Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-08-01
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FIG
TON.

AHc cdI-uOOr opened, Cnere was
q rattle and a rustic upon the plat
form outside--and she came tumb-
ling In. AT the same instant there
came In with her q rudy cheek
ed, blue-eyed boy, whose years
were not counted above ten. She
carried in her arms q bundle, close
ly and carefully wrapped, at one
end of which q tiny lace appeared
9 diminutive copy of her own.
Carefully placing this bundle up
on a seat, she next dragged in a
box and basket, and the strong
Od0r Of bilge-water, such as ever
pervades the Storage or between
decks of the emigrant vessel, an
nOunced to the indifferently inter-
ested passengers that my fellow
passenger was an emigrant.
She was not more than thirty !;
she was fair and appeared ds
strange and timid as the antelope
we saw from the car-window Gid
ing over the plains. But no one
spoke to her, no one presumed to
claim acquaintance with this trav-
el-seiled, weary-looking young
woman, and ss she sat on the next
seal to my own, gazing YEARLY
out upon the wild, bleak monoto-
ny to the plains, / observed sever
al times during the day that her
large blue eyes filed with tears,
and that the little boy in Scotch
cap, knee breeclies and black hose
busted himself in vain attempt
to comfort his mother" All
this l observed from behind my
book, which book proved q medi-
UNI of communication between
my fellow passenger and myself.
She had been looking at the back
of my book attentively for some
time, when she broke the silence
by saying:
/ beg pardon, sir, but can you
tell rue when we shall arrive look
ing at an envelope) at Bijou Sta,
tion?n
Tomorrow evening sometime
if all goes WE'LL" / replied.
lis the country out there as
wild and sparsely settled as this,
sir?"
Yes, madam, or more so. 1t
depends very much upon the por-
ton of the Bijou you go to-"
The ice being broken between
myself and my fellow-passenger,
she soon fell a victim to q profess
sional American newspaper in
terviewer, to whom she told her
story.
But this story would have but
little interest for the general read
er, were it not for the sequel,
which is herewith given. 1 will
give her story as near as possible
in her own words.
"Yes, sir, am from England.
/ left there three weeks ago. /
observed you reading Dickens
and / took the liberty of speaking
to you. Do / admire Dickens I?
Yes, sir, / loved him. / am a re-
lative of his, and have ofttimes
visited him at his place at Gad's
Hill. / am from Gloster. Do you
know Gloster? 1t is dear old
town. We lived just within the
shadow of that great cathedral Ia
sigh. oh, the dear old town /
expect we will never meet again.
1t is great old structure, sir. You
can read all about it in Uncle
Charles last book, THE Mystery
of Edwin Brood He describes
her town just as it is. We all low
ed Mr.. Dickens. / walked with
him many times in the grand old
insucture, for he made our home
mis- home when he came to Clos
isr. He only lived ten miles away
and frequently came to us while
he was working upon his last
book. / observed you reading one
of his works, and | made so free
as to speak, for l am-oh so very
lonesome and strange here Did
e come all the way alone, sir I?
Yes, sir. But it was wrong in me
to attempt it. / think sometimes
/ shall give up before | reach my
husband. But Charles is quite a
man to me. You have no idea,
r, how clever and kind my lit
tie son has been to me, both on
the voyage and at Halifax, at
Baltimore and Cincinnati. How
do j like the states, did you say /?
Oh, sir. | don't like them at all
/ like the state of Cincinnati the
best of any | have been in. Istop-
ped at Halifax. 1t is a dull, cold,
miserable place. They kept us
three days in Baltimore, to dis
charge cargo. At Cincinnati my
luggage was smashed, and i had
to purchase deal boxes to pack in.
They charged me a sovereign 70
them. / was detained one day
at ST. Louisa nasty, gloomy,