Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-05-09
Ghoite Wistellang.
THE DEAF GENTLEMAN.

The only passenger besides myself in the
stage that drove me from D. to the rail
way station, was q tall, spare young man,
with gray-blue eyes, chestnut hair, a full
dark beard, and very elegant suit of broad
cloth. Having nothing else to do, ex-
amined him pretty closely, and concluded,
from his abstracted exprcssion--a sort OF
half simple look--that he was deaf. People
who are decidedly hard of hearing, almost
always acquire this expression; and to one
accustomed to the study Of faces, they are
readily distinguishable.
So, when my companion remarked that il
was charming morning, in that mild, cold.
in-the- head kind of voice, peculiar to the
deaf, i answered him in loud voice:
Eyes, very fne"
"Eh 2" asked he, putting his hand be.
hind his ear, with his palm towards me.
Every fine indeed "
"Oh, yes. We are having very pleas
ant spring. !" .,8.. .....,. E..-.l
The conversation, being begun, went or
apace, although l found much difficulty il
making him hear me. He was travelling fol
his health, and had come to, D., from
Boston, on his way to st. Louis. He seemed
q pleasant, quiet sort Of fellow, with Q
large fund Of humor, an inexhaustible col
lection of stories, and disposition to be very
agreeable and compani0nable.
| By the time our stage-ride was ended, and
we were snugly seated in the cars, we hae
become quite well acquainted, and hat
agreed to be travelling companions as far a.
G., where was to stop. l was making {
trip half for business, and half for pleasure
so I was in no hurry, and readily consented
to pass the night at a small village on the
railroad, at which we arrived about sunset
As we sought the largest hotel of thu
place, my new friend underwent sudder
and decided change He threw his should
| ers back, assumed semi-martihl air, pu
on grave, dignifed expression, and order
! cd the porters and baggage men about, o
liz he was the owner Of the village. gs4
Entering the hotel, he became still NOR
arrogant, and completely astonished me b.
his aristocratic manner. 0 f- l'
"Confound those rascally fellows 2 sai
Ihe, show on earth could they have been s
awfully stupid 1 The idea Of gentlema
passing night in this wilderness, withou
d his seryantsl Well, we must do the bes
we can. / told you, you know, that it woul
not do to let Wallets 60 out Of our sight
they are, no doubt, feasting and drinking Q
| some station forty miles behind. Stop, T.
ask the landlord If they have been here.
Before / could ask him what he meant
he went to the hotel Office, and inquired fo
the proprietor, who presented himself.
i "Has my valet been here, landlord, t
: engage rooms for myself and friend?"
mo, sir--no one hasengaged rooms her
to-day" ."ssqi l5l,' A.llaa 800.
!, Is"There I knew it'll Confound tn
4 rasoals Where is your register ?"goi !.
4 The host placed large book upon tn
counter, and the deaf gentleman wrote i
it, in firm even hand: ID b
6a"SIR WILLIAMV WE'RE, London, England;
and pointed 60 the register, saying, in
Q whisper, "Put title TO your name-I'
show you some fun. d.id mo-i III d,
4 \ Not wishing to behindhand, added
title to my cognomen, and we asked to