The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-26
Our Daily Sport Story

hearing is due me. and I-you must say yes, Laura. I love you passIonately, dearest and I feel-sometimes-that yo,i- don't dislike me, although you do keen me at such a distance. Can't you make up your mind to be my wife, dear wo- man, and let me try to make you half as happy as you'd make me without any trying at all?"
 Don't answer now" he urged her. as drawing her and away. she would have spoken in unmistakabIe manner: ''don't say anything. dearest, until you've thought 1t all over. And don't believe there's any reason for a no. If you like me, even a little, believe could teach you to love me, and believe more- over. that we belong to each other. that we have no business apart
 "As to your sister" forestallinE her unspoken thought and again using al- most the same words as Jim Benson. 'to dream of sacrificing our happiness for her sake would be foolish arai unnneces- sary. should he glad to have her share our home. always, so she would not miss your companionship. For the rest, she Is fully occupied with her philanthropic work and charities. she has her own life to live She does not really need you. dearest-and dor
 He, too. went away with a murmured reminder of "tomororw-tomorrow even ing?' And the woman left behind. glad that Alice had retired early. so left her a fine chance to think quietly, found this not easy to do
 Her mind ran back. uneaslly. to the Tar days when she and Alice had been young girls. happy and thougntless Then suddenly. had come the loss of parents. luxuries everything to which they had been always accustomed. the necessity of doing battle with the outer world. She had faced this world rather than Alice who had been very i'll that summer, and Alice, although neither would have SO expressed the situation, had lost her liberty. her opportunity to shape life as she would have 1t. before ever this op- portunity had been placed within her grasp.
 Stately, brilliant. commanding. auda- ctous. afraid of nothing. she had re- covered partial health to find herself relegated. by the more timid and retiring Laura's overmastering tenderness and solicitude. to a niche she by no means fitted. fPpm which she longed to escape Gradually she became partially reconciI- ed to her position of housekeeper and homemaker for the firm," as Laura mer- rtly called their association. she had nev CT allowed Laura to suspect that she. SON' 'i'e ioNeu 10 enter the bread winning arena. to become happily self supporting. But, though both women missed much because of the ironic rever- sal Of their natural tastes and positions Alice had been the greater loser in that she had never known what real livInv meant.
 With the coming of success to I.aurs her life had grown less physically ardu- ous. She no longer performed the nrsc- tical work of housekeeping or darned stockings But she had known no in- creased happiness because of the un- wonted ease and indulgence. And with the advent Of the little fortune that had placed both beyond the need of financial restrictions or limitations, her occupation had finally vanished. She was no ionsa- necessary. even to Laura, who mich, now order gowns and furniture without