St. Landry democrat., 1893-08-12
when I showed her where Jim was

The ext morning the widow, who
had sat down at the supper-table the
evening of her arrival in gown of soft
toned gray that at once took all the
boarders captive, surprised every one by
appearing arraycd in a somber robe of
mourning. Her face was pale and sor
rowful, and there was sadness in her
voice that excited the deep sympathy of
all who saw her.
All but one Bradford, the "gentle-
man gambler" whose dark eyes and
| long black mustache had dawned upon
| the camp few months before, wore a
scowl as he got up from the late break
fast table. He had eaten slowly, if in
deed he had eaten anything at all. The
miners had brcakfasted long before;
only a few business men, gamblers and
idlers were at the table, and one by one
they finished their meal and departed,
until only he and the widow remained.
AS he passed her chair on his way out
he stopped and hurriedly whispered:
! ''Fool. what are you doing with that
dress ONE Were you supposed to know
that you were a widow when you
started2 And if not, how do you ex-
| pect to account for that dress between
last night and this morning?' Then,
with suppressed oath, he strobe angrily
| out from the room.
The widow looked frightened She
hastily arose aud went to her room.
The landlord, out on the porch, was
talking to Jerry, and obviously shaking
his head. CHOW, where did she git
them duds?' he said in manner that
impressed Jerry most painfully.
The latter slowly worked his jaws, ex-
pectorating in gloomy silence. At last,
Fac is" he replied, "these here women
is 'stonishin'; me- an you don't know no
more bout 'em than they do of tun'ls,
drifts and wines. | reckon that big
trunk of hern was full of clo'es an she
come pervided for ever contingency. OF
course, she couldn't q knowed as how
Lowry had tlunked till l told 'er; an she
did carry on amazin', tell you"
That mourning costume was the seed
from which sprang curiosity, doubt and
finally suspicion. Mrs. Lowry took pos
session of the little cabin in which her
husband had lived, and there she slept
and did her own cooking. She seldom
showed herself except to attend to bust
ness in connection with the sale
of the mine, transaction that she
showed feverish anxiety to close But
she was at all times gracious and pleasant
to the men, and half the camp were mad
ly in love with her. Independently of
the mine, which was worth a cool hun
dred thousand, if a cent, and which
Lowry had fortunately located in her
name, she could have married any one of
the magnates of the camp finland with
in two days after her arrival, if she had
been so disposed.
Jerry, whom she had selected as her
right-hand man, was altcrnatively exul-
tant and depressed. He became her
slave, and would have jumped down the
deepest shaft On the mountain side if she
had asked him to; and yet he was much
of the time troubled and perplexed.
Gradually he became imbued with the
idea that he had seen Mrs. Lowry before;
but where or when, he vainly cudgcled
his brain to remember. And SO he went
about, doing her bidding, feeling amply
rewarded by the smiles she showered
upon him, her light, jesting talk, of
which he only was the recipient, and her
friendly, familiar ways, that were kept
for him alone. But with his compan-
ions he had become moody, taciturn,
even irritable. He neglected his claim,
and spent half his time knocking around
Jim's cabin, choring for the widow, run
ming crrands and negotiating with Tom
Carroll, the wealthiest mine owner in all
that region, for Mrs Lowry's mine.
From an offer of $4,000 Carroll
finally rose to $4,000, and there he
stuck.
''It's like stealin' it, an you know it,
exclaimed Jerry, wrathfully.
cts all can stand,' was the bland
reply. IF the widow can get more, all
right; shan't begrudge her the money"
And Carroll turned away.
The widow was eager to accept the
amount offered.
"An' throw away 100000" growled
Jerry. "Its FORUM in itself. You
can get what the mines worth if you
DON'T rush SO blame tas' You got all
summer before you. Kctch me lettin'
that swindlin' Carroll get away with the
mine like that; it's worse'n stage rob-
bin''
But the widow was obdurate She
must return east; she needed money at
once; she had left dear sister almost
on her death bed; she couldn't manage
the mine if she kept it; and if Carroll
should change his mind she would not
probably be able to sell it at ala dozen
other reasons that came promptly and
plausibly from her persuasive lips.
And so, exactly one week from the day
Of her arrival, the bargain was concIud-
ed. The next day the papers were to be
prepared and the transfer duly made, and
the following day Mrs. Lowry was to
start on her return trip East.
Jerry was in an ugly mood that even
ing, and even his most intimate compan-
ions let him severely alone. For three
hours he sat at a poker game, and during
all that time he did not utter q word,
except to sullenly name his bets, call for
his cards and demand his drinks. He
drank heavily, and lost heavily as he
drank. In the subsequent expressive
language of the barkceper, Jerry played |
the rottcnes' game that ever disgraced !
the house. He's worse than down on his
luck; since the widow came he's got to |
he a blinkin' ijet. He ought to swaller
a few ounces of of nitro glycerinc an
then set down hard on rock; it might |
knock some sense into him."
When j TRY, his last dollar gone, arose
from the gaming table he stalked straight
out into the night. The stars were shin
ing large and luminous in that clear
atmosphere; the air was cool
and sweet, and high up on the mountain
side the tall pines were peacefully dream
inc in the shadows. But the gEories of |