Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-09-12
A Girl in a R be de Mutt.
uow sur STARTLED yovNG Man u A
SLEEPER wHo WAS VERY WIDE Aw AXE

u ClTI 10 a Il )Ue ue NUT.
4 Uuw NuE srARrI ~ \ YOUNG MAS - A
SLEEPER wHo WAS VERY WIDE Aw AkF.
\ young man hose home is in Chicago,
ant m ho has been In Denver only a little
/ more than a Week. had an experience 10
! he Pullman sleeper between Kansas City
aud that point which he will not soon for
get Interesting ana novel a. 1t was, he
/ does not care for repetition Of the adj
4 venture
I At about II o'clock Of the first night out
| from Kansas City-the hour when most
| uncanny things .happcn-the young msn
| was awakened 'n bis berth by q pressure
! on hi~ feet, and he saw sitting at the foot
/ Of his bed aud dressed for the night In a
| spotlcsS white garment with iusertiugs and
! ruit,rs and things foreign 70 the midnight
| makeup Of male humanity, the form of a
| girl Or young woman, whose features he
| coa.i not diStingu sh In the dim. II not re-
! ligIous light While the Young man Il not
/ susceptible to shocks "a far as the foihles
of women are Involved, lie was somew hat
astnunhed ami lay ,tllI for few minutes
wondering that Z. 10 under the circum.
stances Presently he found his wits aul
voice.
Are YOU comtortable?'' he asked In his
soficst tones.
Tin quite comfortable. was the calm
uuruftied reply.
The passive assurance OF the woman in
white ,uterftrcd som, hat with the young
mans line of thought and conjecture, but
he rs~ not long In formulating second
attack
'wondn't you prefer a seat at the head
OF the be,l?" he asked.
No. thank you" was the response I;
I'm very comfortable here.
Perhaps you would like pillow ?" he
suggested Offering her one Of the two upon
which his head had been resting
BY this time the young man was thor
oughlv satisfied that the yonng woman
was young and pretty II not unsophisti-
Gated, 80 . hen she adjusted the pillow be
tween her head and the footboard Of the
berth the temporary owner of the premises
was more pleased than panied. Partly in
Difference to what he thought vas the
impenetrable impudence Of his ghostly
visitor. partly In a spirit of fun and part
ly on account Of the proverbial meagre
ness Of the sleeping car pillow, the young
man h.ld out the other feather cushion
saying
Wont you take the other oneT
Yes she would and did, placing II with
the companion piece and snugly Nesting
her head upon the pair. All this time the
visitor had sat upon the edge OF the berth,
her feet resting on the hoor OF the aisle,
her head and shoulders against the foot
board The conversation which the young
man had INDUCED In was In pianlssimo
tones, that he should disturb no other oc
cupants of the car. The replies Of his un-
expected caller had been less guarded In
volume. IN fact they might have been
heard : good many feet away had there
been ans wakcful ear WITHIN the distance
named.
A., the creature IN white lay contentediy
back on the pillows, her hands crossed
and her breath coming and going with what
seemed 10 be measured regularity, tempus
did not fugit very fast for her berth mate
He hardly knew what to do in the face Of
such Indifference under such circum-
stances hut collected his wandering
thoughts ana asked her again II She was
comfortable Perfectly comfortable" she
said II at up IN the bunk She didn't
move lie put hi- feet in the aisle and sat
on the edge of the bunk close beside her
She paid no attention 20 him. when part
/ Ing Of the curtain let ray of light fall on
/ her face.
| The eyes were stonily gazing at nothing,
| ana not feature of the countenance be
/ trayC the slightest evidence of conscious
l ness. The face was pretty and Innocent
/ that Of pure minded girl between II aud
4 20 years of age II vas plain that she Slept /;
/ that she was a sounambulist and that she
/ had no knowledge of her whereabouts nor
/ Of her words or deeds. The young man
! would have as willingly kissed corpse as
! that sleeping maiden. He tried by talking
| 10 her TO find out how she had come 70 his
i hunk, but could get no Ineligible replies,
| other than that her sister and herself were
| travelling to Sal!das where they Intended
visiting some friends, and moreover, her
| tones were loud.
| Worst of all the train came to a stand
| still while he was endeavoring to make her
tell where she belonged. The situation
was increasingly embarrassing. Suppose
| the girl had a father or big brother on
| board and that relative should find her in
| the strange young mans berth? odds
| POUNDS! Suppose the girl should sudden
| ly recover consciousness and should scream.
a. only young woman similarly placed
might be expected to scream. Caesars
| ghost. The young man would not nnd a
friend or believer on the train.
The hero of the tale restored the maiden
to her restful position on the pillows,
| dressed himself partly, and went in seai ch
of the porter. That funclionary was sound
asleep. He was told that there was q SOM
nambulist on board. The porter could no,
make out what somnambulist might be SC
he called the conductor. The last named
heard the young mans briefly narrated
story, and accompanied him and the grin
| ming porter to the berth. There was nc
sleeping beauty anywhere visible. The
berth was empty.
With many mental reservations as to the
condition of mind and body in which the
| young man had retired the evening before
| the conductor consented to awaken two
young ladies', sisters. who were occupants
Of the car. Only one of those young Ia
dies could be found. The young man had
not been dreaming. The sister who was
found was greatly disturbed. She readily
admitted that her younger sister had been
known to walk In her sleep. The car was
carefully searched, and In an unassigned
berth at one end Of the coach the girl was
found snugly curled up and sleeping q
sweetly as babe.
The operation Of leading her back to her
own berth did not awaken her, and when
she opened her eyes to the morning light
those beautiful windows Of the soul gave
no sign that the owner Of their tenement
knew what the night had brought forth
No one told her Of her strange adventure
and possibly no one ever will. She might
have wondered why the young man who had
been so observant prior to the momentOus
night did not so much as look at her again