The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-08-25
.AFiish Storv
By ALAN HINsDAIE

using Tor which three years Of so,d,or
ing had not prepared him. yat On,
kind OF preparation he had gained ,rou
MS campaigning. He was NOT st-o,1
TO strike out In any path. MANY Of ths
boys Of 1881 to 1895, finding IT dif,cul,
after the war b settle down IN : hum
drum life, sought untried fields. Bot
Atnerton was one Of these. He wen,
to Australia to begin life in what was
then a new country.
Bob wouldn't have gone had no no,
believed there was no chance for him
at home, for be had sweetheart whom
II panied him to leave. But Elsie Rsth.
bone promised to wait till he had mad
enough to send for her, when she
would go to him. This comforted him
Australia was then, as II is now a
wool growing country. and Bob on
reaching Melbourne, where men were
wanted, found position in the count.
Ing room of wool broker. He learned
lot about the business, but somehow
he did not find promotion rapid. Per.
haps soldering had taken out of him
that contentment necessary to one
working in treadmill. At any rate,
ne was not interested in his business,
and 1t is probable that he was not as
up and doing as his employers expect.
ed him to be.
He went on to a sheep ranch, where
he found more cOngenial occupation
riding about in the open air herding
sheep. But here, too, he was. paid so
much money for so much work, and
since the work was not skilled he fail
ed to gather In more funds than he
needed for his personal wants. Besides
one who had spent much Of his time
in the army playing poker with the
dollar bill greenbacks of the period was
not likely to look after the pence.
Atherton drifted from one thing to
another for five years. He kept up a
correspondence with Elsie for four OF
them. then. considering the status un,
Just to her. ceased to write He grad
ually ran down till he was shabby
enough to be mistaken for a larrikin,
which means the descendant of a
Botany bay convict. From this condi-
ton he drifted to the coast, where he
tried to pick up scant living as a
fisherman.
One day Bob caught big fish and in
endeavoring to extricate his hook saw
something that looked like paper In
the gullet. Curious to know what 1t
was, he cut the fish open and found
that 1t had swallowed a newspaper.
The journal had been inclosed in a
wrapper, and 1t is not impossible that
the fish had mistaken 1t for another
fish. Bob unfolded 1t very carefully.
The outside had been saturated, but
the inner sheets were comparatively
dry. 1t proved to be London paper
of a then recent date. On one Of the
pages Bob saw a notice that the EN-
peror Napoleon III. had left Paris to
place himself at the head of the
French army to fight the Prussians.
That meant that war had been de-
clared between France and Prussia,
news that had not yet reached Mel
bourne, for that was before a cable
had been laid between Europe and
Australia. Another item that Bob no
dced was a quotation for wool The
price in the English market was very
much higher than in Australia.
That set Bob to thinking. If he had
the money he could buy wool for one
price, and as soon as ship came In
bringing the news of the war and re-
cent quotations he might sell 1t for a
profit. But he hadn't sixpence to his
name. He sat on the sand thinking
how he could utilize his information.
He was sufficiently familiar with the
wool business to know the names OF
the principal dealers, all of whom had
bought through the commission nrm
nv whom he had been employed. Sc
lecting several firms to whom he was
known. he sent an order from each
to his former employers to buy large
quantity of wool for each one OF Them
then went to the firms whose names
he had used and told them what ne
had done, offering to produce PROOF
that the price would rise on condiuon
his order be confirmed and that he be
paid a quarter of the profits arising
from the deal. Nearly all acquiesceo
in writing.
The contracts had not been signed
long when a ship came In bringing
news that war had been declared
between France and Prussia, with q
new quotation for wool. The firms u
whose names Bob had given his orders
made enormous profits. Bob's assre
gate proceeds were as large as any
one Of the buyers.
AS soon as the money was PAID over
to him Bob took the next SNIP tof
America, hoping that be would ma ms
s,vaotbaart unmarried. BE not onV
found her a spinster, but hoping LnA'
she might again hear from him. mnen
no told her that he had MADE a Iortuile
abe reioiced but when he told her no"
no had done it she thought ne was
chatting her. However, he connrmeu
his story by producing the pewspape,
ha had taken from the fish's belly anu
ne 80 80. out from a Melbourne paper