The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-09
LOVE AND THE LAW.
BY F. H. LANCASTER.

For the twentieth time that after non. Tom Hamilton snapped his watch md returned it to his pocket. He was aot interested in the passage of time that pile of copying must be finished yhethe rit took him until midnight but these brief intermissions gave him an opportunity to look at T shy thought tilet had haunted him since daylight. And the oftener he looked ct 1t the bet ter he liked it. In the morning, 1t is true. he had laughed at it; during the forenoon shrugged his shoulders inn patiently; out in the aftcrnocn-he took out his watch and stared at the dial That man Of his staid, proasic make up should have dreamed at all. was ab- surd; but that the dream should have upset all his waking thoughts and come between his attention and his business affairs was worse than ahsurd--it was serious.
 And what was the dream? Only waste of wild white waters, storm swept but glorious. In the foreground a towering wave curving inward, grandly crested. an ogre of the sea. And he upon the cliff dashed with spray and beaten by the wind. 4 de- licious dream for hot summer night: small wonder that he liked to recall it again and again through the stifiing day. An, but that was not all the dream, while the great ogre lowered above him he had felt the pressure of a lean cheek against his sleeve. At it's first couch he knew what it was. there was no need to turn and look.
 Hamlin snapped the watch for the twenty first time and took up his pen. "Dash this weather
 If his typewriter had been on hand, he would have knocked off work long ago. He would have been driving in the park enjoying the breeze instead of sweltering here. He paused to pass his damp handkerchief over his beaded | brow and glanced at the vacant chair.
 Sick" he muttered. Good Lord. Sick such weather as this."
 Almost as he spoke the door opened and a woman in grey linen with epac- ulate collar and cuffs and lean jaws moved quietly toward the seat oppo- site.
 Hamlin raised his head and greeted her with his customary bow. She re- turned the sarutation silently. as she always did, and sat down to the type writer. It struck Hamln that her eyes and jaws looked more tired and lean  she had been i'll.
 With the silence that always reigned between them, unless broken by an i'm perative necessity, he showed the batch | of copying across to her and leaned | back. What a good thing 1t was to be able to pay somebody else to do ones drudgery The thought brought a | uualm of conscience. She was not well and it was so dashed hot.
 Shove me those mortgages, a pen copy will do.'
 Il intend to work after hour. to make up for lost time. l vii be able to finish it all" the typewriter respond | ed quietly.
 Tom Hamln got up impatiently and began moving about. He had a sneak ins sensation of being somewhat in awe of this silent, absolutely upright assistant. It wa, after office hours and hr was free to enjoy the drive he had been longing for. She had key But Bamlin lo%n"ed against the win 1 dow idly watching LIe swift fingers | flashing over th. keys and fell to re- viewing his dream again. Su vivid had it been that even now he could almost feel the ddshing of the spray. As for that other satiOn-that sight pres sure against his sleeve. il had been vita him ever since he aWOke. Oh well dreams are fantastic things Hamin 10 ked for long m m ii tn cleLr-cut p"otl Q tIrned toward 4ln and then abruptly took down book
 Were CT eyes always like that h. wondered. tired ds though ol!e n.lc looked upon death and the drearness of it? was it Over-work or something
 worse than wor-? If she N Would lock il
 that SrlOI iOIIS hif Of will waters. would that jaded light pass cl would it deepen? Dash it all. why
 couldn't he have dl leamnI a Inomen
 longer"
 Excuse me. Is this correCt?"
 Hamln's quick glance met the tired eyes then dropped to paper on which
 her pencil rested. There in his bold
 reckless hand her name smiled up al
 him provokingly. He caught the pen
 cil from her hand and made a hurried
 correction while dark flush warmed his brow. He detested q mistake.
 The ceaseless clicking began agair
 and Hamlin read on as though his life
 depended upon the contents of tn, | book. Had he done that fool thing more than once? As fate would have it. scarcely ten minutes passed before
 another sheet was at his elbow anc
 an inquiring pencil point rested exas f peratinsly impaasive upon. This time P Hamlin made the correction with dig nifty and added with q desperate smile 'Please pass me the rest of thos, sheets, l seem to be determined |, mortgage all you possess ." ~.-- .
 From time to time his pencil de
 scended with vicious dash and tn, Saturday. WHAT THE HAND SAII