Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-08-21

meet We were both very young tnen
and formed boy and girl attachment
As we grew older and / reached an
age at which I realized that 1 had 9
career before me and must be con
sidering how to meet It the fact that
neither Lucy nor I had any capital
seemed to render q marriage between
us undesirable.
don't remember that I stated this to
her In so many words. Indeed, there
was no need to do so. for she spoke OF
it herself She was a practical girl and
looked at things as they were rather
than as she would have them. II would
only be drag on you," she said. You
are capable of taking a good stand in
yourself in the start with a wife who
must throw the whole burden upon
you"
Would you have me-that is, con-
sidering yourself out of the question
marry a girl with fortunep'
NO" she replied: 81 would not"
What are your reasons"
First, it would deprive you Of the
stimulus of necessity, which Is the
foundation of all or nearly all success.
Second, l do not believe that any
poor man of proper pride can ever feel
comfortable if his wife possesses a
fortune and he has nothing"
The deduction being that poor man
had best not marry so long as he is
poorT'
hot ha orrin IN
who supplies comforts and luxuries he
is in an unpleasant position, and If he
marries one as poor as himself he is
very badly handicapped"
In all this 1 agreed with Lucy. but /
neither admitted nor denied its truth.
We being practical young persons, there
was never a proposal on my part or an
acceptance or refusal on hers. We
conferred upon the matter of our
marrying much as two persons will
talk over the practicability of forming
a business partnership. Whatever of
love there was underneath this COM
mon sense elaboration was unex-
pressed.
This condition lasted about a year.
when Lucy's mother died. 1t seemed
to me then that Lucy might best
marry me, for she must live alone. But
the conditions were otherwise IN
changed, and since her mother had
been nonproductive pecuniarily Lucy
could provide for her wants mores
easily than before. I was then strug-
Cling to get a start in my profession.
and it did not seem wise for me to
urge her.
Then followed a period in which Lucy
and saw very little of each other. i
was away from home a great deal, and
heard of her being away, too, though
where she had gone L did not learn. |
wrote her a respondent letter. in which
said that at the rate we were pro-
gressing-or, rather, not progressing
she would soon be an old
maid. 1 advised her, if she found a
suitable opportunity, to marry She
replied that if she found the on.
portunity she would let me know be-
fore engaging herself.
Such was the very practical situation
when one morning 1 received a package
by express. Not expecting anything
in that way, looked long at the type
written address before opening it.
There seemed to be a box under the
wrapper, and had it not been very
light 1 might have feared an Internal
machine. Untying the string and
taking off the cover, there, true enough,
was box. Its lid was on hinges and
was held shut by a spring, which
pressed and raised the lid.
l recall with the freshness of that
the dazzling splendor of what
lay before me. The box was lined !
with purple satin, on which rested a
heap OF diamonds. For a moment 1 was |
lost in contemplation of their beauty; |
then / began to wonder how they could |
have come into my possession. Again |
/ took up the wrapper and scrutinizea |
the address. There We're my name,
street and number. plain as the stones |
in the box. Turning again from the |
TO the jewels, l made a rough |
estimate of their value. Several large |
stones 1 believed, if genuine, to &c !
worth between $4,000 and $500 |
each. There were many smaller ones. I
and when i figured up the value OF |
each l concluded the lot was worth |
not much less and not much more than /
$500
After many theories as to why this /
the conclusion that it had been stolen. |
the thief had feared being caught with |
It in his possession and had shipped 1t |
by express to get it into the hands of |
some one else. But in doing so he |
must have given up all claim to the |
property, for he must have expected |
that the receiver would report the mat
ter TO the police. But why had he
chosen me for his purpose? My only /.
theory on this point was that he had
taken up a directory to find a name
and address and his hitting on mine
was mere coincidence.
Being a methodical sort of person. I
thought out what l would do before
doing IT. made n list of the stones,
living description of each. then start
ed for safety deposit company. On
the VFaV I phpaitfaA fha Ja~alS IN an