The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-04-08
Trouble

|
mOnplaces she asked him what was
the matter.
1T isn't often that my friends are
SO evidently thinking Of something
else when | try my best 10 be enter
tanning" she said. You have some
thing on your mind and It might be q
good idea to tell me about it,"
Il don't see how you guessed it."
returned the young man. But tho
, truth is that ! am just about as wor-
ried as anybody can be. | don't see
how the thing can come out right"
1T may not be as bad as it seems"
Loretta told him. comiorlingly. Girls
overlook Il good deal Besides. a girl
who takes the trouble to get angry
at you is not often perfectly indiffer-
/ ent.'
You're right again-it is a girl"
the young man said. sheepishly. III
you had told me few weeks ago that
Id ever be SO silly as to worry over
such thing Id have said you were
away off the track"
"One never can tell" declared Lo.
retta sagely. Go on"
"You see." the young man began.
I'VE live In neighbOrhOOd that is half
city and half country and not quite Sc
lect enough to be fashionable. It's
just as nice as II can be and We Ger.
tainly enjoy our garden and our porch
to beat the band. My mother almost
lives out Of doors. Well. there was q
house built next door with fine
chicken yard and by and by the PEG.
pie moved in"
ITS a way people have Of doing"
murmured Loretta.
There was a man and his wife and
after a while a girl came home from
college. having been graduated with
hOnOrs Gee, she's as smart as a whip!
And. honest. it doesn't keep her from
being pretty. either
Il am really surprised said IIoret.
tn.
We'll. somehow We got TO be good
friends" the young man went on, dole
fully. Too good friends for my com.
fort, It seems. Anyhow, | got inter-
ested in her chickens-which are real.
ly fine ones, you know, not the com.
mon kind at all. | could understand
how proud she was of them. She was
fond Of any kind Of pets and she had
. cat that was Z dream. 1t had a
long, plumed tail and had taken a
prize al every cat show for several
years. She positively wOrshipped that
cat.
AFTER q while mothers vegetables
came up and lot Of flowers, for she &
a master hand at growing things.
Then, just as i'll luck would have It.
something came and dug up her grow.
ing things. II certainly was the limit
Mother got 30 discouraged that she al
most cried. declared that Id kill
the creature that did it on sight, what
ever 1t was"
"Reckless!"
well, never thought Of the chick
ens," he proceeded. till found Ida
Flanders kind of chilly toward me.
asked her over the fence one morning
what the trouble was and she
said very pointedly that her most
valuable chickens were disappear.
ing at the rate of one night"
why didn't you tell her that you
didn't know anything about her chick.
ens?'
Tell herr" repeated the young man.
AS II | didn't tell her! II ! said It
once l said 1t thousand times. But
do you think she would believe me
with that chickens head lying at my
feet! Not much! And you wouldn't
have either, not after my silly threat
to kill wstever It was that tore up
mothers garden"
what did you do about It after
that?"
AT first I didn't think there was q
thing l could d." he sighed. Ida
wouldn't let me come near enough to
speak to her. 1t made me wild to see
her smiling at everybody else"
Il wouldn't have given her Sec
ond thought since she was so unjust"
"Oh. yes, you would" the young man
assured her. 1T would have been all
very we'll to talk like that in the
spring, but II was too late for me to
quit thinking of her then. Why, lay
awake nights trying to fix it up and
it was not until last week that | had
an idea.
1T was the very day she bowed to
me as she was going out with young
Saunders. You know, he squints or
something. Well, bowling TO me was
more than she had done for SO long
that I sort of took heart and sharpened
my wits. had been so downhearted
that | hadn't really tried before.
AS result of that inspiration |
made the finest trap yon ever saw
neat, too, by Jove. 1t was sort OF
original, because | had TO fit 1t
against the side of the chicken house
and make it large enough TO squeeze