The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-12-27
| entlng
By EMERSON BURRIS


To get the whole benefit of the stu
alton 1 set up tent. / built floor
with my own hands and did what l
could to make my habitation attrac-
tive. In this l failed signaIly. II is
not in man to beautify a home. At
any rate, it was not in me. The in
terror furnishings of mine consisted of
cat and trunk. AS for food, was
encamped on the bank Of a stream in
which there were plenty Of fish, and
when l wanted meat l could shoot
game, but not near where l was.
had to go quite a distance for that
and usually made an all day trip of it.
In the region near about me there
were scattered houses. some of them
farmhouSeS, some summer cottages for
city persons, for the country was very
beautiful and the air salubrious. The
greater part of these houses were now
vacant, but there were a number of
them occupied. None of them We're
very near me. or, rather, in selecting
camping ground got as far as pos
sible away from all of them.
One day, on returning from q hunt
ing trip, on entering my tent I met
with surprise. A dainty little wash
stand, with bowl and pitcher. stood in
one corner, while above it hung a
small mirror. Several colored litho-
graphs We're pinned to the tent walls
On the floor was wicker armchair
such as is used in summer on piazzas
I'm Of
table. with a lamp on it. l had used
Il candle.
That some woman had done all this
was my first thought: that she had
seen me and taken an interest in me
was my second: that she was young.
comeIy and otherwise attractive was
my third.
These preliminaries having flashed
through my mind, | looked about ME
to observe the cottages nearest me
with view to locating the lady who
had made me comfortable. The sur
rounding dwellings were all on higher
ground and my view of most of them
| unObstructed by trees. There they
were, bathed in the light of the setting
sun. but not one of them had word
| of information for me. And yet l fan
cied that concealed in one of them a
| girl had a pair of glasses fixed on me.
watching TO see how | acted at the
moment of my discovery of her handi
work. So | stood in front of the tent
with my face toward the landscape.
| took off my hat and threw a kiss.
| No response came to me- The cot
-,
| fancy / heard a musical laugh ring
! ing out on the quiet air.
Building my fire in nv improvised
| range. number of fat stones. / pro
| ceeded to cook my supper. brace of
/ quails / had shot during the day. ]
was thinking the while that my bene
factress was watching me- And the
next day had proof that she was. for
| going to the spring from which l OBJ
| tained my water supply. on my return
| found sticking in the ground n few
| yards from my tent an arrow and
wrapped about it bit of paper bear
| ing the words:
| Leave anything you wish cooked at the
| store and it viii be attended to.
was not slow in availing myself of
! the invitation-not that | needed much
! culinary work done. but because hoped
| thereby.to get clew of the cook. But
in this l was disappointed. The store
| keeper was an Old woman. who was
very deaf, or pretended to be: at least
| she turned a deaf ear to my inquiries.
| The only reply ! got was Tomorrow.
| inferred that | was to come tomor-
| row for the bird l left. and when !
did so received it deliciously cooked.
| | will not specify the devices | en-
| ployed to find out who was my bene-
! factress. / made excuses to chat with
| several Of the ladies of the neighbor-
| hood OF one begged the loan of a
| needle and thread. of another a little
| baking powder. of another some qui-
nine Each and every one Of these
| persons granted my request willingly.
! but / gained no information from any
| one of them.
! ] discovered my girl however. and
! by accident. or. rather, by taking adj
/ vantage of seeing something that gave
/ clew Having occasion to visit the
| express office at the railway station. !
! Sd" I'll DcA bedIiue tue idDef Vi a stHu-
/ er Of sporting goods addressed to a
| Miss Clara Farnsworth The size and
! shape of the box led me to believe that
/ it contained archery goods. | straight
| way inquired which was the Farms
/ worth cottage. and my informant di-
/ rected me to one no nearer and no far
] Their than the rest. but especially well
i situated to get a view of my camp.
Tagging bullet with a note of
| thanks to Miss Farnsworth for her
/ Kindness TO me. | fired the bullet into
/ q large tree in the front yard Of the
/ Farnsworth place The next dag a
note came TO me through the post from
/ Mrs Farnsworth acknowledging that
/ the family had seen my camp and
could not resist temptation TO make
! it more comfortable. The lady also ex-