Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-07-10
MISCELLANEOUS.
MY TWO PEARLS.
JULIA 9. r. ponn, IN .rrnrros's JOURNAL.

'Iightning- express, gentlemen All aboard ~
shouted voice III the etation at Rochester, at
II o'clock at night.
stepped on board the train, choosing pal
ace and restaurant car, 'through to Chicago
"Socton2" said tho conductor, with rising
infection. Ought to have tolegraphed, sir.
Only ono berth left, and that's a mere accident,
Here it is. No. .. Gentleman who engaged ii
missed connection at Syracuse"
Congratulating myeelf ON my good fortune |
speedily crept into No. a lower berth and
fell asleep. When opened my eyes, the gray
dawn OF MI October morning tho October Of
1S6S-was stealing in through the cuftalned
window.
lay for some minutes III half dream, listen .
ing to the mnltitndinous noihee of the tram, with
scarcely thought of where | was. Then, AZ
tho light grow stronger, ] raised myself upon
my elbow and looked about me. only to fall back
II moment after with n start OF surprise that was
almost dsmay.
Right before my eyes hung II white, shapely
hand, with n dark soalrlng upon the tlird hn-
ger 1t took me minute or two TO collect my
scattered senses enough to discover that il be-
longed to the occupant OF tho upper berth,
dropped carelossly from its quatcrH to my own,
In tho heavy abandonment of sleep.
hand M | have said, "A hand unmarried or I'M
glorilied choose the word for yourAelf-hy the
seams and callousea OF manual labor. The iin-
gors were long and taper, tho nails oval and
well cared for The wrist WAS not large but
well knit and ninewy and half buried IN the
liuen OF the shirt-sloevc caught the sparkle OF
q diamond.
The hand had strange fascination for me,
half-uncanny though it looked in tho weird,
struggling light of early morning. ] watched it,,
.tnrn xhn ttAp NJ m
owner might be, and what kind of a face would
assort with it, till there was stir overhead, and
it vanished. Theu made my toilet Az l best
might, and went Tout Oh the platform for a
breath OF fresher air.
When, after the lapse Of half an hour, | les-
urely stroled back to my place again, all yes-
tiges OF the night were removed, and u gentle
man in plain gray travelling SUIT occupied one
seat in tho compartment allotted to me. lie
held a newspaper i'll lie hand. l recognized II
at once.
lie lifted his eyes long enough to salute me
with courteous bow as | took the opposite scat,
and then resumed his reading. / opened my
paper also, but the attempt to engross myself
with its contents WAS VAIN one My eyes and
my thoughts continually wandered to my VISA
Wis.
Describe him2 Not an easy matter. Neither
is il easy to account for the fascination that lie
woro as an invisible mantle. | might tell you
that no was tall and slight that his c. mpexion
was clear ana uurk bllNL ms DlhCh, crisp ibchH
curled closely round woll-shaped head that
hi1 eyes were large and liquid that his MUS
tache was light and graceful penciling upon
the firm, tim lip, and that his imperial was
above reproach. But, having told you this,
should expect you to say with glance of ineffa-
Bile meaning that yon could iud his counterpart
in any barbers shop on broadway; or, If not
there, in your sisters French dancing master.
You think sol Perhaps it ia not strange
You see | cannot put into words the indvidnali
slaattta
thing that mt once sot him apart from the crowd
and made him notable.
He dropped his paper presently, aud turned
to me with come remark upon current events
made with "A slight foreign accent. Thus we fel
into conversation.
Breakfast served whenever yon please, gen
tlemon," said tho porter, passing through the
car
My companion bowed, smiling:
"As We arc to be section-nates for day ol
two" he said, :" il ia well We should know each
other. Shall do myself tho honor to present
You with my card ~
"Iippolyte L'Estrange, Strasbourg." | read
from the little whito parallelogran. SO had
not been mAtakon IN supposlng him to he q
Frenchman. l may as well tell you here whal
he read from tho card gave hiIu In retnrn
Edward Rlpon, New York."
We breakfased together at his request
found my &C. chance acquaintance to be most
intelligent and cultivated man, and great trav-
eler. So much of the world had be seen, nc
wide was ha knowledge of men and things, that
to my comparative ineXperence, IL seemed little
loss than marvellous. lilo was years older thar
myself / was just 27-or at loast ho seemed so
A Frenchman il older than al American of the
same age always But, allowing for all that, NJ
L'Estiange was doubtless eight Or ten years my
senior. lie was at once re,cont and commuica
tiye,-roticent in all that was purely persona
and related to his inner solf communicative At
to hs plans and projects. l soon discovered
tI,ut ba xyau m NTuQclrcD. .--E
much farther of then than now.
" l;nt what " circuto1E route !" | exclaimed
"You are going around Robin Hoods barn.
',Robin Hoods barn 7" he repeated with d
halr-laugl, his eyes lighting as ho caught my
meaning. "But, my friend, had just come
from Panama. / was tired of tho ship, tho sea
the monotony, 40 go this way.
"Overland tho whole distance Z" asked.
"Uh no Look here, | shall have the hono
| to show you," and he drew folded map from
| his pocket. 81 leave you hero AZ Calumet
noting tho point with lis penc lyon SEQ
| There | take the lightning train FOR CAIRO
| thence by express this way"-pointing to Mem
phis and Jackson-'down to New Orleans
| That is right oh p
'Yes but you will have to go TO Vera Cruz
| How about IL steamer across the gulf Z"
| "Ah there round your Robin Hoods barn!
he said laughing. "See go across to Havana
and thence to Nora Cruz.
| "And them" my eye followed his pencil
| "Then go by diligence to the City of Mexi
| co, whore / take tho saddle for Manzanila
| There, il the good fates befriend me, catch
| steamer ahead of the one that loft New Yor
| when did. SO, / lose no time | see you
great country and escape tho dull, monoto
nous sea, of which l have had too much a
ready"
The hours flew on silver wings. All day Ion
we floated on tide of talk, sometimes taking
deeper tone AZ we touched upon themes tia
gave to each brief passing glimpses OF the sol
Of the other. 1t seemed TO Inc that there wa
little worth knowing that my companion dld nc
know little worth thinking that he had nt
thought
Yet learned little OF his personal histor
save that he had spent much time i'll Sout
America, and that he had large interests in I'll
pearl fisheries at Lima, on business connecto
with which he was going to San Francisco.
We had said nothing in any way relating to IL
War its causes or its results. But suddenly II
| friend turned to me.
"You have been in the army?" he sad.
"Yes, / answered. II served through u
war. But why do you think so?"
I" All, yon have something-the air militair
/ knew it from the first. ], too, am n soldie
| and did not need that you should give u
countersiBn.
Another night passed, and hour after hour
the second day. We were 40 miles from Call
met. A deep silence fell upon us two, who,
these days OF chance companionship, ha'
grown 10 strangely near each other. Soon OF
| paths would diverge, never, in all probablit
to cross again. In vain M. L'Estrange nrg'
me to prolong my journey. at last as far AZ Ne
| Orleans,