The Lakeland evening telegram., July 13, 1914, Page PAGE SIX, Image 6

About The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922

Image provided by: University of Florida

                
fAGE SIX
EVENING TELEGRAM, LAKELAXD, FLA., JULY 13, 1914.
MAN OF THE MASK
MILDRED CAROLINE GOODRIDGE.
When Robert Crandall and his pret
ty wife adopted little Dot, an orphan
child thrown on the world without a
friend or relative, good old Dr. Dross,
the minister, told them that a bless
ing would surely come to them.
Certainly pleasure and happiness
did. When the prattling, lovable little
tot was five years of age she had be
come the light and joy of the childless
couple. She was odd, but this origi
nality lent a charm to her unusual
personality. She would talk to a
rose or a toad an hour at a time, in
terested and fearless, weaving some
pleasant Ideality about each object.
The Crandalls had a pleasant home,
but it had been left to Robert with a
heavy mortgage on it. Work had been
Black and they were forced to econo
mize. They never grudged the little
darling who had crept into their
hearts so winr'ngly what the cost
them, but they lioed prospects would
grow better, so they might calculate
on giving her an education as she
grew up. '
A high stone wall separated the
humble Crandall homestead from the
grand Thorne mansion next door.
Grand as was the spacious palace, i
however, with its beautiful garden .
space, it was a mere sepulcher In fact,
the home of an afflicted and lonely 1
recluse. j
Reuben Thorne was the mystery of
Brocton. He was known as "the man j
with the gray mask." He had come to
the village about two years before
tne present time in a closed carriage
and had immured himself in the place
he had bought, as if glad to find a
remote and safe hiding place.
Thorne lived entirely alone. Once
a week a man came from the village
to set the place in order. Otherwise
Thorne performed the duties of cook
and housekeeper Individually. He
passed most of his time reading:. He
never left the walled-in grounds until
after dusk. Then he wore a gray silk
mask that completely covered his face.
Those who met him, even when
darkness partially obscured his
strangeness of appearance, were
startled. Nervous women watched
i
I 111 1 II' Mil HIILi IlJk
rt)k rT .
The Strangely Mated Twain Would
Wander Over the Garden.
him as they would a bogy. Children
shrank from him. Then the story
came out that his face was a mass of
disfiguring scars. It was told that in
another part of the country, hand
some, young, rich, he had loved a
beautiful girl. A dark beauty whom
he had never encouraged but who was
mad after his love, in a fit of jealous
rage precipitated a frightful tragedy.
She stabbed his poor love to the
heart, flung a bottle of corrosive liquid
in his face" and then drowned herself.
There was pity in the minds of
many kind-hearted persons In the vil
lage, but Thorne refused anr com
panionship. One evenlne Mrs. Cran
dall sent little Dot over to the place
with a dish of the first strawberries
of the season, newly-picked from their
own home garden. Mr. Crandall and
the masked man had got as far as
bowing to one another, but only at a
distance. The kind-intentioned Cran
dall hope'd to break down the barrier
of reserve with the recluse. He pitied
his loneliness and hoped to become
neighborly.
A sharp scream caused Mrs. Cran
dall to rush to the street a minute or
two after little Dot had started on her
errand.
"Oh, my darling! my'darling!" she
screamed, as she saw amid a cloud of
dust a great touring car and an ex
cited crowd gathering.
"She is safe!" called out a voice
suddenly, and the speaker and some
others drew back as thsre emerged
from amid the confusion the masked
man.
He carried little Dot in his arms.
She was white with frieht. but smil-
ing up at him murmuring lovingly
"Oh, you good man to come just as
I was being runned over!"
A little lad followed with the dish
I filled with dust and berries. Then
1 thpre were explanations. The auto
mobile had borne down unexpectedly.
tne masked man chanced to be at his
garden gate. He shrank from the
staring crowd, without a word, placed
Dot in the arms pf her adopted mother
and disappeared, followed by the ar
dent thanks of Mrs. Crandall.
But there was a ereat ado the nert
day. Dot insisted that she must go
and see her friend. Young as she
was, she recognized a debt of grati
tude to the stranger. There was an
iron grated door in the wall of the
next place abutting on the Crandall
grounds. Tnere Dot stationed herself
An hour later Mrs. Crandall was as
tonished to find the gate open and
Dot nowhere in view. Then she dls
covered her swinging in a hammock
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in the next garden, telling stories to
the masked man.
Thnt wna the heeinnlne of a rare
companionship between the lovable lit
tle Dot and the lonely world-weary
recluse. All through the golden month
of June, hour after hour, the strange
ly mated twain would wander over the
garden. To this charming nttie sprue
who was not at all renelled by the
mask he wore, the recluse seemed to
pour out all the love and sympathy
of his nature. The Crandalls had not
the heart to deprive Dot of this great
pleasure. Besides, he took pains in
teaching her to read, he filled her
mind with wondrous nature stories.
Then one day Dot came home In tears.
"He is going away," she sobbed,
"and I shall be so lonely!"
At the barred gate that evening Mr.
Thorne met Mr. Crandall and told him
that business would call him away for
a month to a distant city. He ex
pressed his gratitude for the company
of the little child who had brought so
much of sunshine into his dreary life.
It was a joyful evening when Dot
saw a light once more in the solitary
old house. She could scarcely sleep,
so anxious was she to regain her old
friend. The barred gate was kept
locked, however. For fully a week
the recluse was not seen about the
grounds. At dusk one evening he
passed the house. Dot ran out im
petuously to greet him.
She returned with a white, fright
ened face. She was trembling all
over. Amid great terror she gasped
out:
"Oh, papa! oh mamma! it isn't Mr.
Thorne!"
"What is that, my child?" inauired
Mrs. Crandall quickly.
No, the clothing was the same, the
mask was the same, but oh! shm
knew: the gruff voice, the touch of
the hand. And then suspicion awoke
in the mind of her auditors and then
Investigation.
"A little child shall lead them." and
the quick instinct of the precocious
Lot s mind did not go astray. It was
true an imposter was nersonatlni?
Mr. Thorne, drawing checks in his
name, getting ready to sell the prop,
erty and decamp.
It was a clever plot of shrewd
scoundrels, soon unmasked, the real
Thorne rescued from an unhannv im.
prisonment, and then the old delight
of Dot in regaining the afflicted friend
whose life was made endurable and
even happy through her joyful pres
ence.
That was not nil nf it Tt,fl
vj 6,1 cat.
burden that oppressed the Crandalls,
the mortgage, was lifted, for Mr.
Thorne could not do enoueh tn Cv.
press his gratitude for his delivery
from cruel hands. Then, week by
week, he was drawn from th nM anu.
tude; he became a guest and then a
regular visitor at the Crandall home,
and finally a Dermanent momhQ.
happy family circle.
(Copyright, 1914. by V. 0. Chacman.i
Conservation
On the Farm
WHAT HE WAS THINKING OF f
Practically every farm in this coun
would show a nice profit if the above c:
pressed idea could be and was carried c
with all its possibilities. The great far
problems of today are many. Good fen
and lots of them go a long toward solvi
the question of bigger profits. Then w
not get in line and buy your fence frog
home people, who treat you right and a
preciate your business.
Just received a solid car load of
American Fend
Also a car of pitch pine fence post.
WIL
SON
HARDWARE CO
DR. GEO. E. LYON
OPTOMETRIST
armdilTeaDr'lIid-ians oi the l,uman eve "" Specialize in
ormoinB the proper lenses in our shop to fit the individual siflht
Room 2 Skipper Building', Lakeland, Fla.
HUERTA'S HOUSE IN MEXICO CITY
Sweet Girl Graduate's Essay on Shake
opeare was Good, but She Couldn't
Fry Eggs.
She had looked
.! . . "
"us, in ner wmte dress and blue
riDDons.
She had graduated tilth tho t,iv..
uuuurs.
Her essay had been "Shairpq
and she had refuted all the stories
wat. ne arank and abused his wife,
and had convinced her audipn thJ
he always paid his grocery bills at
the end of the week.
Both friends and atranirprs finir0
upon the stage to shake hands and
cuiigraiuiaie ner, and say it was won
derful. They said it to hr t
her mother and father, and' one en-
inusiasuc individual exclaimed
the latter:
"She is a genius, sir!"
"Yes!"r was the quiet reply.
"But I tell you she is erent't"
"Yes?"
"Finest essay I ever heard!"
to
M .tfW'.r Mil
7 J- " T
o ' jae fc,ait a'i Tr
'i4
s
General Huerta does not live in the presidential castle of ChaonlteDPo hut in ft,, t,
Herrera In the City of Mexico. The building is guarded by soldS T
"You don't seem a bit exritPH m
it.
"No!"
"Why, what is the matter with ,
.u ... -
uiu man :
"Oh, I was just thinking nf tha
eggs she tried to fry for breakfast this
morning!"
The Loss by Fire in the U
Durlnr a Recent Yar
Amounted to Almoit
One-Half the 0
Of All New Bulldlngi
Jonstructed
We represent the fftllnwinc reli
able companies:
Fidelity Underwriters,
capital ATsniYin
Fniladelphia Underwriters,
capital 11 Kftn tw
German Amerinftii fnm'toi o Vinn'ruTn
t f vii w,wwv,uvu
pnngfleld Fire and Marine
capital 2,000.000
During the Entir;
i
Twelve Months:
When Buying or Bulldlcjj
Provide the Mani !
Resented Partisanship.
An old Scot came down from the
Highlands to visit his son, a student
at Edinburgh university. Together
they attended a learned lecture in
the course of which the professor 'fre
quently referred to the wonderful
part which microbes play on human
existence. On their way out the son
asked his father how he liked the lec
ture. "I dinna ken whit mak's him
pit sae muckle stress on whit the Mc
Robes hae done," replied the old man.
"Ive no heard o' them afnro k,, t
ken aye thlng-they've never done
uu m ucuregors an' th' Macpher
sons hae accomplisht, an' there Jives
co siccan a glorious clan as th' Camp
bells in a' th' warldl"
Accomplishment Mltslna.
tour boy has
training." " V1 LUieuo
"Yes," replied Pama. r
"Ht there's one liZTT
re lie has misspd t t.u , . . .
-nd him to sorae
he could learn to swin . ' 1
out lookin' like hp ,' . ! 1U1
oft both his feet." 6 " 10 CUt
i,m W They Tak6 'Ef"-
Skids We are off tn
Quiet holiday in the mounts
skitues-whT thp
banjo? o.auiupaone and
SkidS Oh. thev'ra 1,,c v .
darned stillnes' A, w e
Puck. evenmga.
for Rebuilding;
MANN a, DEEf
Koom 7, Kaymondo Building
AVON DALE SPRINGS
TENNESSEE
R. R. Station Avondale p. o. Ru tlcdoe Tr
If yon nro InnVtn v . y
large variety of health- M mlneS X 'n the mUnta,n9'
est trees, and untold auantiUes S wfS SS 8vurroundei '
many wild birds, where Tcoil hrVpJl Q , e"' cheered by the 8on5
deep and shadi etenl vhS k W&sa to be felt tte
fort i, made for the pllasufe anTofth! CT.Unds- and where everTi
then come to Avondale Springs Te Cach and every rje5'
f. J. HOFFMAN, Proprietor
I Security Abstract & Title Co.
Bartow, Florida
I X. B. EUITAKEE, PRES L. j. ct.titt ,rTT
I msKaTE0Irsra.EpKISH.w.s1IiiH,imSran
ABSTRACTS OF TITLES
ud urto-d.t, pi.. Prompt Mnice.
recme prompt and eadat atteatta.