Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1856-04-18
,fruu Chambers .tuul


Nr FELLOW TRAVELLER AND Ito say
merely lit raincd,' does not usually describe
the state Of the weather. There NAV have
been wind at the lme time, and the rain
may hayebeen n conn plcmont snashtd against
your face and window: or it may have been
bitterly cold, and the rain may have counted
only as an additional discomfort. But one
day have before my memory, it rained and
did nothing else There was neither cold
nor warmth enough to divert your feelings {:
there was no breath of air to disturb the
perpendicuarity of the drops and no pros
pectof country you could see through them.
Down came the heavy glohules in mathcmat-
ical lines splash went the water against the
level road round went the wheels Of the ve-
hicle with monotonOus rumble and away
bowled we over the wet, streaming, endless
plains of the Netherlands
There was only one passenger with me in
the coupee and he was worse than nobody,
by several chalks. Solitude would have been
endnrable but to be shut up in compulsory
co'1 onship with man whose language
you @aunot speak. and who-annot speak
yours, 10 dro"Lf"l, ,'." VI. r,lrow v,os
frenchman the moment | set eyes on him,
and the cool easy impudencc with which he
said .Pardon p when he knocked my hat
from the seat, on coming in, confirmed the
fact. Ny knowledge of French had been ac-
ouircd at school, and went only as far as
reading and could not yet refrain from an
insular blush when | was obliged to try to
wreak my thought upon expression. This
individual, however, reused me. | looked
upon him somehow as an unauthorized intru-
der and it was with reckless air ! made
n remark to him in his own language about
the wcather-ust to show him that | could
speak French If chose, and didn't care Il
snap of my finger whether it was good or
bad. | think | SAID QHel2c piWc y | encoun-
tered his eyes, however, at the moment, and
quite smile, as he muttered 'MaHrGis tcmps,
demolished me. had fallen, doubtless into
some unhappy cacology and we both looked
out of the window at the rain-l to conceal
my confusion and he, Of course, to conceal a
rnecr, with all the distressing politcncss Of
his countrymen.
A situation OF this kind is more embarras-
sing that one feels obliged to say something.
Here was a man, Il wcll-dressed respectable
nay rather n gentlemanly person, with intel
igent eyes that seemed to understand me; and
to sit alone with him, hour after hour. all
day and all night, without opening my lips
was impossible. lie felt this himselt-l was
sure he did for whenever | made an at
tempt, he listened earnestly, as if anxious t.
TO make out what would he at, without
troubling me to repeat, and then replied il
few words, as if unwilling to exhibit any col
loquial superiority. | at last began to lik'
the fellow, and to be more and more sorr,
and ashamed that was unable to conyers
with him, Sometimes he took the initatiy
himself; and when | could not exactly catc
his meaning, always kindly and laboriousl
repeated what he had said, OCCASIONAL
varying the expression to make it nor
clear.
Down came the rain in the meantime
with its steady, determined, mathematics
notion quick as lightning. but never
a hurry as the driIl-serEeant says-dow'
down, down-spiash, splash, sllash-rumb
rumble. rumble It was enough to make OF
mad, The freuchman gave n heavy sigl
and ! echoed it he got up ha!fmelancho
half.comical smile, which reflected !
shook his head, so did l. 'Slow work this
would have said only it would have bee
absurd in French and ho looked as if
would fain have given me the idiom, if
could but have understood it. Vt length Il
vehicle stopped to take in lasscnge
Here was a chance. The newcomer was plum
portly handsome dame, who insinuated he
self between my friend and me, and then c
panded till what with her and the cushion
we felt uncommonly comfortable. But s
was German; and when she had recover
breath, she looked first in the face Of OF
then OF the other, aud with an alarmi
sound of ugh-agh-ogh, delivered in t
intcrrogativc key, appeared 10 he cndeav
ing to fish out Of us whether We could
anything in that line. The Frcnchman sa
'Jc suis fochc, and Ncrtcads pas and | sho
my head in despair negatives that only
cited the rsiblc faculties Of madame W
went on clearing her throat Of its German
the midst of explosions Of laughter, t
made our contiguous sides and cushions
dulate in harmony. verify think she C
sidered herself fortunately placed in hav
two listeners with no speaker but herself
she ratified away without intcrmiEsion, in
lardng her speech, in compliment to
Frenchman, with scraps of his own langua
so horribly bad that even ! was anu
We stood it for some time as decentl
POSSIBLE: but at last | could
help giving my male companion the W
and saving in an under-tono: Quote n
raise /" Both Of US proved too many for
politeness Off he set with a roar, in wi
Joined from sympathy and 50 VIC wen
all three, talking French and German, "
out listening to either, and laughing rt
to die.
y more interesting episode however, sp
lily occurred, for the coach stopped to II
dinner. Meals were grand invention
that kind OF travelling, although they
now gone the way Of all horsencsh.
To snatch at a mOr,ei as We do now,
deyOur it like an ogre, is not to dine
more than to scald the mucous memb
all the way down is to get cheered with
cup that not incbriates. The rccollectio
that dinner is enough to disgust one
steam and its headlong haste aud mai
inquire whether it is really tho grand