The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-05-31
ENDURING FAITH.


&N MH
The Heart story 81 Ons Msn who Had
Loved Ons Woman.
dcn't tell this story a. I reflection OF
w~omankind. I only tell Il. 10 ahow that III,
faith Of scune men Id beyond destroying
This 10 about = man who lovsd 4 woman.
He had been . young fellow from . New
England town. He had 1 little monsy, but
hs had spent about eli OIL In ! wild COL.
lego career In tho few months following
his graduation. He was not 4 man Of any
special a~ttsinrnsnts, but whom b. had only
. few dollars left he was ~ chesrfnl y Al
he fell In love. He had no chance Of mar
ryinR heF then, for shs was 4 Young woman
Of society. Jack told me all about II when
came 10 know hin1. ont west. She had
told him that she loved him, and he packed
ont I Q Colorado on the next day TO mako
never knew another man 10 work 20
hard % Jack. Every dollar that he earned
hs saved. He would work night and dav
for the extra pay. No labor could tire him;
eyes. He did mot mind cold or storms any
more b ! polar bsaF.. He was tbs inoar-
nation Of rssnluti0n and endurance.
Jack invested his drst earnings In cattle.
watched his OWN herd. and worked a. usual
ior his old employer. He made money rap.
81 AMsyt O0S No ~ YIN OuO JOO 4EOu utA
terrible 6ght. II was, move, move. all the
time. And never one letter from that
woman. He did not expect IL. He did not
need II. A thousand times he told me how
she loved him.. Onee he showed me soms
pictures Of her. ! think tho only time he
ever wasted was In looking At them. She
was : beautiful woman. with : finely poised
head. ! curving neck. and eyes that looked
down into ones soul.
/ could zoe Jack half smiling whom I
looked 81 the picture.
shes very BEAUTIFUL / said.
'6hs'aa good deal better than that he
answered softly.
You may imagine how interested I got In
the boy, and how glad / was at his success.
The time cams when he decided that he
Of then and was deyoting all his time Ia
his own herd.
That winter was a fearful one. Every
thing that lived seemed to die. Men and
cattle were swept of on oil sides. There
was no living in those winds and that snow
that was always driving like cold lightning
or piling up in mountains. There was too
much 70 do in the thick OF IL ali for anyone
to think much about the future; but when
spring came and Jack looked at the skele-
tons Of his dead cattle and the skin and
bone Of the few that we're left alive he was
q ruined man.
never heard him complain. For 4 few
days he looked like a man who was hard
hit around his heart; but after that he
ven TO work again 40 he had begun. with
He asked me once II I thought she would
wonder at the length Of his stay ont there.
] told him / did not believe that she would,
and the poor boy wrunR my hand until my
A man who workedlike him couldn,t heln
getting on his feet again. He fought on in
the old way until he had HE own herd
again.
i rode in to the railroad to see him of. Il
cant explain to You the expression Of his
race when ne left me. 1t was something
like that of a man who has got out Of hell
and 10 in heaven. The boy promised TO
write me the drst thing be found her, but
he did not. He came back in a month.
His face was white and he was ten years
older.
Good God Jack" I said, taking his
hand, rs she deady'
NO" he said quietly, she's married and
has three children. 1t was my fault" he
said. looking at me squarsly, for he know
what was on or my mind. "You see I never
wrote her"
Never : reproach nor q regret passed biz
lips, but he was not the same Jack. He
seem to care after that whether he
made money or not. He eouldn't bear to
think Of the east, and he stayed out there,
trying to lake An interest in our affairs.
But one day he came to mo with the old
light IN his eyes. lie was in a frenzy 10 get
away. He. had a letter from her, and If
ever there had been anything to forgive he
forgave it. fol-. all he could say was: God
bless her God bloss her 4"
| want to tell the rest Of this story in a
few words. You see, there had been a hor-
rible scandal. Her husband turned out
bad. There was some frightful Disgrace
or embezzlement or something like
That. 1t took every dollar Jack had to save
the devil; the boy let the whole thing 90 for
her sake. He sold out every hoof, and
guess borrowed all he could. But at any
rate ne saved them. for when he got back
he told me that nobody knew about it ex-
cept the bank, her. her husband and Jack.
] shouldn't have known him when he GOT
back. He was gone to pieces. He wasthin
and his eyes were in hollows. Sometimes
his face looked as if knives were turning
round his heart. You see, what broke him
was that he had learned that her husband 4
vas a brute and had kept her in hell--a {
Forss hell than his own. When the first
'old weather came, he took to his bed, and
me day he turned over quietly with a big
ear on his drawn cheed and died. :,
You know some things in this world seem :
lard. We all expect to take hard knocks. e
Jack.-New York Tribune.