Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-11-08
EVENING STAR.
THE MYSTERIOUS SALUTE
I toNcLUDED.I |

with an expression ny no means consonant
with the air of imperturbable gravity through
whish it shone. / saw he tried to catch the
| eye of the quiet gentlewoman in the corner.
tbut resolu,ely looked out of the window,
though not, fear, before he detected the
| shadow of q smile at the corner of my lip
| Mr. Smith, glancing over She top Of the
newspaper, which in self-defencs he hsd un
folded, saw, Despite his obtuseness, that some
! thing was amiss; the distressed looks Of the
three maiden friends showed sheir mental per-
| turbation; and not knowing exactly what to
| do under the circumstances, he began, half
| absently, to survey the dress and general sp.
pearance Of the new conner, from the boots
| upwards, with an eye from which he strove to
| Danish its usual benign expression. He sp-
peared, however, vsrJ much taken aback on
perceiying, when he had gradually arrived at
the face Of the young officer, that his eye was
fixed on him with meaning he could not
quite make out and he vas betrayed inyol-
UNFAIRLY into saying
"Did you address me, sir 2"
go, dear, no, sir-not at all, y said the
| Guardsman, with a smile
| At the sound of the gruff voices of the gen
| tletaen, the three friends whisked round, with
difficulty sappressing their emotion. Miss
Clementina, who vas tho most nervous, began
to tremble violently, ard turned still paler
than she was by nature. Evidsntly, the least
they anticipated was the preliminafies Of o
duel.
"Will you exchange papers, sir?" said the
Guardsman at which Mr.. Smith bowed, and
waved his paper in the air with a nervous
flourish, which sent the corner Of it nearly
into the open mouth Of the stricken Caroline,
whose features were in an unnatural state of
extension from the incidents of tho last few
moments Both gentlemen then subsiding
into silence, the ladies began to grow calm,
the dreaded vis-a-UtS offering no further cause
for fear, and becoming apparently very pas.
sive and harmless over his paper. In the
course of time they ventured to get up little
slow, formal conversation with Mr. Smith,
whom, with a natural revulsion Of feeling
they seemed to regard more benignantly than
| ever, looking upon him now in the light Of
safeguard
Beautiful weather for the country" fall
tered Miss Spyker, always the most alert of
the three.
"Superb, indeed" replied Mr.. Smith,
blandIy.
dreadful mod, of travelling, this" ven
tered Miss Clementina. "Ah Mr.. Smith,
how different from the stage coach days aos re-
member. One could see the country then "
81 remember one drive from LondOn,to As
col" said Mr.. Smith, in the voice of one call
ing up, not unmoved, some thrilling memory
of the past" when the speed at which we
are now going would have seemed slow to the
pace we drove that day. 1t might" he went
on in lower tone, glancing at Miss Clemen-
tina as he spoke, ." have been the Society-it
might have been the scenery
Miss Clementina here grew very rosy, and
said 4" She thought the more entirely such
recollectiOns were considered as past, the bet
terl'
Miss Spyker came to the rescue: "Mr.
Smith have you Bradshaw :"
81 am sorry to say have not, madam; but
perhaps my memory may serve your purpose.
[ have travelled On this line often though
not" he added with bow, under circum-
stances equally agreeable -
Here again came a little bridliDg, and an
involuntary glance of meaning al each other.
"Can you tell me the name of the station
you want, Miss Spyker ~ resumed Mr.. Smith,
more gravely.
"I only wanted to know whereabouts the
tunnels are?' she replied, apparently i'm
pressed with q conviction that they were
marked in the publication she had asked for.
" / am sorry TO say there are three tunnels
very near each other said Mr. Smith, with
air of one who desires to make the best of
unpleasant intelligence % but they are only
few minutes long; it is soon over; and L
think" added he, looking out of the window,
and very suddenly looking in again, "we are
now on the point Of
Il
tily drew up my window, and the young
Guardsman drew up the further one. The
sudden change from light ID darkness made
the faint glimmer of the lamp which seemed
to be disarranged, at any rate, invisible and
moment of breathless silence ensued, for
the rushing noise Of the train was deadened
by the closed windows. 1t was at this instant
that loud chirPipg sound within the sirriage
was heard as of some one bestowiDg a hearty
ND ln1 l,fn hn ,s.fn
CONSERVATION of the three ladies' as we
emerged blinded, daIzled, bewildered from
the tunnel?
1t was evident each, bridling up with vir-
tuOus indignation, regarded the others as con-
cerned in the guilt; but if any one excited
moro suspicion than another, it certainly was
Miss Clementira. Her near eighborhood to
Mr.. Smith, his tender allusion to by-gone days,
and the fact that her bonnet was in a state of
arrangement the most unbeoOming, all cOntr-
buted to this impression. She, poor soul, feeling
her perfect innocence looked first at her friend
Caroline, who with a confused and scared as
pect sat bolt upright before her. She, very
unfortuns stely had for her neighbor the Guards
man; but he appeared sleepily unconscious of
what was passing. Nor did Miss Spyker
cape-her bonnet and "ugly" were decidedly
not copanss IL I8ut-for, In her anxiety to shut
her eyes and stop her ears, she had given an
involuntary jerk to the ugly, thereby impart-
ing wildness to her general appearance,
which was considerably heightened by her
manner
But if each lady regarded the others thus
their feelings could not amount to more than
suspicion. But Mr.. Smith that he was guilty
was only too evident, if only from his embaT-
rassment; while the quiet young officer, who
for some time past had apparently been slum
bering, never attracted their suspicious for a
moment.
They were still futtered by the strange IN.
cident, when We plunged into another tunnel :,
and again the same chirping sound was heard,
in fact an unmistakable kiss, louder and more
hearty than before; and we shot into day light
once more in a state Of agitation more terrible
than ever.
That Mr.. Smith had had the daring imperti
nence to salute one of tho three ladies whom
he was bound by every sentiment Of honor TO
protect, admitted no doubt; and indeed that
gentleman himself seemed to feel his culpa-
bility, for be evidently shrank under the in
dignant eyes of his fair neighbors, and seemed d
perfectly paralyzed in mind and body The
paper had fallen on his knee, his hat was
awry; every particle Of expression had van