Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-08-07
HERMIT JOES ROMANCE.
. GOLDEN DELUs1oN BY wH1cH
TWO LIVES WERE WRECKED.
A Lover Seeks Wealth and Finds
What He Thinks is a Cavern
ruled with Gold.

What He Thinks is a cavern
FILLED with Gold.
"Hello. Joe. You seem to be out Of
vour bearings. How do you happen to
be in the cityl"
The stranger stopped abruptly, gazed
upon the gentleman with stare tnat nm
niied he did not remember him, mumDled
an unintelligible sentence, and then am
bled down the avenue and was soon LOST
10 view. 80,
He was an old man, with wrlnkle6
brow and stopped shoulders and long.
white hair and beard. He was dressed
in a well-worn suit of clothes, but which
was neatly brushed, as though the owner
still took some interest in his personal
annearance. There was restlessness In
his ewes. though, and a general demeanor
81 manner that limited that his intellect
had been impaired.
.Wbo is hel" said the gentleman who
had addressed the old man in answer to
] , query from a Chronicle reporter. He
4 i known up in the mountains as Hermit
Toe.' His has been long. sad life, WITH
a peculiar romance woven through 1t that
,hattered all his prospects, and to-day
vou see him frail, broken-hearted, old
man."
at is over thirty years since the 70
nance of his life began. His father had
a small farm little this side Of tne
mountains, and Joe titled the soil until
long after his majority. His was the OLD
story of falling in love with a young
girl whose father was what would be
called magnate in that section years
400. The girls friends would not listen
to her marrying Joe. because he was poor,
and the engagement was broken oil.
'tJoe used to ponder over the fact that
the marriage was prevented solely be-
cause he was poor, the gentleman said.
But for months he plodded along doing
the drudgery of the farm work as though
he had abandoned all thoughts OF we'd
ding the girl whom he loved.
'sSuddenly he mysteriously disap-
peared. No one knew whittier he had gone
for months after his disappearance. One
day party of hunters, who had known
him, discov red him living in hut up In
the mountains, hundred miles from his
fathers farm. He was mOrose and silent,
refusing to say why he had chosen the
life of recluse, and merely telling his
that lAC was ootA7uN4 ~
live in his hut and gain meagre subsis-
tence by hunting and fishing.
"But Joe's romance was only half be-
gun" continued the gentleman. ''Eariy
one morning in the spring, two years
after he had left home. he suddenly re-
appeared He was a different man. He
had sold lot of skins he had cured, was
well-dressed, and seemed to fairly beam
with happiness.
, ''He had several heavy packages in his
! pockets, which he guarded so zealously
that curiosity was aroused as to what
r were their contents. He was so impa-
r tient that he had not been there an hour
e until he hurried off to the village, near
s by. He entered the only jewelry store
8 in the village and accosted the proprie-
I tor with the announcement that he had
e been working for the past two years in .
). gold mine he had discovered, which he
q knew was the richest mine in the world.
: He would be the richest man in the
Etate-in the world-he exultantly said,
and then whispered to the jeweller that
at last he could wed the girl for whom
Il he had labored increasingly for two years
Y slowing away geld nuggets.
!. cat last he produced the mysterious
h little heavy packages, which he said
!, were samples of his vast wealth. The
o little group that had gathered together
in the store drew close to Joe and gazed
a awestruck, upon the yellow bits OF min
4 eral The jeweler carefully picked up
Q several pieces, looked at them a couple
g of moments, and then said:
O Joe, my friend, you are mistaken.
a This is not gold. These deceptive yellow
q Jumps are iron pyrites. They are worth
4 less
i 'For for a minute Joe uttered not .
: word. He seemed bereft of speech. Then
:, he mechanically raised his band to his
: brow, as though to collect his thoughts.
] Are you sure it is not goldl he tremu.
I lousy asked.
: Yes, was the rep'y.
e Then farewell friends; happiness
f has forsaken me forever
t That was all he said. Slowly he Ief,
the store, and as quietly passed along
4 through the village. His father,s farm
! was now reached; but he stopped only to
I open the door OF the homestead and say
: good-by. In another hour he was on his
! way back to his retreat in the mountains.
His disappointment had been so sudden
and his grief SO intense that his mind
, seemed to weaken under the great
strain
'He did not even stop to see the one
, he had loved and worked so hard for.
but seemed to feel that all was lost to him
! forever. She, it is said. was true 20 him
j and died few years ago of a brok n
heart. Joe has ever since dwelt in his
nut IN the mountains, which of late wears
Z ms become an object of curiosity 10 peo-
I pie visiting that section Of the country.
HE has grown too old to exc out .
subsistence, but lives on a small income
his father let him. His mind has be-
come so weakened that he now imagipes
y the cave near his hut contains a great
a mass Of wealth, but that the world has
y eonspired to ignore him and his iuagiua-
B tive tons of gold nuggets. --Pit,s5ure
Chronicle.