The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-12-06

on his knee and made a regular tool
of the stubby-ended pencil, slowly and
laboriously forming letter after letter
In a crude, clumsy way. pressing into
the paper heavily. He tore on the
written sheet finally, folded 1t, wrote
an address on the outside. placed 1t
in his pocket and grunted out scant
thanks to Burr. Then he threw him
self on his bunk and was soon fast
asleep.
Burr settled himself for some writ
ing, the pad on his knee. Then he
strained his gaze as he noted that the
cumbrous epistolary efforts of his cell
mate had made a plain deep impress
upon the blank sheet before him. He
held It up against the light.
Thunder" calculated Burr, and
began to think hard, for this he made
out of the transferred scrawl:
"Mollie: Do Just what say. or Ill
lose out, bad. First thing. get those
papers out of the mattress and hide
them in the cellar. Then 60 to Law
yer Marcus. Tell him II I'm not out
of here inside of week. I'll blow the
whole game and give up the papers
to the investigation committee. Joe."
It took little meditation on the part
of Burr to figure out that strange
freak of fate had placed him in the
company of one of the tools, or fellow
conspirators Of the gang controlled by
Lawyer Marcus. He did not sleep all
night. He planned to appeal to the
warden first thing in the morning, and
ask especial permission to call up
Merrill on the telephone. To his sur
prise, however. before he left the cell
guard came for him and escorted
him to the Office of the functionary
he SO wished to see.
scharged-pardoned by the may
Or" announced the warden, and Burr
guessed rightly that his newspaper
friend had acted promptly in the prem
Uses.
Burr was speedily robed in his own
personal apparel and, hot-footed, made
for the nearest police station. He
knew the reporting ropes thoroughly
enough to promptly locate the one
where Joe" had been initially i'm
prisoned. He learned that his former
cellmate had been Jailed for deadly
assault upon a pal and from the rec,
| ords secured his living address.
Time, he realized, was the essence
of the occasion, Joe might find an
! opportunity at once to dispatch his
/ note to "Mollie" There was no time
to lose. Burr reached the address
obtained from the police record to
find the gangster's home to be a
wretched two-story house in state
of general dilapidation. He saw a
woman moving about. formed speedy
plan and went into near drug store
Cutting the sheet of paper nearly
in two that bore the impress Of the
note Joe" had written to "Mollie,'
he proceeded to trace the pencil point
marks direct, so that in the hand
writing of the delectable Joe" II
read:
- go to Lawyer Marcus. Tel
' ! u
week I'll blow the whole game ant
give up the papers to the investigat
ing committee"
Burr proceeded to deliver the note
He was assured from the manner o
"Mollie" that the real letter had no
yet arrived. He lurked about the plac,
till the woman went away on he
mission, forced window, got int
the house. Investigated the mattress
found the papers and fastened to hi
friend, Merrill.
The Evening Spectator made Bur
Landry q handsome cash present TO
securing the biggest scoop" Of tn,
year. besides proving up the charge
1t had made against the gangsters. I
meant the promotion of Burr to a rea
reporting position. At which the am
bilious young fellow rejoiced; pretty
loving Rose sharing his happiness.
Copyright. 1915 by w. q. Chapman.)