Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, September 2, 1914, Page 2

-+ b M. F 4 REX St W, PAGE TWO LOVES FAR REACH By MIRIAM JAMES. | i “Crothers,” the warden had said, “your boy's sick—pretty bad, I reckon. There's a chance, though, so keep your spirits up, and I'll let you know as| soon as I get further word.” ‘ And Jim Crothers, good-conduct man, with a year more of a five-year term to serve, heard these words echoing again and again in his heart as he plied his pick upon the hard road. His wife had':een true to him all through the four years that he had served. Influential friends had prom- | ised him a new start in life when he | came out. Crothers had been a model prisoner and, in conformity with the humane system of the state, was on parole. In everyday working clothes, ' without a guard to supervise him, he labored, with the few others in his class, breaking up the old uphnlt‘ track that ran between the prison and the nearest town. The men worked well apart from each other, and Croth. | ers was hidden from his nearest neigh- ' bor, two hundred yards away, by a dip in the land. His boy—Johnny! He had not seen him since his wife brought him, an in- fant in arms, to the court detention room to bid him good-by. His first' question was always for Johnny. And the lad lay sick of typhoid fever. The crisis had come. He must see him be ! fore he died. i It was more than a hundred miles to Renfrew, but, by jumping a freight; train, Crothers could get there by mloi night. And by the following afternoon | he could be back at the prison. To break parole was regarded as an un-| speakable offense; only two men had. done s0, and they had had to bear the scorn of their companions ever since. But then, neither of these had had a little dying son whom he had not seen in four years. Crothers raised himself and looked across the hot plains toward the sta tion. In his clothes he would attract |hebmntoenjoythelemotmo- THE EVENING TELEGRAM LAK ELAND, FLA., SEPT. 2, 1914 | | | round, but her gaze seemed to pass through him and she bent her head again over the boy on the bed. “Mary!” whispered Crothers, ap- proaching her swiftly, “I heard he was Sne did not reply, but bent over the boy, stroking his feverish forehead with her soft hand. Crothers fell upon his knees beside her and watched the child's face. It was evident that the crisis was at hand. How long he kneeled there he did not know, but suddenly Johnny opened his eyes and they fell upon the man's. “Faver!” he cried, stretching out his hands. “Hush, dear,” said Mary. Crothers took one of the little hands in his and it closed round his. The boy lay there, dozing. Presently beads of sweat sprang out on his forehead. A man was coming up the stairs. Crothers sprang round in terror, think- ing it was the warden or his represen- tative. But it was the doctor. He ap- | proached the bedside, turned and took Mary by both hands. “He will lilve, Mrs. Crothers,” he " sald quietly. Crothers Looked Cautlously About Him. drop off at the yards and make his ‘way home. No sooner planned than done. He crept cautiously, almost double, down ' the declivity, and, glancing backward to make sure that he was still nnper-; ceived, sprinted for the trees. Once he had gained these he walked in a! leisurely manner. For the first time! dom. Nobody molested him or seemed to notice him. He passed the station, walited until the slow freight lumbered | along, and swung himself aboard, seat- ing himself on one of the couplers. The ride was hard and his seat in-' secure, but he did not think of that.| Once the conductor came along and turned his face in his direction. Croth- | ers framed an appeal, but, to his amazement, the man passed on, appar- ently without having seen him. So Crothers made Renfrew. He dropped oft at the yards, as he had planned, and made his way toward the no attention. It would be easy to board the afternoon train that carried freight into Renfrew. At the worst, Crothers knew he could persuade the conductor to let him remain. He had & persuasive eloquence, and the' thought of his son's illness drove him into a frenzy of fear. Crothers looked cautiously about him. The man nearest him was out of sight. Ahead of him lay a stretch of brush—once beyond that he could make the station unperceived. And the alarm would not be sounded for a couple of hours. By that time he would be well on his way. He would ) BRI =l & e e SOOI CHPCIPORL0kE D PP TP THPOS QD £Lh PO LAROSOHECIB 003 CHPOIDR IS0 BEDDOPS B agoigrifoidufiududy §!’M’W ' little house where his boy lay sick. It | was a poor enough cottage; but John- | ney and Mary lived there, and thtt' fact made it home, fust as though it were a castle. Quietly Crothers un- fastened the front door and made his way up the stairs. At the head of the flight he paused uncertainly, for there was a certain strangeness in the situ- ation in which he found himself; but a child’s fittul cry came to his ears and, turning aside, he made his way toward the door of the room in which the boy was lying. He stood still at the door. Mary was seated on a low chair beside the bed, on which lay Johnny, flushed with fe- | ver. As Crothers entered she laoked | & i P wide newspaper. AAIEC DO @ A0 EAEEE PP PO POB O 2=t EAGHGE DODAPUPD IR0 O OGO =2 %m@@@@m GG GGG SIS SIGIGIES Send Your Next Order to [ A G A A A A A G A AR GG &G R SR A e e (A “0, thank God, doctor!” exclaimed the mother, and burst into silent tears of happiness. The doctor did not stay long after he had given his directions. He did not notice Crothers either. And Croth- ers, wondering, suddenly understood. Neither the doctor nor Mary wished officlally to take cognizance of his presence there. They knew what had brought him; they knew he must have broken his parole, and neither by word or sign would they admit they were aware of him. It was that rare, in. stinctive kindness which Crothers had always seemed to meet since his mis- fortune. “I understand, Mary,” he said, kiss- ing her gently upon the cheek. “God bless you. And the boy, too. I shall | be out next year, and I shall begin to I make & home for both of you.” And he went out of the room. He was lucky again in the matter ot the return train; and again he escaped detection. tion. All night Crothers had crouched in the car, providentially open to him, listening to the clacking of the wheels, and feeling neither hunger nor weari- ness. All his emotions were hummed up in joy. Johnny would live. And he felt that instinctively, and would have known it even if the doctor had not told him. For this how cheerfully he was pre- pared to forfeit his good-conduct priv- {leges, to bear the jeers and scorn of his fellow prisoners and the hurt re- proaches of the warden, Clancey. Slowly he made his way back to the place where he had worked on the road the preceding day. He saw his pick lying on the ground and, because he did not know what else to do, he took %@‘S‘G@QE@{X@Z’WWW QBB OHEHOROHOH O It was only morning when | the freight pulled into Renfrew sta-| e o B BT EeT FEPINFUIOVOPATGFODOTOIRTODG GO BB ¢ for hauling fruit @ & i < P e | a—— —a = e ::; 2 . I came to see him. I have never 3 seen him, you know, since he was so .. | small. Is there no chance for him?” & . We can save you money on Wagons. and 2-horse Wagons is comp'ete, and if you need a Wagon this fall, see us. “COLUMBUS” make and the name is a guarantee of quality. - MODEL HARDWARE Co. Phone No. 340 We Want YOUR Business POBOER I TOSOHCPCFOSTENSO C. E. it in his hands and began working un- til he saw Clancey coming along the road. The warden came and stood beside him and Crothers looked him in the face bravely. warden,” he sald. “I shouldn’t have broken my parole, but what you told me about my boy kind of made me for- ' get that I was under bonds of honor. " | “What's wrong with you, Crothers?” inquired the warden kindly. “Touch ot sun? Or sort of upset about what I told you?” Crothers stared incredulously at the ' warden. Did he, then, mean to over- ! look the breach of faith, like those | others? It was impossible that he | could be so kind. “It's good of you, Mr. Clancey,” he said, catching the old man's hand and - wringing it, “but I want to take my medicine. I didn’t act right to you but—well, it ever you had a little boy dying far away you'd understand.” Clancey laid a big hand on Croth. ers’ shoulder. “My boy,” he sald, “how long do you suppose it is since I gave you that news?” “How long? About twenty-four hours, isn't it?” sald Crothers. The warden looked pityingly at him, ! “Twenty-four minutes, Crothers,” he P PR O O CH RO IS HH OO [ahesatensttesbl bl Mihidihdihddiuiniibdibddiiuilodbddiviubdadbdibidibividicbiag APPSO HO O SOBOBOHHIO BT DHOHOHOTOT OGO T T GDDHDHOH BN SIS HSI SIS PN BB PRINTING YES, WE DO IT--DO IT RIGHT AT THE HEAD “I am ready for my punllhment.' GG answered. “You must have been day dreaming. Well, here's a letter for you. Came five minutes ago, and I had to open it, by the rules, but I thought I'd bring it along. Read #t.” Crothers read incredulously then amazedly. Then he looked up at Clancey. “It says he's getting better, Mr. Clan. cey,” he cried. “And it says—listen: “‘Just at the crisis of the fever he opened his eyes and called his father. He thought he saw you by him, dear. | And he began to mend from that mo- ment. I know that you were there in spirit.’ “Well, Crothers, it's about supper time,” sald the warden. “I guess you ean bring back your pick.” And Crothers, standing dumb, with swimming eyes, understood that love | had reached out to him across the abyss of time and space. (Copyright, 1914, by W. G. Chapman.) Coming New Words. Apart from the United States, where the coming of new yords and phrases s by way of developing into a recog- nized industry, writers in this country | are constantly adding to the language. | “Chocolatist” and “mixologist” are the , titles lately adopted by a confectioner 1 and a blender of cocktails respective- iv: and one of qur contemporaries has | Telephone Number 37 I e e o o o ey GG GGG ST G GG ] GENTLEMAN called at our office and said that he did not know we did ¢ Job Printing; that he had ordered some Printing done elsewhere, because he had been told that we confined our attention to newspapers, and did no Job Printing. This gentleman was a new comer, otherwise he would have known that for years we did ALL the printing used in this town; that right now we are doing more, probably than all the other printing offices in the county combined ; that we have a larger investment in printing facilities than the eight or ten other printing shops in Polk County combined; that we have built this business on correct and workmanlike service; that we have both the equip- ment and know-how, and that we give an order for 100 visiting cards the same careful attention we bestow on a large catalogue or the publication of a State- We Do Do Job Printing; Indeed, We Do! Our stock of 1 We sell the TODD, Mgr. e R B BN AT B0 DD T TR BN BT BN B CHBHH e 0 B CH BT R BATE BT B B B S0 R i 2 Just fnvented “Incepted.” —Another is responsible for “mascotry.” The Eng. lish language is rich enough without these unnecessary additions, says the London Globe. Period Capes. Some of the new capes have a de clded look of the Henri II and Henrl Il period. They are worn well a the taok emd ere held in place eigher by beetelles or a waistooat. These capes are made quite short and scarce- ly come down further than the hip line. ¥Dey are very smart when car ried out in satin or black faille and lined with some bright oolor, which should always be in harmony with the dress. Renovating Blaock Straw. To renovate a black straw hat which has become old and rusty looking, go over it several times with a cloth satu- rated in alcohol. When dry, the straw will be as dlack and glossy as when new., Keep Your 8pools. Keep empty reels of thread; they are useful in a hundred ways. In the ' kitchen and clothes closet they make! excellent pegs. Drive a long, large headed nail through the hole and you have a wooden peg with rounded edges that will not tear the cloth, CHEHOHORBCH S0 C0E 3 b Srfningulody (i GGG GG 3 83 858 EEBIE GBS 5 S BB LHO 23 BB & OO POBOPOBAGLOHODOIODODOPODUB BSOS o Lakeland Evening Telegram The Lakeland News TELEGRAM BUILDING & First House On Main Street OF THING S