Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, November 14, 1914, Page 3

THE EVENING TELEGKRAM, LAKELAND, FLA., NOV. 14, 1914. | B B. STREATER NTRACTOR AND BUILDER FA0F VS HRAFVTO TS0 New Arrivals I Goldini, noticed to his dismay that ; his presence frritated them. He knew | the reason. So he left the lion-taming to his pretty assistant, whom the great . beasts seemed to love—and to Nero, ' pg had twenty-ome years’ experience tracting in Lakeland and vicinity, I feel competent r the best services in this line. If comtemplating . will be pleased to furnish estimates and all infor- All work guaranteed. in building J. B. STREATER. Us Be Your Grocers? CEDIVID handle only fresh, clean ds and we keep a_full line resh Meats, Including teaks, Roasts, Chops, Breakfast Bacon, Brains, Chickens,%etc, Vegetables are Specialty. = We Keep FreshiFruit, also ng in Can Goods that you may suggest ing Vegetables, Soups, etc. buy your goods where You can get the most for the money. place is the grocery of G. TWEEDEL B et Us Supply Your Needs s Orange Clippers Spruce Pine Picking Ladders Cement Coated Box Nails ry’s Orange Plows American Field Fence Cyclone Ornamental Fence Everything usually carried in an up-to-date Hardware Store IL.SO! ARDWARE CO. { THE LIONESS KNEW By JOHN BREWSTER. l Rita, the big lioness, had been act- ing in an ugly manner. They say that lons can detect the character of their trainers; that a drunken trainer fis in imminent danger of destruction ' should he enter the cage. They say too.thntasoodwmmmthoi ' Mademotiselle Charmeuse had been born Lily Leigh. Her parents were honest farmer folks way back in Shawnee county. But there had been & maternal grandfather who ran away to sea. It is not boys only that in- ' herit the roving disposition. When ! she was seventeen Lily had shaken ' the dust off her shoes at the (back) eatrance to the farm and departed in the wake of a traveling show, to grad- uate as Mademoiselle Charmeuse, the world-famous equestrienne. After ward, when business prospered and the show increased in size and aspira- tions, she became Mademoiselle Char- meuse, the renowned lion-tamer. : Some folks think circus people are almost as bad as gypsies. That is not the case. There are no more moral and respectable people alive. Nobody had ever breathed a word against Mademoiselle Charmeuse’s reputation. Goldini, the proprietor, and the moth- erly Madame Goldini, treated her like a daughter, even if they had picked her up in an {llegal manner, struck by her pretty face and daring. But when Madame Goldint grew too stout to continue to tame the lions, and re- signed herself to looking after the welfare of the circus troupe, in com- fortable middle life, Mademoiselle Charmeuse was thrown much more in touch with Goldini. It was her task, together with Nero, the big Dalmatian, to put the lions through their paces at every country place where they exhibited. Goldini himself seldom entered the lions’ cage nowadays. He was growing fat, like his wife; besides, the lions had begun ! ' among the audiemce. ' Began to Growl in Sympathy. to appear restless under his lash. Gol- l dini knew what was the trouble. He | knew it in his own soul. He loved Mademoiselle Charmeuse. The girl, always responsive to the kindness of the couple, was staggered at the unmistakable display of the fact that Goldini's interest in her was no longer paternal. Love had never come into her life. How could it? What had she in common with the crowds of gaping farmers’' boys who stared at her in her short skirts and spangles, or followed her with moon- calf protestations of devotion? She was as much alone as though she dwelt on a desert island. Goldini loved her, and, in her pres- ence, the man's own crushed nature flourished. He had been destined for | better things. He was a university ! man; he had been in the Italian army, though none knew this intimate se- cret of his past. He had been a lieu- tenant and had fought in the 1l starred Abyssinian expedition, where he was cashiered for cowardice. The | sight of the yelling tribesmen had been too much for his nerves; he had | ridden away, leaving his men to face annthilation. That was a dark and bitter secret. Yet he had never feared wild beasts. In Abyssinia he had learned to handle | llons; he had shot them at 20 paces | without a tremor of fear. It is easy to be a lion-tamer. On his arrival in America he had promptly stepped into | a position with no other applicants, and graduated to a show of his own by marrying the proprietress. A good man, Goldini, a worthy citizen—-but }he had never lived, since his arrival in America, or loved, till now. The girl's innocence, her beauty, ar- pealed to him strongly. A little, hali- starved thing when he met her, a wild mountain girl with aspirations above her station, he had taken her in part n pity, part on account of a business sepse of her value. Now that he and she were thrown so much together, he knew that he loved her. And the girl loved him. She selzed this first love to her heart and lived in it. No matter if Goldini was near ing forty, and she but twenty-three. | The consciousness of each other’s love was in every word and gesture. Only they and the lions knew, and whom they feared. | Only the night before, when ml good motherly woman had gone into | her tent, Goldini had told the girl of his love. She had not shrunk away from him. Her mind was practical enough. She was thinking over his proposal. Let them leave the circus to Madame Goldini and go away to- gether, with his savings, to begin life anew. Then he had kissed her. Marvelous, perhaps, but it was the girl’s first kiss of love. Her whole being thrilled to ft. She did not know what she had answered. But afterward she had not slept. She thought of the motherly woman who had befriended her, of the rank and base ingratitude of such & course; and yet she loved him. Suddenly a wild desire came to her to leave everything and go home. Her parents were hard country folks, but they would welcome her with her little money, and give her such af- fection as they had to bestow. They would even be proud of her in a way. There was none of that Puritanism in Shawnee county which prevails in the New England states. It was a hard land where money alone counted. The following afternoon her mind was not yet made up. It must be one oourse or the other, she knew. Either g0 off with her lover or go home. She could not endure the delay of a decision longer. } She stepped into the cage and at once Rita began to act strangely. Per- @ haps she knew; or perhaps the unrest in the girl's soul communicated itself to hers. The lioness lashed her tdil and retreated, growling, to the oppo- site end of the cage. The other three Hons began to growl in sympathy, and erouched beside her, snarling at each fiick of the girl’s whip and utterly ig- noring the stands on which they were ! supposed to stand in a pyramid. Nero was uneasy, too. Nero, at his mistress’ heels, growled back at Rita, and crouched also, motionless, watching her. The girl kept her eyes on Rita; she knew that the other lions would follow her example. She saw, dimly, the crowad of sight- seers outside the cage, seated upon thelr wooden benches. But she saw them askance, for her mind was set on dominating the lioness, and, though it was easy to escape, she knew that she would never be able to do any- thing with Rita again. She advanced, flicking her whip, and Rita, growling, poised herselt to spring. This was the crucial moment. Suddenly the girl heard Goldini's volce. “Come out!” he screamed, half open- ing the cage. “It is no good! Come!” At that moment, just as the girl's attention was distracted, though it was but a momentary wavering of an eyelid, Rita leaped. At the same in- stant the other lions sprang into the alr, Rita’s tawny body flew across the cage. But at the same moment Nero sprang to meet her. He could not stop the momentum of that bulk, but he turned it. Lioness and dog rolled fn a tussle upon the floor. At the same Instant Goldini screamed and slammed the door of the cage. The girl heard shrieks of panic She was con- scious of the circus employes pulling frantically at the door of the cage. Before her she saw the dead body of the faithful hound, and the lioness and llons worrying it. She retreated toward the door. Rita sprang for her again, but the lash of the whip caught ': her across the nose, and, swerving, she flung herself against the bars. They quivered, but stood fast, and before she could turn again the girl had stepped backward to safety through the open door. She found herself lying in the cen- ter of a crowd of strangers. Her first thought was of Nero. Then, remem- bering, she began to weep hysterically. Her second was of Goldini. He had slammed the door and left her to die! Goldini’s ancient malady had broken out once more. And it was at the turning point of the girl’s career. For suddenly she realized that this thing had effectively answered the question that had tormented her. > She rose to her feet and staggered through the crowd. She meant to go away, right away, she could not see Goldini again; all her love was dead. A gray-haired woman was clasping her to her breast. The girl lookedl into her face a full minute before she realized who this was. “0, mother!” she sobbed, me away, take me away!” Through the silent crowd the gray- haired, black-bonneted woman led the girl In the short skirt with the span- gles. (Copyright, 1914, by W. G. Chapman.) “0, take Catching the Curate. l The bachelor community of a cer | tain suburb was greatly scared by the | advent of a fearsome type of the des- | perate husband-hunting spinster. After throwing each of the local | bachelors into ecstasies of terror lest he should be the recipient of her at- | tentions, the lady finally managed to capture the curate. Local bachelor- | dom was so immensely relieved at its escape that it united in presenting the curate with a splendid wedding pres- ent, in the shape of a costly table service. The curate was over- whelmed. “Such a magnificent service!™ he gasped. “Well, you see, my boy,” explained the chief of the local bachelors, “it i8 really a thanksgiving service."—Lon- don Tit-Bits. Hecker’s Qid Homestead Flap- Jack, Prepared Buckwheat, Cream farina, and Cream Oatmeal. Roxane Graham, Whole-Wheat, Cake Flour, and Selfrising Flour. Richelieu Pancake and Buckwheat Flours and Oatmeal. My Line is as Fine as any in Town. My Store Clean, San- itary, Free from Rats and Roaches. FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES DAILY Yours to Serve in Groceries, Feed, Seed and Fertilizer. D. B. Dickson 6?%%%@@%@"&@'@-‘*5*?%@@’%"?*5’%’@’0‘5’%‘!‘% “r ” £ “Don’t fail to see us] f§ before having your Electrical work done. : . We can save you money.and give you better “ stuff’’ than you have been getting, and for a litt'e less money. T. L. CARDWELL, Electrical Contractor ~ EVERYTHING ELECTRICAL PHONE 233 West Main Street and New York Avenue KELLEY'S BARRED Plymouth Rocks BOTH MATINGS Better now than ever before High class breeding birds at reasonable prices. Fgge from high|class pens for hatching. A Write me before ordering else wherc, H. L. KELLEY, Griffin, Fla Don’t Talk War, But Talk Business, and Boost Your Town | THE HUB is still selling Hart Schaffner & Marx good Clothing, and it is the best clothing ever brought to your city. Now, Old Men and Young Men, come around and see what you can buy for $15 and $18 to $25 Have just received a new shipment of Arrow Shirts, Neckwear and Onyx Hose Will appreciate showing them to everybody JOS. The Hub 3 This Store is the Home ofi] Hart Schaffner and Marx Goeod Clothing