The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-07-24

a fair ano,n ossan TO choke. IT'S
a, lar enough exchange, and IN 90,
nucn out OF it one way as yon "a. a.
.ne other- What is your namo9 II,
may have to borrow H.. name |
aGavitt-John Wesley Gav,ttn
IA, An right off with you" said tho
noera.or' CURLY; and with tba. n
shouldered the sick MANS 10 ne
ieil into line in the ant processio, anu
once on board the steamer ha g,
owed MS file leader aft and 80
II MS first care to find co., ii,aue
pace for the tramp's bundle in D ing
s nno.'ea handkerchief. That done bo
stepped into the line again and ho
'"nle the sick mans substitute in soo.
1t was toll of the shrewdest and ~
Drew breath of blessed relief whan ~
,ast man staggered up the plank with
I nis burden The bell was clangi,a e.
nnal summons, and the slow,,, 49, ,eS
ing paddle-wheels were takine ~
strain from the mooring lines Row
near the bow line Griswold was ono
ne
VI the two who spring ashore NJ ~
mates bidding to cast off He we
packing the hawser out of tho lac, =.
us half-hltches, when carriage uos
oriVen rapidly down to the stage ons
tWo tardy passengers hurried aboard
Inc mate bawled from his station on
the hurricane deck.
Now. them Take turn on tbot
spring line out there and pot ,born
trunks aboard! Lively"
me larger of the two trunks fell 70
the late recruit; and when he had set
1t down at the door of the desiepatad
stateroom, he did half absently what
John Gavitt might have done without
blame: read the tacked-on card. which
pore the owners name and address
written in firm hand. Charlotte
Farnham, Wahaska, Minnesota"
Thank you.' said musical voice
at his elbow. May trouble Won IN
put it inside?"
Griswold wheeled as if the mild
toned request had been a blow and
was properly ashamed. But when he
saw the speaker, CONSERVATION prompt
ly slew all the other emotions For
sthe owner of the tagged trunk was the
young woman to whom, an hour or so
earlier, he had given place at the nav.
ing tellers wicket in the Bayou State
Security.
She saw his confusion. charged It to
the card-reading at which she had sur.
prised him, and smiled Then he met
her gaze fairly and became sane again
when he was assured that she did not
recognize him: became sane. and
whipped off his cap, and dragged the
trunk into the stateroom. After
which he went to his place on the
lower deck with a great thankfulness
throbbing in his heart and an inchoate
resolve shaping itself in his brain
Late that night, when the Belle Julie
was we'll on her way up the great
river, he flung himself down upon the
sacked coffee on the engine roomguard
to snatch little rest between land
ings, and the resolve became sufficient
ly cosmic to formulate itself in words.
I'll call it an oracle" he unused.
"One place is as good as another, just
SO 1t is inconsequent enough. And
am sure I've never heard of Wahaska."
Now Griswold the social rebel was,
before all things else, Griswold the i'm
aginative literary craftsman; and no
sooner was the question Of his ulti
mate destination settled thus arbitrari.
ly than he began to prefigure the place
and its probable lacks and havings.
This process brought him by easy
stages to pleasant idealizings of Miss
Charlotte Farnham, who was, thus far,
the only tangible thing connected with
the destination dream. A little farther
along her personality laid hold of him
and the idealizings became purely lit
erary.
"She is magnificently strong type!'
was his summing up of her, made
while he was lying fiat on his back
and staring absently at the fitting
shadows among the deck beams over
head. Her face is as readable as only
the face of woman instinctively good |
and pure in heart can be. Any man
who can put her between the covers |
of a book may put anything else ne
pleases in it and snap his fingers at
the world. II am going to live in the |
same town with her. | ought to Jot her
down on paper before lose the Keen
edge of the first impression.
He considered 1t for moment, ana
then got up and went in search OF
pencil and a scrap of paper. The doz-
ing night clerk gave him both, with
sleepy malediction thrown In; ana
he went back to the engine room ana
scrubbed his word picture by the light
of the swinging incandescent
He read it over thoroughly when II
was finished, changing a word mere
and a phrase there with a craftsman
fidelity to the exactnesses. Then ne
shook his head regretfully and tore the
scrap of paper into tiny squares scat,
tering them upon the brown Hoou
surging past the engine room gangway'
ut won't do" he confessed reluct-
antlv. as one who sacrifices good liter
arv material to a stern sense OF the
fitness of things. 1T is nothing less
than a cold-blooded sacrilege. ! can
make CODY of her if l write ne more
while the world stands.