, 1881-12-04
A QUEER STORY.>

vantage or tho excitement to puoasa re-
narlxable story Illustrating the perils OF 1uh'
system, 1t is drawn from real llte' nnu IT,
counts tho adventures OF tue hc'. Juue oi".'''
n shy young clergyman who hnd lhKell !" IHAs7
more than usual ut dinner, and OF Miss Av1ss'
uu equally shy young lauy, "no1n no 'eee7~o 0A
the train: .;.<. ,;+.1o
it is Tho curse OF shy men thnt getting so little
practice in conversiug with wumen' tnes he'ce
know where to stop when peradFenture lucy w
ret Il chance of talking. It is bS shy men tna'
the r,ulest things are hatitunE!y said anu ao''c
through sheer inexperaence. Mr.. Gloain n'tu Nv
Idea That he was trnnsgressinK the prop'lelie9.
Tie thought he was muking himself very iohhs
and agreeable
.Isay, sliss-Aviss," suffered the Rev. Jndc,
with a lcer, "supposing there were q piece VI
1uistletoe in this carriAge:
No answer from the girl, but her eyes opened
wide, and she shranK up trembling in her cor
ncr of the carriHge.
sill think thore is piece; look thercr' con-
,inued the foolish man, pointing to the lamp III
tho ceiling, for he n1cnnt to be fucetlo1ls-
The rirl was now fuiriy frightened, aud moved
from her sent to the further corner OF the cAr~
ruge. Sue hud heard OF drunken humans n
suttrg ladies in railway carriages ana sns 81
duwl, der reverend companion us being drunk;
and possibly ru'liun- No doubt nls clef'cal
curb WIS only Disguise. ,, .a,n,un
What are yan running away for: asked Mr.
Cloaul. and he rose to follow her with m u1l-
s.euy gait, caused not 50 m'1ch ny MS tioslness
for he was not regularly tlpsyEas py me rI
laton or the train. But to the nffrighleu Eltl
who saw him stagger 1t looked rs II ne were
dangerously inchriated. a,u ,r,,u
M sne saaftne up Spsp n ali the
What for q asked the ltev. jude md put
ting out his hand to ste,ey himself, ne quite m
Intentionally rested it on her shoulder. Tho
movement Of rccoit which this apparent assault
cuusr, the girl to mako threw Mr., Gloan on nls
,,1tl f,aif
/ which she had risen. rnis only increased tue
| t,ir:s fright, und wildly opening the window of
drr!" ".-... r.n
| In nm instant Mr. Gloam was soocred. me Inc
girls shricNs cleared all the fumes or vine IRON
psn ske don't SCI screan like tnat," he inplored,
ruin nna 5sl fn sezn1 ;no tnS w'naow '
| .sHcln." she gasp I'd, as she fell on to one or
the seats and struggled to regain her footi,s ;,
| entreatea Mr Gioam. sciztn= her hands; Int tho
horrible fcur which WAS now lcgbl? on us fnee e1s
made hm a more dreadful opleet 10 ,,ood ,oon
TO restrain tile girl robbed htE ol asl pfesence& ~ VI
| mind. Discngasing herself from hlln, sue
| 1ottcred toward tho nearest door ana frAn. 1:,
| tfc1Ily turned the handle. \ blast OF cold
| night mir flew to the earrage. ana u shower OF
spurks from the engino was seen flytnS py: l olr.
| t;oatn madu IL gruu Ut tho girl 10 draw nes
buck Sho eIudcd him, and. screaming 'ot!slcs @
than ever, tried to step on the footbo;lvd. linen
/ ff14rn u{OFn8f 1AsuL SIt4tI. stl4o t.'1 :" 49,
silence The door, swinging forward: by : NE ilo
i,u,,rt,ts of the train at cur:'e, closed ol ils
own accord Thu sirl had sl'. n' Il ana WIS so gomn @
awful minute had eIupscu. He nad taken otl
lis hat aud was strokng his forehead rs le 81 ST.
cndeavorln TO realize what nu nippnse W tso ,,,.f e
OF night narc II the trait, had stopped at that
minute he would have been unable TO crawl OUT,
| and anybody who had seeu him must naEe
| smspcctcd him OF crime. During Il quarter OF
an hour the poor wretch could nelther sur nor
think ucidly; he cou'd only moan ana 1re'no!e
| OF the things which the poor Elrl-noW aeau: "
You'd tloubt-haA lett in tho cHrrinHe There
| wns IL shawl II travelling baE.n novel: ana OIL the
tivur ss.ul gold watch without q chain.
Thc slight OF these articles stirred in the ur-
willing murderer tic sense OF self preservation
! lie caurht them up one by one and flung thon
our Of tho window into tho dark, after which nc
crept on his knees aud looked under tne sea- seatS ;
| tn see IL anything else had been left lie on nu
| nutilinr P!tiablo as hts agony of mind then
was he saw the necessity Tor composing nlinseli-
and sat down again. trying to reject. land a,1y ta
u iii sn.nk3 Hui auy one seen her fall? II 81,
he was Il lost man. lie. would be arrested M at
irnnsh ana n que no I1S a",xifuae ne so for the
better part of his life. How would his stor; ba
believed? And it it were believed how would It
| Justify MIN? The public Outcry nEat1lst ntf'
and now that he had thrown the girls things OUT
OF the cnrriage in the hrst moment o. az pa.ac
c.nmuicte. y Why did throw tho things out:
fAltercd Mr.. Gioa'n. speak!ns to himself; @ az nnG
ao?" tSo" nc s'ou"'' 'sA'D'
il was between Leanltngton and Birmingham
that the girl bud fallen out ol tue trls: ~ ~
EXPRESS ncared birmingham the tension on '1uu<
| GIiyu's nerves WIS s11ch rs few men ever xpc-
ricnec Within five minutes he endured NJ
"vcr n lifetime: yet he had the craft to see tina
| alt his chances Of escaping uuSusrectca mlEu
epaa upon behavior ~hen 1ba m t1M nt s[oppp p r,
| nor appear nnx1ous to get away; he must con
troll bis terrors, though his heart throbbed II
The train g'dcd into the station: the porters
, | rau along tho platform opening doors; one q
then. opened Mr. Gloam's carr'axe. .ans Jug
Eyes, / have some luggage" said Mr. Gloan
) and he stepped our, sinking in every liuit, na
aa'e ia ad sal NJ he t Was NIKE
Q up with tho thrdng Of people who were tor'gln
Il for their TRUNKS und port1naufnau5
g Nobody paid my attention to him. lie near
: no one talk about shriess having been hcur
during the Journey. The passengers ~ attcua.,
1her Gwa nsDss Wa tn collect m @
box, and hamper; having tnne ms II
turned to ns!S porter to Gull !, cup Tor MIN ~
| MS he WIS about tu speak his words frO1e on ~
a tongue for he saw standing beside him Il Eli
- who WIS tho very Image of Miss Avis
y Ii tho girl l1ut1 looked ut MIN sue must nav
: noticed It's confusion, bur she was glancng to
&c wuru IN elderly gentleman and lady WHO wer
l. wnlkin., toward her.
pass" said tho girl to tho elderly couplc -,
II We have looked into every carragc. sui
i tho gentleman addressed us papn; l>'1t 81
at hasn't come. suppose she missed the train
IA ".Isut how comes her box to BE- here:
- WASN'T there Il change OF clrraTe5 some
- | where between this and London:" suEgestc
~ tho elderly lu(ly. II think there's cha"Ee L
= Di4cut. Perhaps she got out, there and after
Ir I wursl entered the wrong train.'
ii ii %.IIpw very pruvokfll:.! exclaimed the girl.
=: IT" dare say VIC shall !tud II telcsrln when
r. | .et honc," said the elderly gentleman; ~ n'
~ WI. must ask the stationn.aster to tHke carc
II | Mary's box until she comes tn clt.iu1 It.
~ Mf. G.oaul had glanced ut tho box bcSid
- which tho girl stood. amt he snw on II cur
~ with the na nc Miss Mary Avfss- Tho mtscl
n able man shraui MS the father. 1nother anu 81
;" ter or tho poor girl Will, whom he mud traycic
t. pissed him, Then lie helped the porter 10 u
70 lis portmanteau and walked with him II, Il Gu
~ lie had six-uiflc drive before he co'a'.i Feac
J.. | his purI<h of I;OrleiEh, which was On tho ou
20 skirts Of Birmingham. However, tho drive W:
~ ~ accomplished III safety, nntl that night ":
~ spent BY Mr.. Gloam, sccplcss III his new Pill
o. sOnAtc. =.
~ lire carly on the following dny, and uftcrwnl
~ ~ her travcIlug- bag was discovered twenty mill
~ further down the line. Bur fur this discover
Of tho bag the poor girls death would have bct
~ attributed To accident: rs It was. when it b
- came demonstrated that sonebtniy must ha'