Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1912-04-16
In the Tolls


pests that were interfering with the
reading Of her morning mail she calcu.
lated that there must be al least q
thousand flies in the fiat And Mrs.
Stebleton hates a fly as she hates a
rattlesnake
simply cannot stand this!" she
cried In wrath. So she went to the
phone and ordered sent over at once
quantity OF sticky fly paper When
II came she hated to spoil the looks Of
the place. but desperate measures were
imperative. The yellow sheets we're
scattered about through the rooms,
Then Mrs Stebleton| hung anannd
counting the first unwary victims and
rejoicing as she checked them on
+ Presently she got dressed and went
out to luncheon and shopping with
a friend When she ,.ame back she
hoped that the las, OF the invaders
would have buzzed out his final pro
ests on the sticky fly paper
Hflda. the maid. some hours later
bore an armful of freshly ironed sheets
and towels as she tramped heavily
down the hall to the linen closet Then
she dropped her burden with a thump
on convenient table When in the
course of putting them away she came
TO the last sheet something seemed
wrong with 1t. Hilda investigated and
then she said: my land!" One Of the
pieces OF fly paper was Immovably
glued to the under side OF the sheet
with mutterings of disgust. Hilda
peeled of the sheet and tried TO wash
1t out In the bath tub Her efforts
proved 20 her how very useless II was
for fly to try to get away when
once he got stuck to the sticky stun.
The fly paper she removed from It's
dangerous position on the liable. and
after aimlessly looking around for
an out of the way place. deposited it
upon the topmost sofa pillow on the
library couch.
Linda Stebleton, aged l6. arrived
home from school a little later. bring
Ing with her three girls They burst
In with gust of chatter and dis.
trtbuted themselves through two
rooms recklessly. Thereupon simulta.
neously arose wild shrieks Guest No.
had planted her elbow on one sheet
OF fly paper and her endeavors to re-
move 1t glued 1t firmly to her other
hand. Guest No. 2 had leaned back
her head and brought down a sheet
hanging over the edge OF bookcase.
Four puffs seemed inextricably at.
tached tc Its surface. Guest No. 3 was
try1ng"to remove a sheet from Linda q
back
After the excitement had cooled
down trifle Linda gazed upon the fiy
paper with hostile eyes. Mother must
nave put that horrid stuff aroundi"
she said. II suppose she saw q fyI
You'd think that one fly was a regi.
ment from the way she acts. Now,
where can we put the awful stuff?"
They prowled around with the sticky
paper gingerly held between their
thumbs and fingers and finally ar.
ranged II to suit themselves Then
they devoted an hour to soap and alco-
hol In an endeavor to rid themselves
Of the general sickness
TOD" Stebleton, aged eight, Joined
the procession when he rushed In and
sat down with bounce on a sheet
that had slid into chair His objec-
tions were violent and acrid and Il
took the efforts Of his sister aud the
other three girls combined to calm
him. Taking the fly paper in no gen.
tie hand, Tod hurled It out of his way.
Stebleton himself arrived home be-
fore his wife. What's this? What's
this?" he demanded In his nervous
way. placing an investigating finger on
the pale yellow sheet on the hall
stand It stuck. The other hand stuck.
too, when he hastily endeavored to get
1t on. His son and daughter hastened
to his rescue. explaining that doubt.
less mother had been waging war
against her enemies. the fiies
When Mrs. Stebleton came In, tired,
she was full OF apologies for her late
ness. she explained as she tossed on
her hat and her gloves and coat. I'm
simply dead!" she ended i've lust
got to rest few minutes before I
dress for dinner!" Then she threw
herself among the pillows on the II.
brary couch
But not for long From Mrs. Steble-
toms appearance as she scrambled to
her feet wildly after Mortified in.
stant II seemed that Linda and her
three friends, Tod and stebieton all
had followed Hilda's example In choos.
ing the sofa pillows on that couch as
a safe place to stow the sticky sheets
Of fly paper out Of the way. Every last
one OF them was plastered on Mrs.
Stebleton!