Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-10-30

! the season. Farmer Hardwick, sitting
| beside the stove in his living room.
| listened to the bowling wind thrash
/ ing the leafiesS branches of the trees
/ and hurting the snow like sand blast
against his window panes. tele-
+ graph pole stood on the roadside in
/ front of and very near to his house
and it seemed to him that the sounds
made by the rushing currents Of all
| were the walls of lost spirits.
Hardwick, ike most farmers Of the
| present day, was connected by tele-
phone with his neighbors. The in
| strument was placed in an addition to
| his house used for everything pertain
| ing TO a farm. from matches to fire
| wood. from 4 gimlet to a grindstone,
| from a jug of vinegar TO cask or
| cider. There were openings through
! TO this universal "catchau,' and. the
| doors between standing open, Hard
| wick heard some one calling up a
number OF a telephone subscriber. The
| voice was a mans, but didn't sound
! like that of any of the zen on the
! farm. As soon as the speaker was
/ connected with the number he had
| asked for he spoke one sentence quick
! Is, but Hardwick could not hear what
[ he said
Only a few moments had elapsed
/ between the call and the communica-
/ ton when Hardwick got up from his
/ chair and went through the rooms to
where the telephone was located to
/ see who was using it To his sur
/ prise, no one was there. The receiver
| hung in its place, and there was no
/ indication that any one had been
/ near it. HaTlwick ran to the only
door leading out into the yard and
pulled it open, but no one was in
/ sight.
That's Queer!' be muttered to him
self and, going back to his seat by
the stove, sat down to think about It
+ At the time Farmer Hardwick heard
/ the voice at his telephone Cicily
I Boardman, who was upstairs in her
own home sewing in preparation for
her coming wedding with Harvey
! Brown, heard above the storm a ring
/ on the floor below. Going down, she
took up the receiver and, having spo-
ken the usual ''WellY heard her low
er's voice say to her:
Its In the northeast corner Of the
/ smokehoUse."
/ There was a click, followed by 81
| Ience. She called again and again.
| but, receiving no answer, concluded
! that Harvey had been shut or in the
midst Of what ne was saying. and,
/ hanging up the receiver, she went
back TO her work.
But since she could both work and
think at the same time she pondered
on what her lover had tried to com
municate. There was nothing intel
ligible to her in the message she had
received. and had not the voice been
unmista kabIy her lovers she would
have assumed that, using party wire,
she had heard that which had been
intended for some one else. But Har-
veys deep tones were too familiar to
her to be mistaken for those OF any
other man. The message was so in
explicable that she began to feel
dread, though Of what she did not
know.
The next morning Cicily took up the
work on her wedding garment with a
singular dependency. mentally repeat
ing the words IAN impending calam-
fly" Presently she heard some one
without kicking off the snow, the front
door open and heavy step. Then fol-
lowed mufied voices below. Cicily
listened, her heart sinking Ike lead
within her. little later when her
mother came into the room with dread
on her face Cicily moaned:
"You don't need to tell me. mother;
Harvey is dead"
The mother put her arms about her
daughter, saying not word.
Harvey Brown had started during
the storm to walk from his home to
that of his fancee, distance Of two
miles. The road led past Farmer
Hardwick's house and Browns body
was found buried in a drift under one
of the telegraph poles not far from
Hardwick's. Whether he had sunk
down confused and benumbed by that
fnterminablc whirling Of snow or
whether his efforts to get on had
Brought on some sort Of a stroke was
not evident. The night had been very
cold, and it was thought that, Devil
dered and exhausted, he had stopped
10 EtSL anu ldu Deen IEOLen
Cicily and her mother were in strait
ened circumstances. Harvey Brown
not only owned the house in which he
lived, but had inherited n fortune in
vested in stocks and bonds. Cicily's
approx ching marriage with him had
been looked forward to by her as q
great relief. Harvey had suggested
fastening the wedding that she might
be his legal heir. The next Of kin TO
him was the son of bis fathers broth
er, "A ne'er-do-weH. whom Harvey be
Hcved would stCOp 70 any chicanery TO
get possession Of the property at Har-
vey's death. 70 which, without a viii
or a wedding, he would be the lawful
heir. This man. Peter Brown, might
EeCure and destroy a viii. hut be could
not annul a marriage. For this reason
Harvey was anxious 70 have the cere-
nOAy Performed