The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-12
THE CRUSHED
 MISS MITFORD
BY J. c. PLUUMMER.

A. e
 BY J. c. PLUUMMER. (Copyright, 1904, by Daily Story Pub' | Co.)
 My dears," said Mrs. Clark, look- ing up from a letter she had been reading. "Mollie Milford is coming to pay us a visit. She will be here next week"
 "But. Mamma" said Jane, with elon- gated visage, Uncle Thomas will De here then"
 There's no danger" replied Mrs. Clark, placidly, 'Mollie is crushed. She's not designing"
 Jane shrugged her plump shoulders and Lydia turned up her pretty nose, but Mrs. Clark needed not these man. ifestations of disagreement and went on with her breakfast.
 It was Mrs. Clark's plain duty in life to prevent designing women for cibly marrying her brothe-in-law. He is not fitted for the matrimonial state," she would say to friends, and when Captain Bascom spent his time at her snug cottage as he always did between voyages, .ine was carefully guarded against feminine attack. A rampant of sister-in-law and nieces sheltered him from even a glance from some spinster and while ne honored the cottage with his presence 1t was ware hawks" to all unmarried ladies. They never crossed the threshold of the Clark residence.
 Captain Bascom liked his sister-in- law and his nieces and enjoyed his visits though he was bored at times over the presence of ancient matrons who were occasionally invited to tea. He sometimes asked. plaintively, If there were no we'll favored young wo- men in Pugsford, but as he never re- ceived a satisfactory answer he doubt less imagined that we'll favored young women were not indigenous to Pugs- ford and that those who he occa- sionally saw on the street were strang- CTS.
 Captain Bascom had two thousand pounds invested in consols. Of a verity this sum would come to the two Miss Clarks on the captains death. provided-but then, Mrs. Clark was resolved there should be no pro- vided" if she could help 1t. Hence marriageable and well favored spin sters were rigidly excluded from the Clark invitation list during the cap- tain's stay.
 With Miss Milford 1t was different She was not by any means bad look ing nor unattarctive, but she was crusked. Years before she had been engaged to be married and on the wedding day the groom had disap- peared as if the earth had swallowed him. It was entirely proper that Miss Milford should be crushed, and crushed she was. Young girls viewed her with intense interest as having halo of romance around her head and spinsters while averring that 1t served her right for putting any sort of trust in man admitted she was be- comingly crushed in her manner.
 It was an odd coincidence that Miss Milford and Captain Bascom should come down from London in the same carriage and become acquainted on the Journey, but Mrs. Clark gave little weight to this happening. She did. however note a change in Miss MitfOrds manner. There was a faint gleam of hopefulness about her which puzzled Mrs. Clark. Miss Milford had long ago forsworn man and 1t was scarcely possible that she had be. come interested in someone. That | something had happened, Mrs. Clark felt sure. and she resolved to watct closely for developments. The cap. tain was as of yore. He shook the house with his roars of laughter and joked with his nieces. He drank with gusto the bowl of punch which Mrs Clark with prayers for forgiveness mixed with her own hands Mrs Clark went to bed relieved Evidently Mitt Mitford's change of manner did