The Opelousas courier., 1901-08-17
TIE OUTWIHTING
OF
/, SORROWFOL jim.

,opmeu To pei LICoCS wa Ao
heing, and he drew in great breaths
~ II feeling a wild sort of pleasure
n the mere fact Of being alive.
Fer once in three years he was happy
and he had oeen in that beatific state
FIR two whole days. The rest of the
.ovbovs Of the outfit did not know
what to make of it. Cayuse Ike swore
"a had been "locoed." For Allyn had
been nicknamed by the camp Sorrow
fnl jim, and to see him boyishly ex-
uberant and in a gay humor was an
unheard-of thing-until the last day
or SO.
ALVIN 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
Il up in disgust, and migrated to the
home of opportunity in hope of getting
rich. But there was another reason
awoman.
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 evenue from them did not
amount to $500 a year. At the rate his
practice was not increasing. Methu-
;elah 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
ii q very common sense light. Com
mon sense was her strong point, until
she met him. Then it deserted her,
and an un~reasoning love for him took
It's place. Still, even then, she had
more Of 1t left than he had to start
with.
"Jim," she said, you are acting very
ioolishly. What does it matter il you
haven't any money? l don't want mon
ey-Ive got enough, or will have,
when | get control of it. The income
from s200,0 900 would keep us very nice
", and would hold us up until you
could establish a 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. It
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 to me. Here | am, an or
phan, with nobody on the earth to love
except an old guardian-and / despise
him. You've made me love you SO that
life without you will be worse than
10 life at all-and now you say you
cannot marry me until you make what
It took my father a 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. / don't want to make
1900. O00-if I had 500. 900 it would be
ell right. And it will not take long
out west / will make it quickly. just
you stand fast, and wait for me-"
"Oh, I'll wait, but I think you are
hateful, and pig-headed, just the same
Would you marry me If | didn't have
any money at all?
Yes, gladly, and we would be happy
too. We would manage, somehow. But
now, my s~elf-respect will not allow
me-
So 1t was that he went TO make his
fortune, and at the same time, peace
with his unduly active conscience. TIC
ais utter disgust, however, he found,
after q 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 lyine
around loose had also played out long
ago, and that 1t took lots Of capital tt
start ranching On a paying basis
Funds were getting low, SO he secured
q place as n of the herdsmen of tho
Xxx 'outft." and. on account of his
crave .demeanor, was promptly named
~ the other cowpunchers "Sorrowfu
llm'-and the name stuck to him.
During all his wanserings he had
written to Nelly as regularly a. pos
slDle, and had begun ito regret in
measure his Puritanicaa conscience. Al
sfO q month and grub, he did not SCI
tnat q fortune was in immediate pros
pecG Absence had indeed made hi.
aeart grow fonder, and he 1onged fol
3 sight OF Neily's laughing eyes ant
dinpled face.
Iet ne would not acknowledge him
self beaten, or that he would give in
much against his inclination he re
NAMED, consumed with q desire to SCI
ner yet impelled to remain In stiff
Aecked pride, acting as avant courieG
saa escort for a lot of wild-eyed, long
horned steers, all the while cursinl
himself for a fool. So he and the res
y tne outfit did not have very mucl
y common together, and he grew NOR
~ more unsociable and lonely.
0laali wonder was it, then, that WheI
g received q letter from her, he fel
.aaA MS voluntary exile was broken
w penance was done, and he was FIRE
Y return to civilization and Nelly.
q come on. Jim. dear sh,
.s.ssf said; that is. of course. IL yov
s.s 70 take an almost dowerles
rue have now only enough left u
s.ang nae In $500 . year-exactIy wha
sop nad. ! do not own another thin
III earth. ! have concluded that tn
Iuney without you is not worth hav
.1s, and as long as you are so stub
sska AD0ut IT, I saw that I must Civ