The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-08-01
ms CLEVER SCHEME
John Moran Arose to Occasion,
and Immediately Fell With
Great Splash.
az HERBsRT DRocER.

1870 W $50
paper Syndicate)
Anything between the ridiculous and
the sublime probably would have LETT
John Moran with very uncertain
appreciation Of the Fourth OF July
celebration. Neither the one nor the
other. in his opinion. could have been
very fruitful of results. But when the
ridiculous followed close on the sub
lime. the two operated after fash
Ion peculiarly uncalculated ana
brought Susan Duvau to an instan'
taneous decision on matter affecting
John, wherein all the pc and as she
had fingered over 80 long never be-
came finally resolved In her mind to
. syllogistic nicely.
OF the two extremes, the sublime
had been deliberately planned; 1t was
premeditated. The ridiculous wasn't.
The former was the result Of clever
scheme and weeks Of hard work. The
latter was the chance Of minute. nm
foreseen, unexpected, and. some might
have said on the spot. unpropitious.
For several years John Moran had
wooed Susan Duvau. but, 30 far. no
seemed to himself no nearer the matri'
monial goal than he had been at the
beginning. AIT her people had been
assisting him without apparent avail.
He had pleaded with her; he had
eoaxed and cajoled and even assayed
70 coerce after mild fashion, his
threats reaching that superlative pro
portion where he promised to identity
himself for life with the sublime or
der Of bachelorhood. But, to all this,
she merely cast down her eyes de-
murely and asked him to wait awhile.
John calculated that, he had waited
long enough. At first he had been
patient, but now he was growing des-
perate.
A score and one-half years had
come and gone around the life OF
Susan. AS her thirty-first birthday ap'
preached, John, who had schemed IN
til his hair was beginning to fall out
decided on a bold stroke. He spent
the afternoon with her that day. and
| in the evening, they had dinner to-
gether downtown.
That night he sat with her on the
front porch after the family had re
tired Over them a dim light shining
from the parlor window, cast pale
glow John sat quietly, waiting fo1
the silence he depended on for thu
furtherance of his plan. After awhile
It came. and then, when the stiffness
had locked the night in Its embrace
he began to hum, Silver Threads
Among the Gold" When he ha'
drew his chair closer to hers, reached
ceased, tears stood In his eyes. H
out for her hand again, and asked he
to become his wife. But 1t was tn
same old prosaic answer
wait awhile, John" she insisted
wait awhile. Do something grant
Show me that you can rise to the o.
, casion.'
Rise to the occasion, he would. H
resolved that firmly as he stood U
forthwith and bade her good nigh
= He resolved 1t all the way home. III
next morning he still resolved it. b
howl
A happy thought struck him jon
had a penchant for happy thought
He would make a speech at a Four
Of July celebration It would be
grand and 40 eloquent. couched
such rich expressions and 80 lad'
with noble sentiment, that she cou
not help but feel the appeal. !
would show her that he could n
to the OCCASION"
John got out his old, school d
tionary and brushed the dust from
covers. Then he borrowed an !
mense volume of masterpiece cratic
from a friend and read every spec
he could And that contained any
triotic reference or expression. I
- four weeks, ne labored almost inc
= sanity, night and day, on HIS effusl
!. and finally he had It completed.
An obstacle that John had not re-
oned on now doomed up. John wal
member of the program commit
and he doubted the propriety Of b
ing himself included among the
. Of speakers. But he remembered
~ penchant, and called It into
=, again. with good effect
, The morning before the celebrat
- hs called around to sec the chairu
Il tho committee. y
You see-ahem!-Mr. Grub
John began. being one Of the COM
Z ~, I should regret 10 sec any
~ q ~ program fall dat." H
"Just 20" answered the chAaru
Z fsel the same way" Uce
We'll. - . matter Of precaut
n Mr.. 0rubbs, I think shah rrspa,
fsw remarks myself today. 6h
any q the speakers b tardy. or
b rsspond. you might can on N
-nAe idea, John. IN DO Il"
Then John took himself aroun
he residence Of Squire Sloan.
20 knocked 1t the door and vas u
y
- -Ahsm. squire" began John.