The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-06-16

entered the pretty head OF this aliOi-
tious Young woman!
II was with mingled feelings OF as
constituent, qualification and hope tna'
Magnus Hertz the next evening sa"
his wife bring to the table steamlhg
tureen of oyster soup. And seeing MS
wife's face beam with patronlzlns
smile he accepted this as an ofrerlng
of peace and notice that hostilities had
ceased
Nothing so thoroughly appealed 70
the appetite of this thrifty worker as
oyster soup, and when his wife passed
his bowl he smiled so agreeably that II
quite banished from her mind the
wonder over the failure OF Horace
Duval to keep his appointment that
afternoon.
She dubbed over with laughing
chatter ard gave an anxious glance at
every spoonful of soup her husband
raised to mis- mouth, blew Justify, and
then sucked noisily through his lips.
II was reading in the paper some
time ago." she naively suggested, OF
a man who found in his oyster soup
pearl worn several hundred dollars.
Wouldn't it be fine if we could have
such good fortune?"
mo such luck for us" was the
frank opinion expressed between two
spoonfuls of soup.
All, but think" she urged, what
1t would meant You could take vaca-
ton. You haven't had day off ex-
cepting Sunday for five years"
In a meditative way he slowly
skinned the crackers from the sur
face and chewed them with DELHI
GRAFTON that extracted every flavor Of
the soup for the qualification Of his
taste, unconscious of the fortune that
might lay In the dregs. Mentally she
had counted the spoonfuls. He had
eaten II already. 1t seemed there
might be thousand more IN the bowl!
And then" she continued, 81
might have some new dresses and an
opera cloak"
He commenced to eat faster while
she chartered on In an incoherent way,
scarcely knowing what she said, SO
intently were her eyes fixed on her
husbands soup.
Then, suddenly, when but a few
spoonfuls remained In the bottom, he
thought Of an incident at the shops,
which he deliberately stopped to re-
late. 1t was something about the work
Of the men.
She lost her self-restraint and in.
terrupted him abruptly
There's plenty more soup, Mangus,
when you've finished that"
Before she could realize the effect
of her words he had quickly grasped
the bowl with movement of gratifca-
ton, raised 1t to his lips, and downed
the rest with single gulp.
Anxiously she looked into his face,
confidently awaiting some exclamation
of wonder or surprise. He interpreted
the strange inquiry of her eyes as a
rebuke for his greed, and blurted:
well, you said there was more,
didn't you?"
She sank in heap upon her chair.
The glutton had swallowed the pearl!
Through her dizzy brain rushed the
hooking recollection that she had,
confident of her schemes success, al.
ready ordered the desired new dresses
and opera coat.
Then came the conviction that her
husbands uncouth manners were the
cause Of her failure, and. fearing to
tell the truth, she rose in naughty in.
dignation, resolved to have revenge in
a TRADE on his vulgarity.
Such manners"
Her sentence was cut short by a
loud knock at the door, one that wait.
ed for no answer, and husband and
wife turned suddenly to look into the
faces of several officers.
Il beg your pardon" cynically ex.
planned the leader, "but a notorious
pearl thief, masquerading under the
name OF Horace Duval, whom we
tracked as the thief of the rare Cargan
collection, has been arrested and has
confessed. He has returned all the
jewels but one pearl, the finest of them
all, which he says he gave to Mrs.
Hertz If you will kindly return 1t we
will trouble you no further"
Color rushed suddenly into the
woman's face. Now the husbands
jealousy and ire rose in turn. The
storm so suddenly Gained in her now
ragged in his breast but 1t was STAYED
by her prompt reply:
Il have no such pearl"
You will pardon us for seeming tn
doubt your word, madam. but our in.
structions are to make a thorough
search"
The officers departed with apologies.
after leaving a wild confusion of fur.
niture, rugs, linen and pictures. In
the middle of it all, on the parlor floor
sat Mrs. Hertz. Inundated and dazed
She was first startled to conscious.
ness when her husband, who messed
himself before her with arms akimbo
exclaimed:
81 have a feeling within me-"
oh Magnus," she shrieked as she
jumped to her feet and looked wildly