The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-07-19

- - y VLl14 - ~ -.
49, H41u - tololK ~ - MA
aod - 1s1sd ~ ~ ~ na6n5Ul g.
1ye sll(Aay pupUcilious Iook, which
fell upen ~ wp@m sike mooa1f&hf O
ice. and pqf3ued her inquiries
"Cune fEOm sFfiscoY'
cams through there. didn't ~
anylhiDg Of he place"
Whsr did yer come fromr'
Philadelphia. !" The tone Was changed.
bhe evidently felt the impalpable rude
ness Of the faded woman, and knew how
20 resent Il in the same way. More con-
yersation ensued, nthe courzn Of which
Mn Sharpe discovered tha1 Marian had Z
for few months : and thai she had come
there to 1nd !" James Courtney Wilmer. y
| Mn Sharpe had information TO give =
we'll - TO take, for she knew something Of
Jim.
I'VE called him Jim, = she said, little
scofnfully He didn't get no Counting
from me-
Poor Marian gave : faint smile.
| There might be other James VIII
mefs," she said. wanted to be sure y
Mrs. Sharpe didn't think this could be
the one.
Hes . rough. ragged creeter," she
said lands had the snakes fur weeks at
time"
Marian shrank and covered at this,
with pitiful look Of pain on her beauti-
full face
He'd money left hims" asked Mrs.
Sharpe.
Marian nodded.
"'Twon do him no good. Soon as he
hears OF it fe'll drink himself into snakes.
Alters did when they struck a good lead
on the Banderita. Circus Jack he loses
all his'n at poker; 80 there they GO"
In the course Of ala hoar Circus Jack,
scrubbed and !" fixed upn to degree
which made him almost unacceptable
by his cOmra des, appeared, escorted by
Scotty. also prepared BY choice toilet to
enter the presence of "the ladies'"
'Scuse my not comm afore," said
Scotty. " Hoses must be tended to, and
them Of mine was about dead beat"
! Marian smiled graciously, if absently,
and turned her clear, hazel eyes to Circus
Jack, who, with many excuses, circumlo-
cutiOns and prOfane epithets, most OF
which he apologized for instantly, and
some of which he was evidently uncon-
scious of, gave her all the information in
his power in regard TO the man she had
come to find.
No one in Mariposa knew him better.
As Jim he was almost an integral part
of the City Of Butterflies" The butter
| flies, by the by, for which the town is
named, are not those which soar in the
air, but Mariposas, fastened by long,
tough filaments to the ground.
Many night had Jim Wilmer crushed
his swollen face into them, and slept q
drunken sleep, with their soft wings fold
ed sorrowfully above him.
There was something of mystery hung
about him, which the 'boys" had never
been able to fathom. Some said that he
belonged to wealthy and aristocratic
| family, and had left home and become a
wanderer and an outcast, because some
beautiful woman had Tilted him; others
said that he had a wife and children, that
he had broken his welded faith and his
wife's heart at the same time, and that q
grim phantom followed him wherever he
went and gave him no peace. Others
told yet another story; that he had been
engaged to beautiful girl and had loved
her and trusted her above all telling; that
his wedding-day was near, when he had
stumbled upon some miserable secret,
| which was dead and buried, but could not
rest in its grave; that there was no room
left for doubt, which is sometimes blessed,
and he mad fled without word; disap-
peared, and left to her own wretched
heart the task of telling her the reason
why.
Circus Jack did not tell Marian these
stories, though he had heard them all
indeed, they had all been retold and dis
cussed in the barroom, not half an hour
since. An average woman would have
repeated them to her, and thus tempted
her to reveal the truth; but chivalrous
heart beat under Jacks flannel shirt, and
he could no more bear to hurt her than he
could have crushed little bird to death
with his hand.
If any OF the stories were true, and she
yet loved poor Jim, he fold her enough to
wiring her heart and haunt her dreams for
ever.
The winter that he spent in the hollow
of great pine tree, on the rim of Yosem-
lite Valley, was perhaps his happiest
and most peaceful. Every Yosemite tour
ist stops to peep inside this tree, and to
wonder if;s man really lived there. cit
was comfortable enough,' says the hale
old pioneer of the valley below. He
had plenty ofroom. We both slept in it
one night"
At which the tourist peeps in again,
and wonders if the long limbed Texan
was not bit cramped by the foot board.
When Circus Jack told Marian the
story it was fresher and less wonderful
than now.
"Was the snow very deepg' she said.
"Was there no danger of his freezing to
| death W
81 never heard much about it anyhow, .
said Circus Jack, "'cept that he lived
thar alone cuttin' shingles. / 'spect the
snow was bout four or five foot deep up
thar wbar he lived. He's close-mouthed
one, tell yer. Never git nothin' outer
him, an when he's drunk he don't tell
nothin' whatsomdever!
This, with a glance half plying, half
reassuring, as though he would promise
her that the secret, whatever it might be,
was safe.
| One comforting doubt beat at the
woman's heart all the while that Jack was
talking. Perhaps this man was not the
onep'
She mentioned this at length, and asked
Jack what his quondam partner" was
| like.
| He was slight built Teller, rayther
light complected," was the reply. "An'
han some. / called him han some, didn't
you, Scoityr'
Scot.y, thus appealed to, gave profane
| assent. He had scarcely moved muscle
since he sat down with his eyes fixed on
Marian's fair, ever-changing face. Mrs
Sharpe, after vain attempt to edge in the
conversation, had quietly Withdrawn, hav-
| ing no relish for being one of quartet
where two did all the talking.
WAS he-an-educated man?n in
quired Marian hesitatingly, feeling in Q
vague way that the question might offend
Jack.
Yes, he war;" replied that worthy, in
contemplative tone. When we war
drunk l hev hearn him talkin' lot of
stuff like po'try. Thar's pile of books
in my cabin now that he used to read con.
sid'ably. can't make head nor tail to 'em.
Ph'aps you might"
II would like TO sec them, 2 said Marian.
eagerly.
Jack nodded, and pause ensued. At
length Scotty remarked that the told
man, - meaning Cutey, was "reyther late
in light'in' up" at which Jack arose and
babe the stranger g goodnight"
Marian put out her hand, saying: We
will be good friends, hope"
Circus Jack took it by the finger tips
cautiously, careful not to hurt il with his
horny fingers.
's1'll do airy in the world for yer,
madam" he replied, earnestly and in
genuously.
There is one thing wish to ask, !"
she said, though It may be foolish
question. Did you ever notice any ring
that he wore 0r--carried ~
There toas ring, but I'm beat eff !
kin tell what kind. Once, when Jim WINS
turrible sick, an his hand swellcd up,
wanted to file it of, but he fought 80, /