Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-02-10

osonhical and non .committal very
mnch so. indeed. As had come
thing to attend to, | hurried to a
dry goods store, selected the pat
terms, and put them with the letters
in the envelopes, and put them in
nv pocket. Just at this moment,
who should | see driving past in
his buggy but my friend Max
ime. He called to me to get in.
did so, and Just as we were passing
the postoflice it occurred to me 10
post the letters"
"Yes, begin to understand"
"I got out, bought two stamps
stuck one OF them on the letter 10
tbe countess, showed it through the
hole. and was about to do the same
for Louisa's epistle, when ! telt
faint. sasped for air. l had ad-
dressed my letter to Louisa to the
countess at Var and posted it. In
nv hand was the letter to the
countess with the samples Of silk,
addressed to Louisa in Normandy"
"You were in fix
"Neyer was in 80 hideOus a fix in
all nv life. Unless regained that
letter it was all up with the beauti-
ful countess, who, as l told you,
was as rich as she was pretty"
ayes, you told me she was quite
wealthy"
"Not only that, but | was really
desperately in love with her besides
| went right into the postoffice and
asked the clerk to hand me out the
letter. The clerk began to cross
examine me, and intlmated that
was a candidate for the peniten-
tiary. AS my answers did not suit
him, he refused to hand out the let
ter. remembered that l had
friend who was a high official in
the postoflice department. l Jump
ed INTO a hack and was driven to
his Office. He was not in. Then l
went to his residence. | found him,
explained matters, and armed with
an official document drove back to
the postofice. The mail was al
ready made up and on board the
postal car. l jumped aboard just
as the tram moved of. The postal
officers in the car under the lmpres-
sion that was trying 10 rob, hurled
me to the floor, and while one kneel'
ed on my breast the others choked
me and searched me for arms. AS
soon as l got a chance to speak l
showed my document and explain
ed. Profuse apologies were offered
and accepted. However, my collar
was torn of and my clothes suffer
= ed in the scuflle."
"Did they give you your letter =
"The car was packed up to the
roof with sacks of mall matter
The Official said
"'My dear sir, from foul to five
hundred thousand letters you cant
expect us to pick out yours. BE
sides, we are forbidden under any
circumstances to dellYer any mai
q en- route"
"What did you do y
"There was nothing for me to do
except to grin and bear it. l tool
a seat on the mail bags in order t
rest myself, and the sacks were no
as comfortable as a pillow. The!
seemed to be full of hard and II
regular shaped articles mixed al
with letters. l wondered if it wa
, possible that / was sitting on tn
identical bag that contained IN,
affectionate letter to the countess
Perhaps there was nothing between
me and that accursed document e1
cept an eighth of an inch of leath
or, and | whistled quietly, 'ThoI
r art so near, and yet so far"
81 should think, Jacques, tha
your conscience would have trou
q bled you
' "No, my conscience did not tror
: BILE me, but my stomach made m
=. wish that | were dead. There
q no doubt that | suffered internally
: | am very sensitive about smells
q and the car was full of them. Their
;, was evidently something rotten /
q Denmark, as far as the postoific
| department is concerned. The wor'
smell was that damp leather. Judl
@ ing by the smells in the car, I'll
4 people of France were in the hab
| of sending Limburger cheese, sal
S sage seasoned with garlic and I'll
r like, through the mails. 1t wa
/. very warm, damp weather. Th
It motion of the cars made thing
G worse inside of me. In order to |
:. more comfortable the clerks r
moved their shoes. At last ii
h crisis came on. needed fresh al
Ny bosom heaved cOnvulslvely.-
10 How | wished | had not eaten thi
le hearty breakfast. 'Oh, Ameli
- Amelia p l groaned, 'hOw little {
ot you know how my bosom heav'
it for thee How little dOst the
v, dream what sacrifices make on a
/ count of my love for thee p'
es "You must have enjoyed yourst
m very much on the excursion"
"That was only the beginning