Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-10-10
THE LOST VOICE


shorh from The worsfs great e.scsric hassrsy.
afte. which it would rsaspD into ~ u..aa
ueass u tort,or. In o<her vocds, the midday
trsin wa. about TO come IN. The one fhas
brought the mails and the few pae1engen
that eaisas: the only one, To all intenss ana
purposes, for S1urr,baro1sh vas onsy . mle
Of Struggling hols.s set on . brsneh road o.
the grps:, Massansltson and Midland railway,
and il, boxsst inhabitants were not disturbed
unlszs the whistle OF the might freight roussd
them frpn their bucoiie dreanA
The two gentlemen who lived IN the neigh
borhossi had driven over to get the mail, and
were Whiting for il in their buggies; the faf-
uers rad ted their lank horss 70 the ience
and gorse into the small house pinned 70 an
extensive platform that served at once =
st,r,. nsStsr.itse and station; the usual CROWD
of liIe nesruss who never missed train, NOS
even during harvest had assembled And
now what shoah come rafting along TIM
erosSroad but a mostest -rockaway IL con
tanned three ladies and unique coachnaAn In
the person Of a little coIored girl Of about Il,
who was e,1s-ssed in pink calico. and As TO her
extrernitiss was barefoosed, and wore binck
straw hat from beneath which a wilderness Of
short plaits bristlsd In the most com1cai
fashion Stop, stop Florinda. where are
you goingF called out one OF the ladies, IN
an alarmed tone, as they crossed the track
-Dsnt you hear the whistle. Go on"
shouted another in a resolute, author tative
voice
.Gooiness gracious alive. She will kill u
ALI vet,r exclaimed the third. but for all
answer Florin,la, who had solved in her own
rerson tsl.. xornanIs rights problem, by know
ing what she. was doing and going straight
ahead and doing it, and who, in spite Of her
age and .ex, was an accomplished Jehu, drove
safely and eleveriy around to the back Of the
station and stopped where the ladies could
step out on the platform with ease. Rolling
her immense protruding eyes around at her
mistress, she said reprovingly: Miss 'StasiA,
Use a-iriving.r and, without further COM
ment. the process of Decentralization began
II Was a process, for all three ladies were
old and more or less difficult To extract from
the small carriage, but Flornida was equal 70
the OCCASION 1t was worth while to see her
guide Miss Anastasia foot to the step, seize
her hand and land her safely, then put up q
parasol for her and leave her; to go back and
fairly pull out Miss Elizabeth, who weighed
two hundred
There was still the timid Miss Roberta, who
peeresl anxiousiy in the direction of the old
hors' head ami cried out He'll start, or kick,
Or do something. | know he will. Go to the
beast, Flolinda; hold him"
peru1stLenes could not have convinced Miss
Roberta that there was no danger, for she
hal a mortal dread of hoisetlesh and was =
bundle of nerves. Florinda didn't try. She
simply put one long, firm arm around the
lady's waist and brought her out within three
feet of her sisters with one determined sweep,
collected in "a twinklng the shawls and par
GELS they had brought, bounced back like \
ball into the carriage, turned it sharp around,
escaping the wheels of a wood wagon by
about an inch, bounced out again, knotted
the reiIis hitched the horse and rejoined her
companions.
The train now rolled in, and the three old
ladies, who were devoted to each other and
had never been separated for month in all
their lives, consumed so much time in fare
wells ail embraces and cautions that, after
all, there would have been no immediate
necessity for anything of the kind, and Miss
Roberta would have missed her train had not
the sharp and practical Florinda been at the
helm 1t was She who called out, rather dis
respectfully it must lie confessed, stop dat
foolishucss Don't yer see you gwine be left
whisperatin' en- cirtumferatin right here!n
| and not corteut with mere words pushed
| Miss Roberta btiskly in the direction of the
| ladies' car and got her on board. On the
| platform even that lady paused to say:
| SISTER, dear, be sure to feed my Rouen"-
This sentence, if it had been finished, would
have had ducks" III it, but it wasn't. The
train started, and with convusive lurch or
two, Miss Roberta disappeared inside. The
| weather being that of tine dog days the car
windows were all up, and from one Of them
| Mis- Roberta saw her two sisters waving
their hantlkerchiefs. She also saw Florinda,
who had taken Off the black straw and was
| hoursl!inE it in the air, her innumcrable lit
tie pi., tails standing out in silhouette against
| the sky like the quilts Of the fretful porcu-
| pine, her voice sending after the traveller q
| last caution, "Change kyars at Milford, Miss
| Roberta
When the train crawled Into Milford the
| faithless conductor forgot her entirely, But
| the ar was unanimously deserted by the pas
| sengers amidst a most confusing banging Of
doors and rush Of trains, and after having
made satisfactory inquiry as to whether that
was really Milford" she followed the people
near her and soon found herself in huge
covered station. There were trains 70 the
| ri ,ht of her and trains to the left Of hea'
| There WIS great crowd. She made some
more timil inquiries, and the busy officials,
Only nail ne*TliiiS hef, sf,iil htt'i III ~ W tuc
wronr rate, where. after fumblng for her
tick t AID showing it, she was cursorily
waved OFF TO aaotli,; AMI finally reached the
| pro )0r train at the last moment. She saw
| the paopl, from aiar streaming in, and Just
eau hit up wiki the procession. Hold onl
Here's ano her. said Che conductor in charge,
| and glad enon n was she to find herself in
| harlior once more after the agitating iiuctua-
| ton, of TIE Last few hours. Now all was
| we'll She had only to get of at Smithville,
where her cunt lived and would see that she
was wei ornc1 properly. In two hours mora
the Journey would DO at an end.
| With tlus, reflections Miss Roberta settled
her wraps and parcels in the last seat at the
| upDor end ii tho car, and took the empty one
| tacin it, Once or twice she turned around
tl l. .p., 1. loot. at tho ether passengers as they
took their places, and then she sank back
against the well cushioned seat, and she
would herself have expressed it, addressed
herself to reading the excellent volume Of
Hannah More provided by Miss Anastasa az
a certain preventive of possible dizziness. 1t
was not the first time she had read it by any
means. but novelty in the atmosphere in
which she had been bred was not only not
essential even in the matter of books, but
considered vaguely dangerous. They had
always read Hannah More with pleasure,
and TINT a time would come in which
they would cease to be "edified' and lin
struoted" by her amusement was mere
gidly, violate side issue, without weight
among grave, superior people, would have
str,i k ali the sisters as an almost indecent
supposition.
| And 50 it was with serious satisfaction that
Miss Roberta turned over page after page Of
| tho ,oIur,,,'it, her hanI which she was al
lowed to dwell upon quite undisturbed, for
EXCEPT TO show her ticket when first seated
her attention was not once distracted In the
course of the ncxt hour and half they
passed good many stations, at which they
| stopped for few minutes. but no one got
into her ear and no one got out, neither was
! she anuoscl ly having the names Of the
| towns la We'd at her from afar she had
been on the branch road. 1t is possible,
though, to get enough even Of the most sub
stantiai rrIrist, and 50 When she had finished
the twelfth chapter Of moral reflections hu-
/ man nature began TO assert itself, and Mis-
| Roberta sipaned twice and began to look
about be. again.
| So ltth breeze sifted in through the win
dow thai Miss Hu,erta was uncomfortable
enough AID seeing that a lady opposite who
looked up from some knitting just then and
smiled pleasantly on meeting her gaze, had
two palmetto fans lying by her. unused, Miss
Roberta forgot her wounded dignity ard ask
ed for the loan Of one.
| The lady ignored her request calmly, and
with her portnanteau and shawl improvised
| a couch and laid down.
~Well do think these people are brazeni-
| thought Miss Roberta Keep your old fan,