The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-26
ADAM AND EVE TO DATE
BY RITA KELLEY.

Copyrighted 1907. by Homer Sprague) I'd rather wed a young man with an apple in his hand. Than marry an old man With all ms
 house and land"
 A golden head topped hy saucy hat, dsengaged itself from the gloom Of brougham. drawn up at Grand Central Station. just long enough for refresh ing voice to utter the old saw. The head was hastily, even apprehensively withdrawn, but the moment had been long enough for Knight Mccall to un- dergo an altogether unwonted palpfta- ton of the heart. He could not have sworn it was she-the glimpse had been too tantalizingly brief for that-but the voice was hauntingly familiar. He looked eagerly toward the brougham, but the coachman was imperturbable, the glass doors shone emptily. Evi- dently the girl, startled al her auda- city, was trying to sink herself into the cushions to avoid discovery.
 A smile fitted over McCalrs hand some face as he looked down at the colossal apple in his hand. The girl. whoever she was-Confound itl Why hadn't he been looking In his direction well. she had a sense of humor. Peo- pie had been making that apple. with him as the possessor, the butt for asinine pleasantries during the last fifteen minutes. but 1t remained for the girl to pick 1t up from ignominy. and create of 1t badge of honor. Me- Call felt kindly, all in a rush, toward old Lancaster for thrusting 1t upon him.
 He had been wonder.ng--profanely why old widowers with fondness for young girls invariably maintained large estates for the propa gation of apples and presented huge specimens annu- ally, and personally, to all their friends. Nothing but the certainty of detection had constrained him from finging the huge, rosy-cheeked fruit into the street Lancasters apples had unmistakable earmarks. If one were found In the gutter. a column would appear In each of the morning papers and old Lancaster would never halt until the ungrateful criminal had been run to earth. Why. indeed. were such doddering old imbeciles suffered to in- f1ict humanity with evidences of their folly? Mccall hoped that he knew.
 He sauntered down the row of car riages and stopped almost on a line with the brougham As he had anttci- pated. the door opened a crack and surreptitious survey was made. then the unmistaka golden head was withdrawn and the door closed noise- lessly. Mccall smiled--an evanescent
 
 mouth a little drawn and his eyes clouded. He knew now, of a certainty. why he had been affiliated with the ap- pie. Fate had not been appeased by the decree that Gladys Lederer should sacrifice him on the altar of her caprice and leave him gasping outside the pale of her tolerance It was not enough that, after that evening when. for one inebriating moment, he had held her oyo hnhfnd the naIna in the Walton's conservatory, and she had listened shyly but so eagerly to what he had to say. she had summed him, ignored him. raised such insurmount- able barriers of aloofness about her that he had, desparing. betaken him self to the solace of sixweeks hunt.
 He had forgotten nothing of the sting of her displeasure but the tang of the pine woods had got into his soul and he thought he could at least endure life Now. as if on cruelty bent. Fate emerged on the very day of his return and brandished her dis pleasure by bringing him face to face with the girl. If he could have the satisfaction of knowing what he had done to offend her. If she would grant him the boon of a definite verbal dis missal. It hurt his mans pride to be an outcast and not to know the reason why.
 Mccall received a shock. Old Lam caster, even he of the apples, silly little beard. soft patent feathers, carnation in his buttonhole and all-was com ing toward the brougham-the brougham. and, yes. he had flung open the door and was assisting the delect- able person 10 the stone fagging of the court. Mccall ground his teeth in fierce envy and chagrin. So he, splendid young chap with clean rec ord. could be misplaced by an old stager like that!
 Mccall was not given to loving con- temptation of his own virtues. but there are times when ones self-respect demands restitution Old Lancaster. eh? Why--the girl was mad, crazy, in- comprehensible, For a moment he stood motionless. gazing after the ill., assorted pair now making their way through the crowded station. So this was the final quirk averaging Fate had reserved for his home coming, He groaned inwardly as he saw Lancaster lay ferved hand on the girls arm and push her through the throng. In- stantly:
 I'd rather wed a young man with an
 apple in his hand
 Than marry an old man with all his
 house and land
 through ms Drdl m ike d DolSant truth 1t was oddly instinct with re- gr"t helplessness and a note of ap- peal Could it he that she had recog- nized him that she had not made a humorous remark anent the object in hts hand which licensed every man. woman and child to playful jest7 Had she meant it2 *".
 He was through the station fighting the gateman for entrance to the train before he knew what he was going to do. Action came easy to him. Six weeks in the wilds had put his nerve centers into such exquisite relationship with his brain that physical response came before he was conscious of will ing. He was going to make the train
 A sprint. leap. q frantic grab, just boarded by heri
 long pull and he was on the rear plat form struggling for breath, hut strangely exultant The refrain was pounding away at his brain like trip hammer, heating into his sensi- bilities the conviction that she had meant tremendously when she put her hand out of the hrougham window. His raspy breath. and the pain of his right arm wrenched by the strain of his weight were sweet to him. The old euarvation of eDirit belODgine to