The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-09-18

diabolical intelligence, caught at the
arms and legs of those who ventured
near them. All New York presented
the appearance Of a speckled, scarlet
Jungle. and the flsgs of flowers waved
triumphantly above the highest build
inSy.
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 It
had got on his nerves. This was his
revenge.
Holland, on . salary Of $40 a week.
was engaged to be married. He knew
Sears slightly, a. the weather man
was . cousin Of his fiancee. 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, II won't tell you
the secret, but will tell you some.
thing. Can you scrape together S..
OO0?"
Maud has $5,O00." answered Hol-
land, but of course l can't touch"
Certainly you can touch it," an
swered Sears. Il 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 1t myself,
out of sense of propriety, but with
$4,000 ! 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
ono leland Tho ctood y IN 81 orly min n
dissipated the seeds everywhere. BY
the end of the first week Chicago had
been rendered uninhabitable. Kansas
City had already had taste of It.
The whole population was becoming
nomadlc, seeking refuge from the
blue weed And the more it was cut
down the faster It spread. Whole
tracts of flourishing country were jun.
giles, above which waved the scarlet,
speckled trumpets. Among these
were afterward found the skeletons
Of deer and farm cattle.
On the day before that which the
weather man had prophesied az the
last the weed had spread as far as
the great desert. Cities we're Oblit
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-
ginning to spread. It seemed only a
question Of time before the whole
country would have to be abandoned
The fatal seventh day after the
prophesy arrived. The hot sun had
begun to cool The weather man, Mr.
Sears, was just as firm in his convic-
ton, and he had so impressed the au-
thorities with his belief that a small
party, in captive balloon, waited
above what had once been the Singer
building, but was now only weed
grown projection above the forest.
A cloud appeared in the west and
began to grow rapidly, But the au-
thorities, their eyes fixed on the city
below, did not perceive it.
Dear met said the secretary of
the treasury, at last, looking up, II
believe it's going to rain"
We've had none for three weeks"
said the secretary for agriculture
It'll do the crops
Then he remembered However, he
had only spoken from force Of habit.
The whole OF the sky grew black,
and suddenly a drenching downpour
sent the captive balloon skipping up
and down on its rope. The hammer
OF the hail was the only thing that
could be heard. Nothing was seen
but the cloudy recesses Of space.
Then. as suddenly, the rain ceased,
and the sun came out The weather
man wore a smile.
This time he said, I think my
prediction of local thunderstorms will
be recognized as correct"
But the weed" gasped the head Of
the secret service. who had somehow
been included in the party
They looked down, but where the
weed had been were only the build
ings of Manhattan. A few dry. droop-
ing, shrivelled stalks attested to what
had been the world conquering plant
The weed had practically disappeared
It was a Marian weed, and there
is no rain on Mars. II could grow
only in perpetual sunshine, alternat-
ing with dry nights Long had sur
missed that. Sears had caught a hint
of it and had utilized the knowledge TO
get his revenge.
Real estate went booming. The film
company reopened it's office, and Hol
land going to draw his hack nav in
formed Mr. Jefton that he would be
leaving at the end of the week
Jefton looked at him sardonically
What's this, Holland?" he demand |
ed appriIy