The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-08-14
by MAY BELLEvmLE BROWN
IsI5JNIIIIIIII!LlJIslJ 'IIIAIILLIIIIILLIJLJ

full, and the hitching-posts each teth-
cred its saddled horse There were
high-heeled boots with jingling spurs,
reckless-looldng sombreros, cartridge
belts and full holsters, as we'll as leath-
er and befringed leggings, but the
crowd about the gray and weather.
beaten cottonwood building was de-
corous one.
Even those who came and went
through the swing doors of the Cow
boys Rest down street did so in a sub
dued way. Had a stranger, expecting
Vociferation and reckless shooting,
questioned the state of affairs, Timber
Jack, the erstwhile Bad Man of Wax
haw. would have explained.
Don't talk too loud, or Miss Naryyll
git after ye. She don't like a racket
when she's sortin' the mail"
The men lounged and talked, ex-
changing tobacco, the news Of the
range and frequent libations Suddenly
the postofice door opened. and there
was a hush. An erect, well-built woman
Of about thirty-fve stood there. The
sun caught the ripples Of her red hair,
turning them to copper; her mouth
was set in a grim line as she looked
stenly across the crowd.
"YQu Samuel Smith" Her voice
drifted commandingly even into the in
terror of the Cowboys Rest. Your
bronchos scratching itself against the
south wall fit to knock the house over.
If you men amt more careful you can
not hitch here at all"
A dozen men sprang with alacrity in
answer to her complaint, and as many
more reproYed the owner of the Of
Tending animal, who was Smiling Sam
TO all but Miss Merry, and who meek
ly 4ed the pony away.
Juno Minerva her father had named
her, and he had fondly hoped that in
his only daughter might be united the
wisdom and the beauty of her goddess
godmothers. These she came to pos
Bess only in a moderate degree; also
from Minerva, peThaps-she inherited
"a temper
Her father, early widowed, had be-
taken himself and his young goddess to
the plains of the setting sun, where in
the heart of the great grazing country
he established a small store at trad
ing point on one of the great stage
lines. He died while his daughter was
yet young, tbs genera! opinion upon
his taking off being 6pitolAlzed ny u
Merristalk when he said, How glad the
old man must be to be good an dead,
an whar Miss Merry can't boss him
fer q SPELL"
Blamed eff she don't try to reggelate
every Twin one O. u.s." Timber Jack
, would complain. "Jaws us eff we don't
change our shirts, er eff we run our
HOSES er take a hand at a quiet little
game. Allays two kinds o'\ things is
wrong-them we do, an them we don I
don't do-so anyway she's sure to SKIN
7us."
hRespite their fault-fnding, the men
vs. vs. frequented Waxhaw secretly ad'
mired and gloried in the possession
~ Miss Merry. The very fearlessness
and the high temper that rendered the,
contraction of her name fitting one
caused them to respect her. She was,
neat and businesslike; the goods IN
her little store were irreproachaDie;
as. postmistress she was accurate; her
arraignments, if severe, were usually
acknowledged to be well grounded
and above all, she was woman.
Today the crowd that awaited the
sorting Of the mail displayed, with
all it's decorum, a suppressed excite
mont After much discussion Of ways
and means whereby Miss Nervy's Sc
verify might be lessened, some OF tne
more daring ones had hit upon tne
scheme of furnishing their goddess
with a sutton.
Love" declaimed Timber Jack &c
4be campfire circle-"not the phliah
DORM firth that most O. us has done
hut reggelar, squashly love, that means
swim, up to the same post-sotten'
4be hardest-hearted, which means Mis-
Nervv. lords the whole world, whicl
means us. Wen choose a likely duel
10 b'sIege our fair postmissis, an trus
the rest to him an Providence
After much deliberation, Tom Ketci
nm who had been Ncrvy Tom unit
Miss Merry wrested away his laurel
Was selected as the Horatius Of Wa
haw