Trail and Camp-Fire 



of his affections, had it not been for his pros- 

 pective father-in-law. Why the stern parent 

 objected was not quite clear, but he did so, 

 and finally his animosity attained to such a 

 pitch that Cherry thought it safer to leave the 

 country, as the old gentleman was a dead shot 

 and afflicted with a villainous temper. Being 

 offered the alternative of migrating or of 

 making a target of himself if he remained, he 

 chose the former, and was forced to depart on 

 such short notice that he was compelled to 

 leave behind him his 80,000 Suffolk Punches, 

 his ranch, and everything else of value he pos- 

 sessed. Up to the time of this conversation 

 Cherry had not succeeded in retrieving his 

 fortunes, but lived in the daily hope of doing 

 so, and, indeed, according to his own account, 

 Dame Fortune had so often and so unexpect- 

 edly taken a hand in his affairs that I should 

 not be surprised at anything that might hap- 

 pen. I never read an account of some new 

 western Monte Cristo that my thoughts do 

 not instinctively turn to Cherry, as the possible 

 possessor of this hastily acquired wealth. He 

 could travel the whole road from poverty to 

 wealth and back again in less time than any 

 man I ever heard of. 



58 



