The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-02
DICKS DECISION.
uy rnTrrpNDEN MARRIOr.
tcopysight. 1908. By I,aiiy Story Pub.

Eli CHlTXEcNUELM mAE&k&hOAs
 {Copysight. 1905. By r,aiiy Story Pub.
 There was no doubt at all that Freda Williams owed everything to Dick Rogers For seven years ne had stood to her in the place of par ent. making a far more satisfactory enc than her real happy-go-lucky fa- ther had ever done up to the time when he had shuffied off his life as easily as he had shuffIed oil most other obligations, leaving his only child to the care of his chum in mis- fortune.
 Dick at that time was twenty three years old and Frcca was twelve; Dick was poor as a church mouse, picking up precarfous living at space work on a New York newspaper, and Freda was absolutely pennffess. 1t semed case the only solution of which was to put Freda in an orphan asylum or let her go 10 work
 But Dick swore she should do neither. He had been fond of her father, chiefly because he had done so much for and received so little from him. and he made up his mind that Freda should have her chance in the world.
 1t was easy to decide what this chance should be, as the$child was q born actress, mimic to her finger tips. and the possessor of many witch fnw ways which Dick was sure would win her fame in due time if given proper chance for their display.
 But first she must be educated. Without this Dick felt sure that her native talent would not bring her to the fore. So off to school she went, while Dick turned himself Into gall ley slave to provide the wherewithal.
 At the end of the five years-hard years. when Dick was seldom certain Of his dinners years when his terror was that me might fall i'll and be un- ahle to keep up the payments that stood between Freda and utter want --he struck 1t rich" First a novel and then a play of his made great hit. bringing his copy into sudden de- mand Book after book and play after play. written during past heart-break- ing years only to be unanimously re- jected by short-sighted managers and publishers. were dragged from the dust heap, brushed up and sold at Increasingly profitable prices. In four years, from a poverty-stricken hack. Dick had become a famous author comfortably fixed for life.
 Freda had reaped the bepefit of this, of course. After one summer spent fin California with a western schoolmate she had left school for good and was spending a year with a careful chaperone in a tour of Europe.
 
 education before she took up the &C., tual study of her profession in life.
 Meanwhile the years had had their influence on Dick no less than on fhe girl As she had grown in grace, Dick had found 1t increasingly hard to maintain his brotheriy pose. steady. old mani" he had said to himself again and again. This won't do. Freda is to be a great actress--and she will be one; there is no doubt of that-and you must not stand in her way. She likes you as an elder brother. Let her continue to do so until she has made her hit. then--then-T-" At this point Dick would lose himself in a reverie in which he meditated on the question whether twenty-one and thirty-two could really be considered a disparity in years.
 He was wondering this one octo- ber afternoon when the postman brought him a letter with a Paris postmark. His heart Ieaped at the sight Probably 1t would tell him on what steamer Freda would return, for the summer was over and the Ameri- cans abroad were preening themselves for their return to their native land.
 He broke the seal and read: Dear Brother Dick, I've got some wonder full news to tell you-you first of all you who have been SO good to the penniless little orphan thrown on your hands seven years ago. Dear Dick. I am to be married. Dear. dar- ling Dick. I will be married before you get this letter. Dearest brother, am to be married tomorrow.
 Forgive me, Dick, for not waiting to hear from you. but there is no time. Tom--Tom Woodward. brother Of my California friend Rita, you know --asked me last summer. and re- fused him. But he came over here and asked me again, and-Dick, Dick, dear Dick, just couldn't refuse. Tom has only two weeks more to stay In Europe before we must both go back to California, and he wants so much to spend 1t in Switzerland with me, so that we may always have the memory to look back on. So, dear Dick, dear elder brother, we are to slip away to the American church here and be married tomorrow. and go to Geneva for a week; then come home letter at the Embassy in London.
 '-P. s.--oh. yes, I had almost for gotten--Tny career! I regret 1t onIy because I'm sure you will For my self-Tom will make up for every thing"
 when Dick raised his eyes his face was very white. Without pausing to think he drew a sheet of paper before him and wrote:
 "Your letter lies before me. It is exactly the sort of letter might have expected from your fathers daughter. Without faith, without gratitude without even common de- cency. he never hesitated to sacrifice his best friends to his selfishness. For several years have educated you. clothed you, fed youi many a day I have gone hungry that you might have money to throw away with your wealthy school companions; cold. wet, ragged, hungry. i'll, day after day. I toiied that you might not suffer; that you might have your career. And this is my reward. For the sake of your iva weeks with Tom geH forget