The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-21
CATCHING A THIEF.
By Jud.on welle..

MorninSt6 scOWieu at the tlny olsH of berries before his plate. Sam, his dusky man. smiled apologetically.
 "Ahm dofn' my bes'," he declared An shuah would liak to kotch 'em."
 Same here," declared Morningtorl. You don't suppose that tn, people next door take them do you Sam?".
 Sam shook a knowing head. The young ladies, he declared. could not be guilty of such depredations. Ever since they moved in they had favored Sam with sunny smiles as they passed his yard on the way to the postoffiee Sam was their secret slave.
 With Mornington 1t was different. He had resented the appearance of this little colony on the next farm. They were six of them. five girls and an el- derly woman, who apparently chaper- oned them. Gossip said they were art fists who were spending the summer in the country to sketch, and their daily faring forth with easels and canvases bore out the statement.
 Warrington hated artists in general and women artists in particular. He had bought the Terrence farm thu. he might have quiet, and how could man have quiet, when i've chattering women occupied the adjoining farm house not three hundred feet. away.
 II hO cSIdW pcfty UcQS Hdu DceH LuC last irritation. The previous year he had berries in profusion. This season there were few to be found. The dozen or so in the saucer were all am had been able to gather in a day. He was certain that his neighbors raided his garden and, without announcing hs in tention to Sam. he rose early the next morning.
 The sun had barely risen whe, he took his place behind the tool house, whence he could command a view of the garden. Presently a slender, girl ish figure came hurrying from the other house and entered the plot. Warrington waitei until she had filled the pan she carried and was about to go. Then he stepped out. with a hail. The girl looked up pleasantly
 Good morning." she cried. Wont you have some of our berriesg
 T should like some of mine." he said pointedly.
 Do you grow them, ioo.' she asked. Mornington marveled at her self-pos- session.
 T grow them.'' he assented, "or rath- CT one of Torrence's men grows them for me. That Is as far as have been able to get this season. I have not eat en many of them"
 We have them every morning." she said briskly. Its one of the things we moved to the country for, fresh fruit. After being cooped up in studios vegetables off the dumbwaiter, 1t is just heavenly to come out in the gar den before breakfast and pick your own berries"
 But don't ou think that 1t would be better to find out whose berries you are picking?" he suggested. Even in the country. property rights obtain"
 These are ours" she declared We were very partic IT in our inquiries. |"
 Yet the garden belongs to me-" he insisted a little shamefacedly Some- how his triumph was losing its savor.
 Then we must have been robbing you all this time," she said, with a face suddenly grown as red as the berries in the pan, T am sorry"
 Its all right" he said awkwardly, wondering why he had not noticed be- fore what glorious eyes the girl had.
 Tt is not all right" she said decid- edly. We are not thieves. Please take them. You can send the pan back when you are through"
 Pray accept them with my compli- ments." he said stupidly. He knew that he was making a fool of himself
 
 For answer the girl laid the pan on the ground and turned away. Morning ton watched her go through the paths to the fence and slip through broken place. She had the regal bearing of a queen and a face to match. Now he would never have a chance to get acquainted with her and he suddenly realized that that was the one thing above all others that he most desired.
 Shamefacedly he picked up the pan and went back to the house to send Sam over with the fruit. Sam regarded him responsibility when he had told his tale, but the darkey went dow. the road to the next house, and after a long delay, returned without the pan. but he laid a shining half dollar in Mornihgton's palm.
 "Dey wouldn't take 'em," he explain ed. T shuah had ttak de money
 Mornington flung the money from him with a gesture of disgust and went in to breakfast feeling out of joint with the whole world.
 But there was worse yet to come, for in the forenoon Terrence, former owner of the farm, made his appearance with the chaperone from the house next door. With many hem" and a "haw'' Terrence confessed that finding a
  joining farm through the strawberry bed he had told the women that 1t was part of the land they had rented T honest meant to speak to you about it, because I knew that you had more ber- ries than you wanted. was going to pay for what they ate out of the rent" he concluded.
 Mornington rose to his feet, and Tor renee backed through the door. More than once he had witnessed the city mans hasty temper, and he had no de- sire for an exhibition.
 Mornington watched him go and then turned to Mrs. Surrey.
 T don't know what I can say to you to excuse my conduct ha began, T missed the breakfast berries and want ed to put a stop to it. but I did not know that Terrence had claimed my berry patch for his own. May I beg that my apology be the freedom of the berry patch? There are plenty for us both. I am not always bear, so you need not be afraid to gather them"
 When he so wished, Mornington could be very charming, and now he was exercising himself to the full. upshot was that Mornington accepted an invitation to tea when he might make his apology in person to Nancy Richmond.
 So successful was he that the next morning when he went to pick his own berries he fingered to help her fill her pan. The berry season passed all too quickly, but there were other fruits and soon there was well-trod- den path from Mornington's porch to the doorway of Studio Farm. He went
 Ah.