The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-01-24


Conductor, when you receive fare,
Punch in the presence Of the passenlhre
A blue trip slip for an eight t-cent faTe sH
bud trip slip for kix-cent fare, s |
pink trip slip for q hreecent fare, |
Punch in the presence OF the passenIArei
CHORUS
Punch. brothers punch with care
Punch in the presence OF the passenjaFer
came across these jingling rhymes in a |
newspaper little while ago, and read them
couple Of times. They took instant and
entire possession Of me. All through |
breakfast they went waltzing through my
brain; and when at last | rolled up my
napkin, | could not tell whether | had
eaten anything or not. | had carefully
laid out ny days work the day before--a
thrilling tragedy in the novel which am
writing. | went to my den to begin my
deed of blood. l took up my pen, but all
| could get it to say was, "Punch in the
presence Of the passenjare." | fought
hard for an hour, but 1t was useless. Ny
head kept humming "a blue trip for an
eight-cent fare, buff trip slip for six
cent fare" and so on and so on, without
peace or respite. The days work was
ruined-I could see that plainly enough.
l gave up and drifted down town, and
presently discovered that my feet were
keeping time to that relentless jingle
When | could stand it no longer | altered
my step. BUTT did no good; those rhymes
accommodated themselves to the new step
and went on harassing me just as before
returned home and su1.-ed all the after
noon; suffered all through an unconscious
aud unrefreshing dinner; suffered and cried
and jingled all through the evening; went
to bed and rolled, tossed, and jingled right
along, the same as ever; got up at mid
night frantic, and tried to read but there
was nothing visible upon the whirling page
except "Punch, punch in the presence Of
the passenjare." By sunrise | was out Of
my mind, aud everybody marveled and
was distressed at the idiotic burden of my
rawlings, punch, oh, punch, in the pres.
ence of the passepjare!" !"
Two days later, on Saturday morning, |
arose totteriug wreck, and went forth to
fulfill an engagement with valued friend,
the Rev. Mt, TO walk to the Talcott
Tower, ten miles distant He stared at
me, but asked no questions We started.
Mr.-talked, talked, talked-as is his
won't l said nothing; | heard nothing.
At the end Of mile, Mr.-said:
"Mark, are you sick? | never saw a
man look so haggard and worn and absent.
minded. Say something; dol"
Drearily, without enthusiasm, said -
punch, brothers, punch with care |!
Punch in the presence of the passenjare r
My friend eyed me blankly, looked per-
picked, then said
81 do not think | get your drift, Mark.
There does not seem to be any relevancy
in what you have said, certainly nothing
sad, and yet---maybe it was the way you
said the words--I never heard anything
that sounded so pathetic. What is"
But | heard no more. | was already
far away with my pitiless, heart. breaking
"blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare, buff
trip slip for Il six-cent fare, pink trip slip
for three.cent fare; punch in the pres.
enee Of the passenjare." All of sudden
Mr.--iaid his hand on my shoulder and
shouted
"0h, wake up wake up wake up
Don't sleep all day Here we are at the
Tower, man! have talked myself deaf
aud dumb aud blind, and never got rc.
sponse. Just look at this magnificent au-
tumn landscape look at il | look at il !
Feast your eyes on it You have travel.
ed; you have seen boasted landscapes else
where. Come, now, deliver an honest
opinion. What do you say to :his 7"
sighed YEARLY ard murmured:
"A buff trip slip for six cent fare, a
pink trip slip for three.cent fare, punch
in the presence of the passenjarc.n
Rev. Mr. stood there, very grave,
full of concern apparently, aud looked
long at me; then he said:
"Mark, there is something about this
that | cannot understand. Those arc
about the same words you said before;
there does not seem to be anything in them,
and yet they nearly break my heart when
you say them. Punch ia the-how is it
they goa"
| began at the beginning aud repeated
all the lines. My friends face lighted
with interest He said.
HWhy, what captivating jingle 1t Is /!
1t is almost music. 1t flows along 80
nicely. have nearly caught the rhymes
myself, Say them over just once more,
aud then III 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 aagrateiul sense Of rest and
peace descended upon me. / was light
hearted enough to sing, and | did sing for
half an hour, straight along, as we went
jogging homeward. Then my freed tougue
found blessed speech again, aud the peut
talk Of many weary hour began to gush
aud flow. II flowed on and on, joyously,
jubilantly, until the fountain was empty
aud dry. As wrung my friends hand
at parting, | said
/ Haven't VIC had royal good time
But now, remember, you haven't said a
word for two hours. Come, come, out
with something"
The Rev. Mr.---.urned lack -luster
eye upon me, drew deep Sigh, aud said,
without animation, without apparent con-
sciousness:
"Punch, brothers, punch with care
Punch in the presence Of the passenjare r
A pang shot through me as said TO
myself, "POor fellow, poor fellow he has
got il, now.