Litchfield enquirer., 1880-01-01

l arches of London Bridge and other celebrated strnctures of the Old World. It will stand Tor centuries. binding with cords of steel two xities into one, . lasting monument in stone and iron to the marvellous material prosperity sud engineering ability of the American peo- pie. Poss MAxIMus.
 LUORRTIA sr- E
 A CHRIsT1As EVE Apr IsS1ulsE. will acknomiedge that was certainly : ! very til sille year l was 0nIy just turned If tssEIlty and was in. orlinateI IsFpnd 0f \ sli iglat f0wny fringe on my upper lip, which was pleased to speak 1 of as my inousfaelie SIIfL was sturdy young follow enollgh it1 spits of my consump- tive tendencies, anA not given to groundless 1 fears in ! general way but niust allow that l was decidedly frightened by my adventure I in the Richmond Hotel on Christmas Eve of that aforesaid year of grace. 1t may be a foolish "reminiscences, yet dare say you won't mind listening to lt. I When say tiie Richmond Hotel, you must not understand me to speak Of the Star and Garter in the town of That iik situated in the county of Surrey, Engla land The Richmond where passed my uncomfortable Christmas l Eve stands on the hanks of the pretty St. Francis River in Lower Canada. had gone Iout to the colony in the astumn of that year I to look after small property of my mothers linear Kamouraska and originally intended to spend the winter in Quebec. But as Nov ember and Decemher wore away, and the snow grew deeper and deeper upon the plains of Abraham, became gradually aware that a
 
 tonic in the world for q young man with a slight hereditary predisposition to consump- ton. l had seen enough of Arctic life in Que Ebec during these two initial months to give me a good idea of it's pleasures and drawbacks. E I had steered my tohoggon down the ice cone at the Falls of Montmorenci; 1 had driven a sleigh, tete-d-tete with French Canadian belle, to surprise picnic in a house at Sainte Anne; l had skated, snow -shoed, and curled to my heart 's content; and dI had caught my death Of cold pn the frozen St. Lawrence, not
 nehsion sdch Asilor fting my nose, cars and feet srost bitten during 8 driving party up the Chaudiere. So few days before Christmas determined to strike south. Iwould go for tour through Virgin ia and the Carolinas, to escape the cold wealth. CT, waiting for the return of the summer sun to catch a glimpse of Niagara and the great lakes. .
 For this purpose must first go to Montreal; and, that being the case, what could be more convenient than to spend Christmas Day itself with the rector at Richmond, to whom I had letters of introduction, his wife being in fact first cousin of my mothers? Richmond lies half way on the Grapd Trunk line between Quebec and Montreal, and it would be more pleasant. by breaking my journey there to eat my turkey and plum pudding in friends family than in that somewhat cheerless hotel l the Dominion Hall So off I started from the Point Levy station at four o'clock on the 24th of December, hoping to arrive at my journeys end about one o'clock on Christmas morning. Now, these were the days, just after the great American civil war, when gold was al- most unknown either in the States or Canada and everybody used greasy dollar notes of un- certain and purely local value. Hence 1 was compelled to take the money for expenses on the projected tour in the only form of specie which was available, that of solid silver. A hundred and fifty pounds in silver dollars amounts to larger bulk and heavier weight than you would suppose ana thought it safer to carry the sum in my own hands, loose ly bundled into large leather reticule. Hiac tttR h1crinag :: that was the real cause Of my nights adventure and of the present story.
 When I got into the long open American railway carriage, with it's comfortable Stove and warm foot bricks, found only one seat vacant and that was red velvet sofa, .oppo- site to another occupied by girl of singular beauty. can remember to this day exactly how she was dressed. 1 dare say my lady readers will think it horribly old fashioned at the present time, but it was the very latest and the most enchanting style in the year '67. On her. head was coquettish little cheese plate bonnet, bound around with one of those warm, soft, fleecy wooden veils or head wraps which Canadian girls know as Nubias. Her dress was short winter walking costume of the period trimmed with, fur. and vapdyked at the bottom so as to show a glimpse of the quilted down petticoat underneath. Her lit- tie high-heeled boots, displayed by the short costume, were buttoned far above the ankle, and bound with fur to match the dress while tiny tassel at the side added just a suspicion of Parisian eoquetry. Her cloak was lined with sable, or what seemed so to my indis- eliminating eyes; and her rug was splendid piece of wolverine skins. As to her eyes. her lips her figure. I had rather not attempt them. I can manage clothes but not goddesses. AL together quite dream of Canadian beauty, not devoid of that indefinable grace which goes only with the French blood
 I was not bold in '67. and would have pre- ferred to take any other seat than face this divine apparition; bnt there was no help for it since all the others were filled ;.so sat down little sheepishly, dare say Almost befoie we were we'll out of the station we had got into conversation, and it was she who be- gan it.
 ..You are an Englishman, I think p she said, looking at me with frank and pleasant smile. .eaas tf .s.y (
 "Yes," answered, coloring, though why I shonfd have been ashamed of my nationality for that solitary mome nt of my life I cannot imagine, unless, perhaps, because she was Canadian l; but how on earth did you discoy- CT it ?"
 s'You would have been more warmly wrap ped up if you had lived long ia Canada she said. In spite of our stoves and hot bricks, you'll find yourself very cold before you get to your journeys end.'
 Yes 1 said "I suppose it's rather chilly late at night in these big cars" s6
 s'Dreadfully; oh, quite terribly. You ought to. have rug, you really ought. Won't you let me lend you one? have another under bthe seat here" aiit 3#a HIF But you brought that for yourself. TT inter posed, You will want it by and by when it
 "Oh, no, shan't. This is warm enough for me, it's wolverine. You have a mether?" What an extraordinary question, I thought, and what an unusually friendly girl Was she quite as simple-minded as she seemed, or could she be the designing womann of the novels? Yes, admitted to her cautiously that possessed maternal parent, who was at that moment safely drinking her tea in a terrace in South Kensington. .sssI have none" she said. with an emphasis on ihe personal pronoun, and 8 sort of an ap-