Palatka daily news. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1919-1994, 1922-06-11
The Paying
Guests
= ARA DELAFIELD

CLARA DELAFIELD g.
s,....ssssssssssssss
ia western Newspaper Union
,,os what It was first made
! .At that Mr.. and Mrs. Crane
carried. Maybe it was tne
i proper between married
!, ,over have taken paying
,ne farm, only the interest
!, the mortgage, and then the
7 / always knew Cy Hicks
spr because l showed him up
vas counting Ada White for q,
~ But l couldn't prove 1t,
. m a rich man can always
' sourts. So l had to take
,ho Cranes was the first, and
W dislike to Mrs. Crane the
set eyes on her. She wore
'.rt city dresses and she used
bo,r and set on the stOOp
al hanging out to dry, and
WIN TO the roots, so that you
.,dv tell it. And, as / was
+ Amt respectable for decent
folks to set holding hands on
n after dark, and that's what
u have made me suspicious.
law and said nothing, but one
an I was doing up their room
caught my eye, and it showed
clspicions were correct. 1t was
10 A woman called Mary,
HAS what Mrs. Crane called her
N signed "yOur loving husband,
: Now Mr.. Cranes name was
70 me a terrible shock, in par
because | found out that she
actress. 1t was all about parts
kateS, and if I'd guessed I'd
Naye had them on the farm. But
Eere too smart for me, and I'm
Illy trustful.
/ that duty compelled me to
IA Mr.. Cranes pockets when he
|ut with that woman, and 1t
! long before l came across a
written by woman in Elmira,
"yOur loving wife, Maisie."
Mat wOman's name wasn't Maisie
|least, she called herself Julia,
\ of course it was an alibi.
\. it was my clear duty to stop
|aye Of immortality that was sub
BIZ our village, and so l set down
|rOte an anonymous letter to the
nIH Crane, which | signed "a
b" and another to that woman's
hi, telling them what their part
MAS up to. Then | waited and
led them. Sure enough, a day
b later they began to look w0r-
and wasn't long in finding out
eaSOn
re was an awful letter from that
MS husband, whose name was
Is, saying he was coming on the
train to shoot Mr.. Crane dead
tracks.
there was a letter from the real
Crane, saying that she was com
10, and there wouldn't be much
eft on that woman's dyed head
she got through with her. Coarse
at | called it.
/ there was a pretty kettle Of
| waited till the night train
In and off l went to the depot.
was strange man there, look
ack as thunder, and a strange
/ crying, And each says to
AN you tell me the way to Miss
OneS'S farm"
lowed them the longest way
and | run as hard as 1 could to
lice station, and told Cy Hicks,
our police officer, to come up to
rm or there'd be murder. /
must have threw a scare into
: he turned white as a sheet,
IN got down his rabbit gun and
handouts from the hooks, and
off as spry as he could go.
just reached the potato patch
as nearly dark-when there
blood-curdling scream from
se which made me go funny at
es. Then a woman's voice, say
e me! Don't shoot me! I'll
ee him again, l swear it! Only
gO!"
IN awful mans voice followed:
false traitress, say your pray
| swear you haven't got
minute to live. I'm going to
gu in your tracks as I've shot
'1ured breaker-up of my happy
followed the most terrific
I've ever heard, and then the
II a gun. And a few means
was nearly at the house now
men the hollow, hooking laugh
lniac.
ght hold Of Cy, and he didn't
e so spry as before, and |
'e the rabbit gun kind of going
down in his hands, but ut last
sand enough to knock on the
IN the butt end of the gun and
In the name OF the law. The
surrounded, and II you don't
Ut you'll be shot dead where
nd"
at the door opened, and there
10Th the Cranes inside, with
strangers, laughing at US.