The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-07
5 THE ADVERTISERS
 DAILY SHORT STORY

The Rev. Harvey Lawson was of that appearance usually called refined.
 That is to say, he was slender. pale and
 hollow chested. with a wasp waist and
 uncertain legs. His age was 25 and he Intended some day to be a great pulpit
 orator. At the time in question he was curate of St. Dominick's Cathedral, as- sisting the dean by attending to most Of the affairs of the parish and writing at. least three-f0urths of the sermons. He got on the elevated railway train and stared absently out of the window. There was a ride of eight miles ahead of him and he went to composing an other stanza to an inchoate poem, a
 sweet thing to be entitled Tn Cassock and Band" .-
 Miss Belle Meade daughter of the
 wholesale grocer, got on at the next sta
 ton and sat opposite him, riding back ward. Miss Meade had been shopping
 and there was a beautiful flush on her soft cheeks. The Rev. Lawson had time to notice that she was an unusually pretty girl before she unfolded a news
 paper and held 1t between him and her face He saw, too, that her Russia
 leather purse with gold monogram or
 it's side. lay in her lap. Miss Meade was not exempt from the frailties of her sex
 always put her purse in her lap when riding on cars and always got off back ward. Lawson sighed little as the
 beauty of her face entered his conscious
 
 A little further up town two women got on. They were well, but loudly | dressed. Also their voices were loud | One sat by the Rev. Lawson; one sal | by Miss Meade. Their conversation was forceful and incessant, having to dd
 with one "Billy'' and one Archie" and the running of certain horses at tht Sheepshead track and the quality of wine served at noted restaurant and the relations between a comic opera star and a we'll known broker. and so forth. Miss Meade glanced once at her seat mate and became more deeply buried in her paper Mir. Lawson lost his rhymes utterly and stared out the harder.
 Above F1ftieth Street the women rose
 to leave the car. Miss Meade rose also
 The women moved rapidly and were on
 six steps. When she took them she
 stopped suddenly and turned to the seat
 she had left. The train started on.
 My purse is gone!" she said, looking
 at Lawson in a half-accusing manner
 He sprang to his feet and assisted her to look under the seat. There was noth- ing clerical in his clothes. His coat was brown sack with fiaring pockets. She
 the purse reposing snugly in its depths Instantly she grasped him by the lapels and cried aloud:
 You have it! You have it! Will 1 lainv'
 ."I-I-ah-my dear-I-ah--,,' said | Lawson much fiustered. He did not ob- ject to the pretty hands clinging to him l but the accusation stunned him.
 Tt is in his pocket. It is in his pock- | et." Miss Meade screamed.
 1 A burly stranger on rear seat rose | excitedly and knocked his hat off, theT I threw a powerful arm around his neck squeezing the breath out of him. A fai woman across the aisle staggered up and | smote him with a parasoL Another wo man yelled ''Policel Police!'
 These cars are filled with thieves said a small man with whlskets, where A child, it's fingers smeared with candy | caught hold of one of his legs and
 hugged 1t. The curate endeavored vainly | to utter syllable of approximation. Hi. eyes rolled in his head and he choked. | He was bundled upon the next plat | form and some considerate person threw | his hat after him. It fell to the street and a truck ran over 1t. A tangled mass
 of them went down the steps of the sta | ton, the big man still Juggling him by | the head and the small man punching | him from behind. Miss Meade, hali | frightened and heartily ashamed, fol | lowed. On the corner a red-faced po- | liceman in a uniform too small for him | took Lawson in charge. His manner oi doing this was to catch him by the collar and snatch him yard.
 "Aw, now!" he said. Come on wid I veg! Wnat. Hang, back. would yes" and he reached for the club which hung at his belt. Lawson accelerated his pace Fridays story, THE GHOST OF THE