The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-03
Our Daily $bort Story

the gate. After that they took little walks. every day, he on his crutches and she by h!s side, watching every movement, with her arms ready to as- sist.
 By the time the fleet returned in the fall he had exchanged his crutches for a cane. Every afternoon now, he and Theresa went down to the beach. and watched the fishermen prepare their catch for the market. He knew all the best methods of salting and drying. but so far had always been too busy to make experiments. Now, as he watched them day after day, many possible Improvements occurred to him. One afternoon a sudden pleased look came to his face. and he took pencil and paper from his pocket and began to make sketches and figures. At last he called Theresa to his side and made a few eager explanations.
 Why, Jean." she cried, as she grasped his Idea. Tt Is wonderfull It will revolutionize the whole pro- cess"
 "Yes, it will make a great change" he agreed. "only it Is odd no one ever thought of it before" Then he looked at her with a wistful expression in his eyes. But 1t will not help us, The resa. We have no fish and no prospect of getting any. I spoke with the doc tor on the beach today, and he said I would never get over being lame that I should never return to the Shoals"
 ..Jeanr'
 Yes, dear, know" looking at her with a wan smile. T am not complain ing. Heaven has been very good to us, but the future is not promising" He turned to his paper with a sudden ef- fort. well. I will finish this, and to- morrow I will show it to some of the leading men, It will double their seasons profit"
 Theresa placed her hand upon his arm.
 No, you will not show 1t to them," she said quietly. Tt would not be right to give the discovery to them, when you need 1t so much more your self"
 But what shall I do with itY" cur iously.
 That would cost money, and we have none. Besides. what could a poor fisherman hope to obtain by such an ambitious f1ight?"
 Theresa bent forward and kissed him. You go on with the work" she said. smiling. T will find the money"
 The next day she went out alone. When she returned she placed a roll of bills in his hand.
  rowed it, and have engaged to work year with the lobster women"
 Jean half rose to his feet; then as he looked into her tranquil face he sank back with a groan.
 A few days later he finished the drawings and sent them off. Then he went down to the stalls and obtained work was hard-too hard for his strength-and the pay small But it helped to keep off starvation.
 One day a letter came from his law yer; but in 1t were only questions, with not one word of encouragement. So the fall walled stUrmlly into win ter and at last the winter smiled into spring; and then Jean and Theresa looked into each others eyes and grew pale. In a few weeks the mortgage would be due.
 Then Jean received another letter, and he showed 1t to Theresa, and they looked at each other and laughed, and sparkle came into their eyeS. But after all 1t was only the patent papers, and It was food and clothing and mon- ey they needed.
 However, people are uqick to adopt improvements, and 1t was not long before Jean began to receive offers and propositions, one, two, dozen of them, any one of which he would have accepted but for the wise shake of the head that was bending over his shoulder.
 Wait" she said, your patent is valuable. You must not be hasty."
 One day a keen, gray haired man stepped briskly from the stage coach and inquired for Jean Perrete. He did not go away until the next morning, and when he left he was half-owne CT of all the rights and privileges of the new invention.
 But with Jean Perrete he left a check that represented more than a life time of industry on the Shoals .. And Jean gazed at the check and at Theresa as though he were in a dream. But Theresa was not surprised.
 Tt is only what I expected" she said, with a luminous light in her eyes.