River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1883-08-16

| OF q most Interesting COANeT5dtlOH. ous
was only al New York en- PEASANT, and
should not see her again. 1t was verl
| provoking to be obliged to break off il
| the middle of our talk, but how could
| tell Charley that l was not ready wher
| be stood waiting with an air of conscious
virtue? 1t was beyond my power, aud
| absurd as it was, | had to say good bye TO
/ Anna and 90.
I had not supposed at first that Char
ley's reformation was permanent, but as
the days went on, was forced to con
fess that il looked very much like as il
| it we're. Promptly as the clock struck
| six in the evening, he entered the house
promptly as it struck nine in the morn
| ing he left il. No entreaties could de-
tain him an instant beyond his time.
NO Leila, my dear" was his inva
riable reply, II have already wasted too
much of life by unpunctuality. You
have convinced me of my error. Why
strive now to undo the good which you
have done?"
OF course such sentiments ought to
have delighted my heart, and they did,
in a measure. Only in measure, how
ever, must confess, for began to
think that we should be known every
where as ''the early birds" Itwas new
1
| for anything. We were always the first
in church; we were waiting at the door
of the operas and theatres long before
they were open; at parties or receptions
| it was our lnvarlable GUS
tom to spend from half
an hour to an hour in the dressing room
i'm order to descend with the earliest
guests. And Charley was continually
| expatiating on the sweet reward of vir-
tue and thanking me for teaching him
the beauty Of Dunctuality. Ispent myself
| in vain wonderiugs as to how long this
state of things was to last; but of course
it came TO climax finally.
My oldest and most intimate friend,
| Tina Verringer, was to be married and
| Charley end | had vowed in the most
| solemn manner 10 attend the wedding.
Tina lived at Mountclair and it was
there. Of course, that the ceremony was
to take place.
"Do you think that nine o'clock will
be early enough to leave here?" asked
| Charley meekly.
"Nlne o'clock! My dear Charley, she
| is OF to be married until one, and
| MOuntclar is only an hour away"
81 know" said Charley, "but | was
anxious to be in time. | think that we
/ swallowed my establishment as | best
| could, and submitted. 1t was not q
| pleasant day. If | were not afraid OF
| eXaggerating, | should say hat it faS q
| decidedly unpleasant one, being cold
and gray, damp and chilly, with that
| chillness that goes through Your bones
| Already few stray snow flakes were
| huttering down, giving promise OF d
storm later in the day.
| The depot at Hoboken is not special
| " exhiiarating place to wait in; but
Charley settled himself com 'ortably
with his paper upon one of the straight
up and down settees, saying, eve need
not take too early train, but it is we'll
to be on hand; even if we do reach
Montclair too soon, we can walk about
ana see the place, you know"
Walk about and see the place on such
day! | said nothing, but | inwardly
decided that we would not take too ear
| Iy train At least we were warm anu
sheltered where we were, and who knew
what we might find at the other end?
While | was settling this point in my
| own mind, the door at the end of the
room was flung open and Charley sprang
TO his feet
Come" he said; eve might as we'll
make sure of this train, after all" and
before | could find words in which to
couch my objections without giving the
lie to all the fixed principles of my life,
we were in the cars.
Charley was buried in his newspaper
ard | was gazing from the window upon
the fast whitening meadows, when the
conductor paused before us with a de-
mand for Tickets" They were ready to
hand, but the conductor gazed upon them
blankly.
tWhereto?" he asked, briefly.
'MOntclair," replied Charley, with
equal bTeyity.
Wrong train. Yours left ten min
utes later from the other door You'd
better get out at Newark, and take it
there. If YOU miss it, there'll be another
along in forty minutes"
at is fortunate that we have plenty of
time" said Charley to me, as the CON
ductor left us. Aren't you glad that
have reformed in regard to pune
tuality?"
"Oh. very gladr' | said with slight
tinge of irony, and adding, inwardly,
especially if it leads you to take the
wrong train rather than wait for the right
one"
We got out at Newark and took the
next train that came along. Being the
next, we made sure that it must be the
right one, but it wasn't. That train land
ED us at Orange where we spent quiet
EOur before another Newark bound
train picked us up.
'You see, dear" said Charley, 81 90
upon your principle of always being in
time. II we keep on taking the first
train that comes along, we shall be sure
to ~ there sometime-if not in time
for the wedding. then, perhaps, in time
for the funeral of all the family"
1--WE shall not certainly be in time for
the wedding at this rate" | said, half
laughing and half crying. Suppose by
way of variety, we try the effect of TAX
ing the last train"
''What! and abandon principle? New
err" cried Charley. However, | think
we will inquire before we try again
We did inquire, but with the result of
finding that the next train which it
would be possible for US to take would
not reach Montclair until half an hour
after the time set for the wedding.
"Shall We try it?" asked Charley
cheerfully. 1.-The wedding may be de-
Iayed, you know. Tie groom may be
unpunctual or something"
| fairly broke down at that.
"Ro, We will not" l said. 81 don't
want to go dragging in just at the tail
end of the ceremony. Pm cold and
tired and wretched", but was more than
| that. | was thoroughly indignant, for
was sure that Charley had done it all on
| purpose. Though | had hidden con-
| seriousness that l deserved lesson OF
some kind | thought that he had pun
| ished me too severely, so | had little to
say to him either then or when We
we're sitting together in the evening.
| Charley was too busy with paper and
| pencil to take any notice thou h.
"Lelia," he said suddenly.
"What is it ?' ! asked rather sulkily.
81 am thoroughly convinced now"
said Charley, THAT punctuality is the
king of all virtues, the browning merit
of humanity but doesn't it strike you as
rather an expensive one?"
How" | asked, melted little, but
not much.
"Wen, l won't speak of to-day, for
| that was not a fair test. | know you
think that made all those bluuders on
purpose, but didn't. ! suppose the IN
| toxication of such unusual virtue flew to
my head and muddled my wits, for
| certainly made uncommon hash of that
affair. had been punctual according to
| your ideas. for month now, and have
| Just been making little computation oil
| the result. | began to practice the vlr-
| tue on the night of Mrs. Lees reception,
| | believe? Very well. We each spent
a solitary hour in the dressing room
| which, | suppose, may fairly be con-
/ sidered wasted. Two hours, to begin
with. We went to the opera an hour