The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-12-04
THORN. ON The ROSE
BY e. e. WEBB.

NcN.xyXx:HcNH.Nc$:HcH:H:x: H2H2H:N2N2H2HHNHN2AA.N
On a cold night last winter four
men sat around card table in a pri-
vate room of one of Toronto's largest
hotels. 1t was late, and that the
party had entertained themselves well
dozen bottles and as many cigar
stumps on the floor mutely testified
The tallest man with a stack Of
yellow checks reaching to his chin,
was dealing. The administered fell
low was lingering his few remaining
reds" with a nonchllance which be-
! spoke familiarity with losses, and he
of the bald head was stroking his
mustache ruminatively. The fourth
wabbled in his chair in a manner be-
tokening sleepiness, the cause of
which might have been guessed by
the regularity with which he picked
up one Of the empty bottles and es-
! sayed to transfer the air contained
therein into his glass.
The tall man at last showed EVIL
dences of sociability and broke the ST.
lence Of an hour with the remark:
Poor policy to spend long evening
at cards when there is so much fun
to be had in this town."
mo chance of fun here" retorted
the owner of the whiskers. There
isn't anything in this town to do but
play poker"
"Tobogganing." suggested the tall
man as he accidentally upset his
stack you old rascals who never go
out Of doors when there is danger Of
freezing nose are making a great
mistake" he began. Lovely girls,
and ruddy, robust men, all clad in
Eskimo attire surround you; spark
ling eyes and witching smiles confuse
you, and sweet voices, like tink-
lings Of bells in the frosty, reso-
nant air, lull your fears and partially
convince you that a ride might not
prove suicidal after all. The indie
scribable exhilaration and charm OF
the scene overpower you, and you con-
sent to have queor-looking, snub-
nosed machine showed up to you, and
take your seat with many misgivings.
AS you do so you wonder why these
pretended friends laugh so merrily on
so serious an occasion.
Some one gets on behind you-a
pair of small, soft mittens are placed
on your shoulders and you are eau
toned by bubbling voice to sit
still and hang on tight The voice
heightens your appreciation of neces-
sity for correct behavior and you de.
eide to die game.
Some demond in human form gives
you gigantic shove and yells you're
OFF, and for a moment you believe
you really are off as you shoot down
the incline at rapid increasing
pace"
"Bravo!" exclaimed the man of the
lowing beard. you should have
been poet"
"Seen her since?" queried the bald
head, picking up the forgotten deck
and fulfilling it skillfully.
"Why-yes. After l had been gone
from here six months began to miss
her, for l really did think a lot Of
her. So came back to look her up.
encountered her quite unexpectedly
on the street. At first she refused to
recognize me, but | corralled her,
and she said, in a frightened way,
that Ae was arried-had been we'd
ded two months before. l suppose |
did wrong, but l urged her to meet
me that evening, and after long hest
tation she consented.
-Four days ago she met me by ap-
pointment in Chicago-made the ex.
cuse that she was going to visit one
Of her old schoolmates, understand.
I brought her back this morning. She
is pretty girl. Grace is-lives over
In F. avenue"
The silent man Of the party turned
pale and quickly arose. Selling a
full quart bottle by the neck, he
waved it aloft and brought it down
with despairing force full upon the
head Of the handsome young story
teller, crushing his skull like an egg
shell. Then he put on his hat, threw
his overcoat across his arm, and re-
marked, quietly, as he walked to the
door:
You'll really have to excuse me,
gentlemen, but the lady referred to Is
my wife. Goodnight"