Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-01

in lemon Juice. then indited in dis
guised hand this couplet:
II 20 know ne you aspire
Read my name before the fire.
You see letters written in lemon
juice though Invisible before. when
heated come out a brown color. Eff
ie. would apply the necessary heat.
1 only feared that she would throw
the valentine in the wastebasket with
out reading the cOuplet.
That ale turned out right was ap-
parent In q letter / received from my
valentine. for which l had given her an
address. Ef1e was delighted at my
success and said that she was very
proud Of me. She added. however,
that. so far as obtaining her mothers
consent 20 cur marriage or even an en-
sagement was concerned, il would be
more difficult than ever. Her mothers
figures for the fortune Edie's husband
should possess were rising every day.
Elie and l after this continued to
correspond clandestinely. she hot
knowing exactly what to do. She
loved her mother, and she loved me
She had yielded to her mothers wish
es so long as ! was unable TO support
her, and. now that was in position
to do so. she felt that something was
due both to ne and to herself. Mat
ters were brought 10 a crisis by Mrs
Winston discovering our correspond
enee. A letter Efie had written me
fell into her mothers hands.
It seems that Mrs. Winston had been
on the watch for such procedure and
Inc hnx
could have got into the house without
her knowing it. EIDE declined to en-
tighten her That made the old lady
very angry, and there was a great COM
motion In the Winston family. OF
course our correspondence was stop
ped. Ellie was forbidden to write to
or receive letters from me under pain
of being run Off TO Europe. In addi-
ton to the command Mrs. Winston set
spies upon Efiie. and she dared not
post me single note.
Matters went on in this way for
nearly year. One day a letter came
to the Winston house that excited Eff
fie's suspicious. 1t was now her turn
to pry The letter bore the business
stamp of an agent Of a steamship COM
pany. Efie steamed the envelope,
opened it and read that her mother
had engaged passage for two for Ge-
noa. the vessel to sail on the 14th of
February, or in about a week.
Here was a revelation. Something
must be done. Something was done.
And this is the way it was done.
Efie a week before st. Valentines
day went out and bought supply of
valentines for the children. The same
evening she addressed a number of
them. her mother asking why she was
sending them so early, and she reply
ing that they were going to distant
places. 2 She addressed and stamped
them, managing to retain one, which
she addressed TO me. This she gave,
with the others, to a maid to post,
who mailed them without looking at
the addresses.
This was the third and last valen-
tine. received it ard read that Efie
was ready to walk away with me to
church before the sailing of the vessel
that was to take her to foreign parts.
She appointed a place of meeting and
an hour Indeed, she arranged every
thing TO my satisfaction.
But there was very little time. The
steamer was 10 leave at 1 p. m. on
Feb a. and the appointment made
by Eliie to meet me was at dawn the
same morning. Before any one in the
house was awake she was up and
dressed and stealing downstairs. Then
she went out by a rear door. / was
at the corner with a carriage, and
when 1 saw her scudding toward me
I opened the carriage door. we got ia
and were driven away.
1 hcd arranged my part Of the elope
ment and engaged a clergyman TO be
up and ready TO perform a wedding
ceremony when the cocks were crow
ing We found him ready, aGd in a
few minutes 4 knot had been tied that
Mrs. Winston could rot unloose. From
the parsons we drove back TO the
house. Fife let us in with a night
key. and we waited till her mother
came downstairs to breakfast. Since
she was TO sail that day she was up
early. and when she entered the room
where we were and saw us sitting to-
gether her astonishment was unbound
ed. Efie said TO her:
Mother. / am Of an age TO think
and act for myself. We are married.
I have acted without your knowledge
to save trouble. for I knew you would
oppose me. and had made up my
mind 10 choose my OWL husband"
Wen. il was made up I'm time. but
not then. Mrs. Winston Cancelled her
passage abroad. and Efie and / went
on our wedding trip.
Is it wonder that we both appreci-
ate St Valentines day?
Won't Need 4 Crutch.
When Editor J p Sossman of Cor