The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-04-05

He came toward me out Cf an opera
lobby, between the actS--a figure a. re
narAable as anything in the perform
auce. HIS clothes, no two articl,s ut
which were OF the same color, had the
appearance Of having been purchased
and pat on only an hour OF two before
a fact more directly established bv the
clothes dealers ticket which still adj
hered TO has coat collar, giving the NUM-
Der, size and general dimensions ot that
garment somewla; obtrusiv,ly 10 an ur-
Interested public HIS trousers had q
straight l;ne down each leg as II me had
been born fiat, but had since developed
and there WIS another crease down his
hack Ike those figures children cut on;
OF folded paper. I may add that thsr,
was no consciousness Of this IN his face
which was good nature,i. and but for
certain squareness in the angle of his
lower law utterly Uninterest;ng and com
uonplace.
You disremember me. he said
briefly, as he extended his hand, ..but
I'm from Solano, in Caliiornv. / me:
you there in the spring cf 81. | was
tendin' sheep and you was burnin' c..a.
coal.
There was not the slightest trace Of
any Intentional rudsness in the remind
er. 1t was simply a statement Of fact,
and as such 10 be accepted
What | hailed We for was only this.
he said, after I had shaken hands witc
him. saw Won n minnit ago staaIsn'
over IN yon box-chirpin' with 4 ladv-c
young lsdy, peart and pretty. Might We
be telling me her name ?"
l gave him the name Of a certain
noted belle Of neighboring city, who
had lately stirred the hearts Of tie ne
t-opolis, and who was especially admired
by the brilliant and fascinating Young
Dashboard who stool beside me.
The Man from Solauo maSei for
moment, and then said: "Thet'z So
thet's the name It's the same gal r
" You have met her, then :" / asked.
in surprise.
"Ye-es." )" he responded slowly. Il
met her about Tower months ago. Shed
BIN maxim q t0ur OF Calforny with some
friends, aud | first saw her aboard the
cars this side 81 Reno. She lost her bar
cage checSs, ami | found them on the
floor, gave EN- back 10 her, and she
thanked me. / reckon now il would be
about the square thing to 20 in over thar
and sorter recognize her" He stopped
a moment and looked at us inquiringlv.
Ny dear SIR, struck in the brilliant
and fascinating Dashboard, '.if vuur hes
itation proceeds from any doubt Of the
proprlety OF your attire, beg you to
dismiss It from your mind at once. The
tyranny Of custom, it is true, compels
your friend and myself 10 dress peculiar
~, but | assure you nothing could be
finer than the way that the olive green OF
your coat melts in the delicate yellow Of
your crnvat, or the pearl gray If your
trousers blends with the bright blue Of
your wsistcoat and lends additional bril-
hancy to that massive oroide watch chain
which you wear.
To my surprise, the Man from Solano
did not strike him. He looked nj the
ironical Dashboard with grave earnest
nes, and then said quietly:
Then l reckon you'd wouldn't mind
shewin' me in thar p
Dashboard was, / admit. little stag
gered at this. But he recovered himself.
and, bowing ironically, led the way 10
the box. l followed him and the Man
from Solsno.
Now, the belle in question happened
to be n gentlewomnn-descended from
gentlewomen and after Dashboard's
ronical introduction, in which the Man
from Solano was not spared, she compre-
hended the situation instantly. To
Dashboard's surprise she drew chair 10
her side, made the Man from Solauo sit
down, quietly turned her back on Dash
board, and in full view Of the brilliant
and the focus Of a hundred
lorgnettes, entered into conversation with
him.
Here, for the sake Of romance. | should
like to say he became animated, and ex-
hibited some trait of excellence-some
rare wit or solid sense. But the fact is
he was dull and stupid TO the last degree.
He persisted IN keeping the conversation
upon the subject Of lost baggage checks,
and every bright attempt Of the lady to
divert him failed signally. At last. to
everybody's relief, he arose, and leaning
over her chair, said:
81 calklate to stop over here some
time, miss, and you and me bein' sorter
strangers here, may be when there's any
show like this goin' on you'll let me -
Miss X. said somewhat hastily that the
of her engagements and the
brief limit of her stay in New York she .
feared would, etc, etc. The two other
ladies' had their handkerchiefs over their .
and were staring intently on the .
stage, when the Man from Solano con-
dnued
Then, may be, miss, whenever there
is show goin' on that you'll attend,
you'll just drop me word to Earle's
Hotel, to this yer address," and he
pulled from his pocket dozen weIl-worn
letters, and taking the buff envelope
from enc, handed it to her with some /
thing like bow.
Certainly" broke in the facetious
Dashboard, Miss X. goes to the