Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-05-11
The Daily Story
Triangular Love Dificulty-By Captain F. A. Mitchell.
copyrighted. 1919 Associated Literary Bureau.

i was wounded at the battle NJ re-
chester and sent to a hospital. wbara
remained some months. A nurobo. /.
young women in those days cam,
down to devote themselves to nurssr.
soldiers. and 1T so happened that ! ~
under the care of a young woman NJ.
ministered to me. I am QUITE sa..
that 1t was due to her attention ~,
recovered from my wound.
This being cared for by IN attracts.
woman was dangerous situation ~.
man to be placed In who had aIrea6.
two women to whom he might be s.,s
+ to be in measure bound. I beI,o-s
there are more marriages results
from men being nursed By women dr.
ing sickness than through any othe-
cause. ] am ashamed to confess tbs,
my betrothed and Jim's betr0hed ho.s
faded before my growing attachmsn,
to my nurse.
Another weak spot in the sItuatio,
| for me was that. not having my nat.
ural physical strength, | did not have
| my full moral strength. / craved
demonstrative sympathy from nv
hNAoC anu ohNNtd AAdL ETdNEQ IL. Ar
first l got only an indulgent nurses
| petting, but little by little the barriers
were broken down between us, and va
became lovers.
The day l was discharged from tho
hospital marked the close OF nv mill.
tary service, for the war had ended
was surely in an unenviable position
l was expected to go home and marrv
my fiancee. l felt that / should nav
some attention to my dead friends
wishes, and l was in love with nv
nurse. who showed a willingness to
listen to my suit. What should 1 do,
+ Providence was kind to me, for on
rejoining my regiment for the purposa
of being mustered out Of service I
found letter from the girl TO whom
had been engaged. but had not seen
for four years. 1t was a long effort TO
excuse herself for breaking her en-
gagement with me. She said that when
we parted she was little more than
child, while now she was a woman.
She had recently met a man who had
been very kind to her and had the
means to make her very comfortable.
To refuse him would spoil his whole
life. This was the gist of the matter,
though it was spread out over sixteen
pages of letter paper. 1t might have
been condensed into six words, "You
are thrown over for another"
1 released her joyfully, though in a
sorrowful letter. and an important
point of my triangular complication
I0I > ,1aI fA- 81,
so to Jim's sweetheart and see what
was in store for me there / could not
divest myself of the feeling that I
would soon forgive myself if did not
do my part in bringing about what
Jim had desired. I regarded it mat
ter of feeling rather than one of honor,
but the feeling was very strong. l
wondered If Jim had ever written her
on the subject. If he had and it APP
peared that her future happiness as a
wife depended on me 1 would not
shrink from acceding TO Jim's plan.
1 tried to make up my mind to 90
to see the lady and abide by what the
brought forth, but in cowardice
we always prefer to write rather than
"take the bull by the horns" l wrote
her letter telling her Of Jim's wish
and leaving it with her as TO what
should be done in the matter. receiv-
ed a kindly note in reply, couched in
delicate terms, the main feature OF
which was that If I were fancy free
she would be happy to see me, but
If not the matter Of Jim's wish need
not even be taken up.
This reply helped matters amazingly.
[ wrote her that I loved another. In
due time a reply came releasing me
from any obligation to Jim, but invit-
ng me to bring the ring for a friendly
visit She had great desire to meet
lear Jim's bosom friend.
I resolved to clear up this second
point at once, then go and offer my
heart and hand TO the woman VINO
lad nursed me- l took train the next
lay and on arriving at my DESTINATION
lrove to the house and sent up my
ard. Presently l heard a soft step
IN the staircase, and who should enter
nurse.
While i was paralyzed by astonisu'
nent, her face was covered Win
miles and bushes. / stammered
omething about a remarkable conner
ence. when she stopped me:
THE coincidence is not here. lt was
n our meeting in the hospital. you as
atient, / as nurse. And | knew VINO
on were the moment | saw the ring
i'm had from me the day he marcneu
way to the war"
Ibid Jim write you
"He did"
''Then," / said, taking her IN NY
rms, ''since you have said that you
ill marry only the man who wears
ais ring I claim you"
For brief space she was LOST IN
lought / fancied l could understands
er reverie She was thinking OF tne
ay. the moment. when she had spoken
hose words What a difference oe
veen then and now, Those four years
nd broken the bonds uniting many Z
appy family. The man she had tnen
we'd was among the many victihis'
had taken his place. Nevertheless We
ere both silent, thinking Of the grea'
lange.