The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-16
MY JOURNEY TO TEXAS.

v, x.
Apru :, lS7S.-Dear Elsie: ventured to suggest {
year ago TO our respected sister Lavinia that il
"ould DO You no harm, and some Others a eTea1
oeal OF good, II You spent summer with me. YoU
remember the answer? You were delicate Texas
was the land of chilis, and l was not tit person
10 be guardian of so irrepressible subject as my
small but obstreperous sister. What you wished
did not appear until it was too late. 50 NV plans
were ruthlessly crushed and Lavinia triumphed
This time write % you, not Lavinia You are 10
my dear and if an American woman is ever going
10 have her own way she begins at - VIII you
come this Year, And viii you come at once? The
wife wants you, l want you, and as for Aice boy
to see Aunt Elsie" is tho dearest wish of his
heart. / do not expect favorable reply. have
too much respect fer the power of Lavinia's will
and authority. Yet this letter shall go. Your
loving brother, ADDISON WyDlr
P. S.-f you can defy the powers that be, write
at once, so that may meet you at Santana The
cars will carry you there. viii come as far as
Hobart Junction il can. Are you afraid of the
Journey A.W.
Would go? OF course ] would. Did
the foolish boy think there was only one
Will 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. l
said must go, and went.
| sent word, as l was told, the next
day, and two weeks later l was rolling
out Of Chicago in a 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 thirty mile drive
after that.
How l was watched and cared for and
waited upon by the railway sol iclaIs.
Conductors of trains hdIe}faUlt lump
pose, but they were very, good volm1e
They got my tickets; theytold me 7Ui1are
70 change; they brought me cotfeHTahd
until l got 10 Hobart junction, lwheDCsI
hoped to find Addison, / mighty have
been-l really was-surrounded byadn
army of protectors and friends. looked
anxiously up and down the platform at
Hobart, but, alas! no Addison was to be
seen.
Well, I had come more than / 900 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
l found that there was only one day car
going on from Hobart, that 1 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 a little, | confess, for it was :
o'clock in the morning, and | was very,
very tired. There was a change of con-
ductors, tOo-a change for the worse.
The "boss" of this train was a large,
roughly dressed person, with a hairy
face, who stared at me as he arranged
my bags and wraps upon seat in front
i'll a way that was scarcely polite and not
at all reaSSuring. When he had finished
his work he growled out in a gruff voice:
Going to Fort Lincoln this trip, be-
lieve?" l 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 anu iOOhtu dDOub ne. II was u
very shabby car; badly furnished, badly
lighted and badly ventilated; a smell of
stale tobacco smoke about it, which
made me feel quite sick. 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 jol5e-he always liked
practical jokes-and he hoped to fright
en- me. Well, he bad not done that, at
any rate. There was nothing TO be
frightened about.
The men in the car scarcely noticed
me at ali, and though my conductor was
Cruff. his face was not forbidding-and
he knew Addison. Soothed by these
thoughts l closed my eyes in good ear
nest and tried to sleep. 1 was accus-
toured to travelling now, and soon
dropped into an uneasy doze and began
to dream. | dreamed of face l had
not seen for a long, long while-the
face of an old scheolfellow, Eric Proctor
by name, who had gone out west some
time ago, and was often mentioned by
Addison in his letters. Eric was nice
boy before he went west, clumsy, over
grown youth. but very amiable and