The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-29
Ss 5 THE ADVERTISERS
 s DAILY SHORT STORY

~ E i: Ss as s $ $ $ ss as $: & $: E
 Florence De Voc was a woman born to hav' experiences to suffer sorrows. to arise aler frum the huffets of fate Her character showed
 in every line of her impsrlous slender figure ! in the set of her rose-red lips, in her nrn
 chin, aauiline nose and flashing black eyes through steady battering at uhs gates oi l finance. Much of his aggressiveness was 1T
 Rsrd os tbe fsees s Of others He worpS | her. and she loved him deeply, but their wills
 were in clash twenty times in a year. H Ht | the only one who had ever successfully de- | fled him.
 There came Into her young life Alexander Patton. countrybred. raw, patient, brainful
 and, determined. Poverty-strtcken, but with
 imi.esS , e0nhSsnce ln his ability to cGnsge. ,s | offices of Devoe X Fotheringay, promoters and | specuators; made himself useful and gained the senior partners confidence From there
 was but step to the senior partners house | and from there not half step to falling pas daughter. unused to the ways of society and | unrealizing that in the city dollars weigh
 hsayy , he Na o agseea s aa
 began business for himself land went utterly | out of her life.
 handsome, dashing. Samual DcVoe. with a judgment of men that had failed seldom, mis- trusted him from the & first sh stormy n scenes with stern order that Warren should be denied the house The result of this was an elope- ment. Warren returned immediately to the city | with his bride, and old DeVoe would see neither of them.
 You have made your bei," he wrote to his daughter '.Lie on it. It will be bed of coals. but if you have my blood in you, yoiIr l moans will be too soft for outsiders to hear. . f on a charge of embezzlement. He had not a friend. Moneyless and cordially disliked. the 1 On the day that he got his sentence his wife got divorce. On the day that she got a Sry S. cheeks snnRen. hs fOrm stopped went wearily to sleep. One bold newspaper ssid that it was poison. but 1t vas not De ods. of gtants strength, died of broken
 Flsrelre Warren did not attend the funeral She dId not Wat for reading of the will She haa.a priYsse bank ascoun, % and and % she Hfsw rev on ,it:.fu the Hast cent. Before the Sods had Atlantic. plunging eastward-her one idea to get beyond the sound of old voices, to shatter herself, to bear in silence her hurts, to nurse in secret her desperately wounded pride.
 she said to herself pacing the deck at night bold and decisive woman. she felt copipe tent to faco all ills of the future if only she could escape those of the past.
 in village set back from the sea in the hills of of the Barbary States she rested part Here were men ''wanted'' in half the capitals of the globe; here were women with nnspeakab,e pasts tsl pale man man gray to make the bomb which slew ozar; dapper Frenchman, debonair and absinthed. had bought the knife which found the life of Car not; a woman with red hair and green eyes had stabbed her keeper. an Austrian prince. in Monaco; a fat, red-faced politician, who spoke fractured grammar. was spending part of $2o0. GOO abstracted from the treasury of New York City slender man, with mus tache and goatee, sallow of skin and an in- cessant chewer of tobacco, had come from of the Southern States of America. stop ping en route long enough to dispose of a quarter of million of stolen bonds. Back at home he was known as "Hohest Jim Brown. They were much alike. these lonely criminals not bad-hearted for the most part bound by common ties of sin and expatriation and they were disposed to welcome her. But she put them aside,
 The only man who seemed to have no stain on him Englishman named John Spen- the hope of staying the ravsges of consump- ton. To this derelict, with some odd idea of atenement, she devoted herself She talked to him. she sang to him in low. glorious con- tralto: she read to him: she gave him his frequent medicine: at his weakest she wheeled was very grateful and his gratitude grew into liking and his liking into love. One day idea % of atonement dominatins % ting in % her. she con @ sented without hesitation. One of the colony was 6 little parson who had fled to Barbary because of a deficit in his church accounts. He was stili a minister however The queer. haIf-IawIess laws of the country being compiled ceermony9 took place in the hotal parlpr. The Nihilist gave the bride away and the red haired murdereSS cr1eu COpiOuSty. 50 ffOfence Warren. DeVoe. became Mrs. Spencer Norton Therc was no change in the rela tions between her and her ghastly husband, that she occupied a room with him and gave him medicines at stated hours of the night as well of the day.
 He had money at all, fact of which she was aware when she agreed to take his name, and she charged herself with his care and maintenance. She led the life Cf slave and this gave her some relief. Then, young and healthy and strong, a longing for the old scenes came over her. It had been her misfortune in the past that half-formed de- sire cause for instant action. She ex- amlncd her funds and saw that she had enough laughed when the word formed itself in her mind. They left Africa by the next outgoing steamer
 Arrived at Chicago, an interview with her fathers attorneys gave her food for thought. The old man who handled her fathers affairs for years shook hands with her cordially enough motioned her to a seat showed no surprise when he learned her new name and plunged into business It took him fifteen minutes to tell her that she had not dollar his firm bankrupt, his stocks worthless and his bonds sold. Every square foot had been seized to satisfy his creditors. The old lawyer said finally:
 That closed the interview. She thanked him. rose and walked rapidly out in the sunshine. In her purse was S2o. her sole capital From the hotel to cheap boarding house was cough disturbed other boarders. From the cheap boarding house to cheaper rooms was another matter of course. Here for week she was still while her little hoard melted. To obtain some sort of employment was neces- sity vet what could she do? Looking into herself she found that not one of her accom-
 Tuesdays story. "oUT OF THE WRECK