Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-22
The Argus Daily Short Story
A Lost Art.-By Albert J. Forbes.
Copyrighted. 1910. by Associated Literary PresA

| duced in order to prevent the title
| family at his death.
'NThat was twelve years ago. Ten
years ago Count Herbert died. and his
| cousin, August, instituted a suit in
| the courts for the possession Of the
! title. he claimed that the babe, Franz,
| was not the son of Count Herbert and
! his wife Elizabeth, but of a peasant
| woman named Margaret Beck. The
case passed through different courts,
the countess always being the winner
until fourteen months ago. when Mar
garet Beck confessed that the child
| was hers and she had given it for a
consideration to the count and count
ess. This put the present count in
possession"
"And what became Of the boy" l
asked.
1.-The courts gave him to his real
mother. Margaret Beck, with whom he
is living as a peasant"
AFTER living until he was twelve
years old as the heir to this estate?"
yes"
l questioned my informer as to
| many points Of evidence in the case
and, among others. the question Of
family likeness. He told me that the
boy did not resemble either his father
or mother or any of the pictures in
the gallery OF family portraits.
When | went up to my room to go
to bed the secretary went with me to
see that had everything needful.
This is not a guest chamber" he
said. The rooms used for guests are
in the other wing. The rooms on this
side were occupied by the last count.
Count August does not use them His
own suits are now being decorated.
so you are placed in here"
am as impossible as a woman in
making up my mind about such mat
tiers as that which had been related to
me. using instinct rather than evil
dence. The evidence may be false. but
my instincts are natural. At any rate.
I sympathized with this poor boy.
Whether he was or was not the right
full heir, he had been brought up a
noble.
There is another womanly trait in
me- l am timid in the dark. l don't
look under the bed for burglars, but
carry an electric hand lamp with me
wherever l go.
That night did not sleep well
was thinking of the poor little fellow
who had often doubtless played. per
haps slept, in this very room. He had
lived here in luxury ignorant of the
fate that awaited him and now was
sleeping in a squalid room in a peas
ants hut After lying awake till !
heard the clock in the tower strike 2
l got up, took my electric lamp and
walked about the room. There were
pictures on the wall. and / examined
them by the light of my lamp. One.
a picture of an open window, had ar
rested my attention before / went to
bed from the fact that the artist had
not put anything in the easement
Why he should have painted a win
dow without some flowers or a bird
cage or some one looking out of it ex-
cited my curiosity. Flashing my light
upon this picture. I started with as
constituent The window was occupied!
was at first too much absorbed in
the phenomenon to notice who was
the occupant / am not superstitious
Indeed, l refer everything to a natural
cause II was no ghost looking at
me. II was one who had been put
there with some sort of paint tina
would only appear when illuminated
hy a certain kind of artificial light.