The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-04-24
AFlorentine
Episode
By ELlNOR MARSH

rlch young
&Aisi 'cah' before settling down 10 a
career concluded to spend a season IN
EUROPE He sailed from Now yo,.l.
naples thence proceeded TO Rome ,na
later 10 Florence.
IL Is supposed by persons who haro
nor peen in Italy that one sees everv.
", where relics of the ancient Romans
mere are comparatively few such
Ieilcs' but there are many of mediaavaI
i'ais' Ihe most costly DWELLINGS are
PaiazzoS, built several centuries 90,
heinStreet took a fancy to Florence
anu concluded TO spend some time
there' so he rented palazzo. ar
iatner' half one, and, hiring servants
settled himself down. as il were in TIA
middle OF the sixteenth century
Inc building had been divided into
Two parts, the part that Hemstreet did
not occupy being occupied for a small
FAMILY hotel. or rather what in Fin.
rope Is called pension. which is mid.
way between a hotel and y hn,r,lirc
house.
phe rainy afternoon HemStreet who
hau spent most of the day in the mic.
lure galleries for which Florence i
noted came to his paiazzo. II WAS 50
dark that his servants had lighted Tho
lamps and, going upstairs. as he en-.
tered the hall On which his bc,lroom
was located, he was aStonishrd to 81,
mat the hall was double the length H.,
had supposed it To be At anv rate
lie saw double the lights, but they
We're din, as were the objects they
lighted
heinStreet was very much puzzled
Going into his room he threw off
MS Wet overcoat aud rubber shoes
then went out with the intention of
exploring the hall He was SURPRISED
TO see that 1t ended as he had under
stood 1t to end with a picture.
Hemstreet was frightened Surely
something had broken loose in his
brain. He went to the picture, exam
ined 1t, saw that it was what he had
supposed il was and went away resoly.
ed TO watch himself closely for other
symptoms of dsordered mind But
he felt as well as he had ever felt.
and after awhile lie ceased to worry
about any supposed disorder
However, he never went upstairs To
his room without looking as soon as lie
turned into the hallway TO see If Il had
been doubled as before. But the fig
ures of the picture were always there
and the hallway was of its usual
length
One night when Hcmstrcet was ia
bed he heard, or fancicd he heard.
giggle in the hall There were no WON
EN- In the house except couple of
housemaids who knew their place and
were in bed when IIemstreet had come
in. Curious to know what the sound
meant, he arose and, cautiously open
ing his door enough 10 see through the
aperture, saw n sight that amazed him
more than his previous unexplained
one. A young girl stood in the hall
facing the picture. laughing and beck
oning. She was all aquiyer with OK
element, though she did not speak
except in pantomime
Thunderstruck. Hemstreet turned
from the door. felt in closet for
Of slippers beside his bed. for he dare
not strike light for fear of soaring
the apparition without, then returned
to the door, threw 1t open and went out
intending. il 1t were flesh and blood,
to capture 1t.
The hall was empty.
He looked to the end toward which
the girl had beckoned There was the
picture its figures immovable as ever
HemStrcct went back To bed in Won
der. Somehow it did not seem TO him
that he had seen a ghost He felt no
terror. though he began To worry anew
lest there was a hitch in his brain. He
lay awake most Of the night trying To
solve the problem. but finally went to
sleep thinking of it.
He arose the next morning shortly
before time for luncheon and stood
looking out on to the street \ cab
drove up 10 the pension. next door. and
party alighted. which included sew
eral girls IIemstreet was thunder
struck to recognize in one of these
girls the one who had stood in his hall
way the night before.
1t was now evident that the appari-
tion was flesh and blood and doubtless
on a lark. IIemstreet went next door
and asked IL there was any passage
way between the pension and his domi-
cile. but the landlady answered him
that the two wings had been thorough
ly cut or from each other She had
motive in this since she suspected that
Hemstreet had lost property. which
would be laid to some one in her wing
Hemstreet kept an eye out for the
apparition in the galleries and finally
came upon her. She was an American
with a party of Americans. After Sc
curing an introduction TO her he &C
cused her Of having trespassed on his
PREMISES. She colored and after some
hesitation confessed.
hallway extending from one end
- ~. - tho ar;srinoI ma iazzo had