Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-09-27

aunt OF mine was cOnunuallN OlnSlnS
them at me. and as luck would have it
they always worked the wrong way
with me. One day when l was hest
tating as to the date of going to a
neighboring town for a certain pur-
pose she said to me. Never put Off
till tomorrow what you can do to-
day" started Immediately. and while
was gone a man came to buy of me
a piece of property was very anxious
to sell. l missed him and lost the
sale.
A favorite saying of my aunt's was,
"a guilty conscience needs no ae-
cuser." have always been a very
sensitive person with too tender a
conscience already: consequently had
no occasion for this special adage.
Indeed. it was the source of a great
deal of trouble TO me. Not that suf-
fered In any way under a guilty con-
science. but l had heard so often that
& criminal is bound TO betray himself
that
But I'll not begin with the denouc-
ment Of my story. I'll save that for the
end. i was engaged to be married to
Martha Ellison. a girl of very high
principle. Indeed, so noble were her
conceptions-and so far as | knew she
lived up to them-that from the
moment l became engaged to her was
in constant dread of doing something
that would appear ignoble in her
sight
One day while walking on the street
saw a gold watch with a chain lying
at my feet. l stopped and picked 1t
up. 1t had fallen on grass beside the
flags and was apparently uninjured.
At any rate, it was ticking merrily. l
looked about me to see If any one
was near who might have dropped it.
I saw a policeman coming with a
/ quick tread toward me. When he
/ came'up he eyed me sharply.
/ There was a robbery committed
near here a few minutes ago." he
/ said. "Have you seen any one sus-
Z picious looking-any one running?"
! 1t at once occurred to me that IL
told him l had found the plundered
property-Or part of It'll would be ar
rested for the thief. l could not put
off till tomorrow what must be done
today. In other words. had no time
to think over what | had best do, sc
\ l simply replied in the negative.
4 Now, l hadn't seen any one who ap
I peared to have been connected with
the robbery, and possessed a perfect
| ~ clear conscience. | had in my pos
session what was doubtless property
that had been taken by the robber IN
question and either dropped Or thrown
away to avoid being caught with it or
his person. Moreover, / was ready
and willing to turn II over to either
the owner or the authorities But why
should l stand in the position Of the
person who had likely considered tina
it was necessary to get rid of it?
Unquestionably | should have hand
ed out the watch and chain to the pc
Iiceman and told him that had founI
them. If l could have put off my de
cision in the matter for even few
minutes probably l would have don,
this. But | couldn't put 1t off. AnC
here is where that adage is lame. |
takes no more account of cases wher,
we can't put off doing things than o
those in which we should put off do
ing them.
/ told the policeman that I had seeI
no one who looked like a robber. bu
said nothing about the watch ant
chain. As | have already said. m,
conscience was clear, but ! have M
doubt I looked like a thief. 1t didn'
matter that intended to give up tn,
| property when | could do so withOu
! discriminating myself had stoleI
| goods in my possession. and a police
! man was looking at me suspiciuusly.
He seemed In doubt whether h.
should hold on to me or let me go
Possibly it was my respectab Bile ap
pearance that decided him to do tn
latter. But he had gone on only
few steps before he called to me an'
asked me my name and where | lived
l gave him both correctly, and be diC
not delay me further.
My not having produced the stoleI
property at once complicated the cast
for me very much. 1t occurred to M
I NhdI S1Ohih AAhAliG TIC AihAtCl NN
Iiberately before coming to a decis
ion as to what to do next. If l should
go home ! might not have an oppor
tunity to think the matter out.
might be sent for by the police eithe
for a witness or on suspicion. | dread
ed being questioned further before
having laid down the course | shoulC
pursue. ! concluded to go to IN,
fancee. tell her OF the situation an'
, talk the matter over with her.
On the way | fell to thinking tina
my course thus far had not been sucI
, as to challenge admiration. Indeed.
realized that / should have had tn
courage to tell the policeman hat
found watch and chain knew tina
4 Martha was just the kind of a cir
to blame me for not having don
, this. The consequence was that whe
] called on her at an rlusual hour
was IL o'clock In tie morning-anl
Interrupted her In some work she wa
doing and she did not seem especial
pleased to see me. my courage ooze
out. Instead Of coming right out wit
the matter in hand / stammered
4, trumpet M excuse for my cominI
4 | She said coi1Iv tkaf the rpasnu I on :