The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-08
A KISS BY
MISTAKE
By WILLIAM CHANDLER

'''i stevens. were ou a railway t,.,f..
entering the city Of New York Thc,
were 10 he married in month and
->ed having business in the mefre,ali.
SARAH had decided to 70 down vim
niiii ana spend few days there on the
matter Of her trouSseau.
Shortly before reaching the Termin,i
'he train ran into tunnel II was
snort tunnel and no lights We're II,
MOST 81 the passengers. thinking ,b.t
they were rolling into the station
arose from their seats ana crowdal
INTO the aisle, Ned and Sarah among
me number. When Ned perceived tbot
Tue Tram was in the dark he conchd-
ca 70 take kiss. Drawing Sarah f..
ward him. he pressed his lips upop
hers.
sarah. to his astonishment brolo
away from him. at the same time ~,
terlns a cry The train shot out inn,
the light and revealed 10 Ned n von,c
woman looking at him Indignantly
Sarah was standing a yard away from
her fiance.
The young woman who had been
kissed seeing the aStoniShed expires
sion on Ncd'S face. broke into smile
Ned was in dilemma. He coul1p.t
apologize without saying that he had
kissed the wrong woman So he said
nothing. Tho smile on the girls face
changed to a frown Sarah. not m.
Outstanding what had happened loci,
ed curious.
The train stopped in the station ana
the passengers poured out on to the
platform. The kissed woman alishted
before Ned and Sarah. and Ned kcpt IN,
eye ON her as She walked out of the
station dozen yards ahead Of him
When She reached the sidewalk She Ell.
tered taxi. Ned made mental note
Of its number.
Fate has So many Persons affairs IN
Us hands that ii starts things. tbru
leaves the persons themselves 10 work
out the problem. though fate will take
a hand at amy time ia amy If the mill
lions Of lifc'S real stories. Ned Bar
tholow felt that he owed the lady he
had kissed by mistake anapology. Since
he could not well have made one in the
presence of Sarah il occurred To him
that possibly he might do SO when Sarah
was not present. At any rate. he fixed
. Al b.
in which the lady had been driven
away and aS soon as he had disposed
Of Sarah went to the cab companys of
flee, asked that tho number Ice called
in and when the cab came paid the
cabman a dollar to tell him where he
had driven the lady
Another strange thing is that we do
things for one reason thinking that we
are doing them for another. Ned could
have let the matter drop, or he might
have sent "A brief explanation by mail
that is, after getting the lady's name.
He did neither. He called at the adj
dress the cabman gave him that very
evening and asked for the lady who
had arrived during the afternoon on n
train.
The truth is that all this part of the
story might as well be condensed into a
few words. That kiss in the dark was
a feast for god, and he wanted anoth-
er one from the same lips. He could
kiss his iiancee all he liked. Possibly
that entered into his reasons for wish
ing to kiss another woman whom he
had no right To kiss.
The lady entered the room wonder
ingly and. seeing the man who had
kissed her. bluShcd That was the most
unfortunate thing She could have done.
1t doubled Ned's desire to kiss her
again.
II have taken the liberty to come
without permission" he said, TO make
an explanation.
The lady dropped her eyes to the
floor and waited. Ned had intended
TO tell her that he was engaged TO the
lady who had stood near him on the
train and to confess that the kiss had
been intended for her. But how could
he hope for a duplicate kiss after MAX
ing such an avowal? The scamp
changed his tactics. entering Instead
on tissue of lies.
81 had noticed you" be said, sitting
in the car not far from me You Will
forgive me. won't YOU"
Proceed, said the girl.
How could | help admiring one 70
whom admiration is due; Your liquid
eyes. your glossy hair, your lie
paused.
WHAT
coral lips. They took me up Ike
whirlwind and made me dizzy
know not what did.
He paused The ladys eyes were
still fixed on the rug on which she
stood.
do not stab me by saying that l
am not forgiven.
There was no reply.
docs this silence mean that | am
n no treated as | deserve;"