The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-09-16

ings.
Everybody was fleeing from the
city. Panic was nearly universal.
Only one man kept his head. That
was Professor Sears of the weather
bureau.
within seven days the country will
be clear of the weed" he prophesied.
Can you clear IT." he was asked.
mot personally, he answered. He
refused to say more than this. He
had once been scolded by the news
papers for predicting . hot spell on
the eve Of the famous blizzard. and 1t
had got on his nerves. This was bis
revenge.
Holland, on . salary Of SO week.
was engaged to be married. He knew
Sears slightly, ~ the weather man
was q cousin Of his fancee. He went :
to see Sears.
Tell me the secret" he urged. land !
It'll be worth . fortune to me-"
Sears took him by the arm. LIS |
ten. WILL" he said. Il won't tell you |
! the secret, but will tell you some |
thing. Can you scrape together So
DOOR,
Maud has $5,000." answered Hol-
land, but of course I can't touch
Certainly you can touch It," an.
swered Sears. q give you my word
that within FIVE days more the weed
will have vanished. Professor Long
knows why. Don't you see that real
estate, which has gone down to al
most nothing, will shoot up like a
rocket? ! can't invest in it myself,
out of sense of propriety, but with
$1,000 l can tell you Of company
that will issue you five shares, and
these will go up from a thousand
apiece to ten times that sum the first
day. There are lot of people in the
deal, buying up real estate
:, Holland was convinced. The up
shot was that he went to Miss Maud
Armstrong and got her to withdraw
her investment which he handed to
the president of the new company.
> He was just in time, for on the
following day all business Of any kind
was suspended. The weed had spread
!, up the banks of the Hudson and into
Long Island The steady easterly wind
dissipated the seeds everywhere. by
the end of the first week Chicago mad
been rendered uninhabitable Kansas
City had already mad taste OF IT,
The whole population was becoming
nomadic, seeking refuge from the
blue weed. And the more it was cut
down the faster it spread Wnole
tracts of flourishing country were Jun
giles. above which waved the scarlet
. speckled trumpets. Among these
we're afterward found the skeletons
, of deer and farm cattle.
: On the day before that which the
weather man had prophesied as the
. last the weed had spread as far al
!. the great desert Cities were obllt
: Grated, buried far beneath the growth
: The country swarmed with refugees
!. taking refuge in the woods and fields
And even here blue patches were be
z ginning to spread 1t seemed only
question Of time before the who'll
. country would have to be abandoned
The fatal seventh day after tn
prophesy arrived. The hot sun hat
begun to cool. The weather man, MI
Sears, was just as firm in his convie
, ton, and he had so impressed the au
thorities with his belief that SINAI
! party. in captive balloon, waite
above what had once been the SINCE
building, but was now only a weeo
no grown projection above the forest.
" cloud appeared in the west an
began to grow rapidly. But the a,
: thorities, their eyes fixed on the cit
below, did not perceive 1t.
", Dear mel said the secretary
., the treasury, at last, looking up,
.a believe it's going to rain.
-, We've had none for three weeks
~ said the secretary for agriculture
Il, It'll do the crops
Then he remembered However, o
"A had only spoken from force OF haol
The whole OF the sky grew blacl
:. and suddenly a drenching downpot
~ sent the captive balloon skipping U
N and down on It's rope. The hamme
~ of the hail was the only thing thu
could be heard. Nothing was see
. but the cloudy recesses OF space,
-. Then. as suddenly, the rain cease
" and the sun came out The weath'
"a man wore smile.
a.. "This time he said. l think nc
"a prediction of local thunderstorms wi
be recognized as correct"
90 But the weed" gasped the head
=. the secret service. who had someho
been included in the party.
"a They looked down, but where II
weed had been we're only the bull
=. ings of Manhattan A few dry, droo
~ ing, shrivelled stalks attested to whi
- had been the world-conquering plan
an The weed had practically disappeare
-. II was a Marian weed, and thei
-, is no rain on Mars. II could gro
only in perpetual sunshine. alterna
80 ing with dry nights. Long had su
- missed that, Sears had caught MI
- of il and had utilized the knowledge
,a get his revenge.
-. Real estate went booming. The nj
,;s company reopened its office, and nc
-, land. going to draw his back pay, !
:. ! formed Mr.. Jefton that he would
a. leaving at the end of the week.
,A Jefton looked at him sardonically
" What's this, Holland?" he deman
,.r ed angrily.
,.n And. starting from his nap. Hollar
H. ~