The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1883-07-25
only the frozen stars in mystic groups far
away, and the slender moon, like sword
drawn to hold him at bay.

only the frozen stars in mystic groups far
away, and the slender moon, like sword
drawn to hold him at bay.
Reaching the mines in safety, I, as de-
tailed in previous sketch, practiced law
mined, fought Indians, and indeed was
the busiest of men in trying all means to
get on. I planted the first orchard in all
that land, pushed ahead as hard as I
could and tried to be punctual and steady
and thoughtful. Yet was still but lad
in years. l forgot to mention that I was
meantime elected Judge of the county
and had begun to write the "Songs of the
Sierras" My life was sober and severe
one. For without learning, was trying
to administer the law; without knowing
how to read or spell, I was trying to
write book. I was walking new road
of life now. All was strange. What
availed my knowledge of woodcraft in
the Courts of law ? The mystery of max
ing fire by the friction of two sticks of
wood, the secret of finding water in the
desert by the fight of bird, the cum
ming of foretelling the force of the COM
ing winter or the depth of the snow,
all these and the like were of no good
now,
UNCONGEN1AL1TY.
If the shrewd and sharp lawyers who
bullied and beat me had come into my
elements had beaten them. But I had
chosen to enter theirs and must be equal
to the undertaking. And 80 it was I
worked and studied as never man work.
ed and studied before. Often I never
left my office till the gray dawn, after a
day of toll and night Of study. Ny
health gave way and I was indeed old
and thoughtful. Well, all this, you can
see, did not suit the merry-hearted and
spoiled child of the mines at all. Then
she was not so ambitious as I was then
she had not such strange, wild life be-
hind to haunt her. She became the
spoiled child here that she had been at
her fathers and naturally grew impatient
at my persistent toll and study. But
she was good all the time good and hon
est and true in all things and in all ways;
understand that distinctly. And let me
say here, once for all, that no man or
woman can put finger on any stain in
this woman's whole record of life, 80 far
as truth and purity 60. But she was not
happy here. Impatient of the dull mo-
notony of the exhausted mining camp
and longing forthe sea and the old home
that almost overhung the sounding
waters, she took her two children and
returned to her mother, while sold the
little home we had built and kept to-
gether, the new orchard and the lanes of
roses we had planted together, and re-
NAMED there in the camp, promising to
follow her, yet full of ambition now to
be elected to place on the Supreme
Bench of the State, and I remained and
worked on to that end ceaselessly.
SUED FOR DIVORCE.
She had been absent from me quite
year when the Convention was called
and went to Portland, seeking the no
mlnation for the place l desired. But
the,poor, impatient lady, impulsive al
ways and angry that I should have kept
so long away, had forwarded papers from
her home, hundreds of miles remote, to
lawyer here, praying for a divorce.
This go put me to shame that abandon
ed my plans and in q rage and disap-
pointment formed collusion with her
lawyer to give her a pretense Of that
which she professed to. desire. Yet l
knew quite well that this was only
romantic and foolish freak that meant
nothing. How often she has written me
that she did this only in order to get me
to come to her, and that she did not
dream she could be divorced unless
came to her when the action was
brought. Nor could she in fact. But a
Court was in session, and her lawyer,
who looked to me only for the fee, enter
ed the case and in about the time it takes
to write it the sham decree was announc-
ed to the world, while was sailing away
for other lands.
Of course the whole pitiful proceeding
was as nothing; but her lawyer, now
dead, got his fee from me, and never be-
trayed the treachery to her. And it was
perhaps quite ten years before She by
chance met some one who told her the
truth. She had married, but at once left
all and came to me here.
DOWN IN THE WORLD.
had not been greatly fortunate at
best. A few thousand dollars I had
thrown up as a wall between myself and
work but l had grown 80 impatient Of
this moderate position in life and so
wanted to get great fortune and return
to the West, that deliberately staked
all in Wall street, and of course lost all.
l, beaten and discouraged and broken in
health, had retreated to garret and was
then again preparing to use my pen,
when one stormy night strange woman
crept up my stairs and told me in wild
whisper that my wife, minnie MYRTLE"
was in the city and must see me. And
how helpless l was to help her or any
one now. had seen her form but once
for nearly a dozen years. And such
years!
Let me not recite any Of the horrors
they hold in this connection and yet I
heard from her all the time, and while
she wrote against me and lectured about
me and did all that made my life 80 mis-
erable, she did not really mean my ruin;
but thinking me strong and prosperous
and happy, she exhausted her wit and
sarcasm on me and laughed that she
might not weep. But in time she drove
me nearly mad and left the country and
proposed never to return. My publish
ers, Roberts Bros. of Boston, had sent
her $50 a month as regularly as the
months came all the time. She was re-
ceiving that sum, and perhaps as much
more directly from myself, as l could
spare 1t, all the time was in Europe /;
and she received these sums for years
after her marriage. But the poor, spoil