The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-27
The Rivals
By RICHARD Ai.ARKLFY

What am | soin' to do. Iim?"
lou know well enough. You're
stepPin in between me and Sairy
Grant
Aou mean you're steppin' In be.
tween me and Sairy.''
Jim pulled a photograph of the bone
OF eontention-it might be called the
ZONES OF contention-out of his pocket
anu held it IN for Mart to see. Mart
pulled a copy Of the same out of his
pocket and held it up for Jim to see.
Each looked at the other surprised.
Did She give you that:"
Yes Did she give YOU yourn?"
"Ycs."
= tel yen what we do. Mart. sup
Posln we put the pictcrs away some
Where till she makes up her mind, and
then the Teller She takes has EN- both y,
That's a good idee Where'I we put
'em:" -
There's a heller tree over Wonder
Reckon we can find a place there where
they won't get wet
They went To the hollow tree and
found cavity where the photographs
would neither be seen nor damaged
Iach man had jackknife in his peck.
ct. aud, OPENING blade. he pinned his
photograph To the inside of the cavity
Then they departed
Sarah Grant. the object of this rival.
~ was no beauty. but she had n talent
Tor that which will work wonders in
love. She understood the value of ri.
valry. Neither lin nor Mart ba1 tho
sHShteSt desire To- make love TO her
TIL she created ii in them by first
showing favor to one, then to the 9th
CT AS soon rs Jim appeared to be
DESTROYS of these favors Mart began
To put value on them. aud vice versa
IL was then that the rivals began to
look upon her rs a beauty She was
skinny and sallow and frecklcd. bur
she had a good eye. which she knew
well how 20 use and these young men
built up on this foundation an mag
mary structure of loneliness.
Soon after the deposit of the pic
lures the harvest season came on. and
the rivals found work where thcv
could, both at some distance from the
abode Of Sarah Grant Consequently
neither saw her again till autumn.
Meanwhile Sarah was pining for the
excitement of keeping two men on the
anxious seat and waited impatiently |
for their return. About the time the
harvest had been gathered she con. |
cocted a scheme for her further amuse- |
ment. She wrote each of her lovers II !
letter expressing pleasure that the har- |
vest season was ended and hoping to |
see him again. She invited each one
To come and see her on certain date.
which VAS the same for each lover
her object being to continue the game
Of the previous spring. Since they
were working in different sections of !
The country there was little or no
Of their comparing notes.
md Sarah was looking forward TO
heir meeting each other In her pres
nee. Furthermore. she indicated to
Zach that she had finally made up her
mind that lie was the man of her
'hoce
Mart and Jim returned on the same
lay. Each believed that he was the
'ayorcd one IN Sarah's affections and
hat he was the rightful owner Of both
he photographs. Such being the case
le would 20 to the hollow tree AMI ret
hem. Mart intended TO tell Sarah the
tory about their having been put away
o await her decision Jim had not
determined exactly what he would do
n the premises except that he would
Iestroy the likeness Sarah had given
o mis- rival
As luck would have it. the young
men went TO the hollow tree at the
anne time Jim was about TO put his
land into the cavity when he heard;
Hello. there
Looking around he saw Mart ap-
roaching
I've Wun." said Jim.
NO. you haven't. I've won.n Mart
ciorted angrily.
Mart made dash for Jim, and there
vas a brief struggle between them
or possession Of the pictures with the
esult that each secured one of the
opies Each cast n glance at the be-
wed features. but the glance was pro
Ineed into n stare Then they looked
. at each other.
Il reckon you've won. Jim said
Tart.
Il don't know as ! want to deprive
gu of the
We've been friends 50 long that
an; bear to stand IN your way"
Il say. Mart. is that the girl we've
cen quarreln' about:"
These ARE certainly the photographs
e left here"
why. shes snub nosed."
And scrawny. look at the shoulder
ones
Il relinquish her to you"
Il wouldn't deprive you Of her for
lie world
What made you think you had got
=. .1r.n..,..,a 80 mo -