Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, November 13, 1913, Page 2

PAGE TWE, — Sell your hammer and buy a horn! Enter with- out knocking = go out; Blow in your horn tor |, Lakeland, THE town; Phoenix Baiber Shop f THE shop. ! The PHOENIX BARBER SHOP is the largest.in_Polk_County . L. E. PEACOCK. MANAGER _M_Q_V__ED_!_ My customers and (i friends will find me now just in front of my old s:and, over in the Van Huss Building. COML OVER! 1 will make it to-your » interest. Will have 'an up-to-d:te place as soon as | can straighten up. ] D.B.DICKSON e e e — e e s ! [WHY TAKE CHANCE When you can take your watch where you are sure you can get it repaired right the first time. We guarantee_all work [and will deliver if prompt!'y. ! |[COLE & HULL ‘ Phone 173 Kentucky Avenue Lakeland \ [ o “It,s an ill wind that blows ne- body any good” Said the little :boy as he shoveled the snow away from the doors'and gates. Our Shoes are n:t ill toanyone's ¢ 4 B o L L] . ‘l | We zsk you, onz and all to Jook at our upt-to-date lines before buving elsew here ——e e Y OUR MO [ TO: Something F or Your Money Kimbrough & Rutherford Long Lifeof Linen| sirky with good laundry work (s what you avs loskiag fov ant , the s in {nsd what we are giviag, Try wa, ———————————————————————————————————— s, Lakelana :Y;é;;n Laundry 2y0me 140, West Main ¥, Ccme Take a Look At the new things of GOLD SILVER CUTGLASS, CHINA Umbrellus, Parasols and Canes In Gold and Silver Handles s WATCH OUR WINDOWS bk Wateh and Jewelry Repairing | Promptly and Carefully Done. H. C. STEVENS THE tAKELAND JEWELER B. P. Whidden \ Proprietor g Manager . Duke, the Tailor ‘ ' | NUWAY TAILOR SHOP ‘ .| HIGH GRADE TAILORING Up-to-date cicaiing, pressing. altering Ladies work so icited Hats cleaned and blocked Kentucky Ave. "hone 257 Bowyer Ruilding * SHE EIVENING TELEGRAM, LAKELAND, FLA., NOV 13, 1018, ©00000CO00000000000000000C FIGHTING FCR HER By JOHN GEORGE JONES. Dugald Forsythe smiled with the impersonal amusement of one who watches himself struggle in the grip of fate and has grown tired of resist- ance. He locked the door of his cage behind him and, with bis suit-case in his hand, started for the door of the bank. He had almost reached it when a hand was laid on his shoul- der. Forsythe looked up into the kindly face of Mr. Smith, the man- ager. “Will you come into my office a mo- ment, Mr. Forsythe?” asked the lat- ter. Forsythe followed him. He was con- scious now that his heart was palpi- tating wildly. A mad desire for in- stant flight made his knees tremble, “Mr. Forsythe,” said Smith, “Mr. Swain died suddenly tais morning. We thought ke would be able to return to duty, but the end came unexpectedly. It is very sad.” Beads of molsture stood out on For- sythe's forehead. He coyld have shouted In his relief that this was the burden of Mr. Smith's remarks and not—something else, “We have decided to give you his position,” continued the manager kindly. “You have worked for us faith- fully and efficiently for seven years. Your present salary is—?" “Fifteen huindred sir,” answered For- sythe, swallowing dryly. You will start on Monday morning at $2,600,” said Mr. Smith. the assistant manager’s regular sal- ary. Please let me have your key, I shall turn it over to Griggs, who will succeed you. Report to me on Mon- day at nine o’clock, Thank you! Good- day!” A minute later Forsythe was stand- ing on the curb in front of the bank, breathless and bewildered. It was a Saturday afternoon, and in his suit- case he had a ticket for Pensacola and $5,000 in bills, the property of the bank. He had been driven to it. On $30 a week he had tried to keep Maud and their little girl in comfort. He had plunged deeper and deeper in debt. Loan sharks threatened him with a “bawling out,” which would mean the loss of his position. And Maud lay sick in a southern sanita- rium, and Muriel was staying with a relative, Maud had undergone a des- perate operation successfully, but it would be weeks before she was well. I}l‘"! ! il Pondered Over the Situation, The news of his defalcation would not reach her in Atwater, Fla. And he meant to contrive to get her away as soon as possible, by some scheme or other, and take her west to start life anew. The crudeness and impossibility of his plan had not troubled him. When a man is surroundsd by creditors and | sharks his life becomes such a night- mare that he grasps at any release. So he had taken $5,000 that morn- ing, knowing that the theft would not be discovered till Monday. And now—his brain more! his creditors and pay them off in little ! 'more than a year, and on the other $30 he would be as well off as in the beginning! He must get the money back into | the safe! ' But he had not the combination of the safe. Only Smith and Swain had known that, and during Swain's ill- ness Smith had opened the safe regu- larly at 8:45 each morning. On Mon- day he, Forsythe, would know it. But not until the safe had already been opened, He could not even slip the bills back into a drawer in his cage. To do that would be an admission of crim- inal carelessness, and might lose him his position. But at any rate it would acquit him of dishonesty. Dut now Smith had the key ol the cage He could not eveu enter the bank building, much less open the sate. Sturges, the watchman, was not allow- ed to admit anyone but the manager and his assistant, except during hours. If only he had not yielded to that hideous temptation! Forsythe spent the whole afternoon at cheap little fiat, situation. At ¢ miking a confessic il he did that—w1 well take the $5. He was as honest as i saw his conduct in ¢ But Maud lay sick Be was lighting tor ho; Next day was Sundav. Fv 1ot n the 2 over the be weul cutside Lis apartu “That i8s swam, his, senses reeled. Twenty dollars a week ] Why, that would appease all D l 3 i) SO ol Pl : his footsteps seemed to turn ‘lr;lge, direction of the bank, which lay only a matter of a few blotks dis- tant. At eight o'clock that evening be was standing outside for the fourth time that day. He shook his fist in fury at the windows, through which could be seen the manager's mahog- any table, and, near it, the desk he was to occupy—if he could get the money back that now reposed in the inside pocket of his coat. At midnight he was still pacing tpe street. In nine hours more the dis: covery would have been made. He should have taken yesterday's train for Florida. Now his delay had made his apprehension immeasurably more probable. And yet he was torn be: tween the impulses of confession and flight, and he could not decide. One o'clock boomed from the church steeples. Forsythe turned homeward He would confess upon the morrow He would go fo Mr. Smith and— A tiny flicker of light inside the bank attracted his attention. It was the blue flame of a sulphur match. It vanished instantly, and there were only the electric lights to be secn burning unwinkingly within. But thui flame told a story. Somebody was within the bank. It could not be the watchman, for Forsythe had met him, making his rounds, a few minutes before. And Sturges was not supposed to enter the bank. That was protected by bars of steel, and the safe, below, by the hardest canadium and chrome metal. TLen that flicker meant—thieves! Forsythe thought swiftly, If thieves had gained access it must have been from an adjacent building. On the north and south ran two of the princi- pal thoroughfares of the city; to the east was an empty lot. It must have been through that office building on the west, If that were the case, they would emerge form either the front or the rear door. They could not leave by . and other building, for this one stood ' glone, much higher than any building in the block. By which entrance would they emerge, then? Not by the fornt door; by the cellar, with its weak wooden gateway, protecied only | by a single padlock, Doubtless they had burrowed through here; probably one of them was in leagve, with the furnace man, or the furnace man himself. For- sythe scanned all the possibilities, e felt that this must be the case. He hurried round to the cellar door that gave upon tho rear street, He crouched behind a pile of lum- ber and wait-d. He saw Sturges pass twice, a policeman strolled by, hum- ming. It was two o'clock. The street was empty, except for an occasional prowler of the night. All at once For- | sythe heard the faintest sound behind him. It was the sound of a padlock be ing very cautiously unfastened. ' A moment later a man came stealth- | ly up the stairs, followed by another. | The two hesitated. They looked | round anxiously, and one of them f caught sight of Forsythe behind the { lumber pile, Instantly they flew at him. For sythe saw the gleam of a steel blade | In the hands of one of them. He | dodged and struck the fellow with a | length of timber, felling him to the | ground. The other closed with him. | They wrestled wildly into the street, | and fell to the cucb. Forsythe wus no match for this gi- ant. He could not defend himself ad- equately in any event, for his hands were full of paper, Five thousand dol- lars in his hands, and this fool wildly hammering at his face! How much more did he have on him? Whatever he had taken irom the safe was now increased by $5,000, for with his last atom of strength Forsythe crammed the man's pockets full of the bills. | Then he fainted. | When he opened his eyes he was ly- ing in a darkened room. A woman stirred beside his bed. “Where am 17" he asked, feebly, and his hands went automatically | feeling for the money, “Forsythe! Dont you know me?" asked a man who rose from his bed- side. “Mr. Smith!” Forsythe exclaimed, and the events of the past night surg- ing through his brain aguin. “You have saved the bank $50,000,” sald the manager with emotion, Fifty thousand! And he had taken only $5,000. “It was a miracle,” continued. “The bank will not forget [ it. But tell me, Forsythe, how in the world did you happen to be upon the spot when the thieves came out with their plunder, and what led you to suspect them?” ! Forsythe never remembered his an. swer. (Copyright, Can’t Hide It Frem Them. “Here's a story where a Louisville (Ky.) belle gave a Party at which she released a live cai trom a baz, with 8 uote tied around its neck. when re; of her 1 Lue uote, » gave torinal announcement agement.” “i call that raher a clever idea— letting the cat out of the bag, as it wele “That’s what she meant, of cnurse, but when the incident was over there wasn't a givl present who, when ex- ch viions with the bride- ele dn't frankly confess that she had suivic a rat long before the party was thought of.” s — Con~istency ‘The Declaration of Independence Btates :'.;.!! men are born free and €y I believe?" Sometling Lf t* at sort.” b w2y do you hold yourself so 3 v dear man. I'm descended frow ene cf the signers.” the manager OUR TOOLS ARE MADE Fop Hard Service —_—— nfi.‘;{%’" NS G It is the quality of service our tools give that will make them own your friendship. You will do better work with them, with greater ease, and ip less time. It is the quality of work you cap do=--the ezse with which you cap do it- -and the lengih of time the tool will last ttar scts its value, Judged by these points,our car pen- ters’ tools are the cheapest you cap buy. The steel is the best made, They fit the hands just right, They give you your moncy’s worth wi b a good margin, You run no risk in buying tcols here for they are all guzranteed, Wilsen Harcware Co. Phcne T1 Opposite Depct g: IR Na oW WHY SAFER THAN CASH Peyirg ty checks is rot only . mcere cenvenient tben pey- . irgin cashy but it is sefer, beciuse it el miretes rick cf __ loss. Ycur ccccurntsutiect __ 16 checkelerge or smell-eis corcially invited, AMIRICAN STATE BAM J L SKIFFER P E CRUMR Fresicert Caghier PHONE 2-3-3 GARBAGE CAN { Made to Order by CARDWELL & FEIGLEY Electrical and Sheet Meal Workers PHONE 233