The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-04-03

your money, madame, l Will not nave
| it; it is the money of monsieur want. -
And before could utter word of eX-
PLANTATION he had darted up the stairs at
the back of the bus.
Pretty soon everybody in the bus
| was conscious of tussle going on on
these same stairs, and we could see the
conductor forcibly pulling along most
.irate little Frenchman, who was ges-
! ticulating in the widest manner, at the
same time giving vent to his feelings IN
the most expressive French. lie de-
clared he would have both the conduc-
| tor and the woman who was trying to
palm herself off as his wife arrested by
the very first gendarme he saw. He
| would find out whether there was no
protection for a respectable father of a
| family riding to his place of business in
a public conveyance; it was an outrage
of the most audacious kind, and some
| body would have to suffer for it.
The conductor appeared just as calm
as the old gentleman was excited, and
never said word in return, only tight
ened his grasp on the coat-collar he was
holding, and never stopped his pulling
and Juggling until he had the old gentle
man standing right in front of me;
then he inquired in a loud voice: Mad
anne, is this man your husband?"
"Oh, dear! No!'' l replied, in a shak-
ing voice, almost ready to cry. ''You
have made dreadful mistake! Please
do take my fare out of this!' again pre-
senting my fve-franc piece. My hus-
band certainly does not understand
you; that is all"
MY evident distress must have molli-
fed the old gentleman somewhat, for
he slipped away quietly, only stopping
once on the stairs to shake his fist at
the conductor and call him ian old
fool" which l certainly thought he
richly merited; for why in the world
would he not take my fare as was beg
ging him to. and thus have no more
| fuss about it?
BY this time everybody in the bus
was intensely interested in the proceed
ings. Old gentlemen laid aside their
morning papers as if they had no fur
Their interest in them, and gave their
] y
| have better look at me; while fat old
! ladies nudgcd each other and chuckled
Even the babies stopped crying sudden
| ly, to see the fun, for every body seemed
to feel that more was coming. AS fo1
myself, my face kept growing reddel
and redder, until knew from the burn
ing sensation that it must be flaming
scarlet; while instead of wanting tC
cry, | felt possessed of a strong de
sire to shake somebody-whether the
conductor or j., or both, it did not much
matter.
AS soon as the old gentleman had es
capped from him, the conductor, nothing
daunted, and taking no notice whatever
of my outstretched hand with its ap
pealing five-franc piece, started for the
stairs, repeating: Il go to search for
the husband of madame
All necks were craned forward a!
this time he appeared in view, leading
in the same captive manner, a tall
lean, lanll, individual, apparently hal
scared out of his wits. All this poo
fellow could say was: "H0nSieur lG Con
ducteur, / assure you have no wife.
assure you, sir" while his knees
knocked together and his legs trerl
bled so violently that he could hardly
stand upright.
His feeble protest did not save him
however; he also was marched up il
front of me; and the same question
asked in the same loud tones; and wheI
| made the same answer, disclaimin&
him as my legal protector, everybody
in the bus Uttered audibly at the re
lieved expression that came over thu
young mans face as he skipped away
and the puzzled look that settled on The
conductors visage.
If had been at home and such mis-
take had occurred | certainly would
have left the car at once; but | did no
dare to do so here, as could not fine
my way about, and the idea of goinE
boldly up those stairs and discovering
j. myself never once entered my head
though that of course would have beef
the most sensible thing TO have done.
The conductor after his second fail
ure seemed dazed for moment, ant
stood scratching his head; but in
little while he frightened up, saying
81 cannot stop now, as my honor is a
stake as we'll as madame's, and fin'
monsieur | must" while several of tn
passengers cried out: "Bravo!"
Four more innocents in turn wer
brought before me; one, like the frs
old gentleman, wildly indignant, swear
ing dire vengeance on everybody; an
other was timid and scared; while tw
of them treated the whole thing as
huge joke, and did their best to affor,
the passengers all the fun possible
which of course only added TO N.
misery.
Though we had gone some distanc
no one seemed to think of getting out
consequently no one could get in, as
Paris bus never carries more passenger
than there are seats. While the peopl
downstairs were enjoying themselve
so much at my expense it seems tina
those on top were likewise having
pretty good time. J. told me all abou
it several days afterwards, when ha
grown less touchy on the subject an
could listen to him without flying int
passion.
1t seems that as soon as he had foun
seat upstairs he drew out of his poke
book in which he was very much il
/ | l. L. d