The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-11-24

So IL was that he went 70 make his
fortune. and at the same time, peace
with his unduly active conscience. To
his utter disgust, he found, after a
years prospecting, that gold mines
we're not at all plentiful, and that every
foot of the mountains had been pros
pected over time and again, A year in
Mexico assured him that the business Of
finding silver mines lying around loose
had also played out, and that it took
lots Of capital TO start ranching on a
paying basis. Funds were getting low,
so he seeured placed one Of the herds.
men Of the xxx outfit and on ace
kcount Of his grave demeanor, was
promptly named by the other COW
punchers %"Sorrowful JIM" and the
name stuck to him.
During all his wanderingsy he had
written to Nellie as regularly as pos
sible, and had begun to regret in a
measure bis puritanical conscience. At
$40 a month and grub he did not see
that a fortune was in immediate pros
pect. Absence had indeed made his
heart grow fonder, and he longed for a
sight Of Nelly's laughing eyes and
dimpled face.
Yet he would not acknowledge him
self beaten, or that he would give in.
Much against his inclination he re-
manned, consumed with a desire to
see her, yet impelled to remain in stiff
hecked pride, acting as avant courier
and escort for a lot Of wild-eyed, long,
horned steers, all the while cursing
himself for a fool. So he and the rest Of
the outfit did not have very much in
common together, and he grew more
and more unsociable and lonely.
Small wonder was it, then, that
when he received a letter from her, he
felt that his voluntary exile was brok.
en-his penance was done, and he was
free to return to civilization and Nelly.
"You can come on, Jim, DEAR" the
letter said; fthat is, of course, if you
care to take a dowerless bride. Ihave
only enough left to bring me in three
hundred a year-exactly what you
had. I do o W another thing on
earth. Ihave concluded that the mon
ey without you is not worth having,
and as long as you are so stubborn
about it, I saw that 1 must give in, so
I have done so, gladly. I have gotten
to be t~wenty-four, as you know, and
have absolute control of my property.
So, in order to get you, I have given
away my fortune.
"You have cost me nearly two hum
bred thousand dollars, so I'm of the
opinion you had better come on and de-
tliver yourself up as a victim. I don't
proposeto tell you another thing about
Lit, as you have no right to know, now.
After-after-oh, well, some time, I
will tell you what / did with the rest
of the money, but just now it is no
affair of yours. You will simply have
to take my word for it. Come on, Jim,
am anxious to see you"
So it was that Jim was happy. He
had only two nor daye Il wait, then
he would get his months wages. He
had four hundred dollars saved up, and
he reflected that he and Nell would
manage to get along nicely on that
for awhile. His pride was riding RAM
pant, also, and his conscience was very
self-satisied, indeed, for had he not
held out against the allurements OF
beauty, wealth, position, ease-every-
thing? 1t was a victory well worth re-
joicing over.
The ceremonw was over, the few in
innate friends had taken their depar,
; ture, and Jim and Nell looked at each
other in a bewildered sort of way.
81 think we ought totake a trip, Jim
I PMS SO deadly tired of this place don't
E know what to do. Let's go to Europe
I've always wanted to go there"
"Nelly, F you daft? Ican't afford
a trip to Europe, and you know it-ant
you haven't any money, either, so how
are we to go?"
! 81 think it is very unkind for a per
q son of your wealth to be taunting m,
J with my poverty. For a man as rich a
you, I think you are undoubtedl,
Z F'close.'" Her eyes twinkled merrily
; IT want 10 go to Europe, and now Nv
a got you to go with me, you ought to b
glad of the opportunity
} "Nell, dear, if I could afford it, yoi
know / would be delighted to tax
you"
t. "Well, you can afford IT,"
t, 81 tell you I cannot"
d 81 know better, you can. Why, ids
look at these" and she handed him
.e bundle Of books and papers. He pickle
% up the first one and read from the il
side page; 'First national bank, in az
count with James M. Allyn. Depo.
r tied May /, SIS, 200; May 9, $4,000; Ma
t IL, $4,000"
Il What does this mean, NeuPo h
81 asked, wonderingly, as he locked a
ID an~otherbook and read: Received Ma
2, 9, bonds, mortgages, stocks and secul
d tiles, duly transferred and assigned 4
James NJ. Allyn and aggregating $3.50
900, and more particularly described a
Il follows: The Trust and Safe Deposi
o. company" Nelly was hugely enjoyin
II the situation. She sated herself on tb
10 arm of his chair, and said:
h 'You dear old stupid, mulish, stul
It born thing, I told you the truth, fc
I reserved just enough to bring n
RS three hundred a year"
re "WeIl, IN be-" she kissed him an
a, stopped the word. "Are we going /
il EurOpe2" she asked.
I "Yes, I think I'd enjoy the trip m,