The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-06-08
! ALL THAT MAN HATH
BY ALvAH JoRDoN GARTH.


he idolized, motherless now. and tina
made him the more tender and pliable
She had married year previously
Her husband was well up in societ.
and her whole being was centered OF
fashion and extravaganza. Her ia
Their had almost impoverished himsel
to give her royal wedding gift. Since
then Dot had drawn on his resources
constantly.
"Old Dobbin, the little house OF
leased ground l live in and my acct
dent and life insurance-all l have
left" he ruminated, but the money
means happiness and pleasure to Dol
and-I can get along some way
But in this the devoted father was
in error. One morning about six
months later Dorothy came to him In
tears.
Father" she sobbed, IT am In deep
deep water!"
my darling child!' he exclaimed
tell me your troubles"
"Those horrid card parties!" walled
the spoiled beauty. 1--WE been led
into betting until l owe nearly eight
hundred dollars. Father" she plead
ed, please help me out this time. II
I don't pay. all the women of our
set will cut me, and il Vernon finds
out about 1t he will raise a dreadful
fuss"
II will see what I can do prom
Used Mr.. Ross, and his heart sank like
lead, but he concealed, his bitter
despair from Dorothy, to get time to
think and act.
1t took him only day to realize
that the sale of everything he had in
the world would not bring more than
| few hundred dollars. He had never
borrowed in his life, but as he strolled
about restlessly that evening he tried
to think of old-time friends who might
be willing to help him out. Alas;
they were few and far between.
Il must find some way to help the
dear child" he reflected with new ami
nation as he paused opposite the
stylish apartment house where the
Dales lived. 1t cheered him to consd-
er that Dorothy was comfortably
housed amid warmth, light and lux.
ury. The artless old man did not re-
sent the fact that he was never in.
vited to the house, that his son-in.
law when he met him on the street
gave him simply cool, careless nod.
For all this Ross walked on, his heart
warmer than ever toward the mercen.
airy daughter, whose whim and extrav.
agance had brought him directly to
the verge Of poverty.
Crash!
The old man made a brisk jump.
He was barely in time to escape being
struck by an automobile, which had
collided with another machine, fore
ing 1t half way across the sidewalk,
demolishing its front tires and reduc.
Ing the glass wind shield to atoms.
Mr.. Ross felt one of the fragments
strike his face. He put his hand up to
his eye. for its visual power seemed
suddenly blotted out His fingers be-
came daubed with blood. He expert.
enced sudden faintness. A police
man caught his arm and supported
him. while another ran to the corner
patrol box and telephoned for an am.
bulance.
Totally blinded in one eye" was
the report Of the hospital surgeon the
following morning, and he wondered
at the sudden glow Of excitement that
came into the face OF his patient.
Through the mind of the self-sacrific.
ing sufferer ran speedy remembrance
Of the wording Of the accident policy
he carried:
For the loss Of one eye, one thou.
sand dollars; total blindness, twenty.
five hundred dollars"
The thousand dollars went the way
of all his previous donations, quickly
used up by the reckless Dorothy. Then
came new demands.
The resources of old Ross were now
exhausted. He had not even a home.
One night. wandering the streets, he
was attracted with an excited crowd
to a burning hotel. He was among the
first to reach it. An officer whom he
knew allowed him to pass the fire line
as Ross showed him little child at a
third-story window shut in BY the
flames and insisted on attempting her
rescue.
Ross had CROPPED his way to the
room. He took the little one in his
arms. Just in time to evade a belch.
ing gust of flames from a lower win.
dow he dropped the child into the out.
spread safety net
Jump. yourself. Why, it's Mr.. Ross!
Jump, you brave old mani"
Ross essayed to climb up on the |
window sill.
Too late! and he was not sorry. As
ne sank back overcome by the smoke.
MS wan face was wreathed with a
gladstone smile.
Dear little Dot!" he uttered Low. |
ingly.
The year brought bankruptcy to
vernon Dale and the life of a house
hold drudge to his soured, chagrined
VIE. Rarely she thought of her dead |
father. Only once in awhile did she
regret that the insurance money had
been wasted. She strove to shut out
memory of the father who had
given his life for her.
BUT every year the little child, the
one Adam Ross had saved, and her
parents, visited the lonely grave of
Inc brave hero OF the hotel fire. Az