The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-05-03
A STORY,
A Story Of More Than Ordinary Local
Interest.
BY R. D. WICKER, RALEIGH, N. @.

cloud of smoke ceilingward.
mo, thank you. I never indulge
now, and only have it here for my
friends who take a glass occasionally.
l have not touched a drop since I was
married, last summer"
Married! The deuce you say. This
must be another of those dry jokes of
yours, Fred. Did you e hear any
thing of it, George3 Did you, CarlF'
addressing two other young men who
sat opposite, humping on the table
abstractedly.
"Nevera word, replied both, looking
up in surprise.
The above conversation occurred in
a room Of one of Raleigh's hotels not
long since.
Fred Bolton was a drummer for a
Baltimore house, and was one among
the most popular young commercial
tourists who eve visited the city, and
while in town might be found almost
any night in his room one or two
jovial companions, for while he could
not be termed what is known as a
drinking man, he was fond of a glass
of brandy and soda, and generally had
a reserve fund of jokes on hand.
Tell us how you come to get caught
in this net matrimonial, and why it
has such an influence over your moral
conduct, for I am sure there must be
something out of the ordinary in il"
said Bob.
1T did border somewhat on the
romantic; but it is rather a long story,
and my wife being somewhat sensitive
on the subject, I think it hardly worth
while to tell it."
"Pshaw! Let US have it. Her, s a
light. Now CO."
Being thus urged, Fred Bolton pro-
ceeded as follows, but we shall omit
the many Interruptions during it's re
cital, and give it in his W words, as
near as possible:
You remember l was here last sum-
mer, and intended, when l left, to make
Columbia, S. O., my objective point.
The evening wasrather a fine one, and
my spirits were buoyant, as I stepped
on the train bound for Greensboro.
But the most trivial incidents some
time shape destinies, and turn the
current of our wholelives. The whistle
of locomotive, the change of the wind,
the treading on the trail of a lady's
dress, or the tossing away of a cigar
stump, may be the turning point in
our lives either for veal or for woe.
"As I got on the train I went i'm
mediately for the smoker, liz a cigar,
raised the window and gazed out at
the whirling landscape, and INDUCED
in a day-dream of fairy-like air castles
as the train sped on to the montonous
tune of it's everlasting chatter, c~latter,
c~latter, c~latter, plat, plat, plat, over
the ties, speeding through meadow,
woods and dale, while the sun sank
slowly to rest in a halo of glory behind
the western hills. But I have ever
found it true, that when we imagine
ourselves most happy and contented
withourselves and the world in general,
a disturbing element is sure to pop up.
There were several paroies in the car
who seemed to think that in order to
keep ones spirits up it was necessary to
pour them down, and their loud dis
cussion of policies in general, and
"Why Farmers are Poor" in particu-
lar, was not very edifying to me, so l
retired to the sleeper.
LAS 1 entered the coach and looked
around for a vacant seat, l was con
fronted by a pair of daisy-blue eyes,
fringed with long dropping lashes, and
a face of such exquisitly beautiful
peach blossom tint that I vas for the
moment completely dazed-I could
scarce get my breath-and I was so
nervous [ am sure l was awkward in
the extreme; but I could no more con-
troll myself than I could fly.
There is no use talking, gentlemen;
it was love at first sight, and 1 felt
then and there that it would be a
pleasure to die for just such an angelic
face as the one before me, surrounded
by a cluster of brown curls, with a
nervous, t%witching little rose bud of a
mouth, which seemed to be asking for
sympathy, aid and lOUe!
"The only entirely vacant seat was
just behind this paragon of loneliness,
and I dropped down in it in a state of
complete collapse" SO to speak, and
slowly there came stealing upon my
senses, imparting a balmy feeling of
dizziness, the faint sweet odor of the
delicate perfume of violets indescrib-
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