Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-12-27
MY JOURNEY TO TEXAS.

deal of good, if you spent a summer with me You
remember the answer? You were delicate, Texas
was the land of chills, and was not a ft person
TO be guardian of so irrepressibe subject as my
small but obstreperous sister. What you wished
did not appear until it was too late, so my plans
were ruthlessy crushed and Lavina triumphed.
This time write 10 you, not Lavinia. You are 10,
my dear and il au American woman is ever going
TO have her own way she begins at 49, VIII you
come this year? And will you come at onceY The
wife wants You, want you, and as for the boy,
to see Aunt Elsie" is the dearest wish of his
heart. do not expect favorable reply. have
too much respect for the power Of Lavinia's viii
and authority Yet this letter shall 20. Your
loving brother ADDISON WYNNE.
p. S.-lf you can defy the powers that be, write
at once, so that may meet you at Santana. The
cars will carry you there. l will come as far as
Hobart Junction il can. Are you afraid of the
iourney2 AW.
Would l go? OF course l would. Did
the foolish boy think there was only one
viii in the family? The dear old fellow,
if he really wanted his useless, frivolous
minded little sister, he should certainly
have her. Lavinia was shocked at the
idea, of course, but it was of no use.
said l must go, and went.
l sent word, as l was told, the next
day, and two weeks later l was rolling
out of Chicago in sleeper of the Chi
cago, Burlington and Quincy railway,
speeding westwards, fairly embarked
upon journey of five days and five
nights on the cars and a thirty mile drive
after that.
How l was watched and cared for and
waited upon by the railway officials
Conductors of trains have faults, sup
pose, but they were very good to me.
They got my tickets; they told me where
to changes they brought me coffee; and
until | got to Hobart junction, where !
hoped to find Addison, might have
been-I really was-surrounded by an
army of protectors and friends. looked
anxiously up and down the platform at
Hobart but, alas! no Addison was to be
seen.
Wen, l had come more than 200 miles
alone. Assuredly was capable of CON
veying myself fifty, and he would not
fail to be at Santana So there was moth
ing to worry about. Nevertheless, when
1 found that there was only one day car
going on from Hobart, that l was to be
the only woman on board, and that the
pace at which we were to travel would
not be more than ten miles an hour, be-
cause the. track was unsafe, my heart
sank little, | confess, for it was 2
o'clock in the morning, and was very,
very tired. There was change Of con-
ductors, too-a change for the worse
The "boss' of this train was a large,
roughly dressed person, with u hairy
face, who stared at me as he arranged
my bags and wraps upon seat in front
in way that was scarcely polite and not
at all reassuring. When he had finished
his work he growled out in grutf voice:
''Going to Fort Lincoln this trip, be-
Geve?" | replied with dignity that the
commandant of the fort was my broth
er, and then, leaning back in my seat,
closed my eyes and pretended TO slum-
Der. This hint was sufficient, and to my
great joy, after another prolonged stare,
the man went about his business. When
| was quite sure Of this | opened my
eyes and looked about me. 1t was a
very shabby car; badly furnished, badly
lighted and badly ventilated; smell of
stale tobacco smoke about it, which
made me feel quite sick. l became very
cross and gloomy. Addison ought to
have met me before this. He knew |
was alone, and must be aware what an
emigrant car was like. Perhaps this
was practical joke-he always liked
practical jokes-and he hoped to fright
en- me. Well, he had not done that, at
any rate. There was nothing to be
frightened about
The men in the car scarcely noticed
me at all, and though my conductor was
gruff, his face was not forbidding
he knew Addison. Soothed by these
thoughts l closed my eyes in good ear
nest and tried to sleep. was accus-
toned to travelling now, and soon
dropped into an uneasy doze and began
to dream. dreamed of a face l had
not seen for a long, long while-the
face of an old schoolfellow, Eric Proctor
by name, who had gone out west some
time ago, and was often mentioned by
Addison in his letters. Eric was a nice
boy before he went west, clumsy, over
SlOWh sSutii buI very dIlldDlG anu
good natured, with great head of yell
low hair, and simple, honest, blue
eyes. don't know why l dreamed
of Eric now; perhaps it was because
he was the only person l knew in
Texas besides the family; but l did
dream of him very vividly. thought
had arrived at Santana, and found him
on the platform instead of Addison He
looked very much older than he used to
do, his face haggard and worn.
He did not speak to me, but, taking
my hand, led me away until we were out
of sight of the station, and then lifted
me onto horse, which had appeared
from l don't know where, and we were
galloping away at a tremendous pace. 1
begged him to let me go, but he shook
his head and spurred on faster. 1 began
to feel cold and queer, as if he were
made of ice and were freezing me.
ALI at once he stopped with q
sharp jerk, and with a cry flung me
away, and felt myself falling, falling as