Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-09-23

had made nearly a dozen good men
out of as many bad ones they were
married. There wasn't a person in
the place who didn't give them wed
ding present, and q man who had
started a oank gave q thousand dol
lars, saying that the couples service
to him had been worth many times
that sum.
So Ben and Elsie went to housekeep-
ing with every man, woman and child
in the town their friend Many
summer night before going to sleep 1
heard Eisie's laugh ring out on the
still air. One night after IL had died
away I heard that knocking echo
Charnley had spoken OF. I was
plunged by it from balEy optimism
into frigid pessimism. The final dis
solution which awaits Us all was made
vivid to me as never before. After
ALL" 1 sighed. for every laugh there
Is a sob"
The occasion OF Elsie's laugh was
this: Ben was going out to bring in a
Desperate Elsie looked worried. To
cheer her Ben cracked a Joke which
was followed by the laugh 1 heard-
The next afternoon Ben was brought
in MORALLY shot by the men he had
attempted TO capture and died in
few hours in his wife's arms
I had scarcely heard that Ben was
dead when l saw Elsie galloplng along
the street. followed by every convert
she and Ben had made. 1 devised the
errand on which they were bent. and.
being mounted, l determined to so
with them. The man who had killed
Ben-called Mississippi Jake-got word
that revenge would be taken upon
him for the murder and gathered
dozen or so of his pals to put up
fight We came upon them crouched
on the other side Of bridge spanning
a creek and were received by a volley.
The crackle had not subsidized when
Elsie gave laugh so wild, so piercing,
that 1t froze me with horror 1t was
the mocking echo 1 had heard the night
before, only instead of an echo 1T was
wall, the wall of a broken heart.
simultaneously with this. Elsie gal
Hoped forward. a cooked pistol in each
hand, distancing the rest of US who
endeavored to ride ahead of her. In
charge like that it was not to be ex-
pected, wild as she was, that she
would do much damage to her enemies.
But her mind was so intent on venge-
ance that 1t conquered madness. She
emptied every chamber Of the two re-
volvers. and with so true an aim that
nearly every shot took effect.
I saw a man rise up from behind
low stone wall whom by descriptions
had had OF him | knew TO be Missis-
sippi Jake. He had his eyes bent on
our woman leader and, raising rife.
was about TO fire at her when l quick
ly drew a bead on him and dropped
! him.
That ended the fight. The villains
that were left-they We're but few
scattered in an adjoining wood
Then we rode back to town, the
widow like a statue Of stone. She rode
| through the streets lined by citizens,
| all with heads bowed. and entered her
! desOlate dwelling alone.
Since then l have talked with Charm
| ley about this singular case. He says,
| What pity that this merry laugh Of
Elsie's should have sometimes ended
with that hooking echO!" Charnley Is
| matter of fact fellow and has no
realization whatever of the depth OF
| meaning there is under his words.
But" he adds. the laugh was always
there. while few ever spoke Of what
on rare occasions followed it." In 9th
er words. the main parts of our lives
| are blythe and merry.
"The Laughter" l replied, was but
twenty when the trouble came. Has
she ever laughed SINGER
M" says Charnley, "she has not"
evil she ever laugh AGAIN.
81 think not"
pick up the thread Of happiness after
1t has been dropped, but no one ever
lived who did not finally drop 1t for
ever