The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-01-25
The HackStaf
Case
A Story Showing How JUS
tice May En.
BY LOUISE B. CUMMINGS

+ By LOUISE B. CUMMINGS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
In the village of Atherton lived
widow forty years old who had heac
for business She would buy an old
house cheap for cash. put 1t In COM
paste order and sell it at ? profit
Sometimes she would have several
houses under process Of repair at the
same time. TIE widow attended to
the finances and contracts, but rele-
gated the supefintendence Of the re-
pairs to young man not quite thirty
years Old. named Jack Hacksta6.
One day 1t was announced that the
widow had married her employee The
women exchanged gIances, as much as
to say: What fool she IL to tie up
With a man ten pears younger than
herself. She'll rue the day she did IT."
The men agreed that any young fellow
Of thirty who married woman Of
forty for her money paid q high price
for tying himself up with an old w0-
man
However. the Hackstaif couple seem
ed to get ON very well. at least till Mrs.
Hscksta6 got tired OF repairing houses
and found better field Of operation.
Bot even then there was no cause to
suspect that they were not getting on
together. Nevertheless such suspicion
was entertained by persons who noticed
that Hackstaff. having been deprived
Of active occupation, showed some dis
content
''She bad better have kept him busy"
said the women "He owes his living
10 q woman" said the men. He'll
either try to get the funds into his
own hands or, II he has q proper pride.
Will dig out and shift for himself"
When Mra Hacksiaff stopped turn.
ing old houses into new ones 1t was
Observed that she had not sunk into
idteness. Had she explained what ne "
method Of making money she had tax.
en- on It might have saved great deal
Of trouble.
IL was noticed that the Hackstaffs
were absent from hume grec1 ieal,
but that they never went together
When MIRA Hacksta6 was away her
husband was at home, and vice versa
II leaked out through banks with
which MA Hackstan's accounts were
kept-after her marriage she continued
to do business and keep accounts In
her own name-that she was steadily
accommodating funds and was not only
using her capital. but al the credit
she could control
During the autumn the Hacksta6l
were observed to be away q great deal
When winter came they remained a
home together and appeared to have
very little to do. In the spring one
sometimes botb-stafted out very ear
~ and remained away till summer
came. Once when Nra Hackstah
bought her ticket a neighbos stood be
side her and noticed that she purchas
ed long string Of tickets ON q round
trip through the southern states. This
the observer reported. and 1t added
largely to the interest Of the people
Of Anterior In the Hackstaff affairs.
The Hackstaff place was on the out
skirts Of the village and surrounded BY
woods. One day Mrs. Hacksta6, walk
Ing In these woods, encountered 9
skunk and received the contents oil
its odOr bag on her dress. Returning
to the house. she took OF the dress
put on another and. giving the frst
to her husband, asked him to take II
to the woods and bury 1t for the pur
pose Of de0dorizing It This he did.
A few days later the wife conceived
a business scheme Of Importance. and
both she and aackstatf forgot al
about the buried dress. For several
days she was busy arranging heI
financial affairs, making arrangement
for the hoo0ring OF numerous draft
she proposed to make on her bankers.
Having arranged for prolonged alb
sence. she and her husband talked ovel
matters Of domestic nature. Sufficient
means were locked In q safe In theiI
house for bis use until her return, and
to provide for any contingency she
signed checks In blank that be might
al In to any amount be chose These
minor affairs having been arranged
Mr.. Hacksta6 took up q New Yosh
newspaper that he had bought that
day for the purpose Of learning tn
sailing dates OF outgoing steameBs
and learned that . steamer would sail
via the Mediterranean and the Sues
canal for China the next afterDeon.
| An examination Of q raily0ad time tn.
bic indicated that the only train by
which Mrs. Hacksta0 could eateA that
steamer passed through an6 stopped at
Anterior at ! O'Clock In The moaning
It was decided that she should take
this train. Her luggage was sent to
the station. and Mr.. Hacksta6 pur-
chased q ticket to New York and
checked the trunk early In the even.
ing. When the train passed Mr.. and
Mrs. Hackstaf said gsedby to each
other on the station platform. and MIS-
/ aackstan entered the train without
.,v. cyt3vou NJ AkhorfON ha wing Wte