Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-27

! Et4lctlEdI11 OLlt'Idl- IASA VI wv OAA al
American railroad'
/ When I tsund myself in the baggage car
my conduct, was 50 cspriciods, uncertain
and altogethsr idiotic that the bags ageman
would have been perfectly justified in
| throwing me oat on the track
! Trunk after trunk did he drag down and
! open, only TO bs, told that what | wantel
/ was not there.
! OF course what wanted was not there!
| Because what | wanted was Jumper
| and pair OF overalls, and they were lying
| over in a corner on the floor in company
with a lantern, that looked as if it might
be blushins for me, 30 red was its face.
Down upon these only articles | flung
my shawl, then | stuhbed my toe, trippcd
and fell on the shawl.s Before the good,
patient fellow, who bad for moro than an
hour been hauling my trunks around could
roach mo to haul mo up, Ihad scrambled to
my feet with that oily outfit safely bun
died in my shawl and the whole clasped
close in my arms.
In a voice weak and shaking with fear Of
discovery, but which that miled baggage
man mistook for fatigue, | gave up the
search, begged him to lock the trunks and
hastily made my way back to my own
car, hugging that shawl as was never
shawl hugged before.
There was now no time to be lost in
making up my comrade in crime, for by
this time / felt like full fiedged burglar.
produced my dressing case and pre-
sented him with a pair of scissors snd de
manded the sacrifice of that interesting
blonde mustache, then l instructed him in
the application to his face. neck and hands
of the preparation | used. in order to make
'Rose Michel look like a ruddy sun
Drowned peasant Of Southern FrS-se.
then requested him to polish his boots
with a paste hastily concocted of face
powder and black pomade, and which
combination produced a disgustingly good
specimen of mud and when, after these ar
tistic touches, his felt hat had had its rim
cut off and had been thoroughly rolled on
the floor, and he had doffed his coat and
waistcoat and collar and Cravat and had
inducted himself into the jumper and over
alls, he looked fair average brakeman or
railroal hand.
Whca the train arrived in Philadelphia |
was one Of the first to hurry from it, fol-
lowed b. my travelling companion, who was
buried to his chin with my belongings, to
which vas added his wardrobe wrapped in
my shawl-inde-sd, by this tiLe had come
to corsi Ter that article quite in the light of
a CONF crate.
l made my way directly to the first car
riaSe | saw and telling Tom" for 50 had
christened my comradc) to place the pack
ages within and mount the box himself |
gave the address to which l was going to
the coachman, and calmly and without any
apparent hurry l entered the vehicle and
was driven away
But OH how frightened was!
On my arrival | found my tribe as
sembled at the threshold to greet me They
were too much occupied with me to notice
my travelling companion, whom bade assist
the coachman in bringing in the baggage
and it was not until all this was done, the
coachman paid and the carriage gone that
revealed to my astonshed family the iden-
tity Of my extraordinary looking travelling
companion
was told how his mother, never very
strong. had been stricken down with what
seemed her death blow on hearing of the
shame and sin Of her first born.
His father, with tears streaming down his
face, furrowed already with years and grief
hurried his prodisal away to try TO restore
him to something like his natural appear
ance before yenturing to take him 10 his
mother bedside.
Meantime tried tn prepare my mind to
meet with fOrtitude that summons to a
felon's cell which momentarily expected to
receive.
1t did not come however, and in a few
hours the household settled down to its
usual neutral tinted, religious calm, and but
for the trembling voice and fearful eyes Of
the father of the culprit no one would have
guessed what a tragedy was being enacted
within those circumspect walls.
As to the part had played at such very
short notice in this domestic drama, l
looked back upon it with mingled feelings
OF shame and terror. l particularly re-
quested that might hear nothing further of
the matter but be Permitted to make my
littlo family visit quite as if the melO-
iramatic circumstances of my arrival had
never been.
NV request was respected, l was even
excused from visiting the poor grief stricken
mother, so both she and were spared a
painful scene, and after few days l went
70 Boston.
still from time to time felt nervous and
anxious, and when ono morning the SER
want announced a gentleman who wished to
sec me on business, and who omitted send
Ing his name, l walked into the room to
meat him with a thorough realization Of
the feelings with which Mime Roland
was inspired when she paused at the foot Of
the scaffold to utter her apostrophe TO lib
erty.
Ny visitor introduced himself as a detec-
i've from Washington, went on to tell me
the crime Of which Tom" was guilty. how
he, tom, " had succeeded in escaping from
Washington though he had been carefully
"shadowed," how the authorities felt quito
suro that he would sooner or later so to
his homo in Philadelphia, il indeed he had
not already done 50, how the only excuse
that the detective had to offer to me for
troublin. me in the matter was that in the
discharge of his duty in 'shadowing" the
culprit, he had seen me arrive at the resi-
denco OF h., parents, this he had seen from
the window on the opposite side Of the
street, which room he had been occupying
for some days both before and after my
arrival.
At this point in his narrative felt that
might as well hold my hands for the hand
cuffs and beg him to take me away as
quietly as possible, but with an impulse Of
commno sense which | could never salts
factorily explain to myself, 1 put in prac-
tiCe my faVorite axiom That silence Is
s,lden, - and let him ambls uninterruptedly
on
He ther proceeded to tell me he had
travelled on the same train with me from
Philadelphia, had intended approaching me
there, but concluded to wait, hoping he
might hear something from Philadelphia
or Washington that would enable him to
spare me the annoyance OF the present visit
And so with many apologies he begged
20 state his errand. He already knew l
had merely gono to the house in Philedel-
phia to visit persons boarding there, and
he came to me in the hope that as the fam
lily were strangers to me and as the crime
was one attended with no extenuating cir
cumstances, / might be willing TO aid JUS
tice by telling him if | had seen while
there any person resembling the photograph
which he produced, and which was really
| an excellent likeness OF Tom"
By this time had recovered my presence
Of mind, and with an assumption of dignity
that would have done honor to Sir LeiceS-
ter Dedlock or even Mr.. Turyeydrop him
self, | replied briefly in the negative, and