Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1908-12-18
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+ 4 DOUBLE MYSTERY.
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tOriginal.1

Chester Ward was an angler. When
summer came around and it was time |
for vacation he always hied himself
to the woods and waters with his rod,
established himself at some point
about which fish congregate and pro-
ceeded to enjoy the days. He never
took a companion with him for the
reason that he had no churn who loved
fishing as he did, and any one who
was Indifferent to the sport would
spoil it for him. :.
One summer Mr.. Ward located his
headquarters at the village Of D..
surrounded by lakes. in which were
many kinds Of fish, and by streams
well stocked with trout. On the morn
ing after his arrival, before other peo-
pie had risen, he was stepping lightly
along the street Of the village, armed
to the teeth with weapons to attack
Ash. moving in the direction of a lake,
when he passed white cottage With
greense blinds. On the porch hung
small school blackboard. on which wac
chalked::' r..a':<f,,. -
-, Ice-Creau.
Ward surmised that 6the 4irst was .
notice to the iceman and the second
notice to the milkman. Thinking II
would be good joke to make a sign
Of 1t, he took up piece Of chalk that
lay handy on window sill and wrote
under the other words "and soda wa.
ter" SO that it read: >.
| Ice Greenland Soda Water
When he returned in the evening the
blackboard had been wiped clean, but
the next morning when he went out
again he saw written on It:
Fish.
By this time he was bit ashamed
| Of himself~for having interfered with
some housewife, as he supposed, in
! her notifications to tradesmen, and,
desiring to make PREPARATION, he re.
turned to- his quarters and. selecting a
Efine pickerel from the mess of the day
before, left it at the back door, where
it would doubtless be discovered by
the cook when she came down and
opened up the kitchen for the day.
The next morning as Ward passed
on his daily Journey to the fishing
grounds he looked, as USUAL, for the
potice of what was wantedf In the way
Of supplies The notice read:
! -. Trout.
It SO happened that he had brought
home a fine string Of trout the day be.
fore, and, being quite pleased at the
whimsical idea of furnishing supplies
to the housewife who supposed sha
was getting them from the tradesmen,
he turned again to. his quarters, got
half q: dozen, TAT trout: and deposited
them at the !:nchen door. He'chuckled
to himself at the dialogue between the
housewife and the fshmonger in their
efforts to explain the mystery. There
was q bit Of mystery for him as
well. On his return evenings, which
was usually about s O'Clock, when he
passed the house he looked at it, hop
ing to catch sight Of the housewife,
for at that hour, of course, every one
in the town was stirring. But never
once did he see human being in, or
about the cottage.
On the fourth morning that Ward
went out on his journey the sign on
the blackboard read:
i Berries.
1t happened that the route to the
fishing ground was lined with luscious
blackberries. Ward, who by this time
was nearly as much interested in the
requirements of the white cottage as
with his fishing, hurried on, gathered
q couple Of quarts of berries, went
back to the house and deposited them
In a heap on the morning paper. Then
he sped away, fearing some one might
get out Of bed and discover him.
4 The next morning came q surprise.
When Ward looked at the blackboard
/ he did 20 with wide open eyes. There
) was the word: 49, ~. r.
,'-.. Flowers.
i Now. there were no flowers to be