Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-05-01

and absence certainly aid make {,
heart grow fonder.
The next morning fioIbrook found
his mail. as usual. assorted in classi-
fed piles on his desk Taking up the
batch marked Personal" he began 10
run it over eagerly. lie stopped SUD
denly as :; colored postal card popped
unexpectedly into sight. He held 4
up closer in order 10 decipher the al
most i!legib!y fine writing
dearest boy" he made out. lit Is
lovely here. although you may moi
| think so frcm this T. c. You were a
perfect dear TO have that long letter
! waiting here for me- Isn't the scheme
| working OUT beautifully: No time for
more now Write as soon as you get
| this. NJ.
For few wrathful moments Hol-
| brook sat chewing vicioUsly on the cad
| of his penholder. Suddenly. with the
manner of one who has made MP his
mind. he threw it down and called his
| stenographer
MY dear Miss Earle" lie dictated.
| thinking you may find it more coa-
| venient i'll our future correspondence
| to have on hand some of my self al
| dressed business envelopes. | am ha"-
! Ing Il dozen of them sent to you under
! separate cover. More will Ge forward
ed as soon as the supply is exhausted.
, "You failed to state in your recent
| communication how long you think t
will take for your scheme TO material
ize Please do not fail To notify me On
this point at your earliest convenience.
/, Respectfully yours" etc.
| Sooner than Gregory had deemed u
possible the post brought back to hir
| one of his ''half addressed envelopes
Ee opened it with mingled emotion OF
curiosity and apprehension.
| "My dear Mr.. Holbrook," he read.
aud looked very sober as he did so.
"you see / have taken your hint. o..
rather. am obeyiHg your orders. re-
greet that the postal card offended yon.
1t was at the time my only means OF
communication
1 May ! request. however, that In
our future correspondence you favor
me with written rather than dictated
letters? Undoubtedly you were driven
TO this eXpedient by the press OF lr;&i-
ness.
"As TO the length of time it will prob
ably take for the friiition of my
scheme. | am sorry To say that from
the way things are progressing 1T pres
ent it is impossible 10 predict any def
mite date.
Sincerely yours (by which | mean
I'm not joking.
MARION EARLE"
"Well. bless her fiery little heart"
Exclaimed Holbrook mentally. This
will never do at all. She shall have all
the love letters she wants TO tie up in
ribbons" And he started TO suit the ac-
ton to the words.
He had proceeded no further than
Dear in my heart, however. when a
Telegram was handed him.
Coming home" he read. with amaze.
ment. Need not write. Meet me.
4 80 train MARION"
! Holbrook signed for the message
with an exuberant flourish and tore his
laffectionate salutation into undecipher-
liable fragments.
When. later in the afternoon, Gregory
was seated before a hearth fire with
Marions curly brown head on his
shoulder. as of old. he asked with mock
J solemnity:
!. You don't find it monotonous. do
j you. Marion loving me this way?"
Il For answer Marion drew from some
: mysterious hiding place two very crum
lbled letters and. holding them up. look
! ed at her fiance sternly.
| isn't that romantic collection t.
. hand down to ones grandchildren
: she asked him accusingly. lust tw,
, letters. and one typewriter cal
, ldown,'
- AS romantic as mine. anyway" re