The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1916-06-09
A Wild Goose
Chase
By F. A. Mitchell

= =
young man of whom the testator APP
proved. Mr. Spangler was considered
very singular parsonage, and his will
bears out the opinion.
believing that between husband
and wife the one showing the greater
thought, resource, ingenuity - indeed,
those faculties which go to make up
smartneSs-should rule, l bequeath my
fortune either to my beloved daugh-
ter, lmogene Spangler, or to the man
she shall marry, the inheritance to be
decided in the following manner:
MY property, consisting Of twenty
bonds Of 5000 each, is buried in the
state of Florida. They will be found
either on the right bank of the St
Johns river, at its junction with the
ocean, or at Glencove Springs, TWEEN
ty miles northeast of st. Augustine.
The finder of the bonds-either my
daughter. Imogene Spangler, or her
husband-shall be their possessor."
Surely, Tom" said Imogene after
reading the will, father must have
been delrious when he signed his will
You'd better go to Florida and visit
| the two places named in the will.
Quite likely you'll find pointer in the
one where the bonds are buried"
Il think you had better go with me.
| We can make it bridal trip"
Every good. Name the day"
| yr,orapo opJ To,r, y-nrn I,,lv mo -
ried and preparations made for the
wedding journey The evening before
their start ImOgene went into her late
fathers library, where the old gentle
man had kept many atlases-for he
was much interested in geography
with a view to locating the points
| where they We're to hunt for the bonds
Mr.. Spanger had set great store by a
revolving plaster globe four feet in
diameter. Imogene found ST. Angus
! tine on this globe, but not Glencove
/ Springs, so she got down an atlas con
tanning a sufficiently detailed map and
located the points exactly.
The couple left the next morning for
from winter into summer. When they
reached St. Augustine Tom proposed
that they put up at a third rate hotel
or a cheap boarding house. He did not
approve of spending money freely until
they had found the money to spend.
But Imogene said that, being on her
wedding journey, she proposed to live
| like bride Tom was overruled, and
they went to the most expensive hotel.
After q few days rest from their
journey Tom proposed that they should
proceed to look up their fortune. Imo-
gene seemed to be in no hurry.
Pm comfortable here" she said.
Suppose you go to both points"
But in case find the bonds I shall
! be the owner of them
Suppose you are? That won't make
any difference to me. l think the hus-
band should have the money anyway.
Papa was like most men; he thought
that power in the family is lodged in
the one possessing the funds. He
should have known that women don't
work that way. Their power lies be-
yond dollars and cents. You go ahead
and find the bonds"
Tom was puzzled. For him to go of
to hunt for fortune on such meager
information as he possessed seemed
ridiculous. He showed disposition to
give up the matter.
"Oh, go on"' said his wife. You'll
get mighty tired sitting around with
me long before the honeymoon is over.
Quite likely you'll find clew. Father
wasn't such a fool as to hide fortune
where no one could find it."
She kissed him and patted him on
the back and sent him away. He went
first to the Springs, where he spent a
day looking for sign. Finding none,
he proceeded to Jacksonville and
thence to the coast. But never sign
! did he see As for digging anywhere
without sign, he was not so stupid
as that. So after three or four days
absence he returned to st. Augustine.
I He expected to find his wife disap-
pointed at his failure, but she met him
with a smile.
"You don't seem to be much de-
pressed at the loss of a fortune" he
remarked.
isn't it wlfe's duty to cheer her
husband in times Of adversityT she
/ replied.
Il hope you'll be able to keep 1t up
| when the bills begin to come in"
/ Brush your hair and get that dlsap-
/ pointed look off your face Things are
/ not so bad as they appear. l have
something to tell you. The night be-
fore we left for this place l went Into
fathers library to look upon his globes
and maps where these places you have
been are. Something in the words
Glencove Springs sounded suggestive.
Springs, springs l kept saying. Why
| did it l don't know, but / pressed
my thumb on the globe at the point
where Glencove is and broke through
the surface. Taking a knife, l began
to dig and found the bonds. Here
they are"
Going to her trunk, she unlocked 1t
and took out twenty 6 per cent gilt