American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-02-05
VOL. XXVI.


the pent talk of many a weary hour began
10 gush and flow. Ii flowed on and on
joyrusly, jubilantly, until the fountain
was empty and dry. As l wrung my
friends hand at parting, | said;
Haven't we had a royal good time!
But now l remember, you haven't said a
word for two hours. Come, come, out
with something's
The Rev Mr.. - turned lack -luster
eye upon me, drew a deep sigh, and said,
without animation, without apparent con-
seriousness:
Punch, brothers, punch with care!
Punch in the presence of the passenjarel"
A pang shot through me as / said 10
myself: Poor fellow poor fellow! He
has got il now
did not see Mr.. - for two or three
days after that. Then, on Tuesday even
ing, he staggered into my presence and
sank dejectedly into a seat. He was pale,
worn; he was a wreck. He lifted his
faded eyes to my face and said:
'.Ah, Mark, it was a ruinOus invest
ment that made in those heartless
rhymes. They have ridden me like a
nightmare, day and night, hour after hour,
to this very moment. Since l saw you
l have suffered the torments of the lost.
Saturday evening had a sudden call, by
telegraph, and took the night train for
Boston. The occasion was the death of a
valued old friend who had requested that
| should preach his funeral sermon ]
took my seat in the cars and set myself to
framing the discourse. But l never got
beyond the opening paragraph, for then
the train started and the car wheels began
their 'clack -clack- clack- clack clack -clack-
clack- clackr and right away those odious
rhymes fitted themselves to that accompa-
niment. For an hour l sat there and set
syllable of those rhymes to every sepa-
rate and distinct clack the car wheels
made. Why, l was as tagged out, then,
as if had been chopping wood all day.
My skull was splitting with headache. 1t
seemed TO me that l must go mad if l sat
there any longer; so undressed and went
to bed. l stretched myself out on my
berth, and-well, you know what the re-
suit was. The thing went right along,
just the same. Observation-Disclosures blue
trip slip, clack-clack- for an eight
cent fare; clack- buff trip
slip, clack-clack-clack, for a six-cent fare,
and so on, and SO on, and so on-pmnch,
in the presence of the passenjarer Slceps
Not single winki / was almost
lunatic when l got to Boston. Don't ask
me about the funeral, did the best l
could, but every solemn individual SEN
tence was meshed and tangled and woven
l.
with care, punch in the presence of the
passenjare.' and the most distressing
thing was that my deIirery dropped into
the undulating rhythm of those pulsing
rhymes, and could actually catch absent
minded people nodding time to the swing
of it with their stupid heads. And, Mark,
you may believe it or not, but before got
through, the entire assemblage were pla-
cidly bobbing their heads in solemn uni
son, mourners, undertakers and all. The
moment had finished, fed to the ante
room in state bordering on frenzy. Of
course it would be my luck to find a sor-
rowing and aged maiden aunt of the de-
ceased there who had arrived from Spring
field too late to get into the church. She
began to sob, and said:
Oh, oh, he is gone, he is gone, and
didn't see him before he diedr
6. Yesv | said, he is gone, he is gone,
he is gone--oh, piH this suffering never
ceasep
Is. You loved him, then! Oh, you too
loved himr'
Loved himl Loved phO?'
Why, my poor George! my poor
Oh-hsmi Yes-oh, yes, yes. Ger
Punch punch-oh,
this misery will kill met
Bless you! bless you, sir, for these
sweet words! L, too, suffer in this dear
loss. Were you present during his last
"'Y Yes! I-,chose last moments "
HIS. The dear departed's.'
Yes! Oh, yes-yes-yes! / suppose
so, think so, L don't know! Oh, GER
tainly-I was there-I was therep
g. Oh, what a privilege! what a pre-
cious privilege! And his last words
nj, toll mo fol mo b;o Loot N, ,rsJ,, ,,,bo+
did he say?'
'' He said-he said-oh, my head, my
head my head !. he said-he said-he new
er said anything but Punch, punch, punch,
in the presence of the passenjare! oh, leave
me, madam! in the name of all that is
generous, leave me to my madness, my
misery, my despair!-a buff trip slip for a
six-cent fare, pink trip slip for three
cent fare-endu-rance can no further gOi
PUNCH in the presence of the passen-
jarer''
My friends hopeless eyes rested upon
mine pregnant minute, and then he
said impressively:
Mark, you do not say anything. You
do not offer me any hope. But, all, me-
it is just as well-it is just as WELL You
could not do me any good. The time has
long gone by when words could comfort
me. Something tells me that my tongue
is doomed to wag forever to the jiggcr of
that remorseless jingle. There-there it
Is coming on me again-a blue trip slip
for an eight-cent fare, buff trip slip for
a-n
Thus murmuring faint and fainter, my
friend sank into a peaceful trance and for
got his sufferings in blessed respite
How did I finally save him from the
asylum? l took him to a neighbOring
and made him discharge the
burden of his prosecuting rhymes into the
eager ears of the poor, unthinking STU
dents. How is it with them nowr The
result is too sad to tell. Why did 1 write
this article? 1t was for worthy, even a
noble, purpose. 1t was to warn you,
reader, if you should come across those
merciless rhymes, to avoid them-avOid.
them as you would pestilence.-Aark
1cata, in Fe6rudry atlantic.
A PIckpOcket Meets Young Man.
A LIVELY incident occurred on the Full