The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-06-21
GAME OF BLUFF
BY HOPE AINsLIE.

gray eyes looking thoughtfully aneao.
Then he chuckled softly. and sang,
shes the Lass for Me-" just as his
uncle came from private office. cap
and light overcoat in hand.
who's the lass this timer" asked
his uncle.
Miss Letitia B. Arlington Of Add
ingtonia," read Bruce, referring to the
advertisement do you happen to
know herr"
yes, l do, but as she is old enough
to be your grandmother. l can't quite
see her as the lass for you"
but I'm going to be her landscape
gardener, not her gallant lover. Uncle
Bob. Just hear her plea: Wanted,
landscape gardener TO advise and in !
struct, for reasonable compensation. |
about municipal and private gardens
In conservative town Of Ave thou
sand But tell me how did you come
to know the lady?"
USED TO hold court in Addingtonia
when was on the judicial circuit. and
that woman owned half the town and
was close as the bark on tree"
well, II she Is going in for mu-
nicipal gardens at her own expense.
she must have had change OF heart"
ventured Bruce.
"She must have lost her mind"
bluntly.
When Bruce left the house the next
day he remembered that 1t was Friday
and that the regular directors meet
ing had been postponed until Monday.
That left nothing of great Importance
awaiting him at the office, and as he
| slipped into his snug seat In his shiny
new roadster, he deliberately turned
| his car from a downtown direction
and shot out toward the wood beyond
the City park. The farther he went
the more he thought he would like to
take the S0-mile run to Addingtonia,
and make a bluff at qualifying for q
landscape gardener for the ancient
lady. Consequently, little after
noon. his shiny green roadster,
dimmed by the dust, slipped smoothly
along the shady streets Of Addingtonia
and a street corner loafer readily an
swered his inquiry about the location
of Miss Addington's place.
In answer to his knock, the door
was opened by diminutive woman In
a gown of vast dimensions, regular
hoop-skirt affair with fiounces and
Dolly Warden designs which became a
confused blur in the dim light of the
broad hall. But the incongruity OF an
1860 ball gown worn as a morning
house gown in 1915 made him recall
his uncle's suggestion that Miss Add
ington had probably lost her mind.
She sat In dark corner of the
I drawing room and Bruce couldn't
: make out enough of her face to tel
3 whether she looked sane.
In desperation. Bruce began to tall
. of the garden plan he had evolved al
7 he came In. Miss Arlington sat OF
: the edge of her chair and nodded at
Q firmatively more than once, but dit
2 not speak He felt stified thus shu
n up In the darkened drawing room will
Il the mysterious woman. and suggested
that they inspect the grounds. Tn
d lady rose in silence and rustled out In
Q to the hall where she snatched UP
L. huge poke bonnet and quickly put !
n on, pulling 1t so far down that whel
d walking beside her Bruce could no
n see even the tip of her nose.
d But the spell of the quaint old plac
d was on him, and he began really to 81
n. thuse about the possibilities OF tn
It grounds. To his amazement, the lad
responded with like enthusiasm, an
lie In a voice of wondrous sweetness. 5h
r. even withdrew her hands from the CT
pacious folds OF her gown and nun
le them wide. AS she did so, Bruce
- eyes went wide with wonder, for tn
De hands we're soft and plump and whit
l ! with pinkish, oval nails.
Puzzled at his silence, the lady CAV
r. the big bonnet backward push, an
lg turned her face directly up toward HI
The climax Of his amazement can
ne when he saw within that old bonnet
W. lovely, girlish face, lighted with starr
as brown eyes and framed with brow
he hair.
"Of course, I'll have to explain now
Id she said, with defiant toss of her hei
- and twinkle in her eyes. You see,
1t- slipped on one of dear Aunt Letitia
gowns just for comparison with Il
on new styles. You clicked the old knoc
err Just as l passed the door, so
~ thought 1t would be fun to go on al
ZEE make believe was real antebellu
| n..A cod fafItEFQ ."
se "You succeeded admirably until y
l let me see those hands" Bruce res
he sured her.
poor Aunt Letitia died thr
In months ago and left me this lovely
place with the request that ! give
he Il and to the town some of the brig
ness she might have given them
But, really" confessed Bruce, Il
i'd only a buffer myself, not real lal
Ick scape gardener, at all" And he p
Ing ceeded to explain his presence Their
she $50 we're both takers, are we? l
we've already found that We have
Ly- same ideas about gardens, and ?
fessional would probably stife ev'
u" suggestion I'd make, so why not bl
rly It out together after all?"
to Bruce looked his delight at the 5
BILE gestion, and it proved to be an
stance in which the blum worked sa
OF factorily for all concerned.
we'd downright. 1915. by the Mcclure News
per Syndicatel