The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-09
BY GEORGE ApE.
THE WEAKNESS THAT CON-
 QUERED.

QUERED.
 He was tall and grave, and there were lines of care and suffering chis- eled upon his broad forehead and around tine c6rners of his dark eyes; and the pale face indicated long vlsiis of pain. Already there was a suspi- cion of gray about his temples and in his mustache; but his mouth was firm, tense-even obstinate Tn it's datermina- tion to overcome weakness. AS he stood there with his thin shoulders squared and his head resolutely erect he might have posed as a symbol or the emancipation of mind from mere ma terial suffering.
 The woman was long past her girl hood; slight. graceful. and with LOOK on her face that showed her feehns toward the man who was gazing down at her. Seventeen years they hao been engageS; seventeen long years short 'years-and during all that time there had been no misunderstandins' between them. They had always been near neighbors, and the story Of ms love. and of his dreams and hopes Tor the future, had been told to her dur- ing his last year at college, ana tne wonder and mystery of it had hardly become sweet reality when 1t was blasted by the disgrace and suicide or his father.
 Peyton Murray had left college and resolutely thrown himself into the breach: but 1t was long before the confusion and criminal mismanasement of his fathers banking house could be adjusted, and by that time he had learned that a deep, black gulf Of dis honor lay between him and the wo- man he loved He had sterniy re- fused to step over 1t, and Mildred Hope had acqu.esced and waited. calmly Ignoring all his hints that 1t would be better for the engagement to be broken.
 He was not trained to any special calling, and the only opening was a clerkship at a moderate salary. This he took, and toiled year after year. patiently, doggedly, fiercely, and in the meantime educated his younger broth CTS and sisters as best he could. and launched them one after another upon the world. And at odd moments. and during the time when he should have been at rest, he tried to fit himself for the work he would have chosen.
 Mildred waited. and as the years went by her love grew stronger and deeper and more patient. Her youth full buoyancy slipped away into the past, and the girlish bloom faded from her cheeks But all the time the black gulf was being filled little by little, and little by little Peyton Murray was making his way up the sharp ascent of his ambition. Already his name was becoming familiar to certain class of scientific readers in the world of letters, and the results of his labor outside the circumscribed limits of his clerkship was helping to smooth his way to the side of Mildred.
 But the strain had been long and fierce, and almost from the beginning his health had suffered. At first he had ignored it,. then resolutely thrust the weakness aside and struggled on. One day he stepped into an office on the opposite side of the street and came cut with set, drawn face. After that he had worked harder and more fiercely and stubbornly than ever: only in his eyes was now a hunted, look, as if one who has e secret which he wishes to keep buried within the depths of his innermost consciousness. But the eyes of love are stronger than all conceal ment, and Mildreds face would grow tender and wistful as she gazed at him. and sometimes he would notice and wonder if she knew more than he wished her to know.
 The last installment was sacrificed to the black gulf, and for the first time in seventeen years Peyton Mur- ray felt that he was a free man. And that same day came an invitation for him to occupy a responsible position on the staff of one of the scientific magazines for which he had been writing. 1t was the one place in all the world that he would have chosen. and he gave in his resignation 70 his present employers with a feeling that at last the world was coming to him. The next day he went back to the city to complete the final arrangements, and also on some private business of which he did not speak to Mildred.
 He had but just returned. and now she was standing before him with half-parted lips. and with a look of eager inquiry and expectation on her face.
 Was everything all right, Peyton?'' she asked. Were the people nice to you. and did you get the position?"
 "Yes. they were very nice to me- and they offered me the position and a salary far in excess of my expecta- tions."
 When are you going?"
 He passed his hand across his brow and his face grew stern-almost harsh.
 Never mind that. Mildred. have come to speak about something else Our engagement must be broken"
 Come, Peyton, no more of that. You must give up those morbid fan cies. Remember I shalLsoon have a stronger right to dictate to you"
 "Tt iS m idle fancv MiIdred My