The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-05-24

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age. What did l see? Only the two
passengers buried in their separate cor
ners. The young lady raised her head
from the book she held, and looked up
at me onished-childishly and won
deringly astonished.
"Has anything happened to the
train ?" She asked, timidly.
The gentleman reused himself lei
surely from seemingly snug nap.
"What on earth has stopped us in this
hole ?" he said, rising, and pushing his
handsome face and his long beard past
me at the window.
1t was only too evident that the alarm
had not come from this carriage; yet
the feeling had been such certainty to
me that 1t was long before / felt quite
convinced to the contrary, and went
on along the footboard to the other car
riages very much more slowly than |
had gone first to that one. Utter dark
ness surrounded us outside, but from
the lamplit compartments eager heads
were thrust, searching for the reason of
this unexpected stoppage. No ore
owned to having summoned me until l
reached that second class carriage near
my own van (which had fastened past
before) where the fidgety, deaf old lady
who had amused me at Rugby sat alone.
| had no need to look in and question
her. Her head was quite out of the
window. and, though she had her back
to the light, and 1 couldn't see her face,
her voice was cool enough to show that
she was not overpowered by fear.
"What time you've been coming"
she said. "Where is it?"
"Where's what?"
But though yelled the question with
all my might and main, I believe 1
might just as hopefully have questioned
the telegraph post which / could dimly
see beside us, and have expected an
answer along the wires.
| "WheIe's the small luncheon hasket?"
she inquired, pulling out her long purse
with great fussiness. ga small luncheon
basket, my good man and make haste"
Shall / ever forget the sharp expect.
ancy Of the old lady's eyes as they
looked into mine first over, then under,
then through her glittering, gold-rim.
med spectacles? What surprised me
most particularly was the fact of her
not being, as any one might suppose, a
raving maniac.
"Be quick with the small luncheon
basket, please" she said, rasignedly sit
ting down, and pouring the contents of
her purse out into her lap, "I'm as hum
cry as can be-"
saw that when she looked up at me
from the silver she was counting she
saw my utter bewilderment-Id didn't
try now to make her hear, for knew 1t
to be hopeless-for she raised her voice
suddenly to a shrill pitch of peevish-
ness, and pointed with one shaking
hand to the wall of the carriage.
"Look here! Doesn't it say "Small
luncheon baskets. Pull down the cord?'
L want small luncheon basket, so pull
down the cord. Make haste, and get it
for me, or I'll report you to the man
ager."
Seeing now that she was almost as
blind as she was deaf, began to under.
stand what she meant. On the spot to
which she pointed above the seat oppo-
site her, two papers were posted in a
line; one the advertisemet of "Small
luncheon baskets" supplied at Rugby,
the other, the Company's directions for
summoning the guard and stopping the
train in cases of danger. AS they hap
pened to be placed, the large letters did
read as she had said:
"sMALL LUNCHEON BASKETS PULL.
DOWN THE CORD"
While l was gazing from her to the
bills, getting over bit of my astonish.
ment, and she was giving me every
now and then sharp touch on the
shoulder to recall me to my duty, and
hasten me with her refreshment, we
were Joined by one Of the Directors who
happened to be going up TO town by
the express. But his just and natural
wrath-loud as it was-never moved
the hungry old lady; no, not in the
slightest degree. She never heard one
word of it; and only mildly insisted, in
the midst Oft, that she was almost tired
of waiting for her small luncheon bask-
ct.
With fierce pc rting shot, the Direc-
tor tried to make her understand that
she had incurred penalty of Go, but
he couldn't, though he bawled it at her
until the poor old thing-perhaps NOR
titled at having taken so much trouble
for nothing perhaps overcome by hei
hunger perhaps frightened of the com
motion she saw though she didn't hear
sank back In her seat in a strong fl
of Mysteries, and let the shillings and
sixpences roll out of her lap and settle
under the seats.
1t seemed to me a long time before VIZ
started on again, but l suppose it was
only six or seven minutes delay after
all. 1 expect 1 should have waited t
explain the stoppage to the pretty young
girl of whom l considered myself sor
of protector; but, as l said, she was al
the very opposite end of the train, an(
/ was in haste now. There must have
been good laugh in several of the car
riages where the cause of our stoppag,
got whispered about. AS for me, whei
/ got back into my van, solitary as
, was,I chuckled over it until we stoppe,
at Chalk Farm to take tickets.
1t seemed to me that the train wa
taken into custody as soon as ii stoppe
here,
, "Of course you have the carriag
, doors all locked, and I'll 60 down wit
} you while you open them one by one
My men are in possession Of the plat
, forla."
This was said to mo by Davis, a dc
tective officer whom / knew pretty wei
by now, having had good bit to d
+ with him about the Warwlokshire rot