The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-05-18

,,;od himself exclusively to 1t without
attempting to carry on any con'e'A
ton while it lasted.
At the end of his task the girl ie
marked You may as well bring i up
70 the house. There is a Upper lheie
and YOU can have a dipperlul TOT YOU
labor Dobson dutifully plcKeu ~
the bucket and the stool ana loilo"eu
an 70 tbe lodge Arriving there he was
ushered in and the milkmald ulsap
naared In a few minutes she returheu
and brought with her two persons
One was a man. who grabbed Dopson
by the hand with Hello, Frank o!u
man, didn't expect to see me mere uiu
yoro" II was his friend, Meredith
Bond His wife, who had been cnuHi
Of Dobsons sister, was the "sne OF
whom the milkmaid had spoken rev
minutes before. The milkmaid herself
was Miss Mildred Wyatt, quite the
most fetching dream Of femlnlnity thal
the young man had ever seen,
Bond Immediately insisted on Doo-
sons changing his quarters IRON
Pierre's TO the lodge, and Dobson
tramped back to the canoe and tlXed II
up with the guide. He aStonished that
partv with a most liberal tip and
brought the bass back to the lodge
The guide went back for his traps and
in another day he was safely housed at
Meredith's,
But the fishing languished Bond
who was keen fisherman, complained
to his wife that Frank was neglecting
the sport. His wife, aware Of the at
traction. simply smiled and shrugged
her shoulders. Dobson and the milk
maid took long walks together and at
night she sat at the piano and played
to his singing + had a very rich
! baritone voice ana it was pleasant
there in the twilight to listen 10 their
music. At times he took her on the
river and taught her TO cast for bass
and amused her by naming the birds
and trees for her and teaching her
some c. the wonderful lore Of nature
1t was getting to be very serious
matter. Mrs. Bond took Mildred to
task about it one morning.
Look here, Mildred said her
friend this must not 90 on any long
er. The man is desperately in love
with you. 1t was always said that
Frank Dobson would never fall in love
but | know what he means, and il
isn't fair to let him go on in this way
really am sorry for him. He doesn't
know that you are engaged and every
day only makes matters worse The
alkmaid smiled encouragingly If il
is as bad as that will tell him some
day about my engagement was hel
reply BESIDES, he may only be anus
ing himself with a backwoods idyl
You ought not to say that, Mildred
was Mrs. Bonds reply He is a goot
fellow, and Bob's friend as we'll as
mine"
The next day the sun shone doWr
gloriously on the glttering Flambeau
A kingfsher scalloped along the river
with his harsh, challenging cry, anC
overhead, far up, an eagle sailed. The
plash of a leaping fish here and there
scattered spray Of silver beads on the
surface of the water, and few fain
clouds swung low on the farof hori
zon.
Dobson and the milkmaid were seat
ed on the bank of the stream and en-
gagged in earnest conversation. He hat
told her that she was the one woman
in the world and she had informed hin
that she was already the wife-to-be 0
another man. The deep scar on hi
right cheek turned white
well, in that case" he said, 20
course the other fellow isn't here t
make his talk, and haven't got a wor
to say" But why don't you reproac
me for not telling YOU Of this before?
the girl said. "Reproach YOU was tn
mans reply. Why. ! wouldn't hav
missed the privilege of loving you TO
twenty years out Of my life
She put her hand tenderly on hi
SCARED face Il love YOU she stan
mered. II am going to break m
engagement He is old enough to b
my father 1t was an idea of loyalt
to my father. am going to be loya
to you; to myself
And that is how it came to be he,
aided abroad that Dobson, the gay, tn
debonair, the handsome, the culture
and fastidious, had married a mill
maid
Copyright. 1914. by Daily Story Pub. Co