The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-07-11

THE BOX TUNNFL.
BIZ The AUTHOR OF "cHRisTIE TOMBSTONE"
The l0.lj train glded from Paddington,
May 7, ls47. In the left compartment Of a
certain first class carriage were four passen-
gers; Of these, singularly enough, tive were
worth description. The lady had smooth,
white delicate brow, strongly marked eye
brows, long Iashes, eyes that seemed TO
change color, and a good sized delicious
mouth, with teeth as white as milk. 4 man
could not see her nose from her eyes and
mouth, her own sex could and would have
told US some nonsense about il. She wore
an unprctaHding greyish dress, buttcned to
the throat with lozcnge- shape buttons, Il
Scotch shawl that agreeably evaded the re-
spOnsibility Of color. She was like duck :,
so tight her plain feathers fitted her; and
there she sat, smooth, snug, and delicious,
with a book in her hand and soupcon of
her snowy wrist just visible as she held it.
Her opposite nelghbor was what | call a
good style man--the more to his credit, since
he belonged to II corporation that frequent
lg turns ont the worst imaginable Young
men. He was u cavalry officer aged twenty
five. He had moustache, but not a very
rcpulsiye one; it was far from being one
Of those snbnasat pigtails, on which soup is
suspended Ike dew on shrub il was short,
thick and black as a coal. His teeth had
not yet been turned by tobacco smoke to
the color Of tobacco juice, his clothes did
not stick or hang ON him, they sat on him;
he had an engaging smile, and, what liked
the dog for, his vanity, which was inord
nate. was in It's proper place, his heart, not
IN his face, jostIlng mine, and other peo-
pics', who have none;--in a word what one
ottencr hears Of than meets--a young gem
HemdH. He was convcrslng in an ANNA
ted whisper with Il companion fellow officer
they talked about, what is far better not
TO do, women. Our friend clearly did not
wish to be overheard, for he cast, ever and
anon, furtive glance at his far ris- a. ris
and lowered his voice. She seemed COM
pleteiv absorbed in her book, and that re-
assured him. At last the two soldiers came
down 10 a whisper, and in that whisper (the
truth must be told) the one who got down
at slough, and was lost to posterity, bet
ten pounds to three, that he who was going
with us down to- Bath and immortality,
would not kiss either of the ladies opposite
upon the road. ''Done ~ ''Doner - Now
am sorry n man have hitherto praised,
should have lent himself, even in a whisper,
to such speculation, .'but nobody is wise
Mt nll hours" not even when the clock is
striking five and twenty, and you are to
consider his profession, his good looks, and,
the temptnton-ten to three. s$-S ~
After Slough the party was reduced to
three; at Twyford one lady dropped her
'ksrchicf; Capt. Dolignan fell on it like
tiger and returned it like lamb; two or
three words were interchanged on that oc-
casion. At Reading, the Marlborough of
our tale made one of the safe investments of
the day, he bought a "Times'' and
"Punch;' the latter was full Of steel pen
thrusts and wood-cu's. Valor and beauty
deigncd to laugh nt some inflated humbug
or other puncrured hy Punch. Now laugh
ing together thaws out human ice. long be-
fore Swndon it was n talking match-at
Swndon. who SO devoted AS Capt. DoIig-
nan-hc handed them out--he souped them
he tough -chckened them--he branded
and cochnpaled' one, and he branded and
burnt sugared the other; on their return to
the carriage, one lady passed into the inner
compartment to inspect n certain gentle
mans seat on that side the line.
Reader. had it been YOU or |, the beauty
would have been the dcserter. the average
one would have stayed with Us till all was
blue. ourselves included, not more surely
docs our slice of bread and butter, when it
escapes from our hand, rcyolye it ever so
often, alight face doWnwards on the carpet.
But this was bit Of fOp. Adonis, dra-
goun--so Venus remained II tete-G-iete with
HIM. You have seen a dog meet an un-
known female Of his species; how hand
some. how rmpresse, how expressive he be-
comes; such was Dolignan after Swindon,
and to do she dog justice, he got handsomer;
and YOU have seen cat conscious of ap-
preaching cream.--such was Miss Maythorn.
she became demurrer and demurrer; present
ly our Cuptaln looked out of window
''We are only mile from the Box Tun-
nell"
"po you always laugh mile from the
Box TunnelE' SAID the lady.
"Invariably."
"What for -
"Why hem it is a gcntleman's Joke"
"uh | don't mind It's being silly il it
makes mo laugh Capt. Dohgnan thus en-
couraEei, rrcounted to Miss Hawthorn the
following: ~ lady and her husband sat
together going through the box Tunnel
there was one gentleman opposite, it was
pitch dark; after the tunnel the lady said.
.,i"orSe. bow absurd of YOU to salute mc
going through the tunnel Il did no such
thing = You didn't Me, why -
'Whv, because somehow thought YOU did,
Here Captain poignan laughed and en-
deavor"d 10 lead hts companion to laugh,
but 1t was NOT to he done. The train en-
tered the tunnel"
Miss iIaythurn-.A y
noliguan--.What is the matter ?
Miss HI AM frightened
holig. tmovins 30 her side, pray do
not be alarmed, | am quite near YOU
Miss H-'iou are near me-. very near
me. indeed. Captain DoIjgnau.'
Uohg.~'iou know my name =
Miss Ill heard your friend mention
il. wish we were out of this dark place.
nolig.--I could be content to spend hours
here. reassuring Won, sweet lady, 8
Miss H-.Nonsense!'
nolis.-Pweep, (Graye reader. do not
put YOUR lips TO the cheek Of the next pref-
ty creature you meet, or yeu will under
stand what this mesns.l
Miss il.-'Ees ..
Frieni-sW hat is the matter =
Miss u.-Open the door open the doorr
There WAS seaud Of hurled whispers.
the door was shut and the blind pu; down
with hostile sharpness.
II any critic falls on me for putting mar
ticulate sounds in Dialogue as above, an
swer. with all the insolenee can command
Il, present. Hit boys as big as yourself.
bigger perhaps. such as Sophoeles, Earips-
des aud Aristophanes; they began ii, and
learned it of ;hem. sore against ny own
will.
Mss lIaythoru's scream last part Of its
eaees because the engine whispered fartg
Thousand murders at the sane nl5nent. ans.
tletsesous grief makes itself beard wAea real
cannot.
Between ;he tanael aut Bash our Young
friend had time 30 ask hiaasrss whether has
conduct had been mssksi BIZ thai deiiesEe
reserve which as supposed 10 tlIstsn gaiss, the
perfect gentleman. .s.0
- ....a..
srass u twrpsss aiN4s ta tina sssgxssaus called
Oyt aaf cherry s4 taaassss II e4rtsay zas1c l.
rasssStss ~ v.ncSs 15tzrw,