The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-31
TWO LILIES.
By J. X. Tiffany.

N1UpS 1~SNs ~s-
 After I had been admitted to the bar. my father considering 1t best that I should have the opportunity of gan ing experience in a large city be'ore entering his own office. 1 went west where became associated with law firm, the heard of which was an old coh- lege friend of fathers.
 Though they had lost sight of each other for some years, they had always retained the most pleasant and kindly Of each other.
 It was drawing on toward evening when arrived at pr. Marsden's house on Madison avenue, in the city whsrc I located.
 Mir. Marsden imposed me at first as my beau ideal of man; while Mrs Marsden was one of those matronly ladies, with certain ofd-world court Illness of manner, sweet and endearing. There was a son, named Fred, about two years older than I, who appeared to be jolly good fellow.
 Lillian" said Mrs. Marsden. as young lady entered the room, 'this IS Mir. Donald Fairchild. My daughter, Donald"
 Miss Marsden. and I shook hands.
 am not a lady's man, but up to this time I had never met a girl who caused me to be other than self-pos- sessed and natural in my manner. Now was at loss for something to say
 There was nothing naughty, or even stately about Lillian Marsden-just q bright, fresh, plump girl, year or two younger than l. as I judged, but with something about her that im- mediateiy convinced me of my own inferierity.
 She moved with ease, grace and 1is- 'tinction. Without boldness or any suggestion of coquetry, she had a way of looking direct into fellows eyes; and in musical voice she spoke with a frankness and direction--free from self-consciousness or affectation-that took the starch out of a fellow. mak- ing him feel limp and fatuous.
 This is Lilian's twentieth birth day." Mrs. Marsden observed. evident ly for the purpose of relieving my em- barrassnient. "She Is our only daugh- ter. Mr. Fairchild"
 1T am sure. Miss Marsden," I said, finding my tongue at last T wish you many very happy returns of your birthday"
 It would be impossible to convey any adequate idea of the unalloyed delight of my first few days in the city. At the end of week I had ac- complished three things: I had se- cured a nice room for my private guar terSs DeSn dSA1BHSu d place III the offices of the firm. to which I was ad- mitted as junior partner and fallen head over ears in love with the head of that firm.
 MT. and Mrs. Marsden must have known how things were going, but the Knowledge appeared to cause them no uneasiness. Indeed. there was nothing that Mrs. Marsden better liked than to talk about her daughter.
 5H dfAParanf girls of her age" she remarked one day She is light-hearted and full of fun, but there Is no giddiness about her"
 I had been here about six months, when I was entrusted with a com mission that took me to Massachusetts which. by the way, was the place where MT. Marsden first became &C., quainted with his wife. It was there that they were married.
 My business was to look up the title to certain real estate in Boston, and to obtain authenticated records proving the validity of a clients claim thereto; which work, in addition to details to transfer, involved a searcn of vital statistics.
 Before starting on my journey, declared my passion to Lillian, and be- came her acceptor suitor, with the ap- provaI of her parents.
 At the end of three days I had fin- ished my search in Boston and armed myself with certified copies of the entries discovered.
 But--alRs, for my success! I had found something else-something lor which I was not Iookiug-something that took all the interest out of my and made life seem hide ous mockery and burden.
 Standing out, as If written in let ters of fire borrowed from the mother regions, I found this entry in the rec ord of births in Boston.
 December IA. 1S60-Lilian Agnes, daughter of John and Katherine Mars den"
 And this was January. 1896!
 My affianced, who had been intro duced to me on her twentieth birth day, six months ago, was a charming damsel or thirty-six'
 She was old enough to judge tor herself; had been her fathers naive concession, when first spoke to him of my love for his daughter.
 Lillian is so sensible-no giddiness about her" Oh yes! Very sensible. my dear madame. Sensible enough to ensnare the virgin affections of young blockhead like me!
 So different from other girlU of her age'' Very, very different, I grant | you-you fond, foolish mother
 Lily Oh, grossest satire of all | evergreen. Aloe, Hardy An but Lily"
 Had this sweet maiden discovered | the Elixir Nitae?-or what was the | secret of her perpetual youth?
 When l reached the office on my return to the west. found Fred busy boring over a pile of musty docu- ments.
 Glad to see you back. Don" he | said, I'm just looking cover some in- teresting family papers. Father is a. | work on our genealogical history. I | suppose you know We came over i7 | the Mayfiower?f
 T wasn't aware of it, l replied; | but you wouldn't surprise me if you tala ms you came over in the ark. How