St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-08-02
Sam Rice's Romance.

Sam Rice's Romance
The coach of Wells. Fargo \ Co..
stood hturc the door of lincN woods
Station. and Sam Rice. the driver. Was
drawing ON his lcmun-colnrcd gloves
with an air. for sam was the pink ot
stage drivers. from his high white hat
to his iaultlr>S French boots. Sad will
il hc when his profession shall have
been entirely superseded and the
c"ach-and->iN. with its gracious and
graceful whip. shall have been supplant
ed. on all the principal lines of travel.
10y the iron horse with lis glimy driver
and train of laundering carriages.
The passengers had taken their seats
the one lady on the box and sam
Rice stood. chron"metrr held daimtilN
hctwccn thumb and finger. waiting for
the second hand to come round the
quarter of minute. while the "room>
Slipped the last strap of the harness into
it~ buckle. At the expiration of quar-
ter of Il minute. aS sam stuck an un-
lighted cigar between his lips and took
mold of the box to pull himself up Il"
his seat. the good natured lamdlady of
PincvW WoodS Station. called out to him
With some nticiouSmcs>:
"AIr. Rice don't Nnu want Il match ,"
''TLat'> Just what I've been looking
for these ten VcaI>." responded sam ::
and at that instant his ewes were on Il
level with the lady'> ON the box :" that
he could not help seeing the rogui>h
CLINT of them. which 50 far diScnncertrd
the usually >rlf-p">>rs>ed professor of
the whip. that he heard not the land
ladv's laugh. but gathered M the rrims
in such a needless and careless manner
as to cauS,. Demon. tl, ninh leader. to
go off " ith Il bound that nearly threw
the owner of the ewes ont of her place.
The little furry gave opportunity for
Mrs. Dolly PAGE that WAS the lady
name to drop her veil over her face
and for sam Rice to show his gcnteel
handling of the Iihhum>. and conquer
the unaccnumtahc disturbance of his
pulses.
sam had looked at the way bill. not
ten minutes before. To ascertain the
name of he pretty hlack-rNcd woman
seated AT his left hand and the con
-cinll>nc>~ of 50 great Il curiosity graft
fled. may have augmented his accuS-
toned embarrassment. Certain it is
sam Rice had driven siN horses. ON Il
tickliSh mountain road ful four Years.
without missing a trip: and had more
thnn once encountered the road agents,
without ever vet delivering them an
express box had had old and Young
ladies. plain and beautiful ones. t" sit
beside, him hundreds oi times: Yet this
was the inst time he had consulted the
way hill ON his own account t" find Il
ladN : name. This one time. too, had
Il Mrs. before. il. which prefix gave hIm
Il pang hr WAS NclN unwilling /" OWN.
ON the other hand Mrs. Dolly Page WAS
dressed extremely deep black. Could
she hr in monmmg for Mr.. Page ! II
Demon had an unusual number of start =
ing fits that attcrnoum. his driver WAS
not altogether griltlc-> in the matter {:
for what horst =" sensitive aS hc. would
not have felt the magnetism of some
thing wrong behind him
But H. the mocking eyes kept hidden
behind Il veil. and the rich. musical
voice uttered not Il word through Il
whole half hour which seemed AN age
To sam. hc finally recovered himself 50
far aS to say, he believed he could not
smoke after all. and thcrcup"n returned
his cigar. still umlightcd. t" his pocket.
Il hope You do not deprive Yourself
of II luxury on my account. murmured
the soft voice.
Il guess this dust and sunshine Is
enough for lady t" stand, without my
>mokin' in her face. returned sam
politely. and glanclng at the NtIl.
..>tiiI 1 h.,r Won will smoke If Won
,r, accustomed" persisted the cooling
voice behind it. But sam. to his praise
h,. if spokcn. refused to add any thing
to- the ,liscomtortS of summers day :
ride across the mountains His chivalrl
had il. reward for the lady thus ta-
Nored. feeling constrained to make some
return for such consideration. began to
talk. in Il vein that delighted her au-
ditoI. about horses their points and
their traits and lastly, about THEN
drivers.
Il have always tincied. said Mis-.
Dolly Page. THAT if ! were Il man |
should take t" stage driving TOR ii pro,
t"s>l"m. 1t seems t" me iree ana
mani ' calling, one that develops some
of the best qualities ola man. of c"ltl st
it has It's drawbacks. one cannot al