The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-12-12
LAS Norris
Brave Start.

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WXXXVXVWWWXX
man and q boy cannot do much
+ Nty acres. Mrs. Norris knew IL,
> she had tried. Her husband
{ her the farm, 100 acres, and
d done her best with It. She
pit her boy Silas at school, she
anted berries, trimmed vines,
lor the orchard, MIXED her own
I'D tended the chickens, but
~ 81 she didn't get ahead much.
\ watched her boy grow from
zen, freckle-faced child into a
Pulking. stoop-shouldered man
Year after year she had seen
rlmony diminished till the 129-
we're reduced to fifty. He could
write and figure and he was
III with machinery. Sometimes
thved that the farm was hold
gAback" and that she should
Ito the city to make his
hd
Bhe loved him now even IS she
ged him when he was all that
It to her of company, Of affec-
" hope. He looked as his father
AAAlen they were married. He
born in the cottage in which
hyr had been born. The berry
Z the orchard, the fve-acre
", the rickety henhouse, the
which ran past the pasture lot,
] her eyes TRANSPORTED by the
dge that they were his, that
Jay her boy would own them in
right and make his home there
s,ds days. And so she strug
Ping, doing her own work, max
lending. planting, herself the
st and the swiftest of the berry
the first in the field in the
&, the last to bed at night.
was thin now, with whitening
d sallOw cheeks, hands Drowned
dened with the work, Shout
topped with bending over the
sad the wash-tub. Silas, the
AS big and red. There were
and pimples on his wide, ex-
face and he had been shaved
d times. He was commencing
on the ways Of a man, for he
, the Saturday night dances at
anding, bought an occasional
deer from the steward of the
y 1t May Graham, and smoked
III with the confident assurance
.rson of affairs. When he went
10 the landing with his load Of
he hailed Captain Fykes as
and called the amiable clerk
e." He had a personal &C
nee with John Egan, the first
md had no hesitation in slap
~ on the back and asking,
/, 1affic, John?" The widow had
and admired these evidences
Sdening character, and deep in
nd recesses of her heart she
hat her boy Silas was "cut OUT
han of business, that he had a
before him and that the narrow
Psents of a small fruit farm
apg him back"
i'm id been to st. Joe and Ben
lDor more than 20 times. He
he heap of trading" and the
mosphere was the breath of in
IN to his nostrils He had
ch year the incursion of smart
ers" from Chicago, and seeing,
II to look, to feel, to act as they
lll of this ambition he talked
hCf3sr about taking boarders."
il ger than farming, he said,
re profitable. The Joneses had
and made money enough to
enty acres of the Norris farm
Nj give him q chance to get &C.
ID, who knows but it might give
opening" an opportunity to
Chicago? The boys eyes
at the very thought, and Mrs
hntger to help her boy along
ading the prospect Of losing
fed her selfish hopes Of having
II to herself" and advertised
inner boarders.
widening hopes Of the possible
converting the little farm into
ilar resort" they planted only
'or the maintenance of a few
nj They figured on cutting
5ty barn into halves and max
ages gof it. June, July and hall
ust came and went, and they
ny letters Of inquiry about the
he water. the mosquitoes, the
the terms, the roads, the
he beds, and the general &C