The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-10-08
A DOUBLE MYSTERY.

[Original.l
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 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 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
TO the teeth with weapons to attack
fish, moving in the direction of a lake,
when he passed a white cottage with
green blinds. On the porch hung a
small school blackboard, on which was
chalked:
Ice-Cream
notice to the iceman and the second
a notice to the milkman. Thinking II
would be a good joke to make a sign
of it, he took up a 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, bu
the next morning when he went ou
| again he saw written on 1t:
Fish
| BY this time he was a bit ashamed
Of himself for having interfered will
some housewife, as he supposed, il
| her notifications to tradesmen, and
desiring to make reparation. he re
turned to his quarters and, selecting ;
| fine pickerel from the mess of the da.
before, left 1t at the back door, wher
1t would doubtless be discovered b.
the cook when she came down ant
opened up the kitchen for the day.
The next morning as Ward passe'
on his daily journey to the fishing
grounds he looked, as usual, for tn
| notice of what was wanted In the wa.
of supplies. The notice read:
Trout
1t so happened that he had brough
home a fine string of trout the day be
fore, and, being quite pleased at th
whimsical idea of furnishing supple
to the housewife who supposed sh
was getting them from the tradesmer
he turned again to his quarters, &c
half a dozen fat trout and deposite
them at the kitchen door. He chuckle
to himself, at the dialogue between tn
housewife and the fishmonger in -thei
efforts to explain the mystery. Their
was a bit of mystery for him a
well On his return evenings, whic
was usually about o'clock, when b
/ pdcSCu tic nOGSC AE AOOhEd At III hOk
ing to catch sight of the housewife
for at that hour, of course, every on
in the town was stirring But neye
once did he see human being in G
about the cottage.
On the fourth morning that War
went out on his journey the sign 0
the blackboard read:
Berries
1t happened that the route to ii
= fishing ground was lined with lusciou
blackberries. Ward, who by this tin
was nearly as much interested in tt
requirements of the white cottage G
with his fishing, hurried on, Gathere
couple of quarts of berries, weI
back to the house and deposited the
in heap on the morning paper. The
he sped away, fearing some one migl
e get out of bed and discover him.
, The next morning came a surpris
When Ward looked at the blackboar
he did so with wide open eyes. Thel
was the word:
Flowers.
: Now, there were no flowers to |
purchased in the village, at any ra
at that hour in the morning b
> Ward had seen lots of wild flowers
the woods. He repeated his effort
: the day before, only this time he gat
cred flowers instead Of berries, ar
hurried back to the house with ther
, Instead of taking them to the kitche
. ~ ~.
and was about to lay them before Il
front door when it opened. and the
stood as pretty girl as he had ev
seen. blushing. laughing and, abo'