The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-05
A BOARDING HOUSE CUPID
ny DAVID H. MoREHEAD.

tCopyfient, Asvo' ~,I Cs
 Jim Benson had been the supeIn, ., tefdent in the finishing departmens a A the big mill for five years. Now he was to leave and so to anoIAsl ttsr where he had been onered ..ssa ths etiouette of the mill required tnas tha girls of his department snouu taEe in subscription and get him q nr@sant After much deliberation ana manv important discussions sola watch chain was selected as the mus. suitable token of the esteem in wnion he vvss held. The fact that he carried . oicixeI watch, worth about three dol 1.~r made no difference. watcn chsin. that Mayme Duffy declared fper- fectiy grand" and bought and pre- sented to him on Saturday afternoon by that young lady on oehail oi 'n0
 1T think it's terrible" said Mayme. her way home from the mill. after the presentation ceremony. Mao6e Conley was the only girl in the snop that didn't give anything. Ana sne always pretended to think so much oi
 sadies Lenz smiled knowingly.
 .yVe all know what's the matter with ber" said she When Jim Benson turned her down and commenceo go ing with Ella Briggs--thats what sour ed her on him; , . n,t for him, though" replied Mayne.
 sadie stopped chewing her gum long enough to emit hearty laugh.
 "Ella Briggs care about him! why, 2 she don't care about anything except dresses"
 diet on the heartlessness or Ella Prirrs. Sadie, who had reached the gate of her home. left her companion.
 while her friends were discusslns tho gtinginess of Madge Conley. that young lady had fingered at the mlii. 1t was Saturday afternoon, anu sum finished and left early. Madge was seated at her sewing machine. aimUs. alone in the big room. A few siaIs' like herself, were still working 70 Lin isn up and bver the corner Jim sen son, the superintendent, was stanolng at his high desk, apparently pusy with his time books. but really Watcn. inc Madge and wondering If she wouio go home without bidding him gooo- bye. This was his last day at the mlli. . and as his thoughts went back over the five years that had passea ,sS ~ evarvtbing that had happened. he thought of her, scarcely more than child when he first came to the miii' and how he had watched her grow Wto womanhood among the whirring ma. ma. chinery. Gradually-so graouany ena. 2. beran-a tie had grown up be<ween them until he had become Maogs 'steady company" l
 He nlaced his books in the desk and shut down the lid with bang. Wny had she been So foolish as 10 opJec1 1,,, ,o v his having a little fun with Ella Briggs? She might have known It was only a harmless filtration. The thought of Ella Briggs, with her eiec- trie seal sacque and her eternal giggis, made him angry-angry with her, Wltn n himself and with Madge. lie "alhso pyer to the figureN in the big apron and stood beside her. The watch cnain hung in all its spick and span new ness across his vest front. He nag missed one name from the list or sup, scribers that had accompanied ". ano the fact rank1ed in his nina. Maoss eounting and folding her work.
 "Ain't you going to say gooo-pye lo me. Madge?" he asked.
 If was a moment, charged with un- known possibilities. A little sottenlhs of the voice, single look or regre. would have broken down the barrier between them; but she steeled her. self against him. Had he not turned her down and taken up Ella Briggsl Had he not made her the laughms stock of all the girls III the mlh' DIN answered coldly
 certainly, goodbye" and she helc mt a hand as Imply and listlessly as inc most coldiy polite society enter tainer. Benson took it in his just a; coIdlv and went back to his desk TIaIf an hour afterward, when he lef' fine mill, he noticed that Madge had
 Roth Jim Benson and Madge ConleS boarded at Mrs. Hickey's. That worthy lady, with the assistance ol Mr Hickey. when he was not on one of his periodical sprees Kept boaro' ing house, that was patronized by dozen or more of the factory hands She was a tired looking little woman worn out from trying to make a re- spectable living from her boafders When Jim reached the house he wen to his room at once and began to pacf his trunk. He was to take an earl! train Sunday morning to the neighbor ing city, where his new position await ed him. Now, packing trunk IS to woman science and a pleasure; t' a man it is confusion and anguish unutterable, Jim struggled manfull! with the task and swore little, al Is proper on such occasions. until, pres ently, he became aware of the freck led face of Danny Hickey watching hi exertions from the other side of tn, trunk. Danny was Mrs. Hickeys 5 year-old son, and he was on terms 0 intimacy with all her boarders. H, had a habit of wandering silently iron one room to another and staring. witt