Weekly Trinity journal., 1876-02-19
\ LITERARY NIGHTMARES.


A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
baa trip slip for six-ccnt fare,
4 pink trip slip for threc cent faro,
Punch in tho presence of tho paSsenjare!
CHoRus.
Punch, brothers punch with caro-
Punch in the presence OF the passonj are
came ecross these jingling rhymes in
a newspaper, u little while ago and read
them couple OF times. They took in
stant and entire possession of me. An
through breakfast they went waltling
through my brain and when at last
rolled up my napkin, | could not tel
whether had eaten anything or not.
had carefully laid out my days work tn,
day betore-a thrilling tragedy in the
novel which am writing. went TO my
den to begin my dced of blood. took
my pen, but all could get it to say was,
" Punch in the presence ot the possen-
jare." fought hard for AN hour, but it
was useless. My head kept hummng
" n blue trip slip for an eIght cent fare
buff uip slip for siN.cent fare" and
so on and SO on, without peace or respite.
! The days work was ruined L could sec
that plainly enough, gave pand DRIFT
ed down town, and presently discovered
that my feet were keeping time to that
relentless jingle. When | could stand it
no longer altered my step. But it did
no good those rhymes accommodated
to the new step and went ON harrassing
me just rs before. returned homo and
| suffered all the afternoon ; suffered all
through an unconscious and uuretreshing
dinner; suffered, and cried, and jingled
all through the evening went to bed and
rolled, tossed and jiugled right along the
same rs ever; got up mt midnight frantic,
and tried to read but there WAS nothing
visible ON the whiring page except that
Punch punch in the presence OF the
passcnjare. BY sunrise | was out of my
mind, and everybody maryeled and was
distressed ut the ldiotc burden of my
rawlings r" Punch oh, punch punch in
the presence Of the passonjaro I"
Two days later, ON Saturday morning
| arose, II lettering wreck, and went forth
TO I'LL an engagement withn valued tuend,
the Roy. MIR, --, TO walk to the Mlcutt
Tower, ten miles distant. lie stared nt
me but asked no questions. We started
Mr.. -- talked, talked, talked us is hi.
wont. said nothing | heard nothing,
At the end Of Il mile, Mr.. -- said D.:
Mark, aro you sick ? mover saw n
man look so haggard and worn and absent
minded. Say something do -
Drearily, without enthusiasm, | soid,
Punch, brothors, punch with care =
Punch in the presence Of the passenjarc !"
My friend eyed me bnnMy, looked
perplexcd, then ,aid
: do not think | get your drilt, Mark.
There does not seem to be amy relevancy
in what you have said, certainly nothing
sad and yet-may be it was the way you
Said the woids-l never heard anything
thnt sounded so pathetic. What is ----"
But heard no more. was already
far away with my pitilc-s heart breaking
"bue trip lip for an eight cen. fare, bul
trip slip tor II six cent fare, pink trip slip
for II thrce-cent fare punch in the pres
cnce OF the passcnjarc." do not know
what occurred during the other nine miles,
However, all Of sudden Mr. --- laid
his hand ON my shoulder aud shouted
"Oh, wake up wake up wake up
Don't sleep all day have talked my
self deaf and dumb and blind, and never
got response, just look at this magnit-
I icont autumn landscape Look at it !
look ut it! Feast your eyes on it ! You
have travelled you have seen boasted
landscapes elsewhere. Come, now, de-
liver an honest opinion. What do you
say to this ?"
sighed wenily, and murmured
"A buff trip slip for II siX-cent fare,
punch in the presence Of the passenjare ~
Rev. Mr.. -- stood there very grave,
full Of concern apparently, and looked
long at me then he said
Mark, there is something about this
that cannot understand, Those are
about the same words you said before F;
there does not seem to be anything in
them, and yet they nearly break my
heart when you say them. Punch in the
how is it they 60 ?"
| began at the beginning aud repeated
all the lines. My friends face lighted
with interest. lie said
Why, whata captivating jingle it is
1t is almost music. 1t flows along 50
nicely. / have nearly caught the rhyme
myself. Say them over just once more
and then I'll have them sure"
| said them over. Then Mr.. -- said
them. He made one little mistake, which
| corrected The next time and the next
he got them right. Now great burden
seemed to tumble from my shoulders.
That torturing jingle departed out OF my
brain, and grateful sense OF rest and
peace descended upon me. | was light
hearted enough to sing and did sing
for half an hour straight along, Us We
went jogging homewaid. Then my freed
tongue found blessed speech again, and
my pent talk Of many a weary hour be-
gun to gush and how. 1t flowed on and
on, joyously, jubiian.ly, until the fountain
was empty and dry. As l wrung my
friends hand at parting, | said
Haven't we had royal good time ?
But now | remember, you haven't said Il
word for two hours. Come, come, out
with something !"
The Eey. Mr.. -- turned lack lu,tre
eye upon me, drew a deep sigh and said,