The National tribune., 1882-05-27
A QUEER FELLOW TRAVELLER.

ouHe years ago Ddu OCCASION 10 tahe d
long journey to the north-a journey which
would involve my travelling all night. A
few days before had received an invitation
from friend of mine, who lived vt town
which [ had to pass, to dine and stay the
night at his house, an invitation which ]
gladly accepted, as it would prove pleasant
break in the monOtony Of the journey. !
resolved, therefore, to so arrange matters as
to arrive at his house in time for dinner, and
proceed to my destination next morning.
When the day arrived was very busy; So
after a hurried lunch, / packed up a
few nCcessaTies and rushed off to Euston,
where l arrived with just two minutes to
spare. [ asked for my train, which the
guard pointed out, adding, "If you don't
hurry up, sir, you'll lose it," I took his ad-
compartment the door of which stood open,
and in which there was but one other occu-
pant. l settled myself for my journey,
and for the first time had leisure to
| observe my fellow-traveler Now I rather
pride myself on being judge of ply ysiog-
nomy, and my first impressions of him were
the reverse of pleasant He was evidently
a fidgety nervous sort of man; he had rest
less gray eyes, without much expression in
them, while his hair and beard were of a
reddish hue. He was dressed in long
ulster, which / thought quite unnecessary,
for though it was late IL the year the weather
was by no means cold. There was on the
seat beside him small oaken box, strongly
bound with brass, and his eyes were con-
stantly glancing from this box to me in a
way that 1 did not at all like. began to
have visions of Fenian plots, internal ma
chimes, and I do not know what af+"~
regarding me steadily for a few mil
said
"Is it possible, sir, that you are
of this carriage being reserved
officials?"
looked around and seeing no il ii.
of the fact, replied that:
| was not aware of such being
"Then, sir" he replied, ~ must -s
instantly to vacate it, and leave n
solitary silence"
Considering that the train was then going
at the rate Of about forty miles an hour, and
would not stop until it reached a small sta
tion halfway to nay destination, in about an
hours time, I could not quite see how was
to comply with his request or rather COM
mand, and / frankly told him SO, adding
that " | had as much right there as he had,
and did not intend moving"
He replied, with most solemn air: Then
your fate be on your own head"
This began to frighten me, for the mans
manner convinced me that he must be in
sane; and the prospect Of an hours journey
shut up in fiTst-class railway carriage with
a mailman was not calculated to raise my
spirits However, | put bold face on the
matter, and affected to be engrossed with
my newspaper, though in reality / was
watching his every movement. He suddenly
seized hold Of the wooden box and held it on
his knees, then suddenly replaced it beside
him In doing so | cat t glimpse of the
butt of a pistol sticking out of his pocket.
Here was pretty dilemma; shut up in
railway carriage with q man who was decid-
edly insane and armed with revolver or
pistol, while / had nothinl more defensive
than an umbrella and n roll of papers, which,
in consequence of their length | was COM
PEELED to carry in my hand. Presently he
began again:
"Have you studied the marvellous powers
Of electricity, may l ask?"
replied in the negative.
81 have" said he, land have arrived at
such pitch of perfection that, aided by the
contents of this box, | could blow this train
and everybody in it to infnitesimal atoms"
"But," ] hazarded, how about yourself?"
al should calmly mount into the air, and
survey the scene without injury"
"How?n said |.
"That," he replied, is my business; look
to yourself"
Pleasont this, for me! However, / made
some remark which seemed to satisfy him,
and he lapsed again into silence. felt more
than ever convinced Of his Madness think
ing he had probably escaped from some pri-
vate asylum, for he was evidently gentle
man; yet | could not understand what the
box could be which he guarded so iealously.
I felt very sorry for him, in spite of my dam
gerous situation. then tried another tack,
and made several commonplace remarks to
him, to all of which he answered in mono
syllables, suddenly bursting out with:
ado you dare TO address me, sir, without
having first disclosed to me who you are?
Your temerity surprises mel"
] thought ii best to humor him, and handed
him my card, on which was inscribed: "J.
B. Smith, Quality Court"
"Ha l guessed you were a Smith; you
look like onei blacksmith, if may judge
by the smut on your face"
Here he broke into a maniacal laugh.
When he had finished laughing, he said:
"Do you want to know who / amp"
said l thought l might as well know his
name, if he did not mind
"Well," said he, leaning forward and peer
ing into my eyes, keeping one hand ON the
box, "when you first jumped into the car
riage l was the Khan Of Tartary, but the