The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-01-05
THE BLACK CAT
BY LOUISE OLIVER.


out OF very embarrassing dilemma
Betty HOLSTER and he were to be
married within the month and he had
! just discovered that he was almost
without a cent in the world. Donald,
his younger brother at college, had
| got into trouble and there was no one
| else to help him. The check he had
mailed in the afternoon had just about
/, cleaned him out. Unless some miracle
| happened, there was nothing left in
| the stocking.
| There was no way he could think
| of to postponing the wedding without
| breaking Betty's heart All of her
arrangements were complete and he
| had heard her say once that she
would rather die than change the date
of her wedding
Yes, there was a possible way-just
a mere chance as slim as a spiders
thread. Jim Barlow had dropped in
that day and advised him to invest in
Cascade Steel. Jack never played the
market, but Jim did with more or less
luck, and when Jack had replied that
he couldn't afford it. Jim had offered
to lend him the wherewithal.
He took out his latchkey and un.
locked the front door as a nearby
clock started to strike r. AS he
turned the knob, something soft
rubbed against his legs. He opened
the door and the hall light revealed
jet black cat that started to pur con-
tentedly as it turned for another rub
against his trousers.
Midnight and a black cat.
Jack looked cautiously around He
had come from a New England town
and was as full of superstitions as
cantaloupe is of seeds. Surely this
was lucky sign. He must keep the
cat! Nothing could be more hazardous
to luck than to turn it loose now.
But
His landlady hated cats, and, be.
sides, she was a relative of Betty.
Betty must never know about the cat
because the one thing they ever dis.
agreed about was Jacks "supersti.
tion." as practical Betty put it.
But this lucky sign meant that he
was almost sure to win if he took up
Jim's offer of the morning. It had to
be done! He picked up the cat and
held 1t under his coat as he slipped
| stealthily up to his room
Early the next morning Betty, look.
| ing pale and hollow eyed, met Jack at
front 6nnr hiC 20
She eyed the travelling bag he carried
curiously, but he explained hastily
that he was carrying papers to the
office.
He had been up since dawn trying
to devise methods of feeding and hid
Ing his new pet. For two hours he
had looked out of the window in vain
for milkman. The trunk, the cup
board and each bureau drawer had
ELECTED only dismal yowls of lonesome
ness. There was nothing for it but to
carry his good luck fetish back and
could feed it and keep an eye on it
through the day. Better the jeers of
the boys than the wrath of Betty.
A few days passed-days of more
than one kind of anxiety for Jack
First, there was Cascade Steel, which
couldn't decide whether to 90 up or
dowr, Then there was the cat, which
made him the butt of thousand jokes
at the office and miserable at the
house nightly for fear of discovery.
But, last of all. Betty had taken no.
ton to droop.
She was as sweetly alluring as ever,
but there was something indefinable
about Ter he could not understand.
She protested that she was well-yet
she was pale and distracted and her
thoughts seemed to be miles away.
She started at every sound and flew
to tne door every time she heard an
unusual nose.
Jack was worried Their wedding
day was approaching and Betty got
worse instead of better.
One thing however-Cascade Steel
was doing well and in couple of days
he hoped to clear all he had lost and
pay back Jim's loan.
Then the cat could go wither it
would. In the meantime he watched
it with renewed vigilance.
Bit the cat got away, One night
Jack woke up with a feeling of dis.
aster. His first thought was for pus-
sy. Sure enough-its bed in the open
war lrobe drawer was empty. A thor
ough search of the room proved futile
and the transom solved the riddle.
He slipped into few clothes and
peered cautiously out into the hall.
then felt his way slowly downstairs.
The parlor, by the light of a match.
was catless! Then he started for the
dining room and stopped. hearing a
feminine voice. The doc" stood open
just enough for him to see Betty in
the middle of the floor hugging his
black cat and rubbing her cheeks
again its sleek head He didn't even
know she was in the house.
"Oh, Niggy, dear. I'm so glad !
found you" she crooned I've looked
for you for a week, ever since the
night | lost you over here, And it's
suth bad luck to have a black cat
come to you and then lose it, espe.
cially before your wedding. | just
pretty nearly decided not to marry
Jack at all until found you. But
how you came to me here | don't
know
And Jack, tiploeing exultingly back
to his room, decided that she never
should
! Copyright. 1915 by the Mcclure Newspa-
per SyndCate)
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