Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-06-30

age sou begin scaling the accents 10 upper
mysteries. You are more successful here,
for, IS following the stair railing. you can
az least for some little time proceed. You
20 pretty high this way. Doubtful OF
where you are, you return a flight or two.
Then you move s~tealthily through a dark,
stuffy hall
Like a sneak thief you try every door you
find, listening with beating heart, for
movements Of vengeance from suppositi-
tious occupants. Your strained hearing
catches the sound of footsteps. You sud
denly pounce upon him and hold him as
remorselessly as ever 'Goody Blake" was
clutched by Harry Gill" The man says,
Lord bless usr' but does not seem very
frightened. He probably knows what it is
TO be frequently surprised in the dark by
desperate people You demand with sur
pressed emotion TO be led to your room.
Lord bless US, yes, certainly; but you do
not loosen you grip upon the individual
By and by you have penetrated the some
where, and find yourself in a room that
must be your room because you recognize
some features of your luggage when fall
ing over IT,
But there you are at last, and what a
room! Shades of past ages, how thy kind
" wraiths are insulted by what is here
in pretension, patching, mold and decay!
One fears 70 use a drawer lest the furni-
ture will crumble in pieces and dolorous
spirits be unloosed- The washstand is
propped. the bowl is cracked; the towel is
as shredded as a politicians record You
can only sit IN safety on the floor. You
Tip" the man you have caught out Of all
reason. and shiveringly ask for a light n
a fire Lord bless Us, yes, c~ertainly-as
to a light; but there must be a consulta-
ton about the fire. He departs and you
stand there supported by hope and a com-
pact, Ulack atmosphere for a good half
hour. He never returns Another nan
does. This one brings one tiny candle
family limiting Of light, and disclosing the
extraordinary necessity for light. You
suggest that you viii need more. He is
appalled,. But you pledge your ability TO
a for two, or even three candles, If all
are burned together. That may be ad-
mitted, but the innovation is too much
You fee this new a Lord bless Us, yes,
certainly; be win see. He goes away and
never returns. You take your candle and
make a little trip around the echoing
halls, but you find no one.
Then you return 70 your room, find the
bellcord, and enliven the hosiery for a
long time with doleful tollings, j~ansIings
and impetuOus staccatos Of a remote but
strong toned bell By and by another
man comes, As II in doubtful effectiveness,
and seems anxious 20 know If you nave
really rung. You endeavor 70 make it
clear tina you have, and why you have;
and you fee him and say, My good fell
lOw.' and There's a mani and other
friendly things. This one goes and stays,
like the rest. You begin on the bell again,
or, thoroughly reckless and desperate,
rush 70 your door and yell; yell As n Will
yell when the limit Of human patience is
reached
In a moment they are all there-an the
pack Of prosecutors who first gave you
welcome. You address them in unmistak-
able language. They are surprised, panied,
Inundated at your extraordinary con
duct. But by a rank statement that IN
less a fire Of Goals is put in your CRATE you
will utilize the unjointed sections Of furni-
ture for hat purpose, and unless you are
furnished enough candles you will make a
pyre Of the inn itself for light with which
70 get out Of il, you are eventually pro
vided with what you want-by two or
three other people who have been lying in
wait for this very denouement, these only
submitting 70 accommodate you after their
palms have been crossed with silver, like
the bad old witches Of the story books.
In every other act or fact about the Brit
fish inn there Is the same hopeless stubborn
ness. Once within it you must resign
yourself soul and body 70 understandable de-
lay, inattention and every conceivable af-
front and inciviity. Tue guest is a crea-
ture 70 be plucked, I LIED and pilIaged
To these beings with wooden heads and
straw hearts, who do not keep" them,
but are kept by them, civllity is unknown;
comfort is unheeded; innovation Is trea-
son, and dynamite Turks in all suggestions
Of improvement
Il would be captious and dishonest 70 as
sert that there ars no pleasant exceptions;
but any one who has travelled much in
! England and Scotland knows tina the
above picture Is a true one Of nine-tenths
Of those inn the average wanderer finds in
the average English and Scottish town or
village. Acquaintance in every place
visited would, no doubt reduce ones per
centage Of misery. But as you are com
PEELED 70 know it, in passing rapidly from
place 70 place, the entire system is one o.
grab-and-pluck. The bar is the British
innkeeper's god He has no pride in his
house and the entertainment be might
give
If your bill for liquors is likely to four or
Eve times exceed that for bed and board,
you are tolerated and even Oddled. II you
have something TO do besides guZzle you
may as well understand first as last that
you are not wanted, and will not De decent
ly treated. In uine-teuths Of all British
inns there Is not a public rOom-and they
are ali VIGOROUSLY tiny and ~close-where
the fumes and smoke Of liquor M tobacco
do not form a dense and awful pillar Of
cloud and ire by night and day. The inn
is absolutely the bar annex here.
But there is hope for the traveller in Eng
land and Scotland in two directions. II
one will make a rule of p~atrOnizing only
the temperance hotels, or Of hunting out
the humblest and most Insignificant inn
that can be found in the place Of arrival,
my word for 10, a clean bed, a fairly com
Portable room and the best attention and
service 20 be had in this country will in
nearly all cases be secured. The temper
ance hotels Of our own country are as a
rule only ft places for self modification
or suicide. Here they are the only places
where n can secure any manner Of ade-