The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-10
The Price Of a
Week S Board
By RUTH GRAHAM


best be could. but there was little Tor
him to do. except kill the animals OF
the wilderness either for their meat
or their skins. During bis wander1ngs
Tom married the daughter OF settler
who had come from Ohio She wished
to get back to that state as much US
her husband wanted to return to ILL
nois. But instead of drifting eastward
they drifted farther westward. for as
civilization encrOached upon them the
wild animals. by which Tom made a
living, became scarce. and they were
Obliged to find new hunting grounds.
So at last they found themselves In
a gulch where game was plenty and
neighbOrs were few. 1t was a DESC
late life. especially for the woman
Tom offered to take his wife east. but
she knew he had never fitted himself
for the work to be done there. and she
preferred to remain where they were
rather than run the risk Of starving In
her former home.
One day a man came trudging up the
gulch and. stopping at the Burns caD-
in, asked Mrs Burns II he could be
accommodated for a short time. She
told him that her husband would be
home soon and then she could give
an answer. The stranger said he
would pay well for his board. When
Tom returned 1t was agreed between
him and his wife that they would take
the stranger in. though there was only
one room in the cabin. and they We're
all obliged to sleep in the same room.
divided into two parts by curtain.
The man went out every morning
! prospecting for sometfing-he didn't
say what-and every night returned to
the cabin. He remained with the
Burns couple week. then said to
them:
I'm going away from here. and
can't pay you any board. have been
told that an article is to be found in
this region that Is very valuable. Had
l found 1t | could have paid you thou
sands of dollars for my keep. AS 1t Is
I cant pay you anything"
That's all right stranger" said
John I'VE wouldn't have felt war
ranted in charging you over 81 any
way, SO 1t doesn't matter much"
1T matters more to me than to you
It may be that I've missed the deposit
I've been looking for. and some day
you may stumble on 1t. But you won't
recognize 1t II you do. I'm going to
leave you some chemicals. and II you
ever come across the article I refer to
and mix It with the chemicals and burn
the compound 1t will give a green
fame"
He gave them some idea Of what the
substance looked like In its crude form
and. pouring the chemicals from bis
stock into bottles. left them with him.
with his address. telling them II they
ever found the article to write him
and he would make them rich.
A month passed after the strangers
departure and the Burnses would have
almost forgotten his coming had 1t not
been for the bottles he had left them
that stood in the cupboard One day
John. instead Of hunting in the gulch
and the region thereabout. went down
to Its mouth and. rounding a mountain
spur. entered a valley. He encounter
| ed trapper, who told him that moth
| ing could live there, not even animals,
| and there was no use for him to try to
| get any game there. So desolate was
the place that 1t was called Death
valley John had heard of 1t and con-
cluded to have look at it before 60
Ing home. So he wandered about In It
He hadn't gone far before he saw
| scattered about a substance that an
swered the description his boarder had
| given him. He gathered some of It
and took 1t home with him.
After supper. while his wife was
washing the dishes. he took a piece
Of the substance he had brought from
Death valley and. putting 1t In a tin
! pan. poured the chemicals over It and
set fire to 1t. As he did so his wife
! paused In wiping dish and watched
him. As the flame burst forth the two
looked at each other with surprise and
pleasure.
It burned green.
The couple talked that night over
various plans to secure what value
there might be in their End to them.
selves. They thought of presenting q
claim for the ground where they had
found the substance. but realized that
they were too poor and too ignorant
Of the subject to handle 1t themselves,
20 they wrote to their lodger that they
thought they had found what he had
been looking for. He came to see them.
and John showed him a specimen OF
bis ind and also that 1t burned green.
The stranger uttered an exclamation
Of delight.
| That Is borax." he said. used fol
washing purposes In every household
in America"
He told John that II he would tell
him where 1t lay he would form q
company to take the ground. work II
and would give John half of all he
made out Of It himself. John accept
cd his proposition. and an agreemen,
was written out and signed by both &C.
cording to the terms
1t turned out the stranger had a large
borax company behind him with un
limited capital. A company was form
ed. and he retained 20 per cent Of the
stock or this he assigned one-half te
John. which gave him more money
than he and his wife could spend
They went back to the east, where
they lived in comfort for the rest Of
their lives