Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1889-10-26
TAKEN BY siege.

to be Of a particularly choice quality of
curled hair and the springs of the very
best steel or he could not sleep In the
army he would roll himself up in blan-
ket, lie in the mud during pelting storm
and sleep as peacefully as child John
Hurlstone was made up of contradic-
tons.
He loved his mother so tenderly that
he was completely unnerved if she was
Ill. and waited upon her with the gentle
devotion of a daughter; yet he did not
hesitate to do Things that he knew would
break her heart, simply to crafty his
own pleasure. lie would have given his
last crust to his mother and sisters, yet
he would not do an honest days work to
save them from want He did not say
that he would not, he simply did not,
and that was the end of the matter His
mothers and sisters were devoted to him.
They knew he was thoroughly selfish,
but he was so sweet and kind at home
that they forgave him everything Wo-
men always liked him; men-that is. the
the serious minded-regarded him less
Ieniently Among the class popularity
known as 'the boys" he was prime fa-
vorite. They admired his cleverness,
and he was pleased by their homage
He would sit for an hour at time talk
ing with big Sandy, the village black
smith, a miserable, drunken, fellow, be-
cause, he said. SANDY isso fond of me-"
Every barkeeper in the town and every
hanger on of the saloons shook him by
the hand and swore that "Cap'n Jack"
was "perfec' gemman." The atten-
tions Of the Prince of Wales are no
sweeter to the professional beauty than
were these words of compliment to Capt.
John Hurlstone.
John received the attentions Of the
young ladies more modestly. He never
boasted Of his conquests; indeed, he did
not seem to think that he had made any
He never tired of telling how fond he
was Of the girls, individually and col
lectively, but that they were fond of him
he modestly denied. "They know l
love them all, and they feel sorry for
me" he used to say, laughingly. John
Hurlstone was the most dangerous sort
Of firt, for he was really in love for
the time being with each of the girls he
flirted with. When he transferred his
very special attention from one to an
other he did so in the kindliest manner
and seemed always to have warm place
in his heart for the old love. At the
time of which am now writing he was
paying marked attention, even for him,
to Amy Bayliss, the pretty little simple
minded daughter Of the Rev. DR.. Bay liss
rector of st. AIMS church in the village
1t was more than whispered than John
Hurlstone was engaged to ANY Bayliss.
but nothing authoritative was known
upon the subject But the dashing
beauty. Emily Barford. denied the rumor
fatty. and said that John Hurlstone was
not the man to be caught by baby face,
that he was amusing himself with Amy
Bayliss because he saw as every one
could see, that she was dead in love with
him. Emily Barford, like many clever
girl before her, did not understand men
as well as she thought she did. and in
the case Of John Hurlstone was entirely
uhoeAnSA Aic was Juos sho Ahsti, W 10
caught by baby face;" and when Amy
Bayliss rolled her big blue eyes up
towards his and stretched her little mouth
with smile that showed two rows of
the whitest teeth. the big heart of Capt
John swelled to bursting, and he swore
to himself that he was at last madly and
seriously in love.
John Hurlstone had been hard drink
er at different times in his life, but the
folks at home had never seen him under
the influence Of liquor. He either went
without drink altogether or he gave him
self up to it. They used to say in the
army that he could drink the entire mess
under the table. He didn't care much
for champagne, though when he was
thirsty he would fill celery glass anc
drain it to the bottom. But this was done
rather to amuse or astonish his compan.
ions than to slake his thirst Hard
liquors were his choice. and when he
once began on them he kept it up in
way that would have killed most men
He was convivial drinker, and seldom
unless to wipe out the memory of some
thing unpleasant, tpok drink alone
When he had money, he treated the
crowd, when he had none, the crowd
treated him.
When he had money! There was
mystery about Johns money Some.
times he was absolutely penniless; again
he would be quite flush and his pockel
book would be stuffed out with green
backs of large as well as small denomina
tons. His mother was the most unsus-
picious Of women, and when she said to
him one day John, dear where do you
get SO much money!" he answered her in
his most ingenious manner. sealing the
statement with kiss, THE government
owes me lot of back pay, mother, aud
every once in while it pays up. Some
day it will be all paid, then I'll have to
&c to work like Rush and the rest Of the
boys"
She was perfectly satisfied, poor wo-
man. How little she knew--it is just as
well that she didn't-that there were as
hard and daring gamblers in that little