Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, January 31, 1914, Page 7

hone Tl Mann Plumbingco Best Work Lowest Prices All Work Guaranteed —_—— T A ST IF YOU ARE IN THE MARKET For Tin_ Sheet Iron, Copper, Zinc or any Starttheyear sworknqht with the right materlals and make things easy for yourself We. Sell Office Supplze.s if i'«’d'u‘f'wdrk demands ‘Sotetniny = special we will get it for you The Lakeland Book Store Benford & Steitz Everything IN BUILDERS Hardware It is most important to select the best hardware for that new home or building. That brings you here, for we make a point of carrying noth ing but the best builder’s hard- ware that adds not only to the beauty of a building, but to its selling value as well. The sash and door locks, hinges, etc., are a very small part of a building, but will re- pay many times for the cost and trouble of proper selection. We are prepared to name interesting prices on tke com- plete hardware for any style of building from the humble cot- tage to the largest office build- ing. ‘- Yes; Sirl: We also sell the best building tools--all .moder- ately priced. WILSON ARDWARE CO. Opposite Depot your Order Now Under and Glenada Hotel Pine Street Furnished on Short Notice. Ofice Phone 257 e k%nd of Roofing Work, call the LAKELAND SHEET METAL WORKS 212 South Florida Ave. Ask for J. P. CARTIN First Class in Every Respect. Estimates Will Be Residence Phone 274 Red Our Motto is By JOHN MATTHEWS, John Hawes mumched his twenty- cent lupper with the furtive irresolu- tion of the ex-jail bird that he was. Three y in prison leaves its stamp upon a man, and the lockstep, the | dropped =voice, the shrinking from: men, the automatism of action follow the released convict as mute wits nesses to his past, “Reform the prisoner,” say some. Associations have been founded with this beneficent object. John Hawes smiled bitterly at the thought. He had been a bookkeeper; he had stolen a paltry sum to provide comforts for his sick wife. He was as honest at heart as before his temptation arose. But during the two months that had elapsed since his release he had been hounded down by the detective force whenever he sought to earn an honest living and to forget the past. Three times he had obtained situations, only to be told, at the end of the week, that his services were required no longer. His wife had never visited him in ! prison. He had never seen his son. Minnie's last words to him before they took him away had been of for- giveness; but Minnie’s father was not the type that can condone having a jail bird for a son-in-law. He had ta- ken her away, and Minnie, for the boy’s sake, had had to accept his dictum that she should choose be- tween him and her husband, between wealth and a future for little Frank and poverty with an ex-criminal. Hawes had never been able to find any trace of her. Now, desperate and bitter, he ate his cheap meal in silence. The last of his money was gone. And sinis-! ter voices had been whispering in his ears, There was “Red,” who had served a | = half a dozen sentences for burglary. He had shown Hawes, with whom he had been in the penitentiary, in a rough, well-meaning way the folly of trying to live down his past. “They say it don’t pay,” said “Red.” “Who says it does? Who wouldn't live a straight life it he had the chance? But what chance has a man who's done time, with the bulls ready to tip off his boss by Saturday night? lku \/ They Talked in Whispers. ‘| board. BALANGE WAS STRUCK silver left carelessly upon the side- Hawes had a burlap bag to hold these articles, but that part of the work was to come later. There were the jewels, left, as “Red” believed, upon the bedroom bureau at night. To get these was the problem. Hawes had not sunk so low as to attack a woman; he was doubtful whether he could, enter a strange room without awakening the oecupant. Then he did not know the situation of the bureau in the dark. He was half minded to content himself with the silver. But the thought of *“Red’s” jeers made him resolve to reconnoitre at least. He crept slowly upstairs. There were four rooms leading from the top of the stairway. One of the doors stood slightly ajar. Hawes crept to the entrance. He heard a light breathing within. The moon shone through the win- dow. After a moment Hawes made out the figure of a child in the bed. This, then, could not be the place. He crept out. A board squeaked un- der his foot. He heard the child stir, and then, in a sudden access of min- gled disgust and fear, he hastened down the stairs. The silver would be enough for him. And thenceforward he would confine himself to forms of crime which did not require the faculties possessed by “Red.” It was one thing to make war upon the world and another to be a sneak thief. He entered the dining room, switched on the lights again, and turned to the silver. He had just taken up the first piece, a coffee pot, when he heard a light footfall behind him. He turned, to see the child stanuing in the door, looking at him. “Daddy,” said the child. Hawes cursed his folly in going up- stairs. This little creature in the long { white nightgown, with the bare feet, that regarded him with friendly inter- est—he felt helpless before it. A sweat broke out upon his forehead. He set down the coffee pot and stood star ing at the baby. “Daddy,” said the child, a smile up- its lips. “Hush!” sald Hawes gently, and closed the door behind it. But that helped him no better; its absence must shortly be discovered. Hawes did not know what to do. At that instant he heard plainly the creaking of the wheels of the baker’s cart in the rear of the house. He must act immediately. “Hush!” sald Hawes again, and, lift- ing the child, he set it down in & chair. “Now you sit there,” he said, “and don’t say a word until I come back.” “Daddy!” sald the child more loud- ly. drive away. “I'm not your daddy,” sald Hawes. “Daddy's upstairs.” A sudden thought came to him. “Go back to bed,” he said softly. “Daddy will come pres- ently.” He only wanted thirty sec- onds to pack the silver and get through the window. The child toddled toward the door and began rattling the handle. Hawes heard the sounds magnified a hundred fold. Each turn of the knob seemed like a hammer blow. He sprang for- ward and opened the door—to see a woman descend the last of the flight and stand looking at him. The child toddled toward her. “Daddy!” it cried again, The walls began to swim round Hawes. The hall became a mist, the stairs seemed to stretch up and away into infinity. He saw only the face What's the use when a man's only| of the woman at the bottom. chance is to run crooked, unless he wants to starve?” That night Hawes had ylelded to the temptation. He had seen “Red.” “Red” knew that a man of Hawes' ad- dress, a gentleman, in spite of his; past, would be of use to him. To- getaer they might pull off & job or two. For instance, there was the new big house up Marsden way. The old guy who lived there wouldn't put up much of a fight, even if he woke, and | it was said he had a dinner service of solid silver, and his wife had jewels. So much “Red” had learned from prowling about the neighborhood. If Hawes didn’t join him he was a fool. Hawes agreed to join him. He was waiting for “Red,” and before he had finished his meal the man came in. They talked in whispers. Soon the plan was arranged. “Red” was to wait at the rear of the house with the baker's cart he knew where to obtain. Hawes was to enter the din- ing room window. Of course, “Red” was expert at effecting entrances of private houses, but Hawes must show his worth and get a little practice. “There ain’t nothing to it,” sniffed “Red” scornfully. “It's as easy as opening a pie. And if you're spotted, it's fitty to one no bullet 'l hit you in the dark. You'll get your nerve after the first try.” At midnight Hawes stood shivering outside the house. The coup was to be pulled off in half an hour; “Red” would come by with the cart, and the spoils were to be dumped inside. Then the two would gallop away together. It required accurate timing, for of course the cart could not stay more than a minute or two in the same place. There watches were set to- gether. At fifteen minutes past the hour Hawes climbed to the window of the dining room, thrust up the piece of wire between the windows, and forced back the catch. Noiselessly, as “Red” bad taught him, he threw up the sash, A moment later he had descended in- | side. He struck a match, found the | “Minnie!” he cried. She was in his arms, and no other word had been spoken. It was his wife, restored to him; he knew as he held her in his embrace that their lives would never again be sundered. “John! How did you find me?” she gasped. “Come in here!” In the dining room was the burlap bag. The window was wide open. What would these evidences mean? But she saw nothing; she had no thoughts but for him. “Father died last week,” she said, half sobbing with joy. ‘“Before he | died he forgave you. He wanted me to find you. I telegraphed to—to that place—but they knew nothing of you. 1 always needed you, John! I knew that I could turn father’s heart at the end—but it came suddenly, and there was only the deathbed message: ‘Tell John to come home.’” Hawes held her in his arms, and in that moment the balance was struck between good and evil. His life was renewed, and the future miraculously bright. As he sat there he heard the creaking of the baker's cart as it drove slowly away. “This is our boy, John,” whispered his wife softly. “And our home, my dear. You will never leave me?” “No,” answered Hawes, and led her out of the room. (Copyright, 1913, by W. G. Chapman.) Rainy Day Had Come. Some time ago Mrs. Toppleton per suaded Tobe to begin saving money for a rainy day. Tobe promised to do so, and was so true to his promise that the distillery man began to think be had lost his most valued customer. Every cent he could lay his hands on Tobe put into his little savings bank. Then one morning a cloud appeared in the southwest no larger than a man’s hand, but it grew and expanded sur- prisingly, and at eight o'clock a tor- renttal downpour began which is said to have been fine for the wheat. It also raised the creek to such an ex- tent that the footlog was washed away We represent the following reli- able companies: Fidelity Underwriters, German American, capital 2,000,000 Springfield Fire and Marine capital 2,000, MANN & DEEN 2romot Delivery P s Lo it The Loss by Fire in the U. S. During a Recent Year Amounted to Almost One-Half the Cost Of All New Buildings Constructed i During the Entire Twelve Months! When Buying or Building capital ...... .. . 4,750,000 Philadelphia Underwriters, Provide the Means eapitallex ot i, $4,500,000 For Rebuilding! Room 7, Raymondo Building (Candy! Candy! CandY WE HAVE IT From Stick Candy to the Finest Box Candy Have you tried any of our " 'HOME-MADE CANDY ? A Trial is All We Ask We also have a nice stock of Fresh Fruits. Nuts, Dried Figs. Dates aad Raisins FRESH APALCHICOLA OYSTERS H. O. DENNY Phone 229 Water Wells, Irrigationand Drainage Plants PUMPS AND ENGINES We have g 16 years’ Call on us. Experience We can do and latest the work Improved Now \dwhlnery id ALLEN & MCGREW CONTRACTORS ; 107 West Pine St., Phone 172 Blue. Lakeland, Fla. *9 W, K_ .|aCk50“'“s°"m"w. owner and Manufac- , Real turers’ Agent Ectan Brokemge--Real Estate | WE WILL TRY TO FIND A BUYER e TELL US WHAT YOU WANT T¢ BUY; WE WILL TRY TO FIND A SELLER oy Rooms 6 and 7, DEEN & BRYANT Buildirg Lakeland §d% 5 M Florida SRl B i b bbb PRP R PR Ebddd 10 Per Cent. Reduction on ALL High Shoes for the next flfteen all new stock. .Our Spring Oxfords are arriving daily. We Must Make Room PEOP0 8 b 0010000086006 4868008840408080 2z 1 DUTTON-HARRIS CO, ™ Avenge’ Foot-Fitters Quality We can fix that leaky roof. Modest Prices and All Work Guaranteed. and Tobe is still in the Cistilleryy~ electric light, and turned it on for an Kansas City Star. Hawes was becoming frantic. 'I‘o| fly might mean that the child would scream, or cry, and awaken the par- ents. To stay more than a moment would mean faflure, and “Red” would instant, just long enough to show him ! s days. We are a new store g We Renair Shoes While You Wait ek e !