The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-01-27
RIGHT IN SANE PLACE
BY a. x. THOMPSON.

on as he stood In front OF his dark
ened and deserted residence, for his
keys, which were nowhere upon his
person.
Even in the instant of discovery
that they were missing. he knew where
they were
By the mockery of fate. the keys
were even now safely reposing in the
pocket Of the trousers he had changed
from that morning-hanging in his
bedroom closet, inside the house be-
fore which he stood helpless to en-
ter.
Mr.. Googe's family were away for
the summer. The servants. too
every one--so he was in q nice fix!
Without enough cash in his peck
ct to pay for nights lodging In .
decent hotel! And without the physi-
cal ability to endure q night spent
on a park bench!
He must get into the house without
his keys, some way-somehow.
Every window was impossible,
from the ground UP. The easements
were protected by shields Of iron
wire.s Those on the first floor, near
the top of the stoop, were locked. He
knew. for he had locked them.
Only the breaking Of a pane would
permit his entrance here. And Mr..
Googe disliked to think Of smashing
one of those eighteen-dollar panes of
plate glass.
Suddenly he started. under the in
spirational slap on the back of his
mind by an idea.
Mr.. Googe had remembered that
the lock on a kitchen window at the
| rear of the house was broken
II he could surmount the high board
fence which walled in his lot from
the sidewalk, go through the vacant
ground, climb over his backyard
fence. and literally bump into the wall
| of his kitchen, he could open the
window with the providential lock of
disrerair.
In the excess Of his impotence at
the obstacle Of the impressive, wooden
barrier in his path to his comfortable
bed, Mr.. Googe lifted his foot and
kicked 1t viciously in the Stats.
Whereupon, to his wide-eyed sur.
prise, q strip Of board fell away, q
yard above the spot where the blow
Of his foot struck, forming most
excellent open step in the hitherto
unassailable wall.
Two minutes later. at the cost of
all his vest-buttons. the managing Of
every cigar in his pockets, the bark
ing of one shin, the instantaneous
growth of two water-blisters in his
palms, and the loss of all his wind.
the red-faced. disheveled, painting and
putting gentleman attained the top Of
the fence.
For precarious moment he hud-
died ere-slipped-and fell on all
tours in the rank weeds inside the
vacant lot!
Instantly he rose and brushiu /.
what mud and clinging burs from
his now dilapidated clothes that he
could. he tramped over tin cans and
coal-ashes. through the Stygian black
ness Of the lot. in the direction he
thought would lead him to his own
back yard.
! Aad then. "aa,c- no window w;th
the broken lock, he lifted the SASH
and--was at last in his home
Fifteen minutes later, his strength
partially recuperated after a much
needed rest, he remembered some.
thing.
| It was a letter from his family
which he had been expecting for two
or three days.
Had 1t come? he wondered. II he
hadn't been worried over not hearing
from his wife and grown children for
forty-eight hours. 1t is doubtful If Mr..
Googe would have been stirred to
make the effort just then Of going
down to the basement mail-box to
look for It.
But he did go downstairs.
And there, through the peep-hole in
the letter.box fastened to the outside
Of the grille-work basement door
which he opened. he saw that the let
ter was there.
Reaching down into the vestibule
Of the doorway, he took down the key.
With It in his hand, he stepped out
into the areaway to unfasten the box.
The door, under the pressure Of the
key in the lock of the letter-box on
its front, closed. the spring-lock catch.
ing-locking him out again as effectu-
ally as before!
There was nothing to do but repeat
his acrobatic entrance of the house!
He was still without his keys. There
remained only that kitchen window
with the faulty lock as means OF
getting into the dwelling. Between
him and that window was the obstacle
of the lots fence, the Uttered ground
itself, and the backyard board wall
II With a weary sigh. Mr.. Googe
again tackled the first OF these bar.
riers that seemed, to his exhausted
senses, forever erected to keep him
out of his bed
After what appeared an eternity Of
struggling, he finally fell over the
high fence once more.
He hurried through the empty lot
He threw himself over the lower par
tition separating it from his bach
yard
10 land na.f IN matt out, of the
arms OF a protective officer who was
waiting tor him
renderiy this private guardian Of
private houses, whose particular
beat" covered the block. of residences
Of which Mr.. Googe's was one, gath