Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-03-25

Importance of other question than those
! left over as the debris of the war anG
reconstruction periods. Atlantic
BY the Night Express.
Hartford Taaes.
/ A bitter December midnight and the
fup express painting through It's ten min
Iutes' rest at Rugby. What with passen-
gers just arriving and passengers just
i departing, what with the friends who
came to see the last of the departing
passengers or meet the arriving ones,
the platform was full enough, assure
you; and had some difficulty in making
i my way from carriage to carriage, even
Though generally find that people (al-
fmost unconsciously, perhaps) move aside
i for the guard when they see him walk
ling up or down close to the carriage
doors. The difficulty was increased. too,
by the maneuvers of my companion, a
London detective, who had joined me
TO give himself a better opportunity of
examining the passengers.
Keenly he did it, too, in that seeming
ly careless way of his; and while he APP
peared to be only an idle. lounging ac-
quaintance of my own, knew that un-
der his unSuspeeted scrutiny it was next
to impossible for the thieves he was
seeking to escape-even in hampers. /
didn't trouble myself to help him, for 1
knew it wasn't necessary yet l was as
anxious as hundreds of others that those
practiced thieves whom the police had
been hunting for the last two days sho'd
be caught as they deserved.
Sometimes he came upon a group
which my companion could not take in
at a glance, and then he always found
himself unusually cold and stopped to
stamp little life into his petrifed feet
OF course for me this enforced stamping
was the signal for an attack of that per-
sistent questioning with which railway
guards are familiar, and in attending to
polite questiOners who deserved answer
ing, and impolite ones who insisted on
it, l had not much time for looking about
me, but presently l did catch myself
Watching girl who stood alone at some
distance. A girl very pretty and pleas.
lag to look upon, thought, though her
face and her dress, and her attitude
we're all sad. She stood just at the door
of the booking olfice-a tall, slight girl
in deep mourning, with quantity of
bright, fair hair, plated high upon her
head, as well as hanging loosely upon
her shoulders with childish, innocent
face and pretty, bewildering eyes. 1
wished could have gone straight to her
and put her into one-the most comfort
able one-Of the line of carriages at
which she gazed SO timidly. Just as
hesitated very remarkable figure el-
bowed its way to me-a stout, gaudily
dressed old lady, painting painfully and
almost piercing me with pair of rest
less, half-opened eyes, that looked out
through the gold-rimmed spectacles
perched Onsher- sharp nose.
Two pOrters followed her, laden with
bags, cloaks, umbrellas and flowers, the
only flowers in the station. l expect,
that winter; and one of the men winked
at me over her head, while the other
guarded the treasures with face of
concentrated anxiety and thought ell
crossed by possible fees.
"This is the London train. is it, ga'ad ?"
she asked, peeping sharply into my face
with her half-closed eyes, as if she found
it difficult to distinguish me even thrO'
her spectacles.
From her whole attitude l guessed
her to be deaf, but never guessed how
deaf until, after yelling my answer so
loud that the engine driver must have
heard eighteen carriages off, she still re-
manned stonily waiting for it.
"Deaf as dozen posts" said the de-
tective aloud, giving the old lady an ex-
pressive little nod in the direction of the
train.
"Slow train?" she interrogated in that
plaintive tone which the very deaf often
use.
"Maill" 1 shouted, putting my mouth
as close to her cheek as / fancied she
would like.
"Alep' she shrieked back at me, the
spectacles shaking a little on her thin
nose. "Why should you want ale for
listening to civil questions that you are
paid to answer? Ale, indeedl believe
railway men think of nothing else"
Then she shook her head angrily and
waddled off, looking as acid an old par
ty as ever / should try to avoid. In at
every door she peered through her gilt
her until she made stop before an emp
ty second-class carriage near my van,
and with much labor and assistance got
herself and her packages into it.
When passed few minutes after
ward she was standing in the doorway,
effectually barring the door to any other
passenger by her own unattractive ap-
pearance there, and prolonging with an
evident relish the anxiety of the obse-
quious porters. / fancy that though the
purse she fumbled in was large, the coin
she wanted was but small, for 1 passed
on and left her still searching and still
asking questions of the men, but hearing
nothingt of their replies or the loud
asides in which they occasionally indulg-
ed to each other. l had reached the 9TH |
or end of the train, and was just about
making my way back to my own van,
when the young lady had before no
ticed went slowly in front of me toward
the empty first-class compartment near
where l stood.
"Am 1 right for Euston?" she asked |
me gently, as she hesitated at the door. |
"All right, MISS" l said, taking the |
door from her, and standing while she
got in.
"Any luggageY For from that very
moment took her in a sort of way into |
my charge, because she. was so thor
oughly alone, you see, not having any
friends there even to see her off.
"No luggage, thank you," she answer
ed, putting her little leather satchel
down beside her on the seat, and set
ting herself in the corner farthest from
the open door.
do we stop anywhere between here
and Londonp"
Don't stop again, miss, except for
few minutes to take tickets" Then
locked at her, as much as to say, you're