The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-10-01

and felt for t,e note. 1t was not
/ there He had a strange experience
that day A woman who wanted
really misunderstanding had stop
ped and bought dozen pairs. The
blind man must have given her the
| little, threecornered note among the
goods. The blind man hung his head.
He dared not speak, and the young
loan passed mournfully into the dis
lance.
The next moment the blind man
Lad set down his tray and was run.
ming after the young man. Tap, tap,
went his cane on the sidewalk and
Jim leaped at his side, guiding him
deity between the passengers. The
blind man thought he was nearing the
object of his pursuit and redoubled his
speed. Jim tried to pull him away,
but the blind man was frantic with
fear that the romance would be ended
by his absurd mistake He slipped on
/ the curb, raised himself and then
went down beneath the heels of pair
of carriage horses.
The traffic stopped and the coach
! man got down and lifted up the blind
man.
Drive to the nearest hospital,
Jones'" cried lady inside. Put him
In the carriage-never mind my dress.
Quick!"
The wheels revolved, the horses
raced along, and the blind mans dog
leaped at the side of the vehicle,
moaning dismally But the blind man
lay unconscious inside the carriage.
There is no nope" said the sur
geons. 1T is useless to operate. We
must just take him into the ward
All that afternoon the blind man
lay on his bed and the woman sat be-
side him. And later in the day there
came a rustic Of skirts down the
ward All day the nurses had walked
to and fro, but the blind man had not
stirred But nov he moved and open
ed his eyes ana smiled. 1t was almost
as though his soul knew whose that
presence was
Dorothy" exclaimed the woman OF
the carriage
Mamma had to come | read in
the afternoon papers that it was our
blind man who had been hurt
Our blind man." echoed her moth
er in surprise, and just then both saw
that the blind mans eyes We're open
The blind mans hands tWitClcd at his
clothing, and then the fingers closed
on something which the surgeons had
not seen
They had hurried the blind man
into bed, Just rs he was, for it would
have been useless torture to have at
tempted to change the soiled clothing
that chung to th, crushed body. And
inside the blind mans shirt, where it
had somehow slipped. was a little
three cornered note.
The blind mans fingers closed con-
tentedly upon the trophy He would
give it to him when he got well He
must not let the girl know now He
was afraid Somehow he guessed
that there had been a quarrel. or that
the young people We're not allowed to
meet, and he meant to make it right
when he got back. l1e-he-
A man was coming down the ward
The step was not a doctors step, but
that of healthy person who treads
lightly in a room of suffering, not
knowing how nervous rts makes
patient, especially when he is blind.
The blind man knew that step.
Charles"
Mrs Easton,"
Come here" said the woman of the
carriage and would have drawn the
young man away Then, the blind
man knew, he would depart forever
But with the intuition of the dying
and he realized what this strange
weakness meant-the blind man saw
the solution of the problem. He call
ed, till they gathered round him.
Then he felt for the young mans
hands and for the girls, and Joined
them.
Promise me-" said the blind man
to the mother And she, having TAX
en- his life, could not refuse his dying
wish.
Forgive me, Charles" she said.
Il thought it was best for Dorothy.
But you can take her now | can't
refuse-but what does it mean"
The blind man knew what 1t
meant. 1t meant that he could de-
stroy that little three-cornerod note
at which his iii le.s strained and tore
under the hedclothes.
My dog" WHISPERED the blind
man. ''you--yours---"
Wen take care of him, for your
sake" whispered Dorothy.
The blind man did not speak any
more. He knew that it would be only
a little while before he would see
again.
Copyright 12oa by W. G. Chapman.)