Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-01-22
A LITERARY NIGHrnARE

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fol owing verses and see II he can discover
anything harmful in them?
Como uctor. when yen receive a fare
funch M the presence of the psssenjarel
blue trip slip for an e. ght cent fare
oufi trip-slip for six coat fare.
A pink trip-slip for a three cent fare.
pncb IL the reseDce OF the passenjarei
CHORUS
Punch, broihersi punch with care
PuU ch in the presence OF the passe' 1arel
i came across these jingling rhymes In a
newspaper q little while ago and read them
a couple Of times. They took instant aud
entire possession OF me- All through break
fast they went waltZing through my brain;
and when at last 1 rolled up my napkin
could Iot tell whether had eaten any thing
or not. / had carefully laid out my days
gSrS the day Thrilling IN
den To beg In my deed of blood. took ur nv
pen but all could get Ii to say VIZ apnncR
In the presence of the pas--ouJare." fought
hard ior an hour, out 1t was useless. My
heaa kept humming, "a blue trip slip
Tor an eight cent fare, buff trip slip for
q six cent fare, and SO on and so ON, without
peace or respite. The days work was
gave up and drifted down town, and present
~ discovered that my feet were keeping
time to that relentless jingle. When could
stand IL 10 longer altered my step. But il
did no good; those rhymes accommodated
themselves to the new step and went on
barassing me just as before. / returned
unCOn-
sciOus and undressing dinner; suffered and
cried and jingled all through the evening;
went to bed and rolled and tossed and jim
gled right along the same as ever; got up at
midnight frantic, aud tried TO read; but
there was nothing visible upon the whirling
page except "Punchl punch in the presence
OF the passerjare." BY sunrise was out of
my mind, and every body marveled and was
distressed al the idiotic burden of my raw
1ngs-"Punch! oh, punchi punch In the pres
enee OF the passenjare!"
Two days later, on Saturday morning, 1
arose tottering wreck, and went forth to
ialhl an engagement with a valued friend,
the Rev: Mr.. -, to walk to the Talcott
Tower, ten miles distant. He stared at me,
but asked no questions. We started. Mr.
talked, talked, talked, talked-as is his wont.
said nothing; heard nothing. At the end
of mile, Mr.. said:
MAX. are you sick? never saw man
look so haggard and worn and absent-mind-
ed: Say something; dol"
Drearily. without enthusiasm, SAID -
"Punch, brothers, punch with care Punch
In the presence of the passenjare I"
My friend eyed me blankly, looked per
picked, then said:
81 do not think / get your drift, Mark
what you have said, certainly nothing sad;
and yet-may be it was the way you said the
Words-l never heard any thing that sounded
SO palmetto What Isl
But / heard no more. was already far
away with my pitiless, heart breaking ''bIue
trip slip for an eight cent fare buff trip slip
cent fare; punch in the presence of the pas
senjare." 1 do not know what occurred dur
Ing the other nine miles. However, all of a
sudden Mr. laid his hand on my shout
der and shouted:
F." Oh, wake upl wake up! wake up! Don't
sleep all dayi Here you are at the Tower.
mani have talked myself deaf aud dunno
and blind, and never got "A response. Just
look at this magnificent autumn Landscape!
Look II II! look at IL! Feast your eyes ON il!
You have travelled; you have seen boosted
Come.
hon' st opinion. What do Sou say to this?o
sigh.o YEARLY, and murnured:
Z" ouf trip slip for a six cent fare, q pink
trip slip for three-cent fare, punch III the
presence OF the pasSeujare."
Rev. Mr.. - stood there, very grave, flu
OF concern, apparently, and looked long at
me; then he said:
MARX, there is something about this that
l cannot understand. Those are about the
same words you sald before there does not
seem To be anything in them, aud yet they
nearly break my heart when you say them.
Punch in the how is IL they gO?''
began at the beginning and repeated all
the lines, My friends face lighted with in
teTest. He said
"Why, what a captivating Jingle it is! H.
Is almost music. II flows along so nicely [
have nearly caught the rhymes myself. Say
mem over lust once more, and then I'll have
them, sure"
l said them over. Then Mrs said them.
lie made one little mistake, which | cor
Tected. The next time and the next ne GOT
them right. Now a great burden seemed to
tumble from my shoulders. That torturing
jingle departed out of my brain, and a CRATE
lul sense OF rest and peace descended upon
me. was light hearted enough to sing, and
L did sing for nalf an hour straight along, as
we went jogging home ward. Then my freed
tongue found blessed speech again, and the
pent talk or many weary hour began to
gush and flow. 1t flowed on and on, joyousIy,
Jubilantly, until the fountain was empty and
dry. As l wrung my friends hand at part
"Havnt we had a royal good time! But
now 1 remember, you havu'C said a worI for
two hours. Come, come, out with some
The Rev. Mr.. - turned Iack-lustre eve
upon me, drew deep sigh, and said with.
out animation, without apparent conscious
ness:
"Punch, brothers, punch with care! Punch
in the presence of the passeniare?''
A pang shot through me as / said to my
self Poor fellow, poor fellow! he has got it
now"
did not see Mr.. - for two or three DAYS
days after that. Then, on Tuesday evening,
ne staggered into my presence aud sank de
was wreck. He lifted his faded to my face
and said:
"Ah, Mark, It was ruinous Investment
that made in those heartless rhymes. They
nave ridden me ike nightmare, day and
night, hour after hour, to this very moment.
Since saw you have suffered the tOrments
OF the lost. Saturday evening had a sud-
den call by telegraph, and took the night
train for Boston. The occasion was the
death OF a valued old friend who had re-
quested that / should preach his funeral SER
mon. took my seat IN the cars and set my
self to framing the discourse. But l never
got beyond tue opening paragraph; for then
the train started, and the car wheels began
the Observation-Disclosures clack -clack-
clack-clack' and right away those o1ious
rhymes fitted themselves to that accompa-
niment. For an hour L sat there and set a
syllable Of those rhymes to every separate
and distinct clack the car wheels made.
Why, was as tagged out then as If | hal
been chopping wood all day. Ny skull
was splitting with headache. 1t seemed To
me that must 90 mai If sat there longer;
so undressed and went to bed. | stretched
myself out on my berth, and-weli, you know
what the result was. The thing went right
along. just the same. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
blue trip Sill, clack clack- clack, for an eight
cent fare, clack- clack- clacz, "A bun trip Slip,
clack- clack- clack, for six-cent fare and
so on, and so on, and so on-'plulch, in the
presence OF the passeDjaren Sleep? Not "A
single wink! ! was almost q lup6tic when
got TO Boston. Don't ask me about the fune-
raj did the best could, but every solemn
individual sentence was meshed aud tangled
ana woven In and out with Punch, brothers,
punch with care, punch I'm the presence of
the IasSeniare.' And the most distressin
thing was that my delivery dropped into the
unculsting rhythm of those pulsing
rhymes, and / could actually catch
Aforementioned tDpODla ppd5fpO fsqns IN tho