The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-03
THE ADVERTISERS
 DAILY SHORT STORY

He did wait, although with no pleasant | anticipations. And that night he saw | the rockets streaking across the sky and l heard the honest country folk cheer the l neatly dressed, smooth spoken young man who set off whole packages of frecrack- CTS with far less thought than one of the weaithiest among them would have struck a match. And when it was all | over. when the last red flame had faded out of she sky, the last pin wheel had spit out its spitefuI little life, the last
 bunch of firecraekers popped and danced mold walked home alone through the woods carrying the burnt end of single cracker tightly clutched in his hand: After all had he not been right when he told Milly that all this celebration was
 noise and fury, signifying notningE She had pasted to him that Mr. Louns- bery would bring a hundred dollars worth patriotism of the neighborhood; And her boast had been made good. A nunoreo
 dollars! Why, that was more than ne was to get for the three months term A hundred dollars! What could he not have done with the money that had been consumed in an evening, TOT the giory of patriotism? He thought of the long, dreary struggle behind him, and the dark, dreary, tedious days ahead, and a great bitterness clutched at his heart and an
 unfamiliar oath rose in his throat ana
 demanded that he give 1t tongue: Wnat
 
 nothing to one and so much to anotherf Why should this young country boy be
 favored by fate so that the best positions
 in a great city were his for the asking,
 while he the student, the scholar. the
 man with a real purpose and a high aim, was left to win his way among such
 hopeless surroundings? Hopeless, indeed. For she who had wakened in his heart new aspirations, made even the frownlng future bright with promise, she had turned from him with scarcely word to join in the praise and adulation that was showered upon the successful man She was heartless. He wa 'ssure of that now, and it was well that he had found no opportunity during the bustie or the day and evening to give her the writ ten declaration he had found it impossible to make in spoken words. At least he was saved the Humiliation of refusal. Let 1t be burned with all the other use- less things of the day. He ran his hand into his pocket. 1t was empty. The let ter he had penned in fever of hope and despair was gone. He must have dropped it on the lawn. The thought of
 some one finding ani reading 1t brought
 over the fields with impatient strides. He
 left the beaten path and climbing the snake fence that divided the pasture land from the orchard hurried forward in the shadow of the trees As he came out up- on the lawn & white bit of paper gleam-
 Ing in the dew-wet grass caught his eye
 and he sprang forward and eagerly caught 1t up. It was the envelope that
 had held his letter. but 1t had been opened and the letter was gone.
 It is said that every man has one mur-
 der in his heart which he will be ready to commit if the proper moment arrives. To the great majority. this moment never presents itself; only one in ten thousand
 Is therefore forced to face the gallows.
 Whether this be true or not 1t was for tunate that the person so suddenly to face the young schoolmaster at that no- ment was beyond the power of his hands. A man would have to be devil indeed to wish harm to a fine young woman with the fresh color of the country on her cheeks, the light of roguery in her eyes and the moonlight clothing her as a gar. ment. And then if she laugh merrily and the next instant throw her arms about his neck and tell him he is "an old goose" he isn't likely to wish harm to his worst enemy.
 q read your letter all through. you silly oli thing, and there isn't word of truth in 1t. If there was I should be caught up to Heaven this minute. You were aw- fully scared when YOU found some one
 had opened 1t? Oh, could see your eyes flash even in the moonlight. And you swore, too. I heard you; don't deny it.
 That's what decided me. Up to that time
 I was afraid you were too good to be human. There's just one thing more you must do before I'll promise not to refuse you. You've got to admit that the Fourth of July is the grandest day in the year and promiss to celebrate it like a true
 American. every year with real fire
 T shall always hold the day sacred in
 my heart, dearest" he said, solemnly.
 Tt has brought me- ,
 Slavery. sir, slavery. But, there. I'll try to make your chains as light as pos
 sible and-Frank, I love you better than all the rockets in the world"