Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-06-07

, ern horizon, where against the pale
gray blue of the sky there blurred
dark plume of smoke. Perhaps that
is his train now, Ann" She pointed
with her whip at the smoke.
at may be. honey. / think you're
the luckiest girl in the world, Sylvia
Moore. Tins such a fine fellow. 1
wonder Annie stopped abruptly
and fell to musing, with her black
eyes fixed on the rolling alfalfa that
rippled before her.
What do you wonderT asked Syl-
via curiously, Withdrawing from her
own reverie.
81 was wondering If you really meant
what you said about asking Tim to
stay away from battle If there is to
be one" said Annie, her eyes now
gravely fixed on her cousin.
"a man owes some duty to the girl
he loves. and there are plenty of men
who can fight for the country-men
who have no friends or relatives or
have no ties to bind them. How self
fish / am, Annie, and yet somehow /
can only seem to think of two things
today. One is Timothy Robson. and
the other is myself"
Lets talk about something else"
said Annie. And so the conversation
turned to the beauty Of the March day
and thence to the absorbing topic Of
clothes.
1t was not until two days after this
conversation that the little party set
forth to go to Ell Paso. They started
just at daybreak.
All the way to FL Paso Sylvia's ears
were eagerly alert for the sound OF
warfare. She did not dare voice her
fears, but they were very large fears
and very agonizing ones too.
She had been proud indeed that her
future husband should be an officer
in a fine regiment She thought the
sight Of Timothy in his uniform the
dearest thing in the world, and the
very thought of the military wedding
that would mark her marriage to the
handsome young man sent her into &C.
stasies of delight.
This was the other side OF the war
picture. Here was the beat of the
drum calling to arms. Real powder and
shot had been issued to the men, and
real shot would be fred In fancy she
saw her beloved killed at the head of
AAo SOAAhAAB ACd01h5s al
waving his sword and shouting encour-
agement to his weary men.
They came upon the new city, the
tented one, all of a sudden and looked
with awe upon the results of a deep
thinking war department, a capable
executive staff and a we'll trained ar
my. A day or two ago and there had
been cactus plain; today there were a
field of snowy tents and a multitude
of orderly men awaiting the summons
to-what?
To Sylvia Moore war meant desper-
ate fighting, the sudden death of Tim
othy Robson and for herself lifelong |
separation from the man she loved.
When they were in the city and saw |
the flying flags and heard the outpour- |
ing OF martial music the heart Of Syl- |
via beat quickly, and she felt more /
like crying than ever. II she could /
only see Timothy for one moment she |
was sure she could persuade him to |
stay with her.
Presently through Mr.. Lakes in1u-
ence it was made possible for Sylvia
to meet her lover, and In the first 10y
full moment the strangeness of the
meeting was quite forgotten. at last
Timothy pushed back his cap and said:
TN bet you were surprised to hear
was on the way, eh, Sylvan
YES" said Sylvia. suddenly very
quiet. Then, after a pause, she said in
a low tone. Timothy, / wonder If
you care enough for me to do a big
thing for ms-a great thing-the great
est thing you ever did in your life"
'Of course" said Timothy prompt
Iy. My hfe's yours, you know, dear
est"
Then stay with me. Do not go into
active battle" SyIvfa's voice was
with anxiety. and her eyes
were fixed eagerly on her lovers face.
She saw the mask OF reserve that
dropped over his surprised face-a re-