Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-02-16
Story Of a
Spendthrift
By ESTHER VANDEVEER

century, when 100000 was considered
Il gigantic sum. Dut 1t was not too
big for Jimmie to get away with In a
few years. He spent it In every con-
ceivable way. First and foremost, he
was devoted to horses; second, he
dotted on dogs; third, he was fond of
cards; fourth, he was always want
ing to fight some one. Jimmie veered
between these attractions as a wealth
er cock swings between the -four points
Of the compass. By the by, this re-
minds me that he was also given to
c~ockfghting.
Well, after Jimmie had run through
all his money he continued to spend
on tick. This lasted till he heard the
bailiffs were after him, when, in order
to escape them, he enlisted in the cav
airy and was sent to his regiment fight
ing Indians In a territory which Is now
called the middle west. This gave him
one of his favorite amusements, for he
was on a horse all the while. Occa-
sionally there were races at the post.
and he figured as a jockey.
There was no reason why Jimmie
Temple should not have continued to
serve indefinitely in the army, where
he was very happy, for he secured a
commission, except that he loved a
girl In Baltimore. Miss Belle Ashurst
was the daughter of a rich man, but
his wealth didn't do her any good, so
far as uniting her to Lieutenant Tenn
pie, for her father had no idea of per-
uniting his daughter to marry such a
scapegrace. But the lovers pinned for
each other, and Belle was continually
writing Jim to come back, just as II
he could go where he pleased.
So 1t was that In time Jim resigned,
and when his resignation was accept
ed headed straight for Baltimore.
Naturally enough, Jim's creditors
were on the lookout for him, and as
soon as he appeared In Baltimore some
of them got wind Of the fact. Jim
realized that If he was to enjoy the So
ciety Of his girl he must keep out of
limbo, SO he went into hiding. He
kept dark during the daytime and, like
the animals of the forest, did his PROV
ling at night. An attorney employed
by his creditors discovered his lair, but
dare not force an entrance, for this
would render him liable to action for
trespass.
This attorney-Markham was his
name-having learned about Jim's lido
syncrasies, especially his fondness for
horses, one morning sent a boy in the
uniform of a Jockey to ride a horse
that was anything but a racer back
and forth before the debtors abode. It
was not long before Jim threw up a
window and called out: Hi, you, there!
Do you expect to win a ace with that
bundle of bonesT' Markham, who was
under the window, began to read Jim
a summons, but he had not read half
a dozen words before down came the
sash.
This ruse having failed, Markham
bethought himself of another. One
bright morning he and a deputy
brought a couple Of cocks to a vacant
lot beside Jim's hiding place and set
them to fighting. The cocks were fur.
nished with steel spurs, but a spur on
one of the cocks was turned so that
it was useless to the bird who wore 1t.
Jim watched the fight from behind
blinds, and when he saw one of the
birds being slaughtered for the lack of
a properly fixed spur it was too much
for him. Throwing open the blinds, he
called out: "What do you want to
treat a cock that way for? Don't you
see
He got no further. Some one on the
ground beneath the window. thrust a
pole under the sash so that Jim could
not lower 1t, and a voice began to read
a legal document. Jim jumped out the
window, knocked the paper out of the
hands of the reader, sent the man who
held the pole sprawling, in a jiffy was
back through the window, and the
sash came down.
One night when he was leaving Miss
Ashurst's home he was accosted on the
street by a gentleman, who said to
him:
my friend, 1 have been playing the
bank at Watson's recently. 1 have in
vented a system by which I expect to
break it. I am in love with a young
lady whose father has informed me
that If I ever enter a gambling house
again it shall be all up between mi
and his daughter. Would you kindly
consent to play for me tonight?'
The man gave Jim his system, and
Jim was seized with a desire to see
how it worked. He took 500 the man
gave him ana suffered himself to be
conducted to Watson's. He had scarce
ly entered the well lighted rooms
when he was bereft of his disguise
and, being recognized, was forced to
listen to the reading of q summons,
for the door was locked behind him.
Jim spent a term in the debtors
prison, which was ended by the death
of his girls father. The day after the
funeral Belle paid her lovers debts.
He was released from the prison and
appeared on the fashionable prone