Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1901-02-21
THE OUTWITTING OF
SORROWFUL JIM.

Allyn RODE across the prairie joyous
ly and looked longingly toward the
east, where the sun was scarce an hom
| high. The fresh, bracing air seemed n
permeate every fiber of his being. and
he drew in great breaths of it. feelino
wild sort of pleasure in the mere fact
/ of being alive.
For once in three years he was han.
/ py, and he had been in that beatifc
state for two whole days. The rest of
the cowboys of the outfit did not know
what to make of it. Cayuse Ike swore
! he had been "locoed," for ALLYN had
been nicknamed by the camp Sorrow.
/ full Jim, and to see him boyishly exlI-
berant and in a gay humor was an un.
heard Of thing until the last day or So
Allyn had once made the mistake of
considering life a very serious matter
indeed, and then, after trying for a
year to practice law and not getting
any one to practice upon he had given
it up in disgust and migrated to the
home of opportunity in hope of getting
| rich.
/ During his idle hours Allyn had fall
en- in love, and he took that very seri-
ously also. 1t went hard with him, for
! he had nothing on earth except a few
bonds an old aunt had left him. and
the revenue from them did not amount
to $500 a year. At the rate his prac-
tice was not increasing Methuselah
would have been a youngster compared
with Allyn if he waited for the revenue
from his profession to enable him to
! marry.
"Jim," she said, "you are acting very
foolishly. What does it matter if you
haven't any money? 1 don't want mon
ey. I've got enough, or will have when
l am "a, when l get control Of it. That
would keep us very nicely and would
| hold us up until you could establish a
paying practice. Now don't be silly"
nelly" he said solemnly 81 cannot
afford to marry now. People would
say that l married you for you money,
and | don't intend to put myself in
| position where such a motive could
be imputed to me. 1t would be unjust
to me and to you"
"Well, JIM" and there were tears in
her voice, 81 don't think you are act
ing fairly toward me. Here | am an
! orphan, with nobody on the earth to
love except an old guardian, and
| dnspise him. You've made me love YOU
so that life without you will be worse
than no life at all, and now you say
| you cannot marry me until you make
what it took my father lifetime to
accumulate. Why, by that time III
| have wrinkles and maybe false teeth
and glasses and be a horrid, snuffy
| frssy old woman"
mo, Nell, don't want to make $780,.
600. If | had 100000 it would be all
right. And it viii not take long. Out
west l will make it quickly. Just you
stand fast and wait for me-"
"Oh, I'll wait, but l think you are
hateful and pigheaded just the same
Would you marry me if l hadn't any
money at alp @
"Yes, gladly, and we would be happy
too, You would manage somehow But
now my self respect will not allow
me-"
So it was that he went to make his
fortune and at the same time peace
with his updlly active conscience. To
his utter disgust he found, after a
| years prospecting, that gold mines
were not at all plentiful, and that
/ every foot of the mountains had been
| prospected over time and again. A
! year in Mexico assured him that the
| business of finding silver mines living
around loose had also played out long
ago. and that it took lots of capital to
start ranching on paying basis.
FUNDS were getting low, so he secured
a place as one of the herdsmen of the
| AAA outfit and on account of his
grave demeanor was promptly named
| by the other cowpunchers SorroWful
JIM And the name stuck to him.
! During all his wanderings he had
written to Nell as regularly as possible
and had begun to regret in a measure
his Purtanical conscience At $40 a
month and grub he did not see that a
fortune was in immediate prospect
Absence had indeed made his heart
| grow fonder, and he longed for SIGHT
of Nell's laughing eyes and dimpIed
4
| face,
Yet he would not acknowledge him
self beaten or that he would give in.
Much against his inclination he re-
manned consumed with desire to SOC
her. yet impelled to remain in stiff
necked pride. acting as avant courier
and escort for lot of wild eyed. long
horned steers, all the while cursinr
himself for 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 letter from her he felt
that his voluntary exile was broken.
His penance was done, and be was free
to return to civilization and Nelly.
You come on. Jim, dear" the ,etter
said-''that is. of course. if you care TO
take an almost dowerless bride. I have
now only enough left to bring me I'm
$500 a year-exactly what you had I
do not own another thing on earth I
had concluded that the money without
you Is not worth having, and as long
i as you are so stubboru ahout "a