The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-12-08

~NSSONNAAS
troduced into another man s room such
ground, or, to be plain with you, in the
corridor, accommodating over the shout
ders of the rest. The old gentleman,
for such he evidently was, though l was
not near enough to see his features, re-
manned for some time unconscious of
the intrusion, till the landlord, finding
that he could not rouse him with his
voice, laid his hand upon him and
shook him. He then woke up with q
start and sob, and appeared for 3
minute or two to be in great terror; he
spoke English. and began to protest
that he could explain everything, and
that he was the victim of circum-
stances, with other such expressions;
and it was long time before the land
lord could satisfy him (for he was
rather deaf that no other motive had
brought him to his room but fear that
he was ill.
"No," said the old gentleman, APP
parently much relieved, mo; l am not
i'll; l have slept soundly; there is nothing
the matter. have not complained nor
uttered sound; why have you dis
turbed me?"
As soon as / heard this | retreated at
once 30 my own room and closed and
locked the door. 1t was q cowardly
thing to do, but / confess 1 dared not
face that regiment of excited men and
women, who were beginning already to
abuse each other, and who, felt sure,
would presently turn upon me with the
81
silly practical joke upon them.
''Ou est done ce, monsieurP" / heard
them exclaim, and the word "Betise
betise," was repeated often in variety
of voices; then there were snarling
sounds, as if, like Demosthenes, they
had been taking lessons from the dogs
in the pronunciation of the letter
''r-r-r-r," and mutual determinations.
Somebody was called "a great turkey"
and told to Ego to bed, which l have
no doubt he would be very glad to do.
| suspect it was the tall white cook,
who had been, next to myself, the chief
agent in the disturbance; however, hard
words break no bones, and as no one
seemed to know who l was, from
whence l had issued, or to what emu
nero" | had retired, / did not think it
necessary to betray myself, and after
time they all withdrew, still chattering
and complaining, to their beds, and [
also went to mine.
In the corridor, or it might be just
inside my neighbours room, l am not
sure which, | had taken up from the
floor an envelope on which my name
was written. did not think much of
it at the moment, supposing l had
dropped it from the pocket of my coat,
which had flung hastily over my shout
der when | left my room; but the next
morning, when | was dressing, it at
tracted my attention as it lay upon the
table where | had placed it. Itook out
the enclosure (the envelope had been
opened previously, and to my great
surprise discovered nothing but a copy
of the English alphabet, with the same
letters repeated in different order, or
rather disorder, under it, l did not
recognize the handwriting, nor did I
remember ever having seen the paper
before; but my name was on the envel-
ope plainly enough, so | thought it
might possibly belong to some other
member of my family, and have come
into my possession by mistake. When
[ descended to the coffee room asked
the waiter whether there was any other
person of the name of Dickens in the
hotel, and, after he had made inquiry,
he answered: mo-" but a gentleman
who was sitting near me looked up so
quickly and so anXiously at the
moment that | was on the point of
speaking to him, when he rose up sud
denly and left the room. | noticed the
same gentleman, man of about sixty
years, perhaps, with sad, depressed
look and manner, reading the Times
newspaper in the afternoon, or rather
the first page of it, and signing dismal
ly, as if he were in some great trouble.
More than once | should have spoken
to him, but every time he caught my
eye he seemed confused and anxious to
avoid me; and, of course, did not wish
to intrude upon him, though | would
gladly have cheered him up little if 1
could have done so, as he seemed to be
quite alone.
The following night was again dis
turbed about the same hour rs before,
but by different cause. AS soon as l
was fairly awake / became aware that
SEINE one was in my room with a light.
The light was indeed so faint, or rather
so carefully shaded from sight, that it
was almost confined to one spot, like
ray from q dark-lantern. 1t served,
however, to show me the form of a
man standing near my dressing table,
upon which I had laid my purse and
watch and some other contents of my
pockets when L undressed. The figure
was busy with these articles, turning
them over as if making a selection;
and for few seconds l lay still, watch
ing him, saw him take something.
which from the sound | thought must
be letter, and after examining the ad-
dress, clasp it eagerly in his hand; and
then he turned to leave the room, walk
ing with stealthy steps and carefully
shading the light from my eyes with
his hand.
l was determined not to be robbed in
this manner, and slipping hastily out of
bed, contrived to reach the door and
intercept his retreat, almost before he
knew that he had been observed. In
his surprise he dropped the candle and
with sudden gasp or exclamation
stood still before me, making no effort