The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-03-23
Lost on the
Mountain Side
By ETHEL HOLMES

a
ounule or letters be carried in his hand
.Not nhding 1t, he dived down into his
Dag and pulled out its contents which
he examined carefully.
wen, now. that knocks me- out - ha
saiu' with troubled and puzzled ex
preston on his face when | sorted
the letters for my route at the most.
ounce sure saw one for YOU"
And its gomez cried the girl In n
frightened tone.
W alt till | look EN- over again,
lie examined every letter again and
with the same result as before. ua
scratched his head in thought
4 stopped at the tavern for some.
thing TO warm NE and threw my hap
down on a chair"
oh, Sam! Was there any one in
the room with YOU"
Let me see. There was lean. hun
CRY looking man in spectacles"--
And a red beard"
Pears to me he had red heard
The girl turned and ran away from
Tue poStman. who followed her with
his eyes till she was out of sight
Susie Barker, the girl in question.
ran till she came to the tavern. There
she stopped and asked the landlord
which way the man with a red beard
had gone. He had departed immediate.
ly after the lpStnan had gone in the
direction OF the Cumberland plateau
the base of Which was but a milo dis
tant. Susie set out at run. but She
could not keep such "A pace and soon
settled into hurried walk. A short
distance from the foothills she saw the
man she was after ascending the hill
She knew the trails leading up to the
plateau and struck into one that was
shorter than that the man was taking
She had not gone far before the two
paths crossed. Sitting down on a
stone. she waited for him to come to
her.
"Howdy." she said to the stranger
when he came up.
"Howdy," replied the man. scrutiniz-
ing the girl. "Yre not lost. are y'y
well. ] dunno. come up hyer to
find gal know, and l thort she lived
purity nigh this place. but don't find
her somehow. amt used to these
mountings. never come up this way"
She looked exhausted and troubled
She was very plainly dressed, but was
rather comely for rough country girl
us there anything can do for your"
he asked.
"Nothin', unless you can put me on
the track to find my friend I'm lookin
for But mebbe you're stranger in
these parts yerself"
The man looked uneasy. He had
good reason to shake the girl, but did
not exactly know how to go about 1t.
You're right there | don't see how
| can help YOU, since I'm not familiar
with the country about here"
The girl looked about her with trou
bled glances The man started to
go on.
ltl npl Sbln W ithNC u libAt tai
out hyer on this lonely hillside, air
W" she said, looking at him reproach.
fully.
81 don't see how | can help It," said
the man. Il don't know where you
want TO go. and I've got to get on my
self"
"D' y mind my goin on with W
she asked pjtlfuly.
"Well, don't see how can Dc mat,
was the reply. "seein that I'll have t.
walk a great deal faster than you can
"Try me-
The man looked perpleXed He
couldn't very well leave girl who was
lost on the mountain side, and in the
business In which he was engaged she
would be an obstacle to him. Indeed,
be could not very well accomplish 1t
without getting rid Of her
Il haven't time to bother with you,
he said crabbedly. "All you got to do
is to go down the mountain aud you'll
find plenty of persons to tell you how
TO get home"
With that he started on. but. hearing
sob turned and saw the girl with her
hands to her face, shaking conNul'
sively.
There is no weapon so powerful as
woman's tears The man turned and
went back to the girl. lie did not get
away from her for an hour. First he
spent good deal Of time soothing her
Then she told him that she had
sprained her ankle and could not walk
Finally footsteps were heard coming
from above. and young man ap
peared on the trail He started on see
Ing the girl and the man.
Il reckon" said the girl to the man
with the red beard. that tins 1eiiei
will take me down. Much obleeged u
you all the same.
The man addressed looked the othel
over and without a word started W
the trail. The two watched MIN TN ht
was out of sight, then the slri lh1e"
her arm around the newcomer.
Hes got the letter you wrote me
racl,onad il had the way to nnd yoO