Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-12-01


l turned to Lucille. She had dropped |
into chair and had buried her face In
her hands. She was crying
What's the matter, LucileT' / asked |
tenderly.
Il don't know" she sobbed; Just
nerves, guess"
You ought not to- be about at this
time of night" said sternly.
Il know" she replied II just came
down toto feed Tooties."
I would have believed her if | had
not seen the biscuit in her mouth
But what man would not forgive a
small fib on the part of the woman
( he loves.
Listen to me. Lucille, dear / said
authoritatively, taking her hand. I'VE
are not going to fast any more. II
/ your father were here he would call
I halt Here your mother is sick. you
are hysterieal, and hardly any Of us is
ON speaking terms with the others
Besides, we have got to stop, Our
water supply is gone
Lucille looked up Then it won't
really be our fault. will it?' she asked
hopefully. III we haven't pure water
we can't go on fasting, Upton S.
Clair says So"
And that's the best thing he ever
said, too" l agreed heartily.
So it was decided that the next day
we'd have new stock of groceries
come on the supply boat and telephone
the cook TO come back. think the
prospect cheered us wonderfuliy.s
know felt better Immediately, and
persuaded Lucille to go back 10 bed
and get some rest before daylight
She went in to see how her mother
was before retiring. There was a cry
from Mrs. Green's room, and rush
ed in.
MBs. GREEN HAD DISAPPEARED!
You have guessed correctly that this
is where the element Of mystery en-
tiers the story. You doubtless wonder,
,, as we did, if Kent, the wire Taper.
had made away with Mrs. Green or il
= Bopp. baked of his dog biscuit, had
become a villain Of the deepest dye.
We did not come TO any such conclu-
sions at first, Of course. That was
after we had looked all over tn house,
up In the attic and down in the cellar.
Then l went to Kents room. He was
] snoring peacefully. / misrTusted that
! he might he shamming and poured q
4 pitcher Of water on him to see how he
4 would react to the shock. ] should
I say that bis reactions were perfectly
Il normal, albeit somewhat picturesque
ly abusive
q Next we hailed Bopp from bis room
He was inclined to be suspicious n
Il first until we told him about Mrs
n Green's disappearance; then he wa:
III all sympathy and joined our light!
II clad searching party in the hallway.
q Naturally, Lucille feared the worst
while the rest Of us with masculine
optimism discounted any danger whicl
might befall the old lady.
But she wasn't herself walled Lu
Gle. She's been acting funny all tn
evening"
Never mind about her." comforte
Kent. "A man with jag can fall Of
the roof and never hurt himself BIZ
4 bit Of bun makes anybody lucky.
Suppose she is out in all this rain
"A little water. more or less, won
make any difference to her after tn
a last two days I observed gloomlly.
Lets not stand here any longer,
a said Bopp in businesslike fashion az
nj won't do much good to try to CUES
r. where she is. Let's begin systemati
liza hunt"
he Lets get on some regular clothe
as first" ] Suggested.
&c ''All right in chorus
nd Lucille dressed faster than she eve
on had before or has since, and we mel
90 with the usual CELEBRITY Of the bifurca
ed ed sex. were ready as soon as she wa
20 As soon as we had assembled in tt
"a living room once more Bopp, by re
m. son Of his superior nerve, elected hir
as self commander of the expedition.
Monty" he directed, you take Jes
I'D James with you and explore the nor
-, half of the island Lucille and ! W
~ search the southern portion. AS sol
as either party discovers Mrs. Gree
nd come back to the house and fire {
me this revolver" He laid a large caiib
six shooter on the table.
nd / might have disputed his arrang
ment and calm appropriation of L
,ra Giles society, but ! judged that
,as would be a poor time to argue abo
anything so purely social. Besides.
figured out that the man who W
with Lucille was going to have no Gin
reassuring her that her mother had u
,,I met with some terrible taking off.
~. they went one way, and we depart
~ the other. everybody sloshing intern
"a " and externally on account of I
in large amount of distilled water a
,ro- rain.
"a How are we going to hunt this SIX
I'm anyway demanded Kent after
trv nad trudged northward for few n
ments.
s,v "Just hunt" / replied vaguely.
ard busy with my thoughts to consider
OF question seriously
ing This amt regular" objected he
Stacking up his pace. I'VE ought
>er- trail the old dame by her footprin
dis Did you notice any footprints arou
wn the houssT