Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, December 6, 1913, Page 7

| YOU KNOW ;. selection will be the best ‘ he variety unmatched he quality unsurpassed The price the lowest All these you find at our store tter, per pound. .-...... .. . . - » , 17 pounds .. "o o VOB 10 pound pails.. .... o o IR} me, 4-pound pails.......... QURRERS N IR 1 1 sinds Snowdrift Lard. T e [ 10-pound pails..... 8.0} family size Cream RSNG| | baby sise Cream.......... Palie » best Floar ......... e LS BEE LBWEL i s o vmiin sk aaa s es " Boap, 8f0F .......oon v v e ' 6. TWEEDELL ong Life of Linen B just what we are giving is what you are looking for and DVE D! My customers and friends will find me ust in front of my old stand, over in the Huss Building. ?YE OVER! 1 will make]it to your pest. Will have an up-to-date [Jplace as 3 as I can straighten up. B. DICKSON ord THE UNIVERSAL CA 4 bty N As usual the demand is way ahead of the supply Received a car load of six Ford Touring cars last week, all of which have been seld and delivered. Have another car load on the road, which should reach here not later than Dec. 6th. and some of these are already sold, so if you want one, etbter not wait for them to arrive before placing your order, but place it today, od you may have to wait for next shipment, or possi- bly the next, as we cannot begin to get them fast enough to supply the demand. THESCLAKELAND : AUTOMOBILE AND SUPPLY GO LAKELAND,FLA. === = or of SVNOi’OI& Book 1. CHAPTER I-Rudolph Van Vechten, & young man of leisure, is astonished to[ see & man enter No. lilsb‘u house_across the street from the Powhatan club. The | house has long been unoccupled and is! spoken of as the House of Mystery. { CHAPTER II—8everal persons at regu- lar intervals enter No. qualified to walit, since all his energies. and such ambition as he posesessed, were directed toward that most labori- ous of all tasks, “killing time;" despite which, backed by a considerable fer- tility of invention, most of the min- utes of each passing day flitted by leaving him more bored than ever. So he resolved to keep his station at the window—all day if neceseary—and sat- isty his curiosity respecting the man’s general appearance. The first twenty minutes or so were alleviated by a lively anticipation that the door would open almost any mo- ment, and the man come forth; but nothing of the kind happened. The house remained as still as it had been for months. Not a blind was raised; no sign of life was manifest. Then the watcher began to grow restless. As the minutes ticked off and nothing occurred, he glanced at his watch with increasing frequency. Presently he rose and went over to & push-button, upon which he pressed with unnecessary violence, afterwards hastening back to the window under a sudden apprebeneion that the man might take advantage of his brief in- attentiveness to vanish—as the fellow had caught him napping before. A cocktall was presently set beside him upon & tabouret; he gulped it down, then lighted a cigarette which he began to smoke feverishly. But he tossed it away after a puft or two; he had smoked too much the night be-l fore, and the tempered spirits could not remove the furry taste from his tongue. | Another glance at his watch; near-, ly an hour had he waited. for it was' pow ten minutes to ten. Would t.heI tellow never appear? And then Van Vechten’s attention ; was all at once diverted. He had or- dered and consumed & second cock- tail, and was attempemg a fresh clgar- | otte, when he paused, the blazing match suspended in mid-air. He saw another and quite different stranger approaching along the oppo- | site walk. He knew instinctively that this could not be the first man, but his manner copled that worthy’s so pre- cisely that Van Vechten was con- strained to watch him instead of main- taining his unprofitable vigil. He lighted his cigarette, fiipped the | match away, and waited. This second individual was walking hesitantly, just as the other had done, and also seemed to be devoting his at- tention to the house numbers. He paused before the house across the way. There could be no doubt but which was only imperfectly outlined upon the red-curtained fanlight. Then ' that he was searching for the number, ! “Van Vechten was Aem.lnently well abruptly all signs of hesitation van- ished from his bearing; he went de- terminedly up the steps and rang the bell. At that very instant the clock in the hall began striking ten. First of all, Van Vechten was struck by thie coincidence. Even before in- ventorying the man’s semblance, he asked himself how many had preceded him; how many were yet to come. And how did they time their arrival so nicely? There had been something furtive about the second fellow’s admittance, | Van Vechten recalled; not particularly on the man’s part, but suggested rath- er by the narrow crack which the open door at first disclosed, making one think that the chain had not been re- leased until after a parley. And then the aperture had widened only enough for the visitor to squeeze his bulk thtough, whereupon the door had promptly banged shut. Van Vechten retained merely a sense of absolute’ darkness beyond the threshold; not' the slightest glimpse had he caught of servant or attendant. The door might have been tended by invisible | hands. | Again he asked himself: Would the incident be repeated in another hour? The wait between ten and eleven o’'clock dragged with most exasperat- ing slowness; but the self-appointed watcher’s interest was at such high pitch that he left his third cocktail un- tasted. As the hour approached, he darted ' quick glances along the street in an- ticipation of a new arrival. And sure enough, at a minute or two before the hour, here came a third muscular, reso- lute-looking young man, not over-fas- tidiously attired, who was scanning the house numbers as intently as his two predecessors had done. And just as the chimes in the hall began tolling eleven, he mounted the steps and rang the bell. _ Van Vechten scarcely ygefihedfi J ‘ r ' -—W-_—-al—b——— - — ings across the street. As before, the door was opened perhaps an inch, & brief colloquy patently ensued, then the gap widened barely enough for the ‘young man to equeeze through. And also as before, the door was slammed without Van Vechten obtaining the least glimpse of whatever mysteries might lie beyond. By now he was taking account of time only with reference to Number 1813. He was in such a state of mind that he forgot that he was tired and sleepy, or that he ever had been bored. Other club members—the few unfor- tunates anchored to the city—were be- ginning to drop in, but Van Vechten was too intent to give any of them particular notice until Tom Phinney arrived. It was impossible to ignore Tom Phinney. Not that Van Vechten want- ed to, because he didn’t—as a rule. Their friendship antedated their col- lege days; which was odd emough if one cared to sum up the differences between their two characters. Tom Phinney, never célebrated for his wit, was once inspired to epigram by an appreciation of these tempermental dissimilarities, and as his utterance is not without pith it is worth quoting. He confided to his right-hand neigh- bor at a certain formal dinner: “Rud- dy not only belongs to a half of the world that’s not wise to how the other half lives, but it's the half that doesn’t care a rap and would be tired to death if you tried to tell it.” With a lazy lifting of one slender hand, Van Vechten arrested Phinney's noisy progress across the lounging- room. As soon as Tom comprehended who was hailing him, his good-hu- mored expression died away with com- ical rapidity, a look of mingled amase ment and alarm taking its place. “Moses and green epectacles!” he voiced in astonishment. “You! Out of bed this time of day? Sunday, tool” He hurried to his friend’s side and ex- amined him critically. “Seen a doctor yet? You'd better. If you're not able I'll go fetch old Pottle —sleeps here, you know.” These remarks were ignored. “Draw up a chair,” was the response —*“no, not that etufty one; it makes me perspire only to look at it—the wil- low rocker.” Tom did precisely as he was direct- ed. “Well?” he grunted, eyeing Van Vechten with a concern that was only balf simulated. But in a moment he felt his gaze impelled to follow his triend’s. “What's up?” he demanded, staring hard—even belligerently—at the silent House of Mystery. Van Vechten listleesly consulted his watch, stified & yawn, and then said: “Twenty-two minutes to twelve. I'll lay you a hundred that while the [T ,' ‘~/ 8till There Was S8omething About Her That Teased and Perplexed Him. clock’s striking the hour a chap will go up that stoop, ring the bell and be admitted.” “What do you mean?'—bluntly. “Been tipped off to anything about our House of Mystery?”"—the second ques- tion with kindling interest, The other, however, shook his head. “The bet's a fair one,” he eaid. And he repeated it. “You are always so| devilish hard up that I thought you would like to pick up a hundred. You can take it or leave it.” “Oh, I'll take you fast enough,” Tom made haste to agree. “Your money’s as good as anybody’s. But sit here till noon? I don’t think! I haven't break- fasted yet.” | “You pamper that gross appetite of ; yours. We'll breakfast together, There will be something to talk about, who- ever wins; for, truly, something is happening across the way at last.” Tom was immediately all eager in- quiry, but to his importunities Van Vechten opposed the one injunction— “Wait.” So Tom grumbled and growled to no purpose, and was in and out of | his chair a dozen times during lhol riod of waiting, though he made it a e (Continued on Page 8 We are here for business. Everything sold under a positive Guarantee | We Sell STEADFAST, WHITE HOUSE AND M’ELVIN SHOES FOR MEN, MAY MANTON FOR LADIES, BUSTER BROWN FOR CHILDREN Gents and Boys Suits Suits made to Measure. Rain Coats Made to Measure; also a big popular line of ready made suits for gents and boys. Also a big line of blankets and comforts. . We also cover buttons, any size. Leave your order. All packages delivered promptl& in the city. Ring us up for what you want in our line. See us before buying. J. C. OWENS The Popular Dry Goods House Phone 284 Lakeland,!Fla OUR TOOLS ARE MADE FOR Hard Service R S E ‘ 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 can do--~the ease with which you can do it- -and the length of time the tool will last tkat sets its value. Judged by these points, our carpen- ters’ tools are the cheapest you cao buy. The steel is the best made They fit the hands just right. They give you your money’s worth with a good margin. You run no risk in buying tools here for they are all guaranteed. Wilson Hardware Co. Phone TI Opposite Depot [ o An Announcemznt of Direct Interest to Builders and Contractors. We are large manufacturers of building materials, having one of thy largest and best equipped plants in the South, employing over 200 mea, After catering for seventeen years to wholesale trade, we now wan} the trade of Florida. We know local requirements and we are in & p@ sition to save money for our customers. We shall be pleased to work through local channels of distributiom, but if such connection {8 not found, we invite correspondence from loea) consumers for our mutual advantage and profit. Being manufacturers upon a wholesale scale, we are in a position t¢ meet all conditions of price and quality. We manufacture Cypress products, veneered products, mouldings, and a general line of milling. In fact, anything that may be required in th¢ construction of a house. We invite you to come to our plant or send your plans for estimate, glving us a clear idea of your requirements and you will be glad you learned of us. Selden Cypress Door Co. Palatka" Fla. \: