The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-21
THE DAY OF
 HER DEPARTURE
By Ans. P. Anaes.

lCopyright, 1905, by Daily Story Pub
 fishing Company)
 The Idea entered his head as soon as he awoke and remembered what oay 1t was. It came down with him to breakfast. where the guilty knowledge of 1t bound his eyes to plate and cor fee cup. The pretty girl across the table was accustomed to seeing the uuiet. middle-aged gentleman go through a meal with sarcely glance or q word in her direction; and on this particular morning her thoughts were % taken up with preparations for de- parture that she noted nothing strange in his behavior.
 Tho men she knew were seldom si- lent or preoccupied in her presence; but then most of them were young enough to be John Drowne's sons. Her fathers friends she met at home were Johns contemporaries. but as different in their attitude toward her as the young sters The reason was this: they had wives and daughters of their own; Drowne was a bachelor--and. more- over, a shy one.
 Although later the Idea grew definite and bold, in the early morning 1t was pale, timid thing that shrank from ob- servation. So. to save 1t unnecessary embarrassment, he hurried through his breakfast and, pleading business en- AHkGmSntr DafPpC0 &Wd AhVhA eAhS N1SAN'
 In the front hall he encountered his sister
 ssWhy, John," she said, reproachful- Iv you aern't going without bidding Elsie goodbye? Don't you remember she goes home todayT
 'tof course I remember" he replied. . trifie testify. But I see no need of saying goodbye twice. At the station will be enough" 4
 "Oh,' said Mrs. Bailey, with a gratig fled accent. sT didn't suppose you could get uptown again before train time"
 T thought of taking her to the sta- tion and attending to her trunk and things" he asserted.
 .Tndeedp' she exclaimed. with in ereasing surprise. How nice! Elsie will appreciate it. I know. Of course I've explained to her how busy you've been during her visit. but I fancy that sometimes she may have been hurt by your neglect. She doesn't understand. of course, your abnormal shyness with woman"
 Do you really think so?' he asked anxiously. 'tShe'd scarcely expect much attention from an old fellow like me, would she?--expect or welcome it?"
 I'm not so sure" answered Mrs. Bailey, with a smile. You seem to enough with men. But I suppose you never will get over your fear of petti- coats"
 sTm afraid not" replied John. sad ly. ssEspecially when they're young and pretty
 50 you have noticed that Elsie's pretty. That's encouraging. anyway. Now from your behavior I should have believed that you couldn't tell whether she Is tall or short. or light or dark. or whether her nose turns up or down"
 up" said John "Just the least bit up--though why it should want to turn away from such a mouth is more than I can comprehend" he added. refiec- lively.
 "That will do." interrupted his sis ter, with mock severity, as she pushed him toward the door. When a man passes 50 he shouldn't talk sentiment. even if he thinks It."
 John wondered what she would have said had she known the full extent of his mental flight in that direction. For tunateIy, his meditations were closed book, even to his only sister. He passed down the front steps and caught a car with his secret purpose still in- violate
 His sisters guest did not leave until nearly noon. This gave his plans still three hours to mediate. The process proved absorbing. For the first time in many days something occupied his thoughts during business hours that was not business-decidedly not His clerks noticed the change. So did his customers. He felt it himself and won- dered more than any of them. Never theless, he made no effort to recall his fancy to it's customary routine.
 Panic seized him more than once as he contemplated the extraordinary boldness of what he hoped to accom- plish; but the next moments cool analysis invariably showed it's feasi- htltfY and raSfnTnd hiG Oa Wh6n he started home for the purpose of es- corting Miss Elsie to her train each successive step of the undertaking was arranged as systematically as a com mercial transaction.
 But commerce is one thing; this was