Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-09-30
A DOUBLE MYSTERY.
[Original.1

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 chum 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 We're
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
small school black aboard, on which was
chalked:
| Ice-Cream.
Ward surmised that the first was
notice to the iceman and the second
a notice to the milkman Thinking it
would be a good joke to make a sign
of 1t, he took up piece of chalk that
lay handy on a window sill and wrote
under the other words land 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 reparation he re-
turned to his quarters and, selecting
fine 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
notice of what was wanted in the way
of supplies. The notice read:
Trout.
1t 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 she
was getting them from the tradesmen,
he turned again to his quarters. got
half dozen fat trout and deposited
them at the kitchen door. He chuckled
to himself at the dialogue between the
housewife and the fishmOnger in their
efforts to explain the mystery. There
was a bit of mystery for him as
well. On his return evenings, which
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 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
, 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
+ a couple of quarts Of berries, went
back to the house and deposited them
r in heap on the morning paper. Then
:. he sped away, fearing some one might
3 get out of bed and discover him.
9 The next morning came a 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 nimbly on to the porcf
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 DOTTED 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 you"
81 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
l went down / found the change you
had made on the board. Knowing
that you were a fisherman, resolved
to get even with you. / have kept