
were bestowing fragrant tokens of re-
membrance over the ashes of their
dead.
/ was standing beside grave which
was literally covered with choice
flowers when my friend C. joined me.
"Those people are generous"
| said, pointing to the flower strewn
| grave and indicating gentleman and
/ lady who had just left it,
''They have reason to be-" he an
! swered.
| That evening he told me the story:
| For a time it was difficult to guess
which of the rivals for the hand of
Cora Dixon would carry off the prize,
for she seemed equally gracious to
Fred Nevius and Godfrey Burns.
| There was one intensely interested
spectator, who, had the question been
left for her decision, would have set
tied it easily. To COra's mother mon
ey was the key to all things desirable,
and as Burns had an abundance OF
the commodity, while Nevius was but
! indifferently provided. she wondered
at her daughters indecision.
But Cora was unlike her mother,
and when the supreme test came to
her she did not let the superior finan-
cial advantages of one lover outweigh
the fact that her heart had gone into
the keeping of the other.
Scarcely had the story Of Fred's good
fortune become known when the town
was startled by strange news. The
lover had forged his employers name
and had fed.
While the matter was being discuss
ed elsewhere Cora was reading with
tear wet eyes and agony of soul let
ter from her accused lover:
Dear Cora-When you get this I shall be
far away, where 1 do not know. Fate is
against me; but, as there Is n God In
heaven. did not do the thing they charge
against me. | shall love you always. but
of course you are free from any promise
to me. Unless L can clear my name
shall never return. l trust You will be-
lieve me- though / suspect the world Will!
not. God bless you. Goodby! Your UNI
happy FRED.
The story was this: A check presum-
ably drawn by Samuel Blake, his un-
Gle and employer, was presented by
the young man at the bank and cash.
ed. Mr.. Blake declared the check a
forgery. Fred said it was received
in a letter which stated it was gift.
Unfortunately the letter could not be
produced. With an indignant denial
he paid back the money and demand
ed to know, if his uncle intended to
prosecute. Receiving Il negative reply
he left the store and, packing his be-
longings, left town without notifying
any one of his destination.
AS Cora faced the situation she saw
, that, rs he had said, his explanation
would not he accepted. She was
worldly wise enough to know that
notwithstanding the maxim of the
law to the contrary, public opinion is
apt to adiudge an accused man guilty
unless he can show his innocence Hell
!, cheeks tingled as She thought of the
covert sneers about that gift. Oh, il
he had only kept that letter.
| But what did it all matter? She
: knew he was innocent. Whatever the
world might say, that was her verdict
, This verdict she announced with
quiet emphasis whenever the matter
t came to her attention. but she sadly
/ saw that few stood with her; hence Il
did her world of good to receive 8
note from Godfrey Burns announcing
/ bis faith in her friend.
! AS time wore on Cora, bearing the
: double burden of her own desolatior
, and her lovers shame. saw, with al
r added pang. how quickly the WORLD
: forgets. Fred Nevius had been the lido
f Of the social circle in which they hat
moved. Now he was as one who hat
never been
So went a year. Then came an even
; !, which broke somewhat the dreary ten
or of her life. David Nelson. a fellow
employee, on his dying bed made {
= statement which wiped the blot from
Freds name. He said he sent the let
ter and check as an April fool Jest
expecting to tell Fred of It before b,
could present it at the bank. When h,
saw 1t was likely to get him into trou
bic he became alarmed and held hi
: peace.
S Shortly after this disclosure Burni
called on Cora and congratulated he
/ on the clearing of her lovers name.
81 cannot thank you enough for you
: loyalty to Fred" she said gratefully.
: HE was my friend, too" he an
1 swered.
r Then he told her of having sent Mel
/ sons confession to the papers Of tn,
r large cities with the hope that the In
nocent man might see It.
t Somehow after this 1t seemed tn
most natural thing for Burns to cal
now and then. So went another year
\ Meanwhile report came to East
, port that Nevius was dead. Whel
y Burns next called Cora question:,
q him about it.
''Yes, have heard it." he answers
ovasively.