The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-14
A DOUBLE MYSTERY.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
torlginal1

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 n companion with him for the
reason that he had no chum who loved
fishing as he did, and any one who
was Indifferent to the sport would
spoil 1t 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
fish, moving In the direction OF lake,
when he passed a white cottage with
green blinds. On the porch hung a
small school blackboard. on which was
chalked:
Ice--Cream.
Ward surmised that the first was
notice TO the iceman and the second
notice to the milkman. Thinking it
would be a good joke to make a sign
Of it, he took up piece Of chalk that
lay handy on window sill and wrote
under the other words "and soda wa
ter" SO that 1t 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 Il:
Fish.
BY this time he was a bit ashamed
OF himself for having interfcred with
some housewife, as he supposed, In
her notifications TO tradesmen, and,
desiring TO make reparation. he re-
turned to his quarters and. selecting a
fine plckeref from the mess of the day
before, left it at the back door, where
1t would doubtless be discovered by
the cook when she came down aud
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
notice of what was wanted In the way
of supplies. The notice read:
Trout
1t so happened that he had brought
home fine string OF trout the day be-
fore. and, being quite pleased ut the
whimsical idea of furnishing supplies
to the housewife who supposed she
was getting them from the tradesmen.
he turned again to his quarters, got
half dozen fat trout aud deposited
them at the kitchen door He chuckled
TO himself ut the dialogue between the
housewife and the 1shmonger In their
efforts TO explain the mystery. There
was bit of mystery for him as
well. On his. return evenings. which
was usually about 3 o'clock, when he
passed the house he looked at 1t. 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 a human being In or
about the cottage.
On the fourth morning that Ward
went out on his journey the sign ON
the blackboard read:
Berries.
1t happened that the route to the
fishing ground was lined with luscious
blackberrles. Ward, who by this time
was nearly as much interested in the
requirements of the white cottage as
with his fishing, hurried on, gathered
a couple of quarts of berries, went
back 10 the house and deposited them
In heap on the morning paper. Then
he sped away, fearing some one might
get out of bed and discover him.
The next morning came u surprise.
When Ward looked at the blackboard
he did so with wide open eyes. There
was the word:
Flowers.
Now, there were no flowers to be
purchased In the village. at any rate
at that hour In the morning. But
Ward had seen lots OF wild flowers In
the woods. He repeated his effort OF
the day before, only this time he gath !
cred flowers instead of berries, and
hurried back TO the house with them. |
Instead OF taking them to the kitchen |
he stepped nlmbly on to the porch
and was about TO lay them before the |
front door when 1t opened, and there
stood as pretty a girl as he had ever |
seen, blushing, laughing and, above |
all, her eyes dancing with mischief. |
He doifed his hat.
II have to thank you" said the girl,
'for the delicious fish and berries you
have brought me and now for these
beautiful flowers"
$50 IT'S you who have the Joke on |
me instead OF the Joke on your
II was up and dressing when you
passed the first morning. Hearing
some one on the porch, looked |
through the blinds and saw you go
away with your rod and basket. When
| went down | found the change you
had made on the board. Knowing
that you were fisherman, l resolved !
to get even with you. l have kept
getting even ever since"
"But why have l never seen any one
about in the dayy"