The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-11
HIS SURPLUS ENERGY.
BY EDWIN J. WEBSTER.

| Copyright, 1SOI. by Daily Story Pub. Go.
 Tom Hastings was a big, good-naturet | and of an athletic build. But there va. | no denying the fact that he was il. clined to laziness, or at least a lack of
 energy. That Is, until he was really | stirred up. Then he would display an | energy which surprised those who had l counted too much on his apparent pla- cid'ty. At present he was not stirred up in the least. On the contrary, he was seated on the little embankment un- der the hawthorne hedge, looking with vast content at pretty Ardelia Atwood. Ardelia was wearing her crimson golf jacket in her hand was a golfing stick. She did not seem to share Toms con tent. On the contrary. she was looking at Tom with as near a frown of stei n disapproval as was possible for such a pretty girl
 "A big, strong man to sit in the shade all morning. doing nothing" she sand. reprovlngly. You ought to be ashame i of yourself. Anyone else would have been out on the links an hour ago. Way aren't you more energetic?"
 Even this reproof did not destroy Toms air of placid content.
 T am energetic he replied "I appre- oiate the value of energy too much to "pSAC it SilaSiIiS iitliS DdlI over meadow. I'm saving my energy so 1 will have surplus to use in a real emer- gency. You'd be surprised at the amount l have stored upl But since you are go- ing to the links I'll stroll out with you" But Ardelia thought his remarks sa- vored of lese majeste against the al- cient and honorable game of golf, and also against herself. as it was perfectly apparent that she had been on her way to 'chase little rubber ball over meadow" as Tom had expressed 1t. So she issued stern decree of punishment forbidding Tom to accompany her. Gen. orally when tyrants Issue decrees they wish unquestioning obedience. Yst strange to say. Ardelia was not over- pleased at the placid manner in which her sentence was received. She pursued her way to the links. But this time, while the frown on her face was not so apparent, it probably indicated more reIl feeling than when she was reproving the crring Tom.
 Tom sat contentediy smoking his cigar cite for a moment, in fact until Ardo.la was out of sight. Then his content see:h- ed to vanish. He began to feel that il would be far pleasanter on the links with Ardeia than smoking in placid loneliness on the most comfortable of grassy banks.
  to come to the links. But of what avail was the Declaration of Independence and the war with the mother country If q freeborn American citizen must submit to tho dictates of every pretty gil! Better the rule of George III than such grinding tyranny. So Tom arose and hastcned toward the solf links and Ar della. He did not seem to be exerting himself, but any one who had timed him would nave found that he was covering the ground pretty enearly a five mile an hour gait.
 At one side of the golf links was the field in which Farmer Watson kept his cattle. Farmer Watson was a careful man. and ordinarily the gate leading from this field to the links was closed. Rut this morning 1t happened to be open. And the big bull. the leader of the herd. strayed through the gate and out on tl.e links