Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1889-06-08
BEAUTIFUL jim.
By JOHN STRANGE WINTER

could no. but believe that Mr.. Mandarin
was as rich as Cr9sus
And how dear that was to Mrs Antro
bus soul it would be hard for me ade.
quately to convey She loved money and
all the pomp and display and aattery
and adulation which the possession Of
money enables you to enjoy If Mrs. An,
trobus had thought 1t necessary to start q
new religion she would certainly have set
up the worship of CrGsus, and don't
suppose if her golden image had only been
big enough. that she would have had her
josshouse empty or even i'll filed.
But there was yet another person who
enjoyed the week thoroughly-that was
young Stuart. the last of the Earles
On the whole. the young gentleman had
a famous time of it. from the five blithe
and bonnie Leslie girls he was passed on
to the acquaintance Of almost every de
cent looking girl in the town. his happy,
good form impudence stood him in good
stead and proved as fascinating as If he
had been of a marriageable age instead of.
as he was. a mere slip Of lad eighteen
years old And one evening he went up
to mess when he greatly edited Beauti
full Jim, whose guest he was. and all the
other officers of his new regiment and laid
up goodly store of suffering for himself
in the days to come by his frank and easy
comments on men and manners alike. by
the careless and friendly ease with which
he took the lead as befitted him who had
been born the last of the Earles
But. unfortunately for him, he was also
the last of the Blankshire regiment and
his future comrades were only able to
check their disgust by remembering that
he was as yet a guest, when. having per
haps had a trife more wine than his young
and unseasoned head could carry Il do not
mean to say that the boy was drunk. far
from it). he gayly undertook to chaff Ur
quhart. the commanding officer of the
Black Horse. who was also dining there.
"Of course, don't remember the stage
as far back as yourself. colonel. he began.
in the tone of man of the world "Idare
say you'll remember Macready."
Il never saw Macready. said Col Or
guhart. giving the youngster credit for
being good deal more nearly drunk than
he was.
"No2-ah-I should have thought you d
be quite up in all that period. returned
Tommy, hippantly But you'll have
heard what an irritable chap he was"
Heard what?" asked Urquhart.
you'll have heard what an irritable
chap he was" Tommy repeated, tipping
the wink to one or two of the less dis
gusted Of the officers Of the Blankshire
regiment. who were grinning with ex
pectation.
Whether he had some joke or catch
about Macready's popularity of temper
or not it would be hard to say, but if he
had. Urquhart nipped them in the bud
after fashion quite his own. He looked
up as courteously as If Tommy had been
field officer instead of an unfedged sub
altern and fixed him with pair of keen
and clear gray eyes that seemed able to
look right through him and out at the
other side. Yes" he said, gravely. Il
believe Macready was an irritable man
Some men are born bad tempered-they
can't help 1t. and, in fact. it is really not
their fault They are born so" he went
on, mildly so mildly that Marcus Oxford,
who was dining there that night, looked
sharply up to hear if anything more sub
tie and smart than usual was coming
"they are born So and silly people irritate
them by asking foolish questions.
To the surprise of the lad, who was not
just then clear enough in his head. nor at
any time clever enough, to understand a
SHAFT or quiet sarcasm, every man round
the table burst into roar Of laughter.
They would have laughed to man at
any joke Of Urquharts. whether they had
seen it or not; in this case, however, they
did see it clearly enough: and the officers
of the Blankshire regiment would each
and all have thoroughly enjoyed punch
ing" the lads head for being such a young
fool as to bring SO severe a snub upon
himself:
Finally. when, still highly pleased with
his performance and on the best terms
with himself, he said adieu to Urquhart,
that gentleman paid him somewhat
doubtful compliment.
Good night, youngster. Your new
regiment ought to be very proud of hav
ing you come among them"
"Tha-anks," replied Tommy, accept
ing the words and not understanding the
spirit. 81 hope shall always
BE credit to them" ended Urquhart
with perfect gravity. MY dear lad,
you We only to 60 on as you've begun to
find yourself hobnobbing, with Lord
Wolseley and tho commander'in chief in
next to no time"