The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-28
A CONQUERING
w. J. n. MOSES.

W. J. D. MOSES.
 Copyright, 1905. By Daily Story Pub.
 He didn't ask for you by name,
 maam. but he described you 50 that
 there couldn't be any mistake. Hes a very tall man. ma'am. with curly
 hair. and a very thin man. ma'am, and
 he has such beautiful eyes"
 He isn't an Insane person. Mary. is hep
 "oh. no. ma'am; he looked quite
 kind. and like gentleman. ma'am.
 though not smartly dressed exactly" Miss Mart rose languidly, and for
 Q moment surveyed her faultlessly
 attired and beautiful person in a glass. Even the announcement of a
 caller who asked for her by descrip- tion instead of name did not serve to
 rouse her from the melancholy which
 oppressed her, the melancholy caused by an active mind which grinds it. self for want of an intelligent inter- est. the melancholy had fallen upon her at the seaside, and she had come back to the city because she could be alone there and allow her affliction to wear away into apathy.
 She had no consciousness of inter-
 est in the stranger below. but proba- bly in some hidden corner of her mind there was a germ of curiosity which prompted her to so to him. As the
 maid had said. he was very tall and had very beautiful eyes, and he came towards her with a frank smile, hold ing in his hands several sprays of wild roses, saying:
 Let me soften the abruptness of
 my call with an offering of roses" They are very pretty" she mur- mured, somewhat confused. taking | them and raising them to her face. The man fixed his eyes upon her; great greyish hazel eyes with odd dark spots in them. There was look of whimsical tenderness in the mans face. that strong bony face with It's project ing cheeks, large mouth and prominent | nose. Miss Mart felt that she liked him very much. felt as if he were an
 old friend and . very dear one; and yet she knew she could never have
 met a man of his striking personality and forgotten him completely. Be-
 sides he had not known her name. Thank you very much for the flowers. Will you not be seated?" and she smiled at him with unpremed- itated friendlineas.
 He took the chair nearest to the one into which she had gracefully
 subsided. placed one bony elbow on | one bony knee, rested his thin face
 upon his hand and stared at her ab-
 sentmindedly. How very tall and thin
 he was! And how-his boniness was
 accentuated by the mass of waving
 grizzled hair and by the loose black clothes which hung upon his attenua-
 ted form! Yet she liked him; she was
 very sure of that. and she was not at all put out because he sat there and
 stared at her in that absentminded fashion. All at once she discovered that her melancholy had gone, gone
 as suddenly as the shadow of an April cloud, which slips away and leaves
 warm sunshine behind 1t. She was so happy to know that that dreadful fit
 had passed away that she gave lit-
 tie chuckle of delight.
 The man started. came back to his
 surroundings and laughed. frankly and
 boyishly.
 You must think 1t very strange
 that I should call upon you and very
 rude Did you ever see me before?' Never, am sure of that, but l do not think you could be rude" Thank you" said the man with
 an earnest gladness. as if she had paid him some great but deserved compliment, as if rather she had ap- preciated some nobleness in him which the world at large never saw. T am gald to hear you say that" Frankly, I do not know who you are, but I feel that you are man
 to trust. have an instinctive friend liness for you and I am glad you called, whatever your reason may be.
 I was suffering from an attack of mel ancholy. very severe one, and in
 some way you have dispersed the
 clouds that encompassed me. l thank you for that"
 T am very glad he said simply.
 But I knew that you would like me. | that you must like me. I had not thought that you were melancholy. but I now can see. You were just in l need of me. that was it." That must have been It." She laughed gaily.