The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-04
THEODORE OGDEN,
 BAcHELO OR.
BY ZOE RrNEHART.

Copyright. 1905. by Daily Story Pub. COL
 Theodore Dodden was travelling salesman for the firm of s------- Brothers, whole sale dealers in dry goods. Theodore Doo- den, bachelor,-that was the eognomen ne always gave to himself when he though, of himself He would have had U ensreveu upon his cards had not the MT. Fneoaore Dodden consumed the available space
 BacheIorhood was Doddens real profes- sion. He sioried in It. He lived for n- made & fine art of it If any new acquain- tapce chanced to remark. Viewer been mar ried. sir?'' the reply was given as though the question had been. Ever been in the penttentIary sir7" You could never offer a more irremediabie insult to podden than to intimate the possibility of his having ev- CT dreamed of that step of eonsummats idioey.
 whether he ever formulated q philosophy of the universe under a regime of bachelor hood; I cannot say. have suspected as times that he was at work on -somethlns of the sort At any rate. 1t was his firm conviction that every wise man kept nis bark clear of the rocks and shoals of mat rimouy. Dodden had a good many friends and acquaintances among the foois or eartn that Is. the married men. but In his presence they were all made to feel the infinite supe- riority of hts wisdom. Dodden knew every skeleton in the closets of these various fools of his acquaintance. The hollow rattline of their spectral members and their ghost ly grinnings were a pleasant part of his at- ter-dinner pipe dreams And every di- vorce case--Dodden kept complete record of then--was a public triumph of the prin- cipies of Theodore Dodden. bachelor. 7.
 But there came at last to him a eert0n fiery ordeal. that changed the course or his life. and--presumabiy--ait some vital opinions of his.
 Dodden had been to the town of NJ spending one of his rare vacations with his married brother. It might be mentioned that the parent stock of the Doddens had only produced one Theodore. bachelor. All his brothers and sisters had gone the way of all the earth. tha, is. got married. Dod- den had spent fair enjoyable week and was sitting in the depot waiting for the train that was to carry him back 10 ms Jolly bachelor quarters. His visit had TUT nished him some matter for thought. And he was a little surprised at the persistency with which the piduant face of his brothers wife's sister came up before his sedate bach leor minds eve
 He decided to take a turn on the plat form. Before he could carry ont his pur- pose. however. he found himself. for the moment. otherwise diverted. The quiet waiting room had tsen invaded by gay party of young people. They were Tn high spirits, indeed. they were even hofsterous. Dodden thought, and he soon observed that their laughing banter was directed toward a particular young man. who apparently, had no recourse but te take their badinage in perfect good humnr. And quite rnerci- less they were to the helpless. but bealnins prospective bridegroom. for such podden soon guessed him to be Dodden had seen enough of bridal parties and prospective briaegrooms In his time, SO he left the wait inE room and took his protected stroll. put side in 6 moment the scene was forgotten He boarded his train when 1t came, and ar rived in town in the early dusk.
 After seting to few business affairs, and finding that his trunk had been sent up early fin the afternoon as directed--it bavins come in by an earlier train--he made his way toward his bachelor rooms He was surprised to find them brilliantly lighted. but supposing hfs man wanted to give him a cheerful reception. he thought little of it. His astonishuent knew no bounds when he mounted the stairs and the door of his sitting room was thrown open. showing