The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-30
AN INVERTED cOURTSHIP
RY PAUL BLAKE.
(copyright. 1905, by Daily Story Pub


 mot because she was man-hater.
 She was not. On the contrary she
 was very fond of the opposite sex and
 would have given anything these many Iyears for a hero all her own. Neither
 was it because she was without att
 fractions for she was very pretty girl, tall and 'villowy with fine feat ures, red lips. a broad forehead and lexpressive eyes.
 But. there is no denying 1t. Eleanor thad a handicap and a serious one-- she had brains. The worst of 1t was she had learned to use them and per- sisted in doing so. She learned all then she went to college and absorb ed a lot of learning and training which bred ideas into her shapely head.
 Now everybody knows how fatal ideas are to a girls popularity with the stronger sex-especially when those ideas are pronounced and az gressive. Such. alas. were Miss vesey's. and the way the young men grew to avoid her was a sight to be- hold. It was not that they could not hold their own with her-of course not. But they didn't "care much about these strong minded girls, don't ye know" Charley Popinjay express ed the general sentiment most ingen- uously.
 T can't go these strong minded girls" said he, ''they makes a fellow feel so duced uncomfortable. Insist on talking about serious things and all that sort of thing. Like these don't keep fellows think-pan hot all the time"
 The fellows of the club held the idea of Charleys think-pan getting hot as a rare joke but they all agreed nevertheless that Miss Vesey was not a resentful perscn, nor an ideal girl to take on moonlight rides and that sort of thing.
 Now as a matter of fact Eleanor just dotted on moonlight rides and had every desire to indulge In all the sweet fol- lies of youth. The trouble was she did not know how to express her desires in this direction while she was per- lfectly at home, with the theories of Darwin and the philosophy of Sweden borg and the history of Rome and the literature af Greece and all the rest of lit
 So she reached Ter 26th year with out single affair of the heart and her engagement finger was yet un- chafed. To be sure several men of the less pronounced masculine type mad worshtDed her from afar But she could not en6tro this type and bore down on them with her positive- ness. rather harder than on the gen. eral run of mankind. The effect of which was to paralyze what little self-assertion they had and drive them far into the outer darkness.
 l Her longing grew with the years and as she began to fear that she wo i'd live and die in single blessed ness she shed bitter tears in the priv acy of her chamber albeit she never laid aside her armor of intellectuality when in sight of the other sex. With matters at this pass the Rev. erend Archibald Breck-Higgins came to town to accept the rectorship of St. James Protestant Episcopal church. The moment Eleanor vesey heard his voice she knew her fate was face to | face with her. It was the first Sunday he held service and she had not no- 1 ticei him until he began to read. Even then she did not look up although the tones of his voice sent vibrations to the very core of her being. On the contrary she closed her eyes anl rev | eled in the rV r her emotions. After time she permitted herself to look upon him and she realized with ineffable joy that he filled every dream of her maiden heart. Tall and robust with every suggestion of man. ly strength and grace. checks pink with health. the hair and whislIers of Saxon gold and the bearing of a Knight of the Crusade days he found favor in more than one feminine breast that day. But all the rest did not count beside the fierce passion aroused within Miss Eleanor Vesey. Tn due course of time Miss Vesey the attraction she felt for him was multiplied. He was. forsooth, a charming fellow, big and full of ani- nal spirits. more given to the harmless out of door sports than to delving into musty tonnes, but for all that thorough Ivy int fa6 In He was young and (to be sure Miss Vesey had found that out on that first Sunday unmarried.
 It must be confessed ty an unpre- judiced observer that the Reverend Archibald Brock-Higgins was scarce ly the equal of Miss Eleanor Vesey in mental alertness. He was not stu pid nor yet trifing as was Charley Popinjay and the youngsters who had grown up with Eleanor and shied at her positive ideac and he had stood very we'll Indeed at college but still he had rot that hair-trigger intellectu- ality which keeps humping about in the realm of thought all the walking hours. He was calm ,reposeful ultra healthful end normal. He could sit at the dead end of flsh-line for two hours and await the enevitable bite | without murmur Of impatience and | without a harassing thought regard | ing his next Sundays sermon nor a | qualm regarding the effect of criminal | immigrants upon our civilization.
 The months which followed the ad- | vent of the Rev. Archibald Brock Hig gins were blissful ones for Eleanor Vesey: The rector did not shy at her as did the home youths. Tn fact he liked the bright intellectual yivacitv of the girl and her aggressive posi, tiveness frightened him not at ali hut rather amused him. He was cnrnS placent enough never to doubt his sn- periority to the other sex and truth be told. her sharpest shafts rnvor penetrated his deliberate mentoIjtv TO her his complacence was defer' ence and his lack of acuteness wac surrender to her opinions So thev got on famorsly. s'
 But as the months multiplied and there came no declaration from tbe Reverend Brock-HiGg'ns Eleanor hs came nervous. then impatient Tbs,, were wlstlng their youth. She u,as wholly in love with him and oS course, he was thoroughly in ioHa with her-so she reasoned from tbe re in which she was rv,n As for him the idea never occnrntS to him. He was enjoying life to tba full and Miss Vesey was a very nIesse il a. xaarf of if J PASaS- |