Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-02-27

| of the WINDOW, seeing the QlueFeHt parties
bidding their friends good by, and watch
ing with indignation the barbaric and
malicious manner in which the porters
hurl the luckless luggage about, that we
have steamed out of the station and are
fairly off for Paris before / have the
| curiosity to glance at my fellow-pas-
sengers Wells when I do take look
| at them, l do not make much of it. Wat
son and | occupy the two seats by one
| window, facing one another; our fellow
travellers have not taken the two other
window-seats; they occupy the middle
ones, next us. They are both reading,
behind newspapers. Well! we shall not
get much amusement out of them. l
give them up as bad job. All! if l
could have had my wish, and had the
laughin5 young man and the pretty young
couple company, the night would
not, perhaps, have seemed so long. How
ever, | should have been mortified for
them to have seen how green L looked
when the dawn came; and as to these
| commits Uoyageotrs l do not care If look
as green as grass in their eyes thus all
no doubt is for the best; and, at all events,
| it is a good trite copy-book maxim to
| saw so. So / forget all about them, fix
nv ewes on the landscape racing by, and
| fail into a variety of thoughts. "Will
nv husband really get up Ia time to come
| and meet me at the station tomorrow
morning." He does so cordially hate
getting up. My only chance is his not
having gone to bed at all. How will he
be looking? l have not seen him for four
months. Win he have succeeded in
curling his tendency to fat, during his
Norway fishing? Probably not Fish
ing, on the contrary, is rather fat-naGking
occupations; sluggish and sedentary.
Shall we have a pleasant party At the
house we are going to, for shooting? To
whom in Paris shall go for my gown?
Worth? No, Worth is beyond me.
There l leave the future, and go back
| into past enjoyments; excursions to Lau-
sinere; trips down the lake to Chiffon; a
hundred and one pleasantnesses. The
time slips by; the afternoon is drawing
| toward evening; a beginning of dusk is
| drawing over the landscape.
look round. Good heavens. what can
those men find so interesting in the pa
pers? l thought them hideously duh,
when looked them over this morning;
and yet they are still persistently reading.
| What can they have got hold of? | can
not well see what the man beside me has;
| his 0is-0-Ujs is buried in an English Times
| Just as | am thinking about him he puts
down his paper and see his face Moth
| ing very remarkable; a long black beard,
and hat tilted somewhat low over his
| forehead. l turn away my eyes hastily,
| for fear of being caught inQuisitively
scanning; but still out of their corners
| see that he has taken a little bottle out Of
his traveling-b bag, has poured some of its
| contents into glass, and is putting it to
his lips. It appears as if-and at the
same time it happens, | have no manner
of doubt that he is drinking. Then feel
that he is addressing me. look up and
toward him; he is holding out the vial to
me, and saying:
May take the liberty of offering
Madame some?"
No, thank you, Monsieur" I answer,
shaking my head hastily and speaking
rather abruptly. There is nothing l dis
like more than being offered strange eata-
bes or drinkables in train, or strange
hymn-book in church.
He smiles politely, and then adds:
"Perhaps the other lady might be per-
| suaded to take little?"
| mo, thank you sir, I'm much obliged
to YOU" replied Watson, an Erily, in al
most as ungrateful a tone as mine.
! Again he smiles, bows, and reburies
himself in his newspaper The thread Of
my thoughts is broken; | feel an odd
curiosity as TO the nature of the contents
Of that bottle Certainly it is not sherry,
or spirit Of any kind, for it has ditfused
| no odor through the carriage. All the
time the man beside me has said and done
nothing. | wishhe would move, or speak,
or do something. peep cOvertly at him.
| Well, at all events, he is well defended
against the night chill. What volumin-
Gus cloak he is wrapped in; how entirely
it 8hrouds his igure!-trimmed with fur,
too! Why it might be January instead
| Of September. do not know why, but
| that cloak makes NE feel rather uncom-
| Portable. | wish they would both move
! 70 the window, instead of sitting next 10
us! Bah. am setting up to be timid
dove? | who rather pique myself on my
| bravery-0n my indifference to tramps,
| bulls, ghosts? The clock has been de-
posted with the umbrellas, parasols,
spare shawls, rugs, etc, in the netting
above Watson's head. The dressing case
"a very large and heavy one-is sitting
on her lap. lean forward and say to her:
THAT box must rest very heavily on
your knee, and I want a foot-stool-I
! should be more comfortable if | had one
let me put my feet on it."
| | have an idea that somehow my sap
| phires will be safer if | have them where
[ can always feel that they are dere. We
make the desired change in our arrange
ments. Yes; both my feet are on it.
The landscape outside is darkenin G
quickly now; our dim lamp is beginning
to assert its Importance. Still the men
read. | feel a sensation of irritation
What can they mean by it? 1t is utterly
impossible that they can decipher the
small print Of the Times by this feeble,
shaky glimmer.
AS | am so thinking. the one who had
before spoken lays down his paper, folds
it up, and deposits it on the seat beside
| him. Then, drawing his little bottle out
of his bag a second time, drinks, or seems
to drink, from it. Then he again turns
| to me:
MADAME will pardon me; but il
| Madame could be induced to try a little
of this; it is a cordial of most refresh
ing and invigorating description; and, If
she will have the suitability to allow me
| to say so, Madame looks faint
| What can he mean by his urgency? Is
it pure politeness? | wish it were not
growing SO dark These thoughts run
through my head as hesitate for an in
slant what answer to make. Then an
| idea occurs to me, and | manufacture 8
| civil smile and say: "Thank you very
much, Monsieur. | am little faint, as
you observe. think | will avail myself