The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-24
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 nuf before anything more could pc ssid. MT. Hope was among them. a He was haggard. distraught inco- herent--ail his pomposity and conser ouence gone from him--a limp elderly waskIinr of d man, who sank into a chair as though his thin legs refused to bear him, and who spluttered and raved and rnoaned in afiiction.
 "oh. aCrunden---a father yourself. Oh. Miss Crunden---a daughter--a cherish : cd daughter. Oh. Miss Crunden. you have heard--you know the fatal newss Help me if you can. Were you access ohr
 It was long before any one could make out the cause and nature of MT. Hopes distress. But finally lucid in- formation was extracted.
 Miss Irene Hope had run away with Mir. Banker, the riding -ruaster.
 They rode forth together" moaned her father. We did not suspect--we might have suspected, Irene has been nervous--h ysterical--br on this fatal step We never guessed--ursed her to her rides--urged her over the precipice. Now she has fled. Was seen en amazone at the railway sta ton. .. Oh. my friends! help me to trace them--aid me to save my child from tnfamy and disgrace.
 The weakness of MT. Hope was pitt fable to observe. He. the controller of a mighty engine. he who could thunder to the world about peace and war, na- tionaf courage. municipal dignity. etc.. had collapsed utterly beneath a pri- vate domestic misfortune. It was as though he had given all his force and energy to mankind, and had retained none for his own use. And obviously. Il -s- &-&k ed in 1t something ludicrousiy exag- gerated, disproportionately tragic, and not without a personal element of snobbish fear.
 "Hcr mother and win be mocked at---driven from the town
 ~Oh. come. bear up." said Crunden. "A bit of a rumpus--but forgive and forget--all will come right in the end.'
 But Mir. Hope only beat his breast and moaned.
 ssof course they ought to have told you" said Jack cheeringiy. but then, you know"
 Perhaps she really wanted to tell you" said Lizzie. remembering Irene's extraordinary letter and the dark arlu- sions to life-riddles.
 T know Banker we'll" said Jack. eHe's thorough good sort. Really, MT. Hope. I think your daughter might have done worse.'
 ''Wcrse!" cried Mir. Hope tragicaily. You say that to me--a father--of his daughters shame"
 But now, with further explanation t appeared possible to relieve Mir. Hope of the larger part of his pain. He was laboring under a queer mistake He. who ought to have known every thing about Medford. showed himself ignorant of all but the outwan1aaspect of one of it's most conspicuous cixizens He had paid MT. Bankers 1bf1j$ had talked often with Mr. Banker. had begged MT. Banker to take care of his child; he knew that MT. Banker was the fashfonable riding master who rode win all the ladies of Hill Rise. and ssich scrappy superficial knowledge was all he possessed. At the livery yard. which he had visited more thar once, he had seen Mir. Bankers sister q smiling, comfortable woman who sal in the little office and put orders on slate. while her iusty brood of young children ran in and out, or played hide-and-seek among the brougham and victorias in the adjacent coach house; and he had jumped to the quit, erroneous conclusion that Mir. Banker was q married man with a large fam fly.
 Immense was his relief on learning that MT. Banker was not married--was Tn truth, an honest. hard-workins