The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1891-08-13
RAILWAY COMPANIONS.

RAILWAY COMPANIONS.
At the last moment young girl entered
the car hastily and paused in the aisle look
ing up and down for vacant seat.
1t was the noon train out, and the Gu
was filled principally with ladies, who ha,
been glad to hurry through with thei
shopping to get ont of the heat and dus
and have some time to freshen up befor
evening. A few gentlemen were also ii
the car, but they were something NOR
thnn middle aged, and probably only wen
to town at all in order to keep up the de
fusion that they were necessary at tn
, Office or warehouse, and now having salts
fed their dignity, and put In the morning
they were flourishing Panama hats O.
J palm leaf fans, and yawning prodigiousll
on their way to well earned rest.
The young girl was beckoned to a sea
beside plump, middle aged woman in
gray gown, which did not tend to dimin
tsh the embonpoint of her figure. Golt
eyeglasses swung on her ample bosom, ant
she wore fresh kid gloves size too small
for her pudgy hands.
Coming out of the glare of the street tn,
twilight arches of tire depot had seemed
deliciously cool. but the car was sitting
As the train dashed out from under th,
last crossing culyert the young girl threw
up the window and pulled down the blinl
with click.
"Oh, thank you, that is much better,p ex
claimed the lady in gray, who had involun
tarily turned away from the binding sun
light which flooded them. She now be
slowed scrutinizing gaze upon her com
panion, who was simply gowned in black
Black Is so nOncommittal, and what can
one tell from q sailor hat2 But her blont
hair was stylishly knotted and her hand.
were small; she settled herself with the
air of one accustomed to travel, and shs
did not look out Of the window.
YES" repeated the plump lady, ''that il
better; but travelling on such day is al
most intolerable underan circumstances y
The young girl smiled her sympathy with
this opinion, but said nothing, as the con
ductor at that moment reached their seat
No one In the chr seemed Inclined to con
yersation. The old gentlemen were airead,
mapping, and the ladies leaned away from
the light with their fans In front of theil
aching eyes. The monotonous roar of the
moving train seemed TO add to the noon's
oppressiveness. However, after the first
two or three suburban stations had con,
siderably thinned out the seats the motion
Of the train seemed to be accelerated, and
the swifter rush of air brought some miti.
CATION of the heat. Then the remaining
ladies began languidly to rearrange their
packages and discuss the mornings shop
ping tour or plans for the evening "after
the men come out"
The lady in gray furtlvely held up one
hand nh rx-ffh
palm Of her dainty glove was stained dark
with perspiration. She straightwuy drew
clean white handkerchief from her
pocket and spread it on her lap, carefully
resting her hands, palms upward, upon il
Then stealing glance at the sharer of her
seat, and discovering that she was OBJ.
served, she exclaimed: ~ declare 1t always
does grieve me to see the first soil OIL a
fresh pair of glovesl After that it doesn,t
seem to matter so much"
The young girl again simply smiled-it
might be with sympathy or with amuse.
ment. Her companion found her baffiing
and hdgeted consciously in her corner OF
the seat. Finally, with sudden resolve
and an added dignity of manner, she in.
quired, Are you going far, my dear?'
The young girl raised her eyes in some
surprise, but answered without hesitation,
Not very"
well, indeed you are fortunate" replied
the lady. "As l said to my husband this
morning. you pay dear to get to the coun-
try on such day us this. You ought to
go, OF course, early in the season, md
never go near town except on cloudy days,
or just after rain, when it's clean and
cool. And so we've done every year since
we were married until this one. But Mr..
Henderson found his business would take
him to town every day this summer. So,
as Arthur-that's his son-has place at
the shore, and Isabel-thg. ) my daughter
has place in the country, they just in.
sisted that we should not bother with an
out of town place at all this year, but just
divide our time between them.n
"Then you have a married daughter"
said the young girl with some show of in
terest, and the lady SMILED complacently.
Il do not wonder you are surprised. My
husband VOWS that except for my com
plexion being SO much fresher than Isa.
bells it would be almost impossible to tell
us apart. And when | was a widow-but
there, you know how it is with widows,
they are always so much run after that it
would be no wonder if they lost their
heads. l suppose you've noticed how a
"'tA SSo biAt al thG any
day9n
81 have heard that it is so." replied the
girl tentatively.
"Of course you are too young to have ex-
perienced it YOURSELF" condescended the
matron; cit isn't probabs you're mar
ried2"
mo, am not married-yet. The girls
response was so obviously emphasized that
the ldy could not be blamed for the avid
ity with which she seized upon the clue, ex-
claiming:
But eugagedp Now, do tell me about
it, my dear. Pm sure there's nothing SO
interesting-and being married three times
myself | ought to know" And she set
tied herself in an attitude of deep atten.
ton.
Now the girl did not seem to hesitate
from any timidity, but regarded her com
Portable confidante with droll smile for a
moment in silence, Then she began: al
am on my way to pay visit to the sister
of the gentleman to whom / am engaged. ~
why, how delightfulr calculated tho