The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-08-02
THE 0UTHIlTING
OF
SORROWFUL jim.

. east Whefe the sun was scarce an
hour high The fresh, braclng air
seemed to Smeate every fibre of his
being, and drew in great breath5
of 1t, feeling a wild sort of pleasure
in the mere fact of being alive
For once in three years he was happy
and he had been in that beatific 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
ful Jim, and to see him boyishly ex-
uberant and in a gay humor was an
unheard-of thing-until the last day
or so.
Allyn had once made the mistake Of
considering life a very serious matter,
indeed. And when, after trying for a
year to practice law, and not getting
any one to practice upon, he had given
1t up in disgust, and migrated to the
home of opportunity in hope of getting
rich. But there was another reason
woman.
During his idle hours, Allyn had
fallen in love. And he took that very
seriously also. It 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 year At the rate his
practice was not increasing Methu-
selah would have been a youngster
compared with Allyn, if he waited for
the revenue from his profession to en-
able him to marry.
Nelly, however, looked at the matter
in very common sense light Com
mon sense was her strong point, until
she met him. Then it deserted her,
and an unreasoning love for him took
its place. Still, even then, she had
more of it left than he had to start
with.
Jim, she said, you are acting very
~foolishly. What does it matter if you
haven't any money? don't want mon
ey-I've got enough, or will have,
when I get control Of it. The income
from 100000 would keep us very nice
ly, and would hold US up until you
could establish paying practice Now
don't be silly"
Nelly" he replied, solemnly, Il can
not afford to marry you now. People
would say that l married you for
your money-and don't intend to put
myself in a position where such a mo-
tive could be imputed to me. 1t
would be unjust to me, and to you"
j "Well, JIM" and there were tears in
her voice. Il don't think you are act
ing fairly to me- Here l am, an or
phan, with nobody on the earth to love
except an old guardian-and l despise
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 accu-
mulate. Why, by that time, I'll have
wrinkles, and, maybe, false teeth and
glasses, and be a horrid, snuffy, fussy
old woman.
mo, Nell. I don't want to make
S200,000-if I had 100000 it would be
all right. And it will not take long
out west l will make it quickly. Just
you stand fast, and wait for me"
ooh, I'll wait, but I think you are
1 hateful, and pig-headed just the same
slWould you marry rae if | didn't have
any money at all?
Eyes, gladly, and we would be happy,
too. We 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 unduly active conscience. To
his utter disgust, however, he found
after 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 lying
around loose had also played out long
ago, and that it took lots of capital to
start ranching on a paying basis,
Funds were getting low, so he secured
h place as one of the herdsmen Of the
Xxx "outfit," and, on account of his
grave demeanor, was promptly named
by the other cowpunchers "Sorrowful
Jim"-and the name stuck to him.
y During all his wanderings he had
written to Nelly as regularly as pos
|sible, and had begun to regret in a
Nmeasure his Puritanical conscience. At
)s40 a month and grub, he did not see
that a fortune was in immediate pros
pect Absence had indeed made his
N heart grow fonder, and he longed for