The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-07-19
The Face
In theWen
By EDWARD T. STEWART

-IOr some Cme, l looked out Tor q
place to fill 1t. l came presently to a
farmhouse where girl sat On a porch.
l saw well house on the grounds and,
pulling up at the gate, asked her II she
would permit me to fill my tank. She
hesitated, then said:
you'll have to draw the water your
self"
"Of course I'll draw 1t myself. Why
did you think l would expect you to
do it?"
Il wouldn't If were YOU
Wouldn't what?"
Draw the water"
l looked at her curiously. She was
dressed In white and black. There was
a marked sadness in her visage.
"Why do you advise me not to dra W
the water?' I asked.
Because face will look up at you
out Of the well that will freeze the
marrow in your bones"
1t was evident to me that her mind
was unhinged, but l was curious and
encouraged her to tell me more about
moment, then said:
Il had brother He and father
didn't get ON well at all. 1t seemed to
me that the reason was that Ben came
when father was passing into old age
Zone evening father was lecturing
Ben, reproaching him for the trouble
he gave. ! was sitting in my room by
the window. heard high words be-
tween them, and then l saw in the
cleaning Ben run out over the ground.
1t was nearly dark, and could see him
only as far as the well house. Father
followed him there. The last saw of
them fathers hand was raised to strike
covered my face with my hands, and
that is the last knew Of anything for
a week.
when l returned to consciousness l
knew that father had killed Ben and
thrown him down the WELL"
She paused and shuddered.
"How do you know your father did
that?" ...--D
"Oh, know 1t, know I'll"
She manifested such emotion that I
gave her time to recover from it. When
she had done SO, she continued:
Il felt what had been done, though l
said nothing of 1t to any one. They
told me Ben had gone away. As soon
as l was able / went to the we'll /
dreaded to look down into 1t, but /
couldn't help doing so. approached
and put my hands on the stone coping
and remained in that position till l
could bring myself to look down at the
water below.
Il gave shrek and fell to the
ground. They all came running out Of
the house and carried me back to bed"
"What frightened your
II saw Ben's face down in the we'll"
needed no further information as to
the cause and nature Of the girls trou-
BILE. l did not try to assist her out of
her malady, but, going to the well,
drew a bucket Of water, filled my tank
and, having thanked her, got into my
car and drove away.
I found 1t impossible to get this girl
out Of my mind A desire took posses
sion of me to cure her ailment. Later
| drove back to the place and got the
balance Of her story from her neigh
bOrs Her father and her brother had
really had trouble. The boy had fed,
and the father had followed him. The
father returned to the house, but the
boy had never been seen there since.
1t occurred to me that the way to
cure the girl was to find the boy. L
learned his name, but to find any indi-
vidual In this big world is like looking
for needle In haystack The girl
had certainly a marked effect on me or
l would never have undertaken the
task. She was on my mind all the
while. l suppose had fallen In love
with her. At any rate, was under
spell concerning her.
Since 1 could not divert myself of
my enthrallment I went to work me-
thodically. If George English-that
was his name-had not gone to some
foreign country, there was a chance.
l spent great deal Of money advertis-
ing, but to no effect.
cuuWhhc tue great WOrl0 war
broke out. Considering the young.
ster's idiosyncrasies, thought it DOS
sible that he might have wished to
have a hand in 1t. II so he would
probably have gone to Canada and en-.
listed there. l went there and. exam
lining the rosters Of the different ros
tiers, found his name on the rolls of an
infantry regiment.
l doubted II anything short of pro
ducing the young man himself would !
cure the invalid. so l said nothing
about the trace l had found, but con-
Guided to go to Belgium, find him and
If | could not bring him home arrange
for his sister to go to him. While l
was making my preparations 1 saw in
newspaper an announcement that
George English Of the British aero
plane corps had brought down his fifth
enemy in the air.
The puzzle now was how to bring
George to his sister or take her to him
The former was not to be considered
The latter l finally effected by going TO
relatives of hers, whom l convinced
that If she saw her brother alive she
would probably be cured of her NAL
ady. They took her to France and
from there to the British lines, where
her brother appeared to her in the flesh.