The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-21
Ihe Grand Passion.
.t BY ANDRE PAUL CCopyright, 102, by Daily Story Pub. COL

,.e.. BY ANDRE FACL.N sx CcopyYight. 1oe. by Daily Story Pup. Co.)
 He was the most serious, the sravest. the most retiring of men. peapite nis marvellous success and the fact that ms was courted aud deferred to. invited and sought after, he declined to be nonized and remained the. painstaking student. the serious. aingle-hearted. backward gen. ss.n ns s:d %s hss Sssn ever 1f bssn Serent No pretty face had disturbed the serenity of his thought and no tempting form. had ever come between him ana s of ss "s sas 'hf derstood not at all why or wherefore that other men spent valuable time in cuti- vating the favor of womankind: He was r. S,y ala nes sns Me va. ascetic and lived we'll. even luxuriously. and drank deep of the joys of literature and philosophy.
 But that was ail before ne met dair,v hsri as Japanese museme. bewildersng in her rich beauty. her startling vivactty. her soN and sensucus figure. her flashing black syss her eo'erinG ana raa,,raI HampnhI and ana right and proper. she had married 2 dashing army officer. respiendent in gold lace and shoutier straps. handsome rel cess both ,n~ The battlefield and in the drawing room. Everybody said 1t was perfect match. ant of course what "ev- erybody" savs m true. and the pair cut wide swath in society and were the ;R aaR- with all the incense poured out to her, beauty and position. and with all the charm and br.liancy of her handsome nus band her nssrt d had neyer eye .rs 0ssm made sea ths most of it. But there were depths which remained untouched.
 This was before she met Him:
 They came togetherEHe and . sns. ste sue nam. and then the courses of both their lives changed. The meeting was the sheerest aecident-one of the capefs or Fate, He almost never went in socisty' ister's reception. He had just been tend cred the position of chief engineer Tor the great Paragua canal-the sreatest ensineerins feat of the century-and !! seemed necessary to observe the oncial
 The moment their eyes met both knew that 3sometning new had come into tnsif lives. A thrill went through him Mhc A faint color mounted to. her pale eheeks- In This grave. gray eyes there was suarkle which no person had seen there before. With her 1t seemed that the xreetines were conventional enough.
 He went home that night consumed as s E vsns fsvsr sct pns ana erenss cigar di1 not quiet him. He retired; but could not sleep. Before his eyes all the time swam 2 dainty face whose iustrous black eyes flashed into his an invitation % floor. He did not attempt to analyze his feelings He simply reveled in the strange sensations which came to him.
 Gerald" remarked Mrs. Putnam on ha fa1N yyanPninR "haVa YOu In- vited Mir. Massard to the Thursday even ing reception? You know he is quite the lion just now in ofheial circles"
 ''Massardr' responded the major. "No. ft never occurred to me. You know, my dear, he never accepts social invitations.
 Well. think he will replied the lady. You know he Is q sort of public char acter now that he is about to enter the the
 "Ail right, dear" replied her husband, .'but. believe me. he will not be here"
 And so It tse ssat and greatly to the surprise of the hest Ste phen Massard appeared at the function. :,
 He and She met as though they had been warm friends, for a lifetime. To both seemed that they had known the other from the beginning of time.
 When he extended his hand and she placed her own in it. there swept through s s: % s' a snss so hsa asS sn satisfvinr that he felt that the end of the world had come.
 But 1t had not.
 It was but the beginning of the world for two souls Of that evening there is nothing more to record executing that He and She found opportunity for tete-a- tete, during which both arrived at some thing like an adeauate understanding of the new relationship which had come to them.
 That night two people spent sleepiess nights. Perhaps there were others. but with them this tale has not to do.
 Stephen Massard. with his trained mind and complete self-mastery, struggled thr rough the entire night, sleeplcss and haegard He could not longer evade the situation The touch of her hands with his. eommfngfine of flesh had brought