The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-04
By ". B. MAXWELL,
Copyright BOT. D, W. ,. M..~.n. light. reserved
nun nlm mMHp sFE nTnTnTnWmnnrn rn ss
Author of ssThe Guarded FIame,s ,s The Ragged Messenger,v
 "vivan,r Etc.

fuss. I'll write to her as soon as am settled"
 She clung to him. but he gently un- ioosed her arms and again bade her goodbye.
 "Go to sleep, Lizzie--but don't for get my message. Tell your mother not to worry"
 As in a dream he went from her; leaving her sobbing and shaking in the grey shadows, with the cold cheefless daylight feebly fighting the shadows. The sun would never really shine again. Dick had gone from them for ever. The wide universe was crum- bling into ruin, was falling Into chaos, all about her little bed.
 Then Lizzie went to school, at East bourne; and exactly what Jack had foretold came. to pass-after bit she liked it.
 When she returned for the first hol- idays, Dick had not come back, and her mother was ailing. MT. Jack never visited the house now, and Mrs. Price could give no authentic news of him. He was creature of another race. who had descended from a cloud-girt mountain and returned through the cloud to the eternal sunshine on the mountain top-regretted by those who had been privileged to see him-very, very much regretted by Lizzie.
 Doomed, unhappy Dick never made his peace with an outraged, disappoint- ed father. He never pulled himself to- gether; he never dropped it." MT. Crunden was only waiting for time to bring back the truant. He only de- sired penitence, acknowledgment of wrong-doing, a prayer for pardon, and he would have forgiven the culprit. But Dick must make the first move. Mir. Crunden was obdurate here: no tears from the mother could wash away his purpose. Let him have his lesson It's our only chance of doing anything for him. When he's had his lesson, we can start fair"
 Time, however, would not help them. Ii seemed that in the cruel world school that Dick had entered, there were two headmasters--Life and Death. 1t was Death. and not Life, that com pleted miserable Dicks lesson. A let- ter from a London hospital told Mir. Crunden to cease hoping that he would ever have what his own father had an R. Crunden. Junior. to carry on the business.
 Lizzie, at Eastbourne, was instructed to dress in black. Mrs. Price, convey tng the grievous tidings. said that Liz- zie must wear black for a year. But in fact she wore 1t much longer: for three long years. She was motherless FiG ttAS dppOAHLoo btIuo VI 1nOQTul0K IUf Dick was fulfilled.
 Lizzie, you must be brave" said red7eyed, broken-voiced Mrs. Price; you must be brave now for your poor fathers sake. You and him Is all there is left in the world, and you two should be all the world to each other. !"
 "I2l try" said Lizzie, sobbings and guiping and trembling. Hell keep me with him now. won't he? He'll let me stay here uow2p
 NO. my dear" said Mrs. Price. 'He wants you to go on with your learn ing-flnish all your grand education like--and not feel the sadness of this house."
 "oh. I'd rather stay with him"
 "No. my dear. you must do as he says. You'll help him best later nothing can help him now. He'll be winding up his business-completine of all his jobs and. then retiring"
 Thus Mir. Crunden went about his days task ass ofsold--a hard, silent, sgrey man. who had strip of crape round the sleeve of his old grey jacket who had band of black cloth round his square felt hat. OutwardIy that was the change in him. Something of a hedgehog he seemed perhaps to the town of Medford. even while his grief was new.
 (C0uffnu~d Tou.owrow.