The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-04
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RE UAH 3Et @sE UA tGoo rtgaj tH. 4,4i'y st+ .-lJ- -9-} Anne Overton S-- s4& lD g. frenzy of creation. Page after page of rough copy sprang into existence at the beck of her dancing fingers. The intent eye, the tumbled hair, the collar unfastened and tossed on the floor bore witness that genius was afiame. The postman's whistle was unheeded, and when the maid brought in her let ters, she pushed them aside abstract
 No, no! leave them on the table, not here. I can't stop now.
 At last her first draught was com pleted' and she @ began & to atrotnG reread the
 Not fourr' she exclaimed. rising suddenly. Surely not four"
 But it was. Laughing merrily, she
 Suppose hadn't come back to earth and Nick had caught me in the clouds! She stopped for her collar. pushed her hurried through the hall of her tiny apartment to the. bedroom. When she ! returned her businesslike exterior had given way to a clinging femininity of gauge and lace. She smiled as she caught up the neglected letters and carried them to the window, on her der the teakettle. Sinking into chair with a sigh of relief, she lay back for moment with closed eyes, the happy smile Stlll on neT IlpS
 Dear Nick!" she murmured. Dear Nickw
 At last she cautiously lifted the large envelope to see which manuscript was
 The next letter was also editorial but this contained check. success was young; her eyes gloated oyer yer the the third which lay with the address downward. Another instant and whlte' stricken horror mounted to her race. H "Oh, my Godi" she gasped.
 For several moments she did not l. move Then with a groan she tore open the envelope, and read. pencilcd on
 My Darling wife-They tell me I have been thought dead for nearly q year, but Major Markham has rescued me out of hell. What nave enauteHI teHI in that Filipino prison, l cannot tel | you. You would never recognize me. | I am a skeleton. They have brought me to Manila and are bracing me up so I can get home to you. l haven [ | let them wire, for I mean to start at l once, and when you get this snail pc on my way. If 1t had not been Tor the thought of you, should long ago nave | ceased to struggle. I wasn't always | thoughtful. dearest, but now 1 will be worthy of your love. I'm coming home' | hurrah! Home to my Anne!
 | With my hearts best,
 "Your husband, o..u.o,,. She sat as if turned to stone, the letter in her frozen clasp, fear m her eyes For she knew now what she had l refused to acknowledge before, knew | that she had been glad to be free Sne | was so young when she was marrled' young even when she woke to the re- | alizafion that marriage was not synoh- ] ymous with happiness nor Wlleho@od @ with love. Many a time she had l strength to hide the ugly fact ana plily her part-to hide it even from NICK | who always understood. NICK loved the things she loved, hated the things ae sne hated. stood for what was fine and hlgh and true. He must not know her heart 1 answered to his call. When Philip rodt away with his regiment, lire grew DIS l and no longer chokey by oompuhcuon she dared to breathe. Her stories ab- l sorbed her enegics, and Inifs letter l came with shock, an unwelcomC l whtsper from a past she would forget | Rut with the news of the engagement | the list of the dead, the telegram from from Phil's colonel, sorrow had sprun into life for after all he had been her 1 lover before he was her husband, and on the sorrow followed fast the conso, his love. An, the months of associa- | ton. the sharing of each others 1 schemes, work and hopes; the promise | for the future; the quiet little wedding
 wait wEo seemed to have waited. since line world began? And noW-to give up | Nick! If she could but cry. realize the blow! Glad to see Phil back? Glad 10 sink again to the practice of an empty ] was dead? Oh, God how could she be? | Phil? Why, Phil was her mistake, her l disoord; Nick her readjustment to ltfe's s harmony What would Nick say?
 She shuddered, her eyes wounded n.1eS came She sat still. powerless to meet