The Portland daily press., 1873-02-15

ly IL shl Fy' - mioht be January instead OF
too! WY Wy I do not know why, but that
oePi eIl ,,oal,es me feel rather uncomtort-
az Io0A I wish they would both move to
t tIu window, instead OF sitting next us. Bah!
an, l setting up to be timid dove? /, who
ference to tramps, bulls, ghost? The clock
has been deposited with the umbrellas, para
soils, 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
l lean forward and say to her,
THAT box must rest very heavily ON your
knee, and want a foot STOOL should De
more comfortable if had one-let me put
my feet on it.
I have an idea that somehow my sapphlres
will be safer if | have them where can al
ways feel that they are there. We make the
desired change in our arrangements. 1eS'
both my feet are on it. Ill,
The landscape outside is darkenlnS quichiy
now; our dim lamp is beginning to assert its
Importance. Still the men read. 1eei d
sensation of irritation. What can they mean
bv If? II is utterly impossible that they can
decipber the small print of the Times by inc
feeble shaky glimmer.
AsJ lam so thinking, the one who had be-
fore spoken lays down his paper, 1oids lt up.
and deposits it on the seat beside MN. Ihen,
drawing his little bottle out OF his bag, drinks
or seems to drink from it, Then he again
urns to me:
could be induced to try little of this; it is a
cordial of most refreshing and invigorating
description; and if she will have the amiabili-
ty to allow me to say so, madame looks faint"
What can ne mean by his urgency? Is it
pure politeness? 1 wish it were not growing
so dark. These thoughts run through nv
head as hesitate for an instant what answer
to make. Then an idea occurs to me, and
manufacture civil smile and say, ''ThanS
you very much, monsieur. l am little
faint, as you observe. 1 think will avail
myself of your obliging offer'' So saying,
take the glass and touch it with my lips. l
give you my word of honor that I do not
think did more; did not mean to swallow
drop, but I suppose must have done SO.
He smiles with gratified air.
"The other lady will now, perhaps, follow
your example?"
By this time am beginning to feel thor
oughly uncomfortable; aohy, should be puz-
zled to explain. What is this cordial that he
is SO eager to urge upon us? Though de-
, termined not to subject myself to its infu-
ence, mast see its effects upon another per-
son. Rather brutal of me, perhaps; rather in
the spirit OF the anatomist, who, in the
interest of science, fortunes live dogs and
cats; but am telling you facts-not what
ought to have done, but what I did. make
a sign to Watson to drink some. She obeys.
nothing loath. She has been working hard
all day, packing and getting under way, and
she is tired. There is no teigning about her !!
She has emptied the glass. Now to see what
comes of it-what happens to my live dog!
The bottle is replaced in the bag; still we
are racing on, past the hills and fields and
villages! turn back from the contemplation
of the outside view to the inside one. Why,
the woman is asleep already! her chin bur
led in her chest, her mouth half open, look
ing exceedingly imbecile and very plain, as
most people, when out Of bed, do look. A
Lice invigorating potion, indeed! I wish to
heaven that had gone Guz fu,neu7s, or even
with that cavalcade of nursery-maids and un
wholesome-looking babies, auc danes seules,
next door. AT all events, I am not at ali
sleepy myself--that is blessing. shall see
what happens Yes, by the bye, must see
what he meant to happen; must affect to
fall asleep too. close my eyes, and gradu-
ally sinking my chin on my chest, try to
droop my jaws and hang my cheeks, with
semblance of bona Jtde slumber. Apparent
ly succeed pretty well. After the lapse of
some minutes distinctly feel two hands very
cautiously and carefully lifting and removing
my feet from the dressing-box.
A cold chill creeps over me, and then the
blood rushes to my head and ears. What am
| to do? what am l to do? | have ALWAYS
thought the better OF myself ever since for it /;
but, strange to say, keep my presence of
mind. Still affecting to sleep, give sort of
kick, and instantly the hands are Withdrawn
and all is perfectly quiet again. l now feign
to wake gradually, with ydwn and a stretch
and on moving about my feet little, find
that, despite my kick, they have been too
clever for me, and have dexterousiy removed
my box and substituted another. The way
in which | make this plea amt discovery is.
that whereas mine was perfectly fat at the
top, on the surface Of the object that is now
beneath my feet there is some sort of excres-
cence-a handle of some sort or other,
There is no denying it-brave I mag bel
may laugh at people for running from bulls,
Jisiihiass sisop Ia a room by themselves for
lor rear OF ghosts, for hurTyilg past tramps.
butnow am most thoroughly frightened
look cautiously, in sideWay manner al tho
man beside me. How very still he isl Were
they has hands, or the hands of the man on
poslte him? l take fuller look than have
yee Feh1ured TO 90, turning slightly round for
Inc purpose. He is still readino or ~
least still holding the paper. for VI ti Se
reading must be a farce. i look at his his
hands; they are in precisely the same posi-
ton as they were when affected to go to
sleep. although the pose of the rest of his
body is slightly altered Suddenly [ turn ex
tremely cold, for it has dawned on me that
they are not real hands-they are certainly
false ones. Yes, though the carriage is shak-
ing very much with our rapid motion, and
the light is shaking to, there is no mistake.
L look indeed more closely, SO as to be quite
sure. The one nearest me is ungloyed. the
other glovel l look at the nearest one.
Yes, 1t is OF an opaque waxen whiteness. 1
can plainly see the rouge put under the fin
ser-nails to represent the coloring of life. I
Try to give one glance at his face. The paper
still partially hides it, and as he is leaning his
1ead back against the cushion, where the
Ight hardly penetrates, am completely baf-
led in my efforts.
Great heavensl What is going to happen
o meI what shall do? how much of him
fedtf where are his real hands what is
,oing on under that awful cloak? The fur
'oroer touches me as sit by him. draw
and shrinkingIy away, and try to
squeeze myself up as close as possible to the
window. But alas! to what goodp How alb
'olutely and utterly powerless I am! How
entirely at their mercy! And there is Wat
son still sleeping notwithstanding heavi-
Y, opposite me. Shall l try to wake her?
: 70 what end? She being under the in
1oence OF that vile drug, my efforts will GER
certainly be useless, and will probably arouse
he man to employ violence against me.
sooner or later in the course of the night |
oppose they a1e pretty sure to murder me.
ut ! had rather it shouli be later than SOON
L.
While think these things, am living back
ute still, for, as l philosophically reflect, |
ot all the screaming in the world will help |
ne, II had twenty-lung power I could not |
rown the rush OF an express train. Oh. if |
ny GEAR boy were but here-my husband I |
nean|iat or lean, how thankful I shonld he
- see MN On, that cloak, and those hor-
ia waxy hands! Of course-I see it nowl-
hey remained stuck out, while the mans
ed ones were fumbling about nv feet
n the midst of my agony Of
tight a thought of Madame Tsssaud
ashes ludicrously across me. Then |
hey began to talk of me. 1t is plain that |
hey are not taken in by my my feint of sleep:
1ey speak in a clear loud voice, evidently for |
~ W. peneilt. One of them begins by saying,
What good-looking woman she is Eyi-
entity IN her premiere jeunesse too''-reader.
struck thirty last Maryland also there can
no doubt as to her being of exalted rank-a
uchess probably "a dead duchess by
forming, thinks / grmly.) They go on to
~ how odd it is that people in nv class of
te never travel with their own Jewels. but
ways with paste ones. My poor, poor sap
hiIes! Good-by-a long good-by to YOU.
ut indeed will willingly compound for tbn |