Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-10-29


Your train is another two hours
late making FIVE hours in all. Mebbe
it will be six, but I'll say I'VE 10 you.
"And live got to wait two OF .nree
hours more" she almost screecIieo'
"Unless you want TO walk
The young man was at the iar emo
of the platform inspecting pateht
washing machine that had arrived by
freight. and yet he must have heard
the message and known her feelings.
If not. why did be grin? For a min
ute Miss Carrie looked around Tor
dynamite to blow him off the face OF
the earth. but then it began to RAIN
and she had TO seek shelter. Ihe
young man also sought shelter
The sitting room was about twelve
feet square. 1t contained a rusty stove
and a single bench. It's windows had
got been washed since the surrender
Of Lord CORVALLIS, and the only pfc
tlre on the walls was that of q young
lady with long hair and holding in
her hand a bottle of the stuff that did
the trick. Miss Carrie took one end
of the bench and the young man the
other. For twenty minutes she gazed
at her toes and he at his. Then they
gazed at the rusty stove. Then they
raised their eyes as high as the long
haired girl and kept them there a long
time. She could have grown another
foot of hair while they looked.
Then the red headed man came in
ana said ne guessed 1t was going TO
rain and went out again AS it had
been pouring for half an hour his OBJ
servation struck home. The young
man wished TO himself that he had
such a father-in-law. and Miss Carrie
wished to herself that he would come
to the Boston weather bureau and run
the weather for awhile.
Then the young man consulted his
watch. The girl wished it would stop
with a bang, and she walked over to
one of the windows TO see if the COW
still stood out on the marsh. he walk
ed over to the other to see if the hay
stack still stood upright or had Pisa
tower lean to it. Silence for twenty
minutes. The two could almost hear
more rust gathering on the stove.
Then, all of a sudden. Miss Carrie gave
way. She had been wanting TO cry
about something for three weeks past. |
The something had come. There were
tears and sobs.
"What's-what's the matter?" asked
the young man.
"You are"' she answered fercely.
GLOW am I-I"-
'fYou know. Here I've been for n
whole week. and you haven't-haven't
even spoken to me! No. you haven't. |
10 toll
of you"
'But, you know-you know he fall |
tered.
"Of course I know! Was it my bust
ness to come up and speak TO you
first? You knew 1 was impatient
You knew l was lonesome. You knew
had nowhere to go. And-and you
just walked and walked and walked,
and you wouldn't even look at me.
Where are your manners. sir? Are
you a stick of wood or n young man?"
But L 1irted with a girl once. and
she froze me-" lamely protested the
young man.
But am 1 that girl? Are all girls
alike? Did that girl have to wait five
or six weeks at an old junction? II
OOn Ndnl ~ nILl. Will ~ luik-
just talk. l want to know when that
old train is coming, when it's going to
stop raining, what time it is. if the
curl has come out of my hair in this
dampness and lots and lots more.
Why, if you hadn't been a chump-I
mean if you had been a talker-we
might have had a real long visit. and
could have told you all about my
Aunt Sarah
1t wasn't too late to make amends
The young man hitched nearer and
began to talk. and half an hour later.
when the red headed man came in to
say that the train had concluded to be
two additional hours late. the couple
gave him no attention, and he went to
the house and said to his wife:
''Well. they've took TO each other at
last, and 1 just heard him ask her If
she would correspond. If it amt Il
marriage within a year, then I'll dye
my hair and grow chin whiskers."