The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-09-01
OUTLAWED.
BY j. L. Harbour.
THE DAY after the funeral of Jared

THE DAY after the funeral of Jared
Coomb his five orphaned children
were sitting oun the kitchen stove,
trying. as Martha, the eldest, said, to
look the situation in the face"
Martha was 16 years old; Ann, the
next oldest, was IA; then there were
three little boys, Jerry, Leander and
Horace.
Their mother had been dead three
years, and their father had been an in
valid for two years. He had at one time
been a fairly prosperous man, but not
within the memory of his children, and
he had never said much about his "bet-
ter days"
The people in the town where the
Coombses lived wondered vaguely
what in the world those children
would do now" and Martha had lain
awake nights trying to solve the same
problem. Her mind was made up to one
thing-they would all stick together"
The house of foul rooms in which
they lived was their own, and Martha
had exactly S25 in the world.
The day after Mr.. Coombs' funeral
was raw and dull. One of the neighbors
had made Martha promise to come to
her house for dinner, and bring all of
the other children with her.
Everybody has been so kind" Mar
tina was saying to her sister and BROTH
ers. She had in her lap some papers
that she had taken from the tin box in
which her father had kept them for
years. Most OF them were yellow with
age, and some of them fell apart at the
creases when they were unfolded. Some
hadseals, and were clearly legal papers;
others seemed to be old notes and bills,
and there were a good many business
letters.
As Mr.. Coombs had told Martha that
none OF the papers were of any value,
and had advised her to burn them, she
now removed a lid of the kitchen stove
and began to drop them, one by one, on
the Goals. She had burned most of
them, when she picked up a folded pa
per, on the back of which was written,
in her fathers hand:
This man | trusted above all others,
and my loss of confidence in him
grieves me more than the loss of the
money he should have paid me. But on
what l know to be my death-bed, 1 for
give Justin Gye all the loss and sorrow
he has caused me-"
Father could never hold a grudge
against anyone" said Martha to her
self, as she unfolded the paper. She
spread the document out on her knee.
1t was a promissory note for $1,000,
signed by Justin d. eye. 1t had no in
dorser, and Mr.. Coombs had written in
red ink across the face Of it this single |
word: "Outlawed."
Martha looked at the date of the note.
1t was 80 years old.
81 wonder who this Justin D. Gye
was, and 1 wonder what 'outlawed'
means" said Martha. I'm going to ask
Mr.. Marston about it when we go over
there to dinner, and I'm going to keep
this note, because, when 1 think of it, 1
of poor fathers handwriting in the
house"
Nj. Marston told Martha that the
word "outlawed," written on the note,
meant that the money due could not be
collected by law, and that a note was
worthless after a certain number of
years.
IF your father has written out
laweP on the note, it is of no value"
concluded Mr.. Marston.
"But q promise to pay ought to be
good at any time" said Martha.
1T ought to be, but unfortunately, it
isn't good in the written law. The
moral law is another matter" said Mr..
Marston.
When Martha went back home she
took the note from the drawer in which
she had placed it, and read it again. a
few minutes later she busted herself
with some kitchen duties. Her pantry
shelves needed clean papers on them.
Martha removed the things from the
shelves, and took several papers from
Q bundle Mrs. Marston had given her.