Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, December 15, 1914, Page 8

3 - 1 4 i | i 4 “Save Ten Dollars” By having your Fall Clothes made to your INDIVIDUAL Measure by us ;. t = Suits or Overcoats 5 Soft Hats and Derbies No More No Less Large variety of Shapes and Shad- ings, Trimmed with Contrast Bands — the Season’s latest Conceptions $5 Styles $3 Quality ENGLISH WOOLEN MILLS Hatters and Tailors Futch & Gentry Bldg, LAKELAND, FLA. R. A. BLUMBERG SAM B. SCHER BBPEIPY 3 JIM SING First Class Work . Chinese Laundry ~ Guaranteed Work Called for and Delivered I have been a resident of Florida for 20 years, and am well known to many prominent gentlemen, all of whom will recommend me as doing First Class Work at Reason- able Prices JIM SING s Gire B3 Gl P Ol sd@oidnid SN s el SRR S A i b e e B s e s e e S e e L i . 218 Pine Street Phone 257 Freeae PEBIIIELLITIOTIOIPIIPEIIOP T e HOHIIED $O# We will make you attractive prices on Christmas Candy in plain boxes, or in fancy baskets or holiday boxes. We han- dle nothing but first class goods, and our stock is fresh. Nothing nfakes a daintier Christmas gift than a box of our delicious candy. Christmas Candy g Stationeryv Our line of Correspondence Cards, Stationery, Monogram- med and plain, is attractive, and reasonably priced. We cater to the fastidious, and our stationery is guaranteed to please. We also have a varied stock of Christmas tags and seals of attractive design. Toilet Goods Our imported Face Powder, Colognes, Toilet-Water, and Sachet Perfumes is of the freshest and most infinite varie- ty. Any of these articles are always welcome giits for *Christmas. %: = We extend a cordial invitation to all Christmas shoppers to call and see our extensive line of Holiday Goods. Our clerks are courteous, and you will be served with pleasure and dis- patch. In additior to your purchase you will be given a calendar with our best wishes for a “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” Lake Pharmacy _ PHONE 42 : € APCHOPOLOBOLOFOLOLOPAPOF 0T IFLr OO THE OM.WMM.;WW 1 i TOM'SSTEPMOTHER By RANDAL LEXINGTON. (Copyright.) . The head master of Rushington pre- paratory school gazed at the youngest boarder curiously over his spectacles. | The youngest boarder, wholly un- ! abashed, returned the gaze, his hands plunged in his tiny pockets, and his | bare, brown legs planted firmly apart. “Thomas,” began the head master, | “I have received this morning a letter 1(rom your father, in which he wished me to inform you that he—er—that | you—er—in fact, that you bave a step- | mother.” “Yes, sir.” noncommittal. “Er—do you know what a stepmoth |er is, Thomas?” “No, sir.” The head master looked surprised. Before he came to Rushington pre- paratory school his world had consist- ed of cook, James and the housemaids, with rare glimpses of a delightful in- dividual called father. “Well —er — your stepmother is your—er—your father's second wife.” “Yes, sir.” Again the tone was po- lite, but uncomprehending. “That will do, then, Thomas. That { was all I wished to say to you. You | may go.” \ “Yes, sir” { The blue eyes lit up with sudden in- | terest. “Please, sir,” eagerly, “are i they nice, sir?” | The head master again regarded the | youngest boarder over his spectacles. { “What, Thomas?” “Stepmothers, sir.” “Er—some are and some are not. Yours probably will be.” He thought of the handsome, perfectly mannered gentleman who was Thomas' father, and corrected himself. “Sure to be,” he ended. ‘ “Yes, sir.” The tone was politely Thomas shut the study door after him and wandered off toward the schoolroom. He had a new possession—a step- mother, but he was not quite sure whether it was a creditable one or not. In the schoolroom was William with a crowd of boon companions. Willlam was a boy of prestige. He was the tyrant of his form—it was Thomas', too—and he had a fa- ther who had shot a lion. Thomas approached him. “I've got a stepmother,” he an- nounced. The reception of his news was flattering. William’s mouth opened to its fullest extent. “What!" he roared. “A stepmother? I say, you chaps, Thomas gorra step- mother.” Thomas was immediately the center of an admiring crowd of small boys, to whom he solemnly confided his ig- norance on the article in question. There was a babble of voices. “Why, they’'re big, ugly black wom- en.” “They beat you.” “They starve you.” They lock you up in dark rooms.” Thomas received the information stolidly. In the same way he received all subsequent glances of envy or sympathy. For Thomas life suddenly changed. All the rest of the term he was the central figure, the observed of all ob- servers. Willlam regretfully, but of his own accord, relinquished his posi- tion. The head master had patted each in- dividual head, and shaken each indi- vidual hand, and hoped that each in- dividual pupil would be a good boy during the holidays, and there they were on the platform, waiting for their trains. There were many parting presents for Thomas from pitying, sympathetic little boys who were going home to nice, kind mothers and nurses, instead of cruel stepmothers. In the train Thomas' feelings were those of pleasurable excitement. He had never been starved, he had cer- tainly never been locked in a dark room, he did not remember ever hav- ing been beaten. All these sensations would have the charm of novelty. At the station he leaped out eagerly. Was she there? No, there was no ugly, black woman on the platform; only James and the trap at the gate. James' manner seemed to have an added respect, a touch of that sym- pathy that had made those last few weeks at school 8o pleasant. At last they were there. Up the great front door. “Your father's in the library, Master Thomas,” said a housemaid, who was new since last holidays. “Hallo, son,” said his father, as he entered. “How have you been getting on? Carrfed off all the prizes, eh? What a tall young man you are grow- ing. I wonder what we can do to keep you small. Seen your stepmother?” “No,” said Thomas. His blue eyes danced with excitement. In his eager- nese he rumpled his untidy golden hair with his little brown hand. “Well, 1 think she's on the lawn. Go and say how do you do to her.” Thomas went out and gazed round. No, there was no stepmother there— and a soft, white dress. up to her “Are you a princess?” he asked. So he walked his tousled head Cown to his little brown knees, and smiled wistfully, “No, I'm not " she said. The drive home was also exeiting. long, shady avenue they drove to the . be just the same. only a princess with goldy-brown hair, ' She turned and looked at him, from | thry, EVENING TALEGRAM, LAKELAND, FLA., DEC 13, 1914, further interest in her, but he looked ADAPTED FOR SEW"‘G-ROO" i anxiously round the lawn | “Where is she?” he asked at last, i an eager whisper. “Who?" smiled the lady. “The stepmother.” : “I'm the stepmother,” sald the lady. Thomas turned and surveyed her speechl ¥ ; .He gazed at her masses of soft, rip- pling hair, her tender, hazel eyes, her delicate oval face. His “You!" he said, incredulously. disappointment was obvious. The stepmother flushed. ~Then—then—you won't beat me, or lock me up, or starve me?" said Thomas in tones of heartfelt regret. She laughed tremulously. “No, no—of course not.” “They said you would,” he said, re- proac . rr?How silly of them,” she laughed. “But what 'zactly is a stepmother? They never really told me. 1 hN? a real mother once,” he said with pride, “put she went to heaven. P'.rapl. with a sudden inspiration, “you're her come back.” “No, no!" she said. She knelt down as near him as she dared, znd put one hand timidly on his little brown knees. “I'm just a stepmother, and we'll be great friends, you and L We'll hm"e grand times together. And—and we 1 play here in the garden, and I'll put you to bed and kiss you and—" “But,” broke in Thomas, solemnly, “we can't do that if you aren’t a real one. William says he'd like to see any woman kiss him ‘cept his mother— and you are'nt a real mother, are, you?” The stepmother answered eagerly: “Not a real one, dear, but—" We can't do it if you aren't a real one,” said Thomas, decidedly. There were some new puppies in the stable, and 2 new horse that James said belonzed to the stepmother, and he had tea with James and James’| wife in their little cottage, and every-. thing seemed as ne~ and exciting as it always does the first day of boli- days. It was half past seven when he wan- dered into the drawing room. His fa-| ther was there with the stepmother. “Well, young man,” said his fa-| ther, “this is a fine hour for little boys to be up. High time you were asleep. | Come and say good night” He bent down, and Thomas stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. | “Now go over and say good night tof your stepmother.” i Thomas walked over to her and held o1t his hand, politely. “Good night,” he said, in his quaint, | serious way. | The man frowned. | “Aren't you geing to kiss her, Thom- as?” he asked. ! Thomas turned to him. ; “I don't think so,” he said. “You| see, she's not a real one.” Thomas put himself to bed. He al-| ways performed the operation alone,! although one or other .of the house ! maids generally volunteered their ! services. | | 1 | | There was a dull pain at his heart. | He wanted some one. He wanted| some one with soft, fluffy hair and, dark eyes like the stepmother, some! one to say good night to and kiss. | He was used to being by himself, but now the depth of his lonely little soul cried for her. He wanted her, he wanted her, he wanted her. He wanted | her so much that it hurt. He sat up in bed and gazed with! flushed cheeks into the darkness. He| dug his fingers into his palms, and: bit his lip to keep it still. Surely he! was not going to cry! What would William and the other boys say if they , knew that he had cried because—just | because—Thomas did cry. The stepmother was sitting alone in the drawing room. Thomas' father had just gone into the library to look far a book she wanted. But she was not thinking of Thomas' father—she was thinking of Thomas. She was thinking of his blue eyes, his untidy mop of hair, his little seri- ous mouth. She would so love to hold him on her knee, to kiss his Mttle brown legs. She wanted to go and look at himy in bed, if only she were sure he <was asleep. She dared not go unless she | were certain. A great loneliness was in her heart, a loneliness that even Thomas’ father could not satisfy. The door opened. “Found it, dear?” she said, raising | her head. But it was not her husband. It was a quaint little figure in a thy' sleeping sult, a little figure with blue, | tear-filled eyes, and a tremulous baby | mouth. | “l want you,” he wailed. “I wlm‘ you, anyway. An' it doesa’t matter about your not being a real one. It An’ I want you %o 8ay good night, too, and—* But he got no further. Somedow or other he was there, pressed against her warm, white throat; and the soft, fragrant waves of her hair. He eould Long-ha'red, cream-colored teel her kisses on his cheek. Shyly he | u gy S Plush ia| stole his arms round her neck. “My little son,” she sobbed. The Better Proof. Casey—Doolan offered to prove to ,me in black an' white that Oi was a fool. Clancy—Phwat happened thin? Casey—Oi proved..to him in black an’ blue thot he was a liar. Another Reservist. Foreman—Are ye thinkin’ at all iv goin’ home an' fightin’ fr yer coun- Joe? Laborer—Da union won't leta e “Oh!" Thomas seemed to lose all work more dan eight hour a day in da trench—Puck. ' quired , shaped piece of stiff cardboard, meas- l | sllk cord, !'80 that a small pair of scissors can R { dind. They are large and' flat, eonvex l | ugtitch-in-Time” Board Will Be Found o: Practical Use and a Pretty Decoration. A dainty and decorative “gtitch-in- | time” board is a thing that shou}d find a place in every home, and it is also a useful article to give as a small . present. Boards of this kind can be made in a great number of different shapes and forms, and in our sketcl; may be seen a particularly neat an : ornamental board for hanging upon‘ the wall at some convenient spoti where the articles it contains may be | ready to hand whenever they are ro-' 1 For making it cut out a diamond- | uring six and a half inches each way. | Thisscard is smoothly covered on both ' sides with pale gray watered silk, the 5 material being cut out in two pieces, | stretched tightly across and sewn to-| gether at the edges, which are after-, wards finished off with a pale pink | arranged in three little loops on either side and again at the I Toy% S e & at our'fi Store | O, 1l W e have everythin Fy Jlnfi Van & | 4 .‘ E Toy: X El: ctric Ty Friction To ] top and bottom. A flat oblong cushion, ! § covered with pale pitk silk and edged with a fine claret-colored silk cord car- | ried into three little loops at each cor- | |§ ner is made separatcly and sewn on l in the center of the board. The up-[ per edge of the cushion is left free! Moving Pio Maching I NEW VOGUE N NECkwean ¥ Games Circus Tri Mechanical [ 'd Wagons Tustrated. On either side of this cushion, two & 'f Doll Hous white, are suspended with loops of g er point a small pocket is sewn into a (¥ little frifl at the edge, in which a|K loop of pale pink ribbon, with a bow ! & at the top, is attached to either side | & Doll Carts be slipped behind it in t:c manper 11 reels of cotton, one black, the other R narrow pale pink ribbon. At the low-| i Don Beds thimble may find a place, and a long 'R of the board by whick it may be sus- [ | pended from @ nail in the wall. N More Severe and” Unornamental 8tylc¥ : Seems Likety to Replace | Dainty Collars. | Becoming as the dainty lingerie col E Drums lar doubtless is, it is just about time § that we had a chaonge in neckwear. The change may be of a kind regret: ted by many, for it will possibly be IV \ toward a much more severe and unor [ 3 e also hmfa namental neck line. tany of the new | @ I evening frocks have a line singularly | = mos;,comg e o hard, and so have afternoon frocks.| Furnt And not long ago Madame Cheruit in the Ci wore a gown of gabardine, with a lit- i H tle vest of chiffon of the same color | 8§ The bodice of the frock was cut away | at the back of the neck and on the shoulders two or three inches from | ! the lower line of the throat and the!g chiffon vest extended around the Back, filling in this space left bare by the bodice with a perfectly straight piece of the chiffon. Some faces and figures can stand this flat, straight line at the neck, but most look far better in the high, rolling collar that has beem sc | popular. Blanke and Comfol DICTATES OF FASHION Some of the new jackets are made with belts showing in front, but hid-| den st the back. Buttons generally saw on from be er ballshaped. Trimmings are ' Braiding is reserved mhm:: tation of the belt and straps. Winecolored veivet suits are trimmed with cords of the veivet and buttons embroidered with steel beads. Most evening colffures show the | bair dressed so cipsely to the head ! ;:o give a certain severity of out- If there is! thing want Hardw we also ho with brocaded ed erepe im vivid colors. Complete‘ sed for evening wrape and is lined_' ! Selvages in Fashion. ! Selvages are more fashionable ' Ithan ever, it seems. The Fyench § ’couturiers end their American imita. | tors delight in using breadths of rich silk and handsome cloth with un- iherln;med edges, and | make a very gracerul finish as a rul !Llendm; more softly with the ]ln:s' |of the costume. A Parisian dinner !mf\k has a width of superb lace which covers the bodice and forms | the tunic, applied to the black tulle voke merely by {ts selvages, the flat line of white outlining the curved chape of the yoke fashion, . In very effective Lakele Furnitt AND Hardw Comp: T the selvages