The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-14

John H. Rafrerty. in Chicago Herald.
 Of course 1t was silly notion and she didn't expect anything would come of 1t, but Mrs. Blocker had set her heart upon arranging some sort of clandestine cor respondence. She knew it was rather vulgar form of diversion, but she meant to cover up her identity so thoroughly that she might drop the whole affair at any time without fear of discovery. She conned out of her imaginative mind many relsons that seemed to condone, If they did not justify. the little scheme Curtis Blocker, her husband, was, she believed commencing to neglect her. They had been married six years, had no children and were still struggling to keep out of debt. She was suffering from ennui, amusements were expensive, and Curtis showed each night when he came home the evidences of busy. nerve-racklng days. Sometimes he didn't come home till past midnight, and she was begin ming to doubt his stereotyped apologies Maybe he was perfectly loyal, and any way Mrs. Blocker was sure of her own fidelity under any conditions, and she was fascinated with the Idea of getting up some sort of a letter filtration with some unknown man whom she never ex- pected or cared to see.
 Sn0 C0nuQeQ lue plAu lO Nl4SS <AAlAA0 Cuthbert, her best friend, who had a typewriter, and between them they fixed up an advertisement, which appeared in the next Sunday newspaper, as follows: "WANTED-By young, handsome, in telligent woman, the acquaintance or sympathetic, educated and moral man; object, the exchange of instructive and helpful letters. Address e S3, this ofhce.
 Miss Cuthbert went for the answers, tba clark handed her many. That night Curtis didn't come home even for dinner and his wife, for the first time in her life, was glad of it. She went with her friend into the kitchen, locked the doors, and together they sat down to gloat over those answers to "Q S3. Most of them were idiotic, of course; a few were sane enough, but mercenary or commonplace or ill-spelt Some con- tained photographs of love-lorn youths with curls and foolish smiles. Some were the ridiculous plaints of old men who had outlived or neglected their opportuni- ties to be loved It was very funny, the whole business, and Mrs. Bleecker and Annie laughed over the reading and the photographs till the bell announced Mir. BleeckeF. Then Annie bundled the stuff into her satchel and said: Come over in the morning, Chloe, and we'll answer them"
 But when it came to formulating let ter to the most likely of the corre- spondents, and they saw what study, what subterfuge and what time it re- quired, they determined to burn up all the letters but one and make the most of that The lucky object of their attention signed, or rather printed, his name as Roger Fortescue, and his address was general delivery" He had enclosed no photograph, his typewritten letter showed every evidence of education, good breed ing and even reverence for the unknown "Q 3S," and forthwith he became per sonage, something of a hero in the minds of both these good women, who never expected to see him and would have laughed at his frank confession, his gent ly hinted hopes, his. dignihed melancholy If they could.
 But they couldn't. Roger Fortescue's letters more than satisfied their first an- t!cipations. His typewritten words in successive letters of increasing length were almost vocal of a generous, wise and tender nature. Mrs. Blescker and her friend began to endow him with every imaginable virtue. In the replies which the young wife wrote she stroye