The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-23
THE ADVERTISERS
 DAILY SHORT STORY

jocularity looked ominous. He sighed at the scattered leaves along the avenue as feet. This little pet of his had been child. girl and woman. bud and blossom all in one fair miracle of winning femi- ninity. In his holy of holies he had .en, sccnced her, regaling his dry old hermits mental palate with the artful expressions of her busy young mind. and feeding a fathomless yearning upon the warm girl affections which had seemed too blithe Such satisfied trust had been his that no past or present of the pr ecl >us sweet
 heart had ever been araigned for trial
 lsurncy's face and ways seemed to tell
 him all he needed to know of her family or outside interests while the only incl dent out of his own troublous chronicles
 which had been given her was the chap,
 ter on the fascinating lady who had turned him away, but was always still remembered. Everything else had been ! subimely personal and immediate. They had disdained practical things. Yet. rash the wooing certainly appeared. Several tripping weeks with tiny stran- ger girl and his marriage day was all ready set, What if she were. after all, laughing stock, her Simple Simon and both? Those letters for these many weeks without a word to her true love
 nor any whisper of the elegant blonde ished flowers of much practice-on others his predecessors-or, contemporaries? Probably he was the innocent and not she It was folly. anyway, to expect a queer old original like himself to engage the heart of such a darling siren as Bur ney. An but she must not make toy
 of him. He must show himself person
 of mettle--a man, as Miss Lozenby had advised.
 Burney's chatter purled OH. now and then arresting its frolicsome How just
 companion as her eyes glanced upward in quest of a reason for his taciturnity. Finally she exclaimed:
 Peter. you are so unsociaole: He was too sad and distressed to be
 able to explain himself. so evaded her
 with badinage very unusual for his open
 simplicity. and, horn of the moments eXigencies.
 Cheric,'' he remarked. Perhaps he is an imp. And on the corner of your mouth | is perched a microscopic clown Burnev looked amused. They were | rounding a corner and homeward bound | and discerned some one at the house ringing the bell.
 | stantly to dart away! That's man,
 Drawing nearer Lefaire recognized isa
 the refined stately figure which she was | enusively hailing. the hero of Miss Lozen- | by's doorstep episode: his rival. and a vertabe Apollo. Ha!
 | Every suspicion became incarnate be-
 fore him. The Genouement. bubbles burst | Ru,
 pleasure which had been unsettling his | placid calm of mind now rose in temp
 csts Wilder and wilder within he slowly | stepped along. reaching the battlefield at
 the door in q beetling passion determined i to measure swords.
 Cheerily graceful Burney. turned to l acknowledge his presence. MT. Merrill | this is my friend. MT. Lefaire.' she be-
 gan. "Maude Hughes fiance, Peter. And
 think of 1t. he says she's coming back
 tonight. Maude left town, you know: the
 very day Mir. Merrill came, but neither
 And a good joke it is, too. You see. i,
 has @ been Kept d secret from me. Two
 letters a day from her, imagine, and nol
 tat as Mir. Merrill wishes us to go down
 to the station with him to meet her. Sc
 come, Peter. only ten minutes until train
 The result of Lefaire's first appearance
 as OtheIlo did not warrant second en-
 easement.