St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1867-10-11

me. Tor the moment INTO stone.
The Tapping drab valance was lifted,
and out popped a head,-not the head
of a dog. Timid as | am when con-
fronted by these animals, | should inf
nltely have preferred TO set eyes upon the
sleek coat and black muzzle, and gria-
ming teeth of even 4 bulldog. to the
shocking reality of the case. This was
the head of man. sat, gasping and
staring, with my useless parasol pointed
at the intruder. All that | had ever
heard or read. of atrocities perpetrated
in railway travel, stories OF madmcn. of
telons, and of riOtous wretches wild with
drink, came crowding upon my mind at
once. And here was |, in a fair way
myself TO supply the raw material for Il
sensational paragraph in the newspapers :
l, Prunella Prym, the very last person
that any acquaintance OF hers would
have supposed likely to figure, however
blamelessly, in the grim column of acci-
dents and offences. | thought OF all this
as | gazed, horror-stricken, at the face
before me, the face OF n man OF forty
years of age, broad, suntrccklcd, impu-
dent, with a shaggy brown beard Ike the
name of an ugly lion. How LONG
looked at this unwelcome apparition
cannot tell but | was recalled at once
TO 4 sense Of decorum and of the peril OF
my position, by the rude remark. in 4
rough north country accent: Hope
you'll know me again, old lady, that's
all :"
1t was with an EnglisLman. then. that
| had TO deal. There was one comfort
in that, for at least could brs nv life
with certainty of being understood.
whereas | nigh; find the irregular verbs
and the gcndcrs horribly i'll nv way in
the attempt to molity foreign scoundrcl.
| had discovered since crossing the Cham
mel that my French, learned as it had
been at the sclectest of select Scminaries.
and from a native with Pari-ian ac-
cent, was not quite SO fluent or correct
in practice As it had been declared 10 bc
in theory. 1t was, in fact. what IN
amusing literary gentleman whom met
at one of our Choltcnham tca-partieS de-
scribed as the French of Stratturd-atta-
Bowe. rather than the French of Paris.
1t was preferable to appeal to the better
feelings of a rutiian of ones own country
and speech.
Meanwhile the body had followed the
head i'll struggling out from underneath
the seat, and the whole man soon stood
on the floor of the swaving carria@c,
which in that part of the journey rocked
and icrked 4 good deal, 50 that hr had
to lay hold Of the padded partition next
to him to steady himself. lie WIS VERY
red in the face, and he painted for breath.
and groancd as he stretched his limbs.
"Cramped in every Joint. AMI a. near
being smothcrcd a. ever chap was ,''
grumhleI the man You don't know
how hot and close it is under there
ma AIN, breathing what seems more like
wool-dust than ali into ones lungs. and
aching till YOU BERN To think vou'l! never
straighten your backbone again 1t
been long bout of it, 10 me. the run
from AmcnS" This last observation
suggested 10 me that we were still at 4
considerable distance from PariS.-much
farther. naturally, than from Amirn,.-
since the space that had appeared So long
and no wonderful the mli. Crouched
under the seat and halt siiticd. had seem
ed to me but triling What a much
longer bout would he the remainder oi
the Journey if it We're to he performed in
such company as this, But | was puz-
zed As 10 what reply would he most be
fitting under the circumstances Really.
10 Judge 10y this mans tone Ot intense
seit-cUmmISeratlUn, one might have
though: that he expected me 10 condolc
with him on the mcomycnicmccS OF hi>
late painful position beneath the valance :,
But that seemed rs absurd as Ii would
be TO dcplorc the mistor1uneS ot 4 bury
lar who should cut his finger i'll removing
the glass from ones pantry windoy
while | could not ask the he-cre;tture hi.
motives for 50 singular conccament.
least the answer mi ight prove to bt OF {;
character practical and unpleasant
What did he want . Was it my watch
and money on which the villain had de
signs,-or was he IN escaped lunatic,-
one of those terrible truantS from the
a-ylums where the insane are lodged
and who now and then break loose bv
some prcternatur;l excrtion of force ul
cunning, and range, wild beast like, unit
they are hunted down? He did not looR
mad, but then looks 50 often mislead
and, in any case, his purpose must be al
unlawful one. No respectable MAJ
would have lain in ambush under the
seat of railway carriage, that muci
was only too clear
"Snug. this, isn't it, ma'am :" sud tn,
trespasser, with dreadful sort OF iocu
laritv, after a time, ''uncommonly snu2
call it,-only Us two" and he threw
himself into the middle seat of the car
riage. on the opposite side, and rubbe,
his great hands together in an exultin.
way that made my flesh creep. | la,
been taking a wary survey OF him out o
the corner of my eyes for some minutes
in hopes of ascertainlng what kind o
evil-doer he was, but | could not max,
nv mind up. lie was tOlerably wei
dressed in a suit OF black broadcloth, bu
it was very dusty and fluffy, as was nat
ural, after his sojourn beneath the draI
drapery and his cravat, OF 4 starin;
pattern. red ami green, was loose an,
awrv. He had soft felt hat, silve
guard-chain. and very muscular hands
with short thick fingers lie was
strongly-built, thick-set parsonage, u
middle height, and unquestionably wha
we at Cheltenham call a vulgarian. III
might, by a general grittines> and din.i
ness that clung to him, have had some
thing to do with Goals, Or wood. or iron
or contracts for railway making. or tha
kind of avocation. He was upright