The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-11-18

In their passionate fold.
And these were tho questions
ask day and night:
Must my lips taste no more
Such exquisite delight?
Would you care if your breast
Were my shelter as then,
And, if you were here,
Would you kiss me again7
A NIGHT IN AN AVALANCHE.
Contrary to all arrangements and ex-
pectations of the dear old uncle who had
reared me, had not got further along
in life than to third~c clerkshlp in
the State department at Washington, and
this only because I could write fine
hand, and make fancy capitals, said my
disappointed uncle.
I believe uncle was thoroughly
ashamed of my getting into the depart
ment at all. he would hundred times
over have preferred th-t1 had been a
farmer. But when the hard times came,
and when the hard times got harder, and
the old farm, going under mortgage,
was only rescued by my savings as a
thlrd-class clerk, uncle sank his shame in
his gratitude, and my fancy writing was
ridlculcd no longer.
Still, it was weary work, reading and
copying endless dispatches of the chief
clerk to our consuls in Europe. and all
that without any apparent hope OF ever
becoming chief clerk myself. One day
l was copying dispatch OF the secretary
to the CONSUL at L.. It was to the
effect that from that day on he would, in
accordance with his request, be allowed
81 O0O q vear for clerk hire
ale will want clerk, then, OF course, -
l said to myself, land If could secure
the situation, might be happy still" I
didn't want promotion so much as
wanted change. That evening dis
patch Of the department, copied in my
best hand, lett for Europe, accompanied
by private note of my own to the con-
sui. As a specimen of my writing, I re-
ferred to the inclosed fdispatch, and in
formed the learned consul that could
speak the German language, having
learned it evenings during nv stay in
Washington. Perhaps the last remark,
and not my fine writing, settled the bust
ness. Clerks who can speak foreign
languages are in demand with our con-
suls.
In six weeks from that day / had
peeped into the great cities of London,
Paris and Brussels, and was now stand
ing at the clerks desk of the American
consulate ct T..
The business was not burdensome.
With the office open but five hours day,
we were happy. had beautiful times
80 did the consul.
Among the Washington letters last
winter was one from our worthy CON-
missioner of pensions, asking the consul
to investigate and furnish evidence that
certain widows and minor daughters of
United States pensioners living in his
district had not married, and thus for
feited their claim to further aid from the
government.
All the certificates except 1904, were
Endorsed, and were ready to be returned.
This pensloner,' said the consul to
his chief clerk, one morning, sis proba-
bly, either dead or married, and am
determined to find out which. It is not
SO wonderfully far from here to the vii
lage of Bleiberg, and if you have an in
clination you may take the next train
and 60 there. Come back by SATURDAY..
and, Of course, make the expense as tri-
fling as you can"
l had long wished for stroll of some
sort into the magnificent valleys of the
Corinthian Alps, and here seemed nv
opportunity.
was twenty five miles still from Blci-
berg, when l transferred myself and my
hand vallse from second -claas railway
car into flrst.class mountain diligence,
It was wonderfully beautiful vale Y
I was to ascend to Bleiberg. There are
no finer mountain prospects anywhere.
1t seems to me some times that all the
ornamental work of the creation has
been expended on Switzerland and the
Tyrol.
Usually when in the mountains. I rode
outsids with the driver or up in the i'm
perial, perched like leather bonnet on
the top of the vehicle. determined full
ly to do so this time.
How capricious is the mind of man, I
reflected, on entering the station and see
ing young lady IN velvet jacket and
gray kids buy inside coupe No. 1 for
Bleiberg. In minute and half I had
changed my mind, and was the owner
coupe ticket No. 2. There was but on
passenger besides myself. In twenty
minutes the two occupants of that noun
tain diligence were tolerably we'll &C.
quainted.
We spoke OF course, in German. What
struck us both as rather singular, howev-
or, was the great similarity OF our Ger
man pronunciation. Miss Shelton-Miss
Margot Shelton, to be more explicit-for
1 had seen her name on the ticket as I
passed it to the coHductsr-was perfect
~ certain that was not Swiss, much
less an Austrian, ana I was equally conf
dent my tair ompanion was not native
of the Alps. Her German bore too strong
an accent for that. I afterwards learned
that she thought my own little curious.
Once, just for the sport of the thing, I
shouted something to the driver in Eng.
lish. How astonlshed was to hear Miss
Shelton add to it a phrase as English as
my own! We held our breath to explain,
and in almost no time at all discovered
that We were both Americans. Strange
discoveries followed-they ALWAYS do.
Miss Shelton's father had been a volun-
teer captain in our army, and myself
had been within rifle shot of him when
he fell at Vicksburg.
Her mother, native of Bleiberg, took
this only daughter and returned to her
old home, stopping at the solicitation of
friends, first for months, and now it had
been for years. Then recalled what had
been puzzling me for an hour. 1 had
%h4 -
where.
Who was pcnsioncr 1904 but Elsie
Shelton-why had I not thought of that
beforeY- wife of captain Shelton, killed
at Vicksburg in June, 1868. How ex-
tremely singular! We both exclaimed.
Mrs. Elsie Shelton, was soon informed,
was not remarked.
The object Of my journey was soon &C.
complisheo: might return home at
once. Ibid not, however. Besides. Miss
Shelton insisted that I should go On and
80 sG l.S.zs&s -. z. .