, 1890-01-05
MY JOURNEY TO TEXAS.

MY JOURNEY TO TEXAS.
: FoRr LINCOLN, SANTANA. Vegas county, Tex,
April .. ls7s.-Dear Elsie: l ventured to suggest a
year ago TO our respected sister, Lvinia, that it
! would do you no harm, and some others a great
deal Of good. II you spent a summer with me. You
remember the answert You were delicate, Texas
was the land of chills, and / was not a 1T person
TO be guardian Of 30 irrepresaible a subject as my
small but obstreperous sister. What you wished
did not appear until 1t was too late, 80 my plans
were rUthlessly crushed and LAvinla triumphed.
This time l write to you, not Lhvinia- You are 10,
my dear. and II an American woman is ever going
To have her own way she begins at 10. VIII you
come this yeart And will you come at oncef The
wife wants you, | want you. and as for the boy,
10 see Aunt Elsie" Is the dearest wish OF his
heart, I do not expect a favorable reply. / have
too much respect for the power OF Lavinia's will
and authority. Yet this letter shall go. Your
loving brother. ADDISON wYSSK.
p s.-f you can defy the powers that be, write
at once, ~ that l may meet you at Santana. The
cars will carry you there. / will come az far as
Hobart Junction II | can. Are you afraid OF rbe
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 so, and went.
sent word, as 1 was told, the next
day, and two weeks later | was rolling
out Of Chicago in a sleeper OF the Chi
cago, Burlington and Quincy railway,
speeding westwards, fairly embarked
upon a journey of five days and five
nights on the cars and IA thirty mile drive
after that.
How l was watched and cared for and
waited upon by the railway officials.
Conductors of trains have faults, 1 sup
pose, but they We're very good to me.
They got my tickets; they told me where
to change; they brought me coffee; and
until | got to Hobart Junction, where 1
hoped to find Addison, l might have
becn-I really was-surrounded by an
armyo of protectors and friends. / looked
a~nNiously up and down the platform at
Hobart, hut. alas! no Addison was to be
seen.
Well, had come more than 1 900 miles
alone. Assuredly l 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
| found that there was only one day car
going on from Hobart, that | 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 l was very,
very tired. There was a change of con
d~uctors, too-a change for the worse.
The boss" of this train was n large,
roughly dressed person, with n hairy
face, who stared ut me as he arranged
my bags and wraps upon a seat in front
in n way that was scarcely polite and not
at all ~reassuring. When he had finished
his work he growled out in a gruf voice:
Going TO For Lincoln this trip, l be-
lever 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 wen about his business. When
l was quite sure of this l opened my
eyes and looked about me. 1t was a
very shabby car; badly furnished, badly
lighted and badly ventilated; a 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 l
was alone, and must be aware what an
emigrant car was like. Perhaps this
was a practical joke-he always liked
practical jokes-and he hoped to fright
en- me. Well, he had not done that, al
any rate. There was nothing to be
frightened about.
The men in the car scarcely noticed
me at all, and though my conductor W.
grutf, his face was not forbidding-and
he knew Addison. Soothed by these
thoughts closed my eyes in good ear
nest and tried to sleep. / was accus-
toned to travelling now, and soon
Z. dropped into an uneasy doze and began
to dream. l dreamed of Il face l had
not seen for n long, long while-the
q, face of an old schoolfellow, Eric Proctor
by name, who had gone out west some
time ago, and was often mentioned by
n Addison in his letters. Eric was n nice
q boy before he went west, a clumsy, over
grown youth, but very amiable and
good natured, with u great head of vel
low hair, and simple, honest, blue
s eyes. l don't know why l dreamed
5 of Eric now; perhaps it was because
he was the only person l knew in
Texas besides the family; but I did
dream of him very wildly. thought
had arrived at Santana, and found hin
IN the platform instead of Addison. IL,
i looked very much older than he used t,
. do, his face haggard and worn.
He did not speak to me, but, taking
my hand, led me away until we were GU
of sight of the station, and then lifteC
me onto a horse, which had appeared
from l don't know where, and we wer,
g%alloping away at u tremendous pace.
begged him to let me 80, but he shool
his head and spurred on faster. l begal
, to feel cold and queer, as if he wer
made of ice and We're freezing me
All at once he stopped with
t sharp jerk, and with n cry flung m,
r away. and | felt myself falling. falling a
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