The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-08-12

THE PROPHETIC PISTOL,

AND that" said /, is pretty nearly
all that | have to tell you"
The above words formed the perOration
of a synopsis of several years travelling,
communicated by me to fellow -passen-
ger from HelsingfOrs to Stockholm, as we
leaned over the side of the good ship
Viberg, and watched the countless groups
of rocky islets, crested with green foliage,
which arose on every side from the smooth
transparent sea. My auditor was long,
lean, wiry American, with a cold clear o
ind a look of indomitable firm ~
every line of his pinched .sI,ow face ,.'
which gave him the aspc-.,t Ito quote from
"a pugnacious friend of mine) Sof ote a mann mann
YOU would like 20 be back to back with in
row"
Wal, stranger" remarked he at the
close of my narrative, yu hev bin about
bit, | reckon but yu haint seen much,
and what's more, yu hain't done much
neither"
My dignity was somewhat ruff1ed by this
aln-spoken criticism; for privately re-
garded myself as second Sinbad, on the
strength OF moderate acquaintance with
the majority of the countries which figure
on the tourists visiting list. Moreover
my listener had himself provoked nv com
'municativeness by series. of searching
questions upon every point of my per-
sonaa history. from the color of my grand
fathers hair to the amount of pocket
money allowed me at Rugby. Conse-
'4uently, there was, perhaps, shade of
acrimony In my tone as replied: 1--WE
done what | could; but, of course, every
body can't have as many adventures as
you"
Wal, yu air about right thar" returned
he, taking my words literally "Tve seen
few things in my time, 1 reckon; but,
mark we, it's cause I've looked about me,
and fixed for dOin somethin' wharever i
went, stead o trailin' about with my eyes
shet and my hands in the pockets o. my
panteys, like som folk Now, I'll tell WI
now yu britishers travel; yu jest foller
the railway track right square from one
big town to another, and see the opera-
houses, and the theaytres, and the prom
enades, and stitch like and o. course -,
meet a heap o riffriff, and mayhap ~,
yure eye teeth drawn a little too Sick
and alter devOtin' three weeks or A month
to seein' a country with some millions q
people in it, yu come back and wr;ta ,
tarnation big book to say, 't'nat air countr,
amt no great pile o punl, ,ins a'ter ali ths
critters thar air all lazy and sbiftless and nd
good for nOthin b.dt to cheat and tell lie.
and no wonde-- seein' they'r only cussed
TURNER'S, ana haint got the inestimable
glessin oi a free British constitootion
mar low, stranger" he concluded, with
ehe paternal superiority of missionary
inslructing HOttentot, that's the way
gu go 10 work; but, yu observe, 'taint the
HSh. way, nohow yu kin fix it,"
ana now dld you go to work, then "
asked L, wishing to divertsthe current of
1hls Hood OF extempOre criticism.
Wal, fixed to do somethin' and dane
1T; leastways, man that's been q team.
ster In the Rocky Mountains, a gold-dig-
ger In Australey, sailor i'm the Iniine
ocean, storekeeper at Shanghai, news
paper editor at San Franciskey, and an
agent for one notion or another i'm every
country in Europe, mout say he'd done
Somethln, guess, if he had mind to-"
ana have you really done all that -
askea L, somewhat startled at the catalogue.
reckon l hcv; I've been kinder movin'
round ever sin L was as big as molasses
par, and amt done yet. Guess I'm like
Jonn Browns soul i'm the old song-I 90
a-marchin' on pretty consid' able, and it'll
'ake while to tire me of it tew."
And do you always travel alone, then ."
reckon do, leastways, what yud call
lone. I've got a sOm-friend here.
,n"!!gh, he added with strange chuckle,
pus'l'y mis- hand into his breast pocket :
,,,rn Gnu ne. done me more'n than one good
hos ,ha, im MS 'ime, so | tell ye. Yes, sir, he
hoIds s"h; a. ano what's more, he speaks or
faint nvsro %v, rongue , just as l please, which
Al 10y man as 'ud do"
duceJ % smal ms h,s, lsmaticai preface, he pro-
fttad.,r;,h a" pu. very handsome revolver,
meuteJ ..h ahom, spring bayonet, and orna-
OF silver, arranged in the form Of a souare
which would be completed nv M y tho addi'
tiOn Of twelfth. '"o "''
Amt MHt friend, now, stranger ,"
SAID the Transatlantic exultantlv z and
good friends we've been, him and mo-
never mistrusted him but once. and that
war down in Australey, when war cold
dlggln up Turon way. Two fellers cum