Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-08-31
Miscellany.
DIR. PKCHaL'S THEORY.
By JULIAN HAWTHORNE.

Nor long agD. the steamer EcliptiC
brought - New York. among other pas
sepgcrs, q iat, irJ"zY man, rather short
aud evidently foreigner though Of what
nationality, owing ~ his familiarity with
languages, II was not easy 70 decide. lie
WAS not an engaging man, was super.
naturally cDnceite1, some said crazy. lie
wore pair Of unusually shiny spGctaeles
1T was believed - assist him z staring.
His hair was long, tangled and sandy,
overhanging his coat collar and pushed
back behind his ears. His luggage con.
sisted of ragged, black carpet-bag, which
no one suspected Of containing clothes.
The captain himself WAS not sacred from
the intrusive impeftinence of this man.
The second day out, at dinner, he stared
uninteruptedly for tn minutes at that of
fcer, and then said:
"You must be q Scotchman -
Tue captains little hobby was TO be
taken for an American; SO he bowed some.
what stiffly, and continued his converse
ton with the American bankers wife, at
his right.
The frowzy foreigner drew from his
.noGket greasy note-b book, piloted hia way
D., 1ough several pages with bis dirty fore
arr, r. till he arrived at certain entry ;
Lher with a powerful assertativeness
You ;. re forty eight years old to-day p
The clp,. in was young-looking man,
nerbanq not unwillingly SO, especially in
the ewes of his fair right.hand neighbor
So he looked up rather severely at the
foreigner, and said, n uiny
"Weli, sirg"
"Of course" pursued the other abso rbed
in his note book all here, cir. ! calcu
lated your group some time ago; II com
prises four, and possibly five. ] met one
last year ia Turkey-a very pretty little
girl. Whereabouts will you be seven
weeks from to-day, captain"
The captains patience began to grow
thin; but he com handed himself 10 reply,
albeit somewhat testify:
"Give fair weather, off the southern
coast Of LELAND
The frowzy foreigner was charmed. He
dubbed over with an unclean smile; his
teeth were dreadful.
"Right! quite right" he exclaimed,
rubbing his fat hands self approvingly
"You will be drowned off that coast, sir;
steamer founders, or you are washed over
board cannot be sure which"
At this sally, every one, except the cap
tain either laughed or smiled. He, strange
to say, turned pale and frowned slightly.
note. book and resumed his dinner.
Could II have been coincidence that,
seven weeks from that day, in a heavy sea
off the southern coast of Ireland, Captain
McAlenny, of the Ecliptic. was washed
overheard and lost! Curious, at all
eyentsi Moreover--though, what has this
to do with ity--the little daughter of a
prominent Official in Constantinoplc died
the same day, after the crisis of long and
painful fever.
The conceited foreigner was not, there
fore, an agreeable companion. He was NO
respecter of persons; for he used up even
q custom house officer In this wise:
After transfixing him with an indignant
and prolonged glare OF his spectacles--
"Why. you should have been dead two
wears ago. Your time expired in the sum.
mer of 1868. | saw one of your group
condemned to be hanged for murder in
June of that year, aud | cannot be mis-
taken In you" said he, referring to his
note book.
The custom house oiiicsr glared back in
savage amazement. "Ef 'twarn't fmy wife
md child'n," he began, menaciugly; but
the fat foreigners brow cleared up imme-
diately, as ii bis mind were relieved from
an immense load of pcrplexity.
"My dear sir---to be sure! How could
T. of all men, make such an oversight
And now | rccollect-his sentence was
COMMITTED Imprisonment for life. Let me
see-your wifes all, yes she belongs also
with the young Frenchman; and that jew,
think, must bea connection. Well, we'll
sir, you're safe for six years yet" And the
maniac departed in total apparent uncon-
seriousness of the black wrath distorting
the custom. house officers black visage
Landed in New York, he grasped his
ragged, black carpet bag, and walked to
he South Sea Hotel. On his way he stop
ped to purchase directory, and barely
escaped being knocked down by the sales
man because he informed him the only
safe thing in his case was to marry GER
tain African lady, a resident of Guinea,
Arriving at the hotel he engaged room
for three days, and registered his name as
Pechal, from Belgium. He eyed the gen.
tlemanly clerk searchipgly. -
"Your hair must be dyed, sir" said he
ct last, firmly.
The gentlemanly clerk drew himself up
haughtily. The doctor glared, and shook
his trowzy head.