The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-09-27

y Jared CoomDs MS uVe
orphaned children were sit
ting around the kitchen
stove, trying, as Martha, the eldest,
said, to "look the situation in the
face"
Martha was sixteen years old; Ann,
the next oldest, was fourteenI then
there were three little boys-Jerry. !
Leander and Horace.
Their mother had been dead three |
years, and their father had been an !
invalid for two years. He had at
one time been q fairly prosperous man,
but not within the memory of his chill
dren, and he had never said much
about his better 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 to-
gether."
The house of four rooms, in which
they lived, was their own, and Martha
had exactly twenty-five dollars In the
world.
The day after Mr. Coombs' funeral
was raw and dull. One of the neigh
bors 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" said
Martha to her sister and brothers.
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 un-
folded. Some had seals, and were
clearly legal papers; others seemed
to be old notes and bills, and there
were a good many business letters.
AS Mr.. Combs had told Martha thai
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 b,
one on the Goals. She had burneC
most of them, when she picked up
folded paper, On the back OF whic
was written in her fathers hand
"Tbis man trusted above all Others
and nv loss of confidence IN hlI
qrieves me more than the loss of th
money he should have paid me. 81
On what I know to be my death-be'
forgive Justin Gye all the loss an
sorrow he has caused me"
"Father could never hold a grudt
against any one" said Martha to he
self rs she unfolded the paper 81
enread the document out on her kne
# was a promissory note for five tho
sand dollars, signed by Justin D. Gy
II had no indorser, and Mr.. Coon
had written in red ink across the Ia
of It this single word, "Outlawed.'
Martha looked at the date of I
note. 1t was thirty years old.
81 wonder who this Justin D. y
was and 1 wonder what outlaw
means" said Martha. I'm going
ask Mr.. Marston about it when we
over there to dinner, and l am gol
to keep this note, because when
think of it. don't believe there
another line of poor fathers haI
writing in the house"
Mr.. Marston told Martha that
word "outlawed" written on the NJ
mean that the money due could
no collected by law and that a \
was worthless after a certain mum
of years. 49, :,
III your father has written
lawed' on the note, it is Of no YAH
concluded Mr.. Marston
"But a promise to pay ought TO
GOOD at any time" said Martha.
at ought to be, but unfortunatel
isn't good in the written law.
moral law is another matter
Mr.. Marston.
when Martha went back home