Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1858-02-19
PARDON OR PUNISHMENT.


Isle OF wight. There he was intimately /
acquainted with gentleman whom |
shall call Benson, man of large fortune
and great beneyolonce, then far advanced .
i'll years, and universally respected, and .
from his lips he heard the tale am about
to write.
in my youth .(said he) had occasion
to go on business, but what part of Eng
land | travelled through, or from what
town | started on my journey, is imma-
terial. In those days coach travelling was
rather more of an adventure than it is
now, and sometimes dangerous, for the
lonely and unfrequeted roads and COM
mons to be traversed were often infested
by highwaymen, and lives as well as
purses were sometimes lost. However,
was younger then, than | am now. l
! had no large sum about me too loose, and
felt no fears, so took place over night
in the True Blue which was to start for
London the following morning. On tax
ing my seat in the coach, | found it al
ready contained two gentlemen and one
lady, who with myself made up the num-
Der of inside passengers allowed. l took
a sort of half-sulky, half-sleepy survey Of
my fellow travellers, and then ensconsed
myself silently in my corner; and l sup
pose they did the same by me, but no con-
versation ensued between US. 1t was
very early on a summers morning when
we left the little town, where all seemed
as hushed and silent as if it had been un-
inhabited, for not window we passed
was opened, not gazer visible, not sin
gle pedestrian in the streets; and we
drove out of it while the dew yet lay
heavy on the points of the grass, and
, weighed down the young boughs of the
f trees and bushes in the hedgerows, be-
, fore even the birds were awake. Scarce.
ly awake ourselves, we jolted along, and
5 l at last was fast losing myself in dream.
land, when the coach stopped with sud
: den jerk which aroused US all. We be-
= gan to rub our eyes and look about with ;
Z puzzled, sleepy air.
t "' Coach stops here for break at, gen'l'
: men, said 'he guard, holding the dooi
t OPEN"
t I'VE descended, and entered the trav
}, eler's room. There the hot fragrant te;
e with its accompaniment of cold beet, hau
e and eggs, toast, and muffias, and other
p ingredients of hearty meal, and th
= courtesies and amenities of the breaklls
table having disposed US more sociabl
If towards one another, we remounted tn,
a coach in more harmonious frame q
mind, and one which was more like
n ly to ensure US a pleasant journey
Is We become first chatty, then friendl,
and then intimate, coniding to eac
other who we were, whence we cam
and whittier we were going, the fla,
being we had none of US anything
conceal. The lady, pretty young W,
man about six and twenty, who spok
. but little, but whose few remarks eyince
~ much shrewdness and obsery alton, ha
. been on a visit to her parents, and WI
." now going home to her husband, Ia
y" stationer in London one of the two ge
" tlemen was a merchant who had be,
II making a business tour in the province
- the other a young officer returning 10 i
l"' regiment after leave of absence; while
:" myself was going up to town to consult
It. a lawyer regarding a will of which W
- executor.
nd
-, My companions were well inform
and agreeable, and the officer, especial
r. kept US in continual laughter by bis lis
- ly sallies. The time passed pleasant
-. along, and it was with real regret th
:. after a merry repast, when we again ha
ed for dinner, we heard him say he "
"a sorry he must leave us, as his regime
n was quartered in a town about six mi
50 from that where we then were, and
~ road lay no longer in the same direcii
as ours. He shook hands very eordia
=, with us all, and we parted. Of cou
= when we resumed our seats in the Goa
our conversation fell on our late asso
-. ate. The merchant praised the sou
H. good sense which shone through I'll
om gay bantering, and in tis willir gness
We oblige, and consideration for :, ,thers, in
~, those small things by which person
led prove himself either 30 pleasant or
eminently disagrees..ole as fellow II
eler.
for So lie cert. '..inly was very gentlen
and like Pers" Il, and very agreeable too
like the la|ly, turning to me, but did you
thFik there was something peculiar
mis- voice 2 D"