Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-11-10
A Railway Incident.

1t WIS 4 third-class carriage. She WAS
Il pleaSant-ftccd young woman. going
think. for the fiji st time after her marriage
to visit her parents in the old home, tc
show them their two fine grand children
Al least this was the little history l bull,
up for her in my own brain from word
or two that heard pass between her and
her young husband at the station, rs he
put her into the carriage with an affection
ate farewell. | always watch with great
interest the flrewells and greetings of my
fellow travellers, and have I fashion for
thinking out for myself the whole story OF
their previous lives from the little hints
that get in this way. 1t is to me as if
were permitted to open the second volume
OF an interesting romance, and allowed
to read only Y one short scene in this, and
asked to guess rs nearly as possible from
this one scene the previous course of the
story and the characters of the actors in
it.
The Youngest child was an infant of
about three or four months old-verv qui-
ct and good; the other was pretty. rest
less little girl of three, who could not be
still I single moment, and kept the care
full mother busy by her childish questions
and wants and childish prattlc She was
not at all bashful, and soon talked to us
also in such 4 natural. coquettish. conde-
scending way that we were quite in love
with the charming little lassie, and begged
her mother not to check her innonccnt ad-
vances to us.
When we had been travelling together
for two or three hours and began to feel
quite like old acquaintance, while the
train was going at full speed, the mother
half rose from her seat to place the little
girl. who had left her place again, on the
opposite seat. How it happened have
never understood; it was one of those ac-
cidents which seem impossible, and. in
fact, only happens once in = hundred
thousand times; but Just rs she stood half
erect holding her sleeping babe upon one
arm and her little froicsome maid on the
other, the little girl made one Of her sud-
den, quick movements. and in an instant
she had gone from our eyes.
What 4 moment The Door mother
stood fixed and rigid in exactly the same
attitude. her arm still bent as though
around her child, gazing with wide open,
fixed eyes at the place whence she van
ished. She seemed literally. suddenly
turned to stone; with the rest of us the
case was almost the same. How long
this lasted | do not know; doubtless it
seemed to us much longer than it really
was. Then the young mother seemed to
come TO herself, and made sudden more
ment rs if she would spring through the
window after her vanished darling, now
far away. | caught her quickly fast, and
held her, while the kind Young lady who
sat opposite to me took the baby from her
arms, and we all began to talk together.
no one listening to the other. about what
was to be done for her. Somehow we
managed to do all that was p ,ssible; the
guard came, the train was stopped, and
the mother. without speaking to one Of
Us, or even looking at Us. left the train.
supporting herself on one arm of the
sympathizing guard. while he held the
still sleeping baby fast in the other.
OF course the train must 90 on with in
creased speed to make up for the moment
of delay, so there was no chance for us to
see more of the bercaved mother. " Tel
cgraph to us ut the next station" said one
of the railroad functionaries to the guard
- Yes. YES, be sure to do it immediately
cr'ed Il dozen voices; for in some mysteri-
Gus way the news Of the accident had run
through the train as if by electricity, and
4 row of Sympathizing faces watched from
the carriage the disappearing forms of the
mother and the guard.
1t Will take her half an hour to reach
the spot, and it is just thirty-tive minutes
now to the next station" said the stout
gentleman in the corner, taking ont his
watch and holding it in his hand, his eyes
fixed upon it. lie had struck me as one
of the most selfish and disacreeable old
gentleman possible; scarcely ans swering a
polite question from n nelIhbOr, and then
in the shortest, gruifcst manner possible ;
he had seemed completely absorbed by
his newspaper and his snuff box. not hav
iny noticed the little fairy in any way ex-
ccpt to glance ut her now and then with a
savage expression rs her clear, childish
laugh had disturbed his reading. Now
his whole soul seemed to be fixed on the
watch before him, and he "chided the
tardy flight of time y again and again,
in words more forcibe than ornamental.
There was Il young wOuld-be dandy in
the corner; light. straw cOlorcd gloves, a
slender cane. an infant mustache, and an
eye glass stuck in one eye, seemed to be
in his opinion. tokens OF vast superiority
over the other travellers; and he spoke
very little except occasionally to make
some superciious remark, or ask some
question about third-class travelling. ap-
parently to produce upon us the impress
sion that he was 4 young nObleman OF
prince, perhaps, in disguise, seein. for
himself how ordinary mortals Jared
What Il change had come over him now
the eye glass hung dangling. hither and
thither; with the kid gloves, of which he
I,n, 1nintyr ho ho1 ur1ocnoI tho
dusty facing of the door. and was strain
inc his gaze fist backward until the
poor mother could no longer be seen, and
news was to meet us.
Now ut last we are there; the train
halts, and one of the guards runs quickly
is painted Everybody who can possibly
get his OF her head out of the window on
that side thrusts it out. There is mo.
ment of intense suspense; here comes the
guard again with dispatch in his hand; he
stands midway between the ends of the
train, and begins to road it out in his
clear, kind, official tones: "Child perfectly
sound; alighted on 4 pile of straw in a
field, not two feet from a stone wall"
Then what a scene! Every man at the
tram WlOUOW Has HIS I1stt ON III IL IllOulcut
and is waving it and cheering as if he
would split his throat; every woman is
buried in her pocket handkerchief, crying
and laughing together. The stout old
egotist, and the vain young dandy have
thrown their arms around each other, anC
are embacing with that heartiness thai
belongs to the sons of Vaterland. although
they never met before this morning. The
stiff old maid in the corner has shaken my
hands in both of hers SO many times tina
feel they are quite sore.
All the inhabitants of the little villag'
come running round the train: What i
! it? Where is he? Is it the Kaiser him
self or is it the Kronprinz?" they aske'
| in bewildered excitement at the sight O
ours.
But all the Kaisers and kronprinzes il
! Europe put together could not hay