Bemorraic iat
Bellefonte, Pa., April 23, 1915.
A LADY OF THEORIES.
(Copyright.)
In Athenetown the towers of the
State university buildings and the
chimneys of the great leather fac-
tories are equally prominent in the
landscape In like manner, the wealthy
manufacturers and the dignified pro-
fessors are equally prominent in the
social life of the city. Wealth and
learning vie with each other in at-
tracting people to Athenetown.
Mrs. Wilson—whose husband is the
professor of political economy and so-
ciology at the college—is a lady of
theories. One of her theories touches
upon the brotherhood of man and the
just division of property. Had she not
been actuated by this theory, she
would never have installed Jenny
Marks in the second-story-back bed-
‘room of her house. In the other
houses on College Hill this particular
room served either as a guest-room or
a room for one of the family. Mrs.
Wilson had no children and few
guests.
“Besides,” she argued, “should I not
strive to make those who labor for me
comfortable, rather than stray visitors
who are not half so tired at the end
of the day as my Jenny is? Especially
as the third-story bedrooms will do
perfectly for visitors—and Jenny is
a treasure.”
Both of these statements were true.
Before very long, Jenny, neat, deft
and always amiable, made a reputa-
tion in the housekeeping circles of
Athenetown, where everybody knows
everybody else’s affairs, and where
8ood servants are scarcer than hens’
teeth.
When housekeepers, far-sighted and
fortunate, were hard put for the serv-
ices of a waitress, Mrs. Wilson very
amiably lent her treasure.
Soon Jenny was playing maid in the
dressing room of Mrs. Leading Manu-
"facturer Hardy—when that lady gave
d reception; she had waited on the
table at Mrs. German Professor von
Schmitt's first big dinner; and had
gained a familiar knowledge of vari-
ous other leading houses.
It was in the early part of Novem-
ber that Athenetown began to enjoy
its annual riot of initiations and haz
ing.
But, strange to say, the annual orgy
of silliness provoked comparatively
little comment in faculty circles.
There were a few perfunctory warn-
ings against rowdyism, a few rou
tine reminders of the purpose of col-
lege life, but nothing more.
The truth was that Athenetown, at
this time, was too much excited over
a series of skillful robberies to bother
much about the inevitable autumn out
break of ruffianism.
Mrs. Letheridge had lost a pearl col
lar; Mrs. Hardy a set of diamond or-
naments; Mrs. von Schmitt, some rare
sapphires collected by her mother-in-
law. Silver safes had been rifled of
their contents in half a dozen houses
before Thanksgiving day. Detectives
came and ransacked houses, servants’
trunks and pawnships. Fathers of
families slept with revolvers beneath
their pillows.
The police in all the surrounding
cities were notified to be on the look-
out for the stolen property.
“You've escaped entirely, haven't
you?” said Mrs. Webster (the “faculty
bride” of the year) to Mrs. Wilson, as
- the two ladies sat at their luncheon
in the latter's sunny dining room.
“I haven’t anything worth taking,”
laughed Mrs. Wilson. “It’s one of
the advantages of poverty. But neith-
er have you lost anything, have you?”
The faculty bride nodded. “Yes, 1
have. Our house was entered last
night—please don’t say anything about
it, for «+ have more hope of an arrest
if the news is not bruited abroad.
They—or he—tqok a lot of trinkets.
We hope to trace them, however, by
means of a set oi old-fashioned to-
pazes which were steien. They are
unmistakable, it happens, and their
description was telegraphed all over
the country this morning.”
“But the thief will not try to dis
pose of them in their settings, will
he? And when they are removed—"
“It’s the stones themselves that are
unmistakable,” answered the bride,
as Jenny came in to remove the salad
plates. “They are very remarkable.
In the heart of each there is a defeci
that makes, if you examine it unde:
the microscope, a tiny, starry radia
tion. Every leading jeweler and pawn-
shop keeper in the neighborhood has
been informed. They were stolen
once before from my mother—they
were hers—and we recovered them
just because of these defects. In fact,
a gentleman is now serving a sen
tence in Joliet for failing to know this
little secret.”
Mrs. Wilson looked half-reproachful-
ly at her guest “Ab,” she said, “dis-
honesty is, of course, dreadful, but do
you ever stop to think of the injustice
that are the parents of it; the inequal-
ities of property, of hap—"
Mrs. Webster interrupted her host-
©e88 with a good-natured laugh as
Jenny brought in the coffee.
! “I have heard about your theories,”
ishe sald, “but I confess I'm a bit old-
‘fashioned on this subject of property.
{By the way, what a perfect waitress
{you have! Wherever did you find
such a treasure in Athenetown?”
Mrs. Wilson proudly proclaimed
that Jenny was the result of her be-
lief in her fellow beings.
The bride looked thoughtfully at
the waitress when she next glided
into the room. ;
“I've seen her somewhere,” she
said; “I wonder where? Oh, | re-
member. Out beyond the town, or the
edge of the oak woods. I was coming |
in from a ride and she was kneeling,
digging at something in the ground.”
“Very likely,” answered Jenny's em-
ployer indifferently. “She goes for a
walk every afternoon if she has
leisure, and she sometimes does a lit-
tle botanizing. She’s a very superior !
girl and a good deal of a student. I |
have never seen any one who glorified |
manual labor as she does.” |
Then the ladies wandered into the
library, and Jenny cleared off the
table. She did not go out botanizing
that afternoon. She sat in her room
sewing, instead.
The linings of a neat waist were
ripped, a thin layer of cotton batting
was laid against the dress material,
and to this were neatly secured, with
a few invisible stitches, many tiny
packages covered with oiled silk.
Then another laye: of cotton batting
covered these and the lining was
again adjusted.
When she had finished her sewing
{in which she c¢rhibited the same
neatness and dispatch that she dis-
played in her household duties), she
passed ner hand caressingly over her
bodice and smoothed out and arranged
another one in her bureau drawer.
She then took out a clean cap, collar,
and cuffs, to brighten her black gown.
That night, before she went to bed,
Jenny carefully examined a leather
case which was none the worse for
naving been buried.
She pressed the spring and looked
earnestly at the shining yellow stones
in their old-fashioned settings.
“Lucky I heard about that star-
shaped defect,” she said to herself.
“Guess I'll send them back—it would
be a joke.” She i00ked carefully at
the stones, but could not see, with
her naked eyes, the telltale marks.
Then she yawned, locked the door,
opened the window, and crept into
bed, leaving the leather case upon
her bureau. She was awakened from
a light sleep by the sound of a creak-
ing board and a gently raised window.
She knew that there was some one
in the room. She held her breath for
a while and heard in the stillness
the sound of some one breathing.
A button near the head of the bed
controlled the electric light, and her
hand slid gently and cautiously toward
it. As it moved she heard the clock
on the old meeting-house chime two.
There was nothing cowardly about
Jenny. .She snapped the button and
sat up straight in bed.
As the burglar swung around—a
tall fellow, with his mouth and chin
covered by a black muffler, and a soft
hat pulled low over his forehead—she
again slid her hand under the pillow.
In an instant a revolver confronted
him. Jenny looked toward the bureau;
the jewel case had vanished.
“Stay where you are,” she said in a
low, cautious voice, keeping him cov-
ered with her pistol as she slipped |
out of bed and made a few =
|
ere’ Eerie ttt Et tt mt tte em et —— aos momin
toward the door.
“I beg your pardon, madam,” the
burglar whispered. “I assure you that
I am not what I seem. You'll regret
it if you alarm the household. Surely
you cannot have lived here long and
failed to hear that initiations are
sometimes very—er—peculiar? I—
“Oh!” said Jenny. She favored him
with a long stare and weighed his
words carefully. “What initiation is
taking place tonight?”
“Lady,” said the burglar pleading
ly—and the dissyllable and the whine
with which it was uttered destroyed
Jenny’s shortlived tendency toward
credulity—*“lady, I'm sworn not to tell
and not to let any one know that I am
not a regular thiet. My stunt is to rob
some one of something, to get away
with the goods, and to show them to
the initiators as proof.”
His eyes, quick and furtive under |
his soft hat, measured the distance
to the window. Jenny smiled and
shook her head But the hand that
held the weapon did not shake. |
“Don’t move, or I'll shoot,” she said |
caimly “I mean it. ¥m not bluffing. |
You can explain al' about the initia-
tion to Professor Wilson.”
And, with eyes and pistol still point-
ed unfaltering at him, she backed to-
ward the door, opened 1t with her free
hand, and filled the hail with a loud
call for help.
The burglar sprang toward the win-
dow A bullet stung his arm.
‘The next one will not pe in your
sleeve,” said Jenny tartly Then, as
ithe room filled with people and the
professor of political economy grappled
with the intruder, she added modest-
ly: .
“Well, I hope that this ends the
Athenetown burglaries. Though this
man declares that this is only an in-
itiation trick.”
It was quite clear to the community
that the intrepid little waitress’ cap-
tive was indeed the skillful burglar
who had kept them all on the anxious
seat for two months. For they found,
concealed upon his person, the very
set of topazes which had been stolen
from Mrs. Webster the night before.
The burglar’s stream of profane abuse
of women, his wild denunciation of
his captor, his crazy asseveration that
he had found the jewels in the treas-
ure’s room, only injured his cause and
made his hasty conviction more cer-
tain. >
“It’s a wonder you don’t say that
you found them in Professor Wilson’s
safe, you impudent creature,” said
Jenny with great warmth.
When, a month of two later, Jenny
left Mrs. Wilson’s employ and went
home to Canada to recover from the
effects of the shock, a band of grate-
ful souls of College Hill presented her
with a silver toilet set in recognition
of her plucky capture of the thief.
ee
Making It Personal.
It is sad to see family relics sold at
auction, but the most painful thing
under the hammer is generally your
thumbnail.
Curious Tolerance.
It’s a funny thing, though, that no
one ever seems to be bored whem
money does talk, no matter how long
148.
it
Farm Implements, Etc.
Taking No Chances.
At a Scotch watesing place one sum- |
mer, Macpherson was found stretched
in a contented mood on the sands,
puffing his old pipe.
said his companion, who had just come
from town, “let's go for a sail” “Na,
na,” replied Macpherson, slowly shak-
ing his head, “I hae had a guid din-
ner at the cost ’o three and saxpence,
an’ I'm fakin’ a wialra’
Prepared to supply the
The oldest house and Largest Dealers in the county in
Hydrated Lime
of every kind, for every use, and well
prepared for drilling.
McCormick Binders, Mowers,
Loaders, Walking and Sulky
Rollers, Conklin Wagons with patented truss axles,
and a complete line of Farm Machinery and Im-
plements, Binder Twine and Farm Seeds.
Coal, Wood, Wall
AND BUILDER'S SUPPLIES.
An Old Established Progressive House, with an Up-to-
date line, with a guarantee back of it.
McCalmont & Company,
Bellefonte,
cmmmraamasimn
60-15-tf
“Come on, Mac,”
Farmer’s every want.
and Fertilizers
Tedders, Hay Rakes, Hay
Plows, Harrows and Land
Plaster, Cement
Penna.
The First National Bank.
The Federal
Reserve
Banks
The Federal Reserve system will not
make a good bank
but it gives added
well managed institution.
We are still receiving subscriptions in
aid of the helpless sufferers in Europe.
The First National Bank
59-1-1y
hy £0
out of a bad one,
strength to every
BELLEFONTE, PA.
The Centre County Banking Company.
‘STOP, LOOK, LISTEN!
A Lawyer received $10,000 for suggesting these
words to a railroad. The sign, “Stop, Look, Lis-
ten!” saved the road many thousands of dollars
in damages. It’sa good sign. It’s worth $10,000.
Wise people are often warned by a similar sign on
the road of extravagance. They stop in time.
How about yourself? Think this over seriously.
A bank account is the Best Kind of Security at
any time. If you haven't a bank account now,
start one at once. Any account, however small
‘you are able to begin with, will be welcomed and
carefully conserved at
THE CENTRE COUNTY BANK,
56-6
Shoes.
BIG REDUCTION
ON THE PRICES OF
SHOES
Men’s $3.50 and
duced to $2.73.
Men's $2.50 and $3.00 Working Shoes re-
duced to $1.98
$4.00 Working Shoes re-
Men's Mule Skin Shoes, good to wear and
comfortable for the feet, $1.48.
Men's good heavy Shoes for work, $1.73.
Men’s $3.50 Dress Shoes, now only $2.73.
Boys’ Scout Shoes $1.19.
Ladies’ Rubber Heel Juliets, all styles $1.19.
Old Ladies’ Comfort Shoes,
at $1.19.
A big lot of Children’s $2.00 Shoes reduced
to $1.19.
Shoes for the Baby—new spring Shoes, all
colors, reduced from $1.00 to 65cC.
New line of Children’s Shoes; Russia, Calf
and Gun Metal, hand sewed, worth $2.00,
now $1.48.
good quality,
This is an Unusual Sale
for thie time of the year, sales are usually put
on at the end of a season, on odds and ends,
but I guarantee these reductions are bonafide
and on New Spring Goods. Come, every
person that needs Shoes, but bring your CASH
along as these prices are
FOR CASH ONLY.
IE
Yeager’s Shoe Store,
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Bush Arcade Bldg,
58-27
Te ee ————
Dry Goods, Etc.
LYON & COMPANY.
New Fashions
For Spring and Summer.
SPECIALLY PRICED.
Washable Fabrics.
Raimie Linen, white, natural and all colors, Fancy Chiffon
Voiles, white, colored stripes and floral designs, dashe, seed and
other styles make splendid warm weather dresses. Crepes in
silk, wool and cotton, all light and dark colors, also black, suit-
able for street and evening wear. A large assortment of the fin-
est washable organdies, French Muslin, Persians, and Lingerie
Lawn suitable for graduation and party dresses with the finest
Embroideries and Laces for trimming.
Embroidered Organdies.
Embroidered Organdies in different widths for dresses and trim-
mings, in white and colors. Embroidered nets in white, black
and sand shades in 18, 27 and 45 inches wide.
Ready-to-Wear Department.
Just opened a fine line of Waldorf Dresses, Voiles, Lawns, white
and sand shade, black and white, also white and grounds with
floral designs, with new wide skirt, fancy girdle, from $2.50
to $5.00, real value $4.00 to $10.00.
LaVogue.
LaVogue Coats and Coat Suits are still in the lead.
workmanship, quality of materials the best.
buyers. ©
Shirt Waists.
Waists in Silk Crepe, Washable Crepe, Voiles
A All colors, black and white.
New Window Draperies in Scrim, Voile and Marquesette to
match any color room, also the new changeable effects, Lace,
Voile and Dotted Swiss Curtains.
Style,
Prices to suit all
, all the new styles.
BELLEFONTE PA.
New Carpets, Linoleums, Oil Cloths and Window Shades. See
our line and the prices will suit all economical buyers.
Lyon & Co. ... Bellefonte