The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-11
The Bradley's Coachman.
BY MRS. MOSES P. HANDY.

Copyright. 1902. by Daily Story Pub. Co.) Thomas Bradley manufacturer and multi-millionaire. prided himself upon
 many things, not the least of these was his stable-horses, carriages and coacn- man.
 For the coachman indeed he took es- pecial credit. having engaged the man through an advertisement, pending rel erence from a cattle ranch in the Tar West. and against his wife's earnest en- treaties.
 Mrs. Bradley held cowboy and desperado as synonymous terms, and was almost fearful in her protests.
 Her husband laughed at her. My dear, there is no danger" he said l can see Myself that the fellow doesn't drink. l tried him down town during business hours. and I know he can drive. l have written to his boss. and taken him only on trial"
 The answer from IT. IT. Talbot, propri- etor of the Ringed-Cross outfit, came promptly: wed Hughes is one of the best men I ever had: sober. reliable and an excellent hand with horses. know l nothing of his antecedents; we don't in- Quire closely into those out here. If you don't engage Hughes and he is down on | his luck. send him back to me. l enclose cheque to pay his way Mir. Bradley returned the money and kept the man. fully convinced that Ned Hughes was the man above all others to suit him. That was year since. and now even Mrs. Bradley was mildly en- thusiastic about her coachman. Only, she complained, "I wish he were not quite so handsome. and I do wish the boys l would not spend so much time in the | stables
 We might do worse, I can tell you, mother" answered Thomas. Jr., lad of nice as any man I know. He never | swears and keeps Jack (the stable boy) as straight as string Besides; he helps me lots with my lessons; he can do geometry, and construe Cicero; he says he was a dab at Latin at public | school in England"
 Miss Bradley, who overheard the con- versation, did not consider it necessary to | inform her mother and brother that public and free, as applied to schools in Great Britain, do not mean the same thing. She had no desire that any one should suspect how much interest she took in | this servant who was so clearly superior | to his place. and yet not at all above | 1t. It was part of Hughes duty to att | tend Miss Bradley as groom in her daily | horseback eerxcise, and an accident had | made her aware of his knowledge of Latin. Upon one occasion her stirrup- | strap broke. Hughes felt in all his pock- | cts. to find neither string nor extra strap | then with Excuse me a moment. miss. | he disappeared into a neighboring thicket l from which he rapidly whittled two pins | Overlapping the ends of the broken leath-
 er he bored holes with the point of his | pocket-knife, ard fastened them together | with the wooden pins.
 l How very c!cver,' exclaimed Miss | Bradley.
 l "I learned that out West" Hughes an.
 swered with accustomed brevity. On returning his knife to his pocket his l countenance fell.
 l Excuse me a moment, miss.'' he sait 1 again. and once more disappeared amone l the bushes
 l As he did so Miss Bradley. rising iron her seat on :he root of tree. saw al | her feet a. small worn book. Picking il | up, she found it volume of Horace's l Odcs, in the original. with the nams
 Hugo Edmond St. John written on tho | fly leaf. She had barely time to close tn;
 volume. and drop 1t half under the fold: | of her skirt. when Hughes returned, evi
 dently unsuccessful from his quest:
 Excuse me miss" he apologized; - | lost a little book" +
 She moved slightly, and touched tho | book with her foot. ''Is this it?" h, l asked.
 He shot quick glance, almost an ap | prehensNe one, at her. then instantl, relapsed into immobility of feature "Yes
 miss, thank you, miss,'' and they rod, | home in silence.
 Ethel Bradley. in right of her own at | fractions. and the halo of her father l millions. was a reigning belle. Yet at ?
 she had no inclination towards matri
 mony. Her mother expressed some dis | pleasure. as Ethel refused suitor afte
 suitor. but her father laughed