Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-01-14
THE EARLY TRAIN.
How Mr.. and Mrs. Prince Passed an Anxious
Night.

The early morning train from Danbury leaves
ut half past six. This is very scasonable hour
in the summer, when people are stirring, birds
caroling their melodies, and the incense from
the newly awakened flowers filling the air and
inspiring the senses. But in the winter time,
with animal and vegetable life dead, the air raw
and chilly. the matches mislad, and gloomy
darkness wrapping the face OF the earth as IL
with a pail half-past six o clock A. NJ is n very
unreasonable and disagreeable hour, and the
man who has occasion to leave home on that
train may easily be pardoned the uneasiness un-
avoidable the day before. Our legal friend,
Prince, received information. on Friday which
made it necessary that he should be in New
York before saturday noon. He contemplated
the early start with some misgivlng, and deter
mined to make the best preparation for 1t by get
ting to be early, Some people would not nave
thought of this, and remained up until their
usual hour, and have either oversight themsel-
YES, or have awakened unrefreshed or depressed
Mr. Prince went to bed at o clock, and got to
sleep about half-past H. When he awoke it was
at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. Princes
toes, which were digging vigorously into his
back, while Mrs Princes voice were otherwise
engaged in his interests. Mr.. Prince jumped
up at once, and inquired the time, which Mrs.
Prince was not able to inform him exactly, but
was quite confident by general feeling and looks
that it was hard on to car time. Mr. Prince
snatched up his cloths at this, and flew into the
sitting room and straightway got into his clothes,
and then examining his waeh, found that it was
ten minutes past r. "By oraokey," said Mr..
Prince, and Immediately returned TO bed and en-
casing his head beneath the cloths preserved a
moody silence in answer to Mrs Princes in
quiries 1t finally dawned on that excellent
lady that the hour was too early, and she soon
went to sleep. But there was no immediate
sleep for her husband. He felt gloomy and dis
satisfied and seemed weighed DOWN with the
impression that he was to miss the train IN spite
of all he could do to avert the calamity. He
carefulley reviewed his past life, arranging
himself as a student, q lawyer, citizen and a
husband, to see if there was anywhere in his
record an act, word, or thought, which by
the finest ingenuity could be distorted into
crime for which this losing the train might be
considered q fitting judgment But II: vain
he went over the past for such provocation and
finally assigning the cause to dispensation of
fate none of us can avert, he, too. fell asleep.
When he awoke again he, found Mrs. Princes
toes at his back, and Mrs. Princes hands at his
shoulders, and Mrs. Princes voice in his ear,
and a vivid impression on his mind that the
train had gone, or that the whistle would sound
before he could get out of bed. But he aroseand
hurried into the sitting groom with show of in
terest, and drawing on his clothes, again consult
ed his watch with an air of desperation and sscer-
tanned that it was just o'clock. He didn't say
"By cracky!" this time. But it is no matter
what he said. He skipped back to the bedroom
without any loss of time, and appeared before
Mrs. Prince with lamp in one hand and a lot
of clothes in the other, and with a good deal of
fire in his eye. But he blew out The light in
silence, and then getting back into bed, gloomily
urged her not to do that again or her of1icious-
ness might cost her pain: The next time he
aroused himself 1t was O. clock. This was a
little earlier than was absolutely necessary, but
far fear of missing the train he remained up
First carefully dressing himself, he kindled the
fire in the kitchen, and thought of the excellent
breakfast he was to carry with him, while Mrs.
Prince lay and slept. AT half-past I she awoke
of her own accord, and finding the broad day
light streaming into the window, jumped up
with sincere regret that Prince had gone without
warm breakfast, and pictured to herself during
the toilet the aching void he would carry with
him through the streets of the metropolis. Then
she thought of the vexation, and the tears came
into her eyes. And then she went into the
kitchen, and was struck motionless at the sight
before her. For there was Prince with carpet
bag clutched tightly in one hand, and a roll of
legal documents in the other, sitting bolt upright
in a chsir-fast asleep. Astonished and CON
fused at this spectacle and hardly knowing
what he was doing, Mrs. Prince got the woman
in the other part of the house to arouse Mr..
Prince, while she stole over to her mothers to
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