Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-02-10

punch IN the presence OF the passen.
jare." I do not know what occurred
during the other nine miles. However,
al Of sudden Dir. - laid his hand
on my shoulder and shouted,-
"Oh. wake up! wake up! wake upl
Don't sleep all day! Here we are at
the tower, man! 1 have talked myself
deaf and dumb and blind, and never
got a response. Just look at this mag.
nife.nt autumn landscapes Look at III
look at it! Feast your EYES on il !
You have Travelled : you have ICED
boasted landscapes elsewhere. Come,
now, deliver an honest opinion. What
do YOU say to this ="
,Isighed wearily, and murmered,-
"a buff trip slip for siI.cent fare,
pink trip slip for three.cent fare,
punch in the presence Of the passen-
jre."
Rev. Mr.-stood there, very grave,
full Of concern apparently, and looked
long ut me; then he said,-
MARK, there is something about this
that I cannot understand. Those are
about the same words you said before;
there does nat seem to be ANYTHING in
them, aud yet they nearly break my
heart when you say them. Punch in
tbe-how is it they goP"
! began at the beginning and re.
peated all the lines. Ny friends face
lighted with interest. He said -
"Why, what q captivating jingle it
is! 1t is almost music 1t flows along
SO nicely. / have nearly caught the
rhymes myself. Say them over just
once more, and then I'll have them
sure"
l said them over. Then Mr.
said them. He made one little mistake,
which corrected. The next time and
then he got them right Now a great
burden seemed to tumble from nv
shoulders. The torturing jingle de-
parted out of nv brain, and grateful
sense of rest and peace decended upon
me. l was light hearted enough to sing;
and 1 did sing for half an hour, straight
along, as We went jogging homeward.
Then INV freed tongue found blessed
speech again, and the Pent talk of many
weary hour began to gush and Aow
1t flowed on and on, jovously, jubilantly,
until the fountain was empty and dry.
As wrung my friends hand at part
ing, said,-
Haven't We had a royal good time |!
But now l remember, tou hasen't said
word for two hours. Come. come,
out with somcthingv
The Rev. Mr.--iurned a lack
lustre eye upon me, drew deep sigh;
and said, without animation; without
apparent cnnsciousness,-
Punch, brothers, pinch with care {!
Punch in the presence of the passenjarrr,
A pang shot through me as said to
myself, Poor fellow, poor fellow! he
has got it now
did not see Mr.-for two or three
days after that. Then, OH Tuesday
evening, he staggered into my preseuce
and sank de ectedly into a seat. He
was pale, worn; he was q wreck. H.
lifted his faded eyes to my face and
said
'Ab, Mark; it was a ruinous invest
ment that made in those heartless
rhymes. They have ridden me like a
nightmare, day aud night, hour after
hour, to this very moment. Since saw
you ! have suffered the torments CT the
lost. Saturday evening had sudden
call by telegraph and took che nigh:
train for Boston. The occasion was
the death of IL valued friend who had
requested that should preach his flu
neral sermon. l took my sea, in the
cars and set myself to framing the
discourse. But / never got beyond the
opening paragraphs; for then the train
started and car-wheels began their
'clack-clack- clack -claek! clack. clack-
clack- clack! and right away those obi
Gus rhy mes S.ted themselves to the
accompaniment. For an hour l sat
there and set syllable Of those rhvmes
to every separate and distinct clack
the car-wheels made. Why, l was as
tagged out, then, as if l had been
choppiug wood all day. Nv skull was
splitting with headache. 1t seemed to
m. that / must go mad if ] sat there
any longer; so undressed and went to
bed. l stretched myself out in NV
berth, and-weli YOU know what the
result was. The thing went right along i,
just the same. Clack-clack-clack, a
blue trip slil, clack-e lAck- clack, for an
eight-cent fare; clack-clask-csses, a
buff trip slip, clack-clack-clack, for a
six-cent fare, aud SD on, aud SO ON.
-punch, in the presence Of the passen-
jsTe" sleept Not q single wink !.
/ was almost lunatic when / got to
Boston. Don't ask me about the fu-
neral. ! did the best could, but ev.
cry solemn individual sentence was
n,esh.d and tangled and woven in and
out with Punch, brothers, punch with
care, punch in the presence Of the pas
senjare.' And the most distressing
thing was that my dslirery dropped
into the sudulating rhy thin Of those
pulsing rhymes, and i could actually
catch abssAt-minded people nodding
fisae To the swing of it with their stu.
pid heads. And, Mark, you NAV be-
heve 1t or not, but before I got throu. b
the entiIe assenblage were placidlv
bobting their heads in solemn unison.
monrners, undertaken, and all. The
moment I had finished, / fied to the
ante-room in state bordering on fren.
~. OF course il would be my luck
to fnd sorrowing aud aged maiden
aunt OF the deceased there, Who had
arrived from Sprinvf1eld too L,. ,o a.,