Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, January 1, 1915, Page 7

Wwith his cataloguing. One night, when Tommy was :‘:;te‘d in his room, busy with his hobby, I found out how matters stood. I had left Mildred and Thornton on the ter- race, and, happening to go out with my cigar, intending to take a smoke FOUND OUT TOMMY By H. M. EGBERT. —_— What Mildred Carter saw in Tommy Leeson nobody had ever been able to discover. Tommy was a little pale- taced, freckled, insignificant sort of chap, with a passion for old armor, and Mildred was one of those fine, strapping women who no sooner set foot in & ballroom or anywhere else but they form the nucleus of a crowd of admirers. Tommy had a million or two, but then Roy Thornton had about as much, and everybody knew that Mildred could have had Roy as soon as she dropped her glove. 1 think it was the disparity between them that attracted Mildred. Tommy was too shy to come at her beck and call, and she mistook it for indif- ference. Anyway, she must have found him out soon, because, by the time they were back from their honey- moon in Europe, she was treating him like a dog. They rented an old place in the Catskills, a sort of heirloom of a place full of old armor, which Tommy spent all his days cataloguing, and Mildred gathered the usual crowd | around her. They were a pretty fast set, and Tommy seemed to be the most insignificant person there. 1 had always liked both Tommy and | Mildred, and I knew she was a decent sort of a girl at heart. So I went to Tommy frankly. “Look here, old man,” I said, “it you'll excuse an old friend's interfer- | ence in what ought to be your private | affair but isn't, you're in danger of | losing that wife of yours. Why don't you bundle Thornton and the rest of that crowd out of the house?” “Mildred likes them,” Tommy an- swered, turning a white face on me. Thornton Looked Like Beggar. a Ragged and think things over, 1 suddenly heard their voices on the walk below me., | “Why don't you leave him, dear?” Thornton was asking. “You can get a divorce out west. Everybody does I could not hear her answer, but the “Tom id, “if you love your | you will save her from herself. It isn't e to think of, but she was being at- g6 cur and couldn’t t you act then?" "~ much_impression O EOPOEO O D 30 Sooietess Just Because Christ Is Over DIDTOE mas PR Q 2 et QBN Is no sign gnod Things to Eai are not in style, especially during the remainder of the Holiday season. We have Turkeys, Chick:ns, Country Hams, Pound Cake, Fruit Cake and many other Delicacies 8B BB T FOROBOBOBOROHO SO Try Richelieu Can Goods They are the best money can buy. BB B =3 ¢ o g 4 2 @ & ¢ 5 g o § 4 : Farmers and Truckers will please remember I am head quarters for SEED POTATOES and all other Seeds. D. B. Dickson PO O SPECIAL bALE For THIRTY DAYS we will Make a Special Sale on the New Improved White Rotary Sewing Machine Thirty Dollars Cash Just one-half the usual price Takes one of them o Don’t let this opportunity pass without supplying your needs. The quantity is limited. Come at once. When they are gone we can’t duplicate the order. We need THE CASH. You need the Machine. Our interests are mutual. Come let us Serve you. tones were very tender. I told Tommy. | 3040 | THE EVENING TELEGRAM LAK [ELAND, FLA,, JAN. 1, 1915, I ———————————————— ] my words had made until the next | | I evening. I had gone off for a stroll— there wasn’t much company for me at that period—and when I came home I saw a singular spectacle. Mildred was standing by the drawing-room window, very erect, very white, with her fists clenched. Thornton was leaning with easy insouciance against the mantel, while Tommy stood by the door. He was trembling with anger, ; but he saw me and called me in. “Don’t go, old man,” he said; want you here.” Then he turned to Thornton again. i "T'll repeat for Jack's benefit what I have just said to you,” he exclaimed. “You have told me frankly that you | want Mildred. The only reason why Il refuse to give her to you is that I {don't believe you have any more ca- ! pacity to be true to her than you had | to be true to me. But if you want | her, I will fight you for her, as you | humorously suggested.” “My dear Tommy,” drawled Thorn- ton, “of course I'll fight you if you want me to. But I don't want to hurt You, and I'm afraid I'm rather a bet. | ter boxer than you are. So you'll have to choose some weapon which will give us aan equal x\dva.ntage»mush-‘ rooms, for example, or poisoned pills.” | | “How about swords?" asked Tommy, | “ Tommy had resumed his ordinary method of holding his weapon, and was quietly parrying Thornton's sav- age thrusts. I stepped between them and held up my cane. “That’s all!” I sald, and Tommy lowered his point. As he did so Thornton lunged with his foil. The point caught Tommy under the collar- bone and went clean through. Thorn- ton pulled out the blade and Tommy toppled over. “Sorry, Mildred,” said Thornton in a shaking voice. He drew her aside. “What will become of me?” he whis- pered. “I'll have to go.” He turned to me. “Have I killed him?” he asked. He was ashen pale and his knees would hardly support him. “No, you cowardly dog,” I answered —for the wound was not a serious one and the small opening had already ceased to bleed. “Small thanks to you,” I added. “Get out!” But Mildred had pushed past him and flung herself upon her knees at Tommy's side. “Tommy!"” she whispered, taking his head upon her knee. “Tommy!"” Then I knew that Thornton wculd never trouble Tommy's peace again. (Copyright, 1914, by W. G. Chapman.) | with a whimsical smile as he reached | still quivering. b “My dear Tommy, I didn't know your studies of the antique included the art of swordn ship,” Thornton answered, “but as I happen to know something about it—" “There are two foils in the hall,” | said Tommy. *“\We can remove the! buttons. Will you be in the stables | at seven?” | “Sure,” grinned Thornton. | Mildred intervened with a passion- ate exclamation “It's all right, dear,” Thornton as- sured h “It isn’t nice to fight about | You, but Tommy understands the situ- ation, and it will be easy just to pink him in the arm without hurting him much.” I w sorry for Tommy. 1 was afraid he would find himself unequal to the task he had set himself, but when I went to his room I found him | Bazing smilingly at a couple of foils, | from which he had just removed the buttons. They were thin, flexible ¢ | weapons, with which it would be hard to do much damage, unless one got the point at such an angle that it would make a clean thrust. I thought Tommy would get a scratch or two and that that would end the affair, “Tommy, id, grasping his hand, “I believe, under the circumstances, you are doing the right thing. But do vou know anything about swordsman- ship?” “I had a few lessons in Paris,” he | replied, and took me by the arm.| “Jack,” he said, “I'm going to win. I/ know it—because I've got to save Mil- dred from that blackguard.” “Suppose she doesn’t keep the agree- ment,” 1 thought, but I didn't say any- thing. 1 was resolved to watch the duel pretty closely, and to step in and thrust up the weapons the minute either man was in serious danger. So at geven o'clock I went with Tommy to the stables. | Mildred and Thornton were already | there. 'He had buttoned up his coat, | and he took my foil with a business- like air which made me fear for Tommy. I believed the cur had | planned to do something mean. He | was too much of a coward to kill him, ' but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had cut his face about, to disfigure him. As for Mildred, she was standing back against the wall and watching both men with a singular expression; she seemed like a person dreaming, and certainly there was no look of love upon her face for Thornton. I think she had become conscious of her evil part. But she was too game to call the affair off. “Remember, gentlemen,” I sald, as I placed the men in position and drew the foil buttons from my pocket, “in | case of accident we swear that the buttons came off accidentally. That's | understcod? Then get ready!” They toed the chalk lines I had| | drawn, and I lowered my cane. |\ For half a minute the thrusts and | parries were 8o swiftly given that it | was impossible to see who was the better fencer. Then I saw a look of surprise come out on Thornton's face Tommy was at least his equal with | the weapon. Thornton seemed to be devoting all his efforts to guarding his face, for he held himself well back, | | while at the same time he exposed his body rather carelessly. Suddenly I saw Tommy's blade dart forward. | | It seemd to go through Thornton's chest. Evidently it had passed under his arm, for Thornton did not appear | wounded. I saw Tommy set kis teeth | as he renewed the attack; and then it dawned on me tnat he had Thorn- ton at his mercy. To my surprise Tommy began to | fence in a very curious way. He used his foil now something in the manner of a sword, making a succession of sweeping slashes, at the same time adroitly parrying Thornton’s lunges. All at once a ribbon of cloth flew out of Thornton's coat. The blade had come within a quarter-inch of cutting him open. A second ribbon flew in | the opposite direction. Then a third | and a fourth and a fifth followed, until Thornton’s coat hung in ribbons about | him. There was a ghastly look on Thorn- ton’s face. I thought then that it | was due to Tommy's incredible swordsmanship. But it wasn't. Slash! Swish! Slash! Thornton | looked like a ragged beggar. The | coat was all gone in front, and now | strips of waistcoat and shirt began to follow it. And then a gentle rasping sound becar jible. The foil point seemed to be € | stant later a Iz foil sent the | front flyin | ting breastpiate of flexible chain armor which hung on one of the dummy fig- ures in an obscure place in the hall The coward had put this on beneath his shirt. No wonder he had guarded his face so carefully and exposed his n epite of my close attention to the fight, | manazed to steal a glance at Mildred. All through the duel she had clung to the wall; but now she started forward and stood, with parted lips, staring at Thornton. | quickly gathered found i Idi ked, E Sash In| The {Bullding, Rooked, Every. Bash Ini vy s triith and Diiraid ‘and Leila | of the people about here,’ GHETTO AT NIGHT —_—do— By GEORGE ELMER COBB. A shot, a cry, a general commotion and Leslie Durand was the center of an excited group. It was among the most sordid homes of the Italian dis- trict of the great city, and alter dark. A week previous he had come into the section, primarily appointed by a commons commission to ascertain the prospects of founding a community house. In addition to this, a daily per had engaged him to write of articles on life in the ghet- to-like district. Durand had rentcd the suite of rooms over a cheap store. He was on his way home, when suddenly a loud report startled him. A hail of large shot showered past him. He ran to the spot where he had seen the flash the mouth of an alley. No one was vigible down its dim length, but near the street himself and the crowd a sawed-oft shotgun, abandoned by the would-bo assassin or excitement agitator, as the case might Lo, “It is the Vendetta!” was the sur- | mise of an aged man. “Against whom?” it was challenged. “Ah, that is so—whom, indeed?” muttered the old man. Then, amid | the babel of many Italian voices dis- cussing the sensational episode, Du- rand quietly drew to the edge of the crowd. His arm was touched gently as ho started once more in the direction of home. He turned to see a man past middle age on crutches. Beside him was a girl of about eighteen. “Your hand is bleeding,” vised Durand. “Why, 80 it is!" exclaimed the lat-' ter, for the first time noticing where one of the scattered leaden missiles had grazed the back of his fingers. “It 18 nothing, for I feel no pain,” add- ed Durand, carelessly. “It should be attended to, neverthe- less,” returned the other seriously. “I am something of a surgeon, Mr. Du- rand. My little home is near by—" “Why, you know me?” observed Durand wonderingly. “By name and sight—oh, yes,” was answered with a friendly smile. “In be ad- \ the Place Was Shattered. a little community like this every | at their modest home two afternoons | to the window to see a shed structure | “Leila!” burst unrestrainedly from his ! | fair, delicate hands. | ding bells. stranger is remarked.” Durand began wrapping a handker- | chief about his hand. The young girl | stepped forward to assist him. He! | knew not why, but the gentle touch of | her dainty fingers, the look of interest in her clear blue eyes caused him to assent to the reiterated invitation of the old man, evidently her father, to visit their home and have his slight { injury attended to. It was a quaint little cottage far back from the street to which Durand was led. There was a neat glass sign on the door reading, “Prof. Gabriel Dubourg, Teacher of Piano and Vio- lin.” The front room was neatly fur- nished. There was an air of good taste and art all about the apartment. “In our humble way, my daughter Leila and myself are quite favorites ' remarked the musiclan. “We know their ways. We feared that you—a stranger—" Here the young girl cast a quick look upon her father who, somewhat embarrassed, did not complete the sen- tence he had begun. Instead ha; locked the room door and hastily | pulled down all the shades. Then he drew a small surgical case from a Durand raid: See, it is a mere surface scratch on and.” ‘es, the abrasion is not severe, but—we must look out for poison.” repeated Durand with a look at it in the same light that I do. i start, and then he undersfood the in. sinuation. Doubtless the man who had fired the gun had sought to kill some enemy. Cases were not rare where poisoned missiles had been em- ployed. Not for a moment had Dur- and suspected that the shot might have been meant for himself. { The professor applied a solution to | the grazed member and bound it with a thin covering of gauze. Then they drifted into a pleasant conversation and Durand learned that the musiclan and his daughter were well posted in Italian dialects and received quite an income from writing and translating letters for their neighbors. As he thanked host and hostess for their kind attention and arose to go, the professor directed an uneasy and ap- pealing look at his daughter. “There were some little purchases you spoke of this afternoon,” he ob- served to Leila. “She would be com- pany Yor you on your way, Mr. Du- rand.” Leila flushed, but put on her hat. She accompanied Durand as far as a well-lighted principal thoroughfare and then bade him good night. “I declare!” soliloquized Durand | his room, “what would my newspaper friends think if I were to tell them | that a beautiful young lady actually | saw me home!™” The Dubourg family held a decided fascination for Durand and he called during the week following. The pro- | fessor gave him much information | that fitted into his newspaper stories. | Leila enthralled him with her beauty | and musical genius. One afternoon | his stay lingered into the hours after | dark. Again as he arose to leave the | hospitable reof, Leila had “some pur- | chases to make.” As they neared his | home a sudden enlightment flooded ! nd’s mind. | s Dubourg,” he said, “can it be | possible that you go to all this trouble from fear that [ may come to harm?” Leila hesitated, faltered. Then she said: | “It is tr My father believes that shot in thoe dark was meant for you." “Oh, possible!” exclaimed Du- rand. Vhat could be the motive? I am entirely friendly to these people.” “You have signed the name ‘Zucci’ to your newspaper articles,” spoke Leila. “Yes, I picked up the name someo- where and haye used it.” “You must change it “And why?” Interrogated Durand in astonishment. “My father and I know a great deal about our neighbors. It seems that a certain revolutionary set are sus[\oct-[ ing that you are a spy. Your hap- | & hazard selection of that nom de plume has in their minds connected you with a hated and hunted detective known as Zuccl. Your life is in danger.” A tender glow overspread the young man's face as he realized the respect and interest Leila's words conveyed. He left her promising to find some way of setting himself right with the community the next day. Durand noticed as he approached the old building where he had leased living quarters, that the store below had moved from the premises that day. He attached no particular sig- nificance to this. Once up stairs he sat down to think, not of possible peril, but of Leila. Suddenly there was a vivid flash of light, followed by a frightful detona- tion. The building rocked, every sash in the place was shattered. Springing to his feet Durand rushed | % P | | | | in the next yard blown to atoms. “Dynamite!” he breathed and dashed down the stairs to the street. lips as he saw, shrinking to the front of the building, the professor's daugh- ter. She was pale as death, her hands were clasped in pain. Then, just as he noticed that they were all black- ened and burned, she fainted away in his arms. Those beautiful hands, all seared and scored for his deur sake—how he caressed them, when she lay, smiling proudly, fondly, under the care of her father. She had followed two suspicious looking trailers of Durand after he had left her that evening. She had reached the building just as they had set a lighted bomb in the hallway that might have blown the house to atoms. She had rushed at the missile of de struction and flung it into the next lot. The spluttering fuse had rained a deluge of cruel sparks across her What had come of it all was love, pure and lasting. What came after- wards was the chjmc of merry wed- The wild untamed revolu- tionary element were made aware of had no more ardent well-wishers in the settlement. (Copyright, 1914, by W. G. Chapman.) Use and Abuse of Cocea. Cocoa, the “wonder plant o: the Andes,” known also as the “divine plant,” should not be confounded with the seeds of the palm. Theobroma ca- cao, which are cacoa or chocolate beans. The latest bulletin of the Pan- American union describes the planta- | tions on which the leaves of this shrub, resembling the blackthorn bush of the United States, are grown to feed the cocaine factories of Peru and Bolivia. Whether the chewing off | the leaves by the natives is harmful seems stills debatable, for the articlo | quotes Dr. W. Golden Mortimer, who spent four years investigating cocoa and its influences, as follows: “As to the value of cocoa, cannot be the slightest doubt The evils from cocaine have arisen from its pernicious use, In unguard- ed doses, where used hypodermically or locally for anesthesia, when an ex- cessive dose has often been adminis- tered, without estimating the amount of alkaloid that would be absorbed, and which might result in systematic symptoms.” there They Aczreed. 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