The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-02
PAIR OF ORGANIZERS
By FRANK FlLsoM.

his ONCE. happened to glance up from
his Newspaper. Seated opposite him.
her eyes fixed earnestly on his. was
the girl Of his dream.
He stared at her incredulously;
then, with . rosy flush, she got up
and LETT the car hastily. BY the time
Walter had gathered presence Of mind
to follow her. she was lost In the
crowd.
He continued his way to the Office
like man in . dream.
Here I am" he unused. twenty
seven years Of age. making three thou
sand year in . business Of my own.
. shrewd. practical man, and the vic
tim Of monstrous delusion that il
taking complete possession of me. OF
course, it was only . coincidence!"
And yet he knew that 1t was no
coincidence. In brief, for the past
month he had seen in q dream the
face Of girl. and in his dream he
knew she was the one girl who was
meant for him. Singularly clear was
that dream face. so that 1t had haunt
ed his thoughts even during his bust
ness hours. And now he had seen the
girl. in flesh and blood, In a prosaic
street car. What was more to the
point, she had shown unmistakable
signs Of recognizing him.
On succeeding days he fell into the
habit Of watching the successive
street cars that passed the block
where he had met her, before enter
ing, but, though he whiled away q
number Of hours In this pursuit, he
failed in his purpose.
Gradually as the weeks went by the
memory Of the girl grew faint. And
at last he had almost forgotten the
incident. He went about his business
in his usual methodical manner. But
one day his memory came back into
vivid reality, for, as he looked out of
his office window for . moment, he
saw the girl again.
She was just crossing the street,
and, needless of the stares Of his
amazed stenographer, Walter seized
his hat and plunged down the road
after her.
He saw her. missed her. saw her
again upon the other side Of the
street. In q moment she would be
lost. He dashed into the maze Of
trahnc, heard shouts and the changing
Of car bells, felt q sharp blow between
his shoulders, and lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes I'VE min
utes later he was lying upon the side
walk In the center Of . curious and
inQuisitive throng. He felt . cool
hand ON his forehead. He groaned
and opened his eyes-to see the girl
bending over him.
Nov you must lie still." she said
soothingly.. you were knocked down
by an automobile. and an ambulance
10 coming to take you to the hospital"
Walter tried to get up, and tainted
away from pain. When he next be-
came conscious he was lying in . pri.
vate room in the hospital and-the
girl nt at his side.
For days Of semiconsciousness and
through nights Of delirium he always
seemed to feel her presence beside
him. Sometimes It was the nurses
face that swan dixzily into his ken.
but then again It would be the girl.
At last the day arrived when con.
seriousness was fully restored.
We'll, young man." said the CHEEKY
surgeon, you may thank your stars
for your narrow escape. It isn't often
q man makes q recovery like yours
when broken rib has been sticking
into his lung. You may thank a good
constitution and good nurses. Miss
Gregory" he added to the nurse, you
may telephone to Miss Davis that
her brother is out of danger"
my sister," exclaimed Walter, con.
scious that his only sister. in San
Francisco, had probably learned moth
ing of his accident. why, my sister
is miles away"
But still wandering q little," the
doctor added, looking strangely at
Walter.
It seemed hours before the young
man opened his eyes to see the gra-
cious presence at his bedside again.
She was bending over him. and he
saw tears In her eyes.
You are-Miss Davisr he asked
weakly.
She nodded. II don't know what
you will think of me-" she said. But
your stenographer called ut the hos
pital and said she thought you had
NO relatives In the world, and I
couldn't bear-I couldn't bear-and I
had to make some excuse to see you"
But We know each other quite
we'll" said Walter. smiling and stretch
ing out his hand. And It was perfect
~ natural that you should have been
interested in the welfare Of ono whom
you had helped. Besides, l must tell
you-tell you
But he fell asleep from weakness.
and 1t was not until the next day that
he told her about the dream.
You see." he explained, 1T was you
I was following when I was Knocked
down by the automobile. l saw you
cross the street and ran after you.
and"
But the girls eyes were wide with
fear. Why" she gasped, IL
dreamed of you"
That was the beginning Of the hap
piest period in the young mans life
His convalescence was q continued
wooing, and long before he was an
nounced at for discharge Miss Nor
Oon h.N p~nvnSeoA 20 hoonrco hts ~ff~