The morning call., 1894-01-07
A CABLE-CAR EPISODE.

"A SADLE-NAE EFlSODE.
It was a rainy afternoon in holiday
week. and the cable-car had stopped half
way up a steep grade. There had been
the usual rush of impatient passengers to
the door, but only one or two had felt
their business sufficiently urgent to prompt
them to brave the steady downpour out
side. 1t was better to wait a few moments
and see whether the cable might not re-
sumo operations. How it did pourl The
rain seemed bound to break in the roof Of
the car with the fieTceneSS of its assaults.
1t ran in great sheets down the sidewalks
and cutters of the steep street; it assailed
the blue cotton umbrellas and Tapping
garments of the passing Celestials, for the
car had stopped 10 the very heart of Chi
natown, and washing into doOrways had
driven all the vendors of queer vegetables
and the peripatetic cobblers and members
OF tinware indoors.
The car was pretty well filed with an
assorted lot OF very cross passengers. The
clustering man in the corner, about wi HON
was penetrating Odor of Christmas con-
VITALITY, was loud in his protests against
the situation. He had declared his inten-
ton of walking when first the car stopped,
but insisted upon having his fare back
from the conductor. This being refused,
he inveighed loudly against the robbing ex-
| toTtlonS OF the graSDIng monopoly that
| held the streets in its cormorant clutch.
"When's the car gOin' to start. maj" de-
| mandeG for the twentieth time frettlng
| fOur-year-Od, evidently on his way TO
some holiday festivity; 1.-THE party'Il be
| ali out fore / get there" Hush. be
quiet, Fred" the anxious mother replied;
| II don't know when the car will start, and
! don't you torment me any moreV
| Outside on the dummy the gripman and
! two or three men aimlessly fumbIed at the
| grip. The conductor stood scowling on
the back platform. Two or three men and
women within were trotting their feet on
the floor of the car, impatient at the delay
and rendered wholly wretched by the raw,
cold, penetrating dampness.
1T would chill the marrow of a brass
monkey" one young fellow observed in
! Sickly attempt to Righteousness. No one
smiled, however. If anything the rest Of
| the passengers experienced. over and bOve
| the hearty hatred they felt for each and
every occupant of the car, special and
| deadly quality Of rage toward the would
be joker. Then sileuce ensued for a mo-
| ment, unbroken even by the growls of the
wrathfnl passenger who had been denied
his fare-money back.
In one corner of the car, near the door,
| sat very old lady. Such plain, almost
shabby old body, with queer black bon
| net, of style Of years gone by, aud a
rusty black wrap. Her face was wriRkled
and scanned and worn with age and care,
and her slender old shoulders had begun
to bend beneath the accommodating burden
Of years and the sorrow of this world. Be-
hind her steel-bOwed glasses her faded
blue eyes shOne dlmly and the soft bands
OF hair that showed beneath tie recessed
roof of her ancient bonnet were sllYery
white.
But the faded old eyes were full of calm
peace, the wrlnkled old face bore not
line of impatiencs or annoyance and the
q 10 mill hof raA oh
sunken, withered old LIS was certainly
not suggested by anything connected with
the cherries dispiriting scene that sur
rounded her. She was accompanied by
lively. pretty gill Of, perhaps. Is, whose
smart gown and stylish coat showing be-
meath the storm coat that she had unbut-
toned and thrown back, presen ted sharp
contrast TO the old lady's antique attire.
The little girl had been fussing i'm
patiently for several moments, and finally.
after an irritated study OF her COM
panion's face she burst forth with:
II declare, grandma! [ don't see how
you can sit there and take things so
quietly. It's too provoking. 1t seems as
though all the tiresOme things in the world
saved themselves up TO happen between
Christmas aud New Year'sP'
There was no reply. and after an instant
the young girl spoke again:
Don't 1t seem so to you. grandmaW
The blue eyes that had been looking
afar through the mist came back to con-
scousness of the impatient child. The
wrinkled face bent itself tenderly toward
her, but the smile about the faded lips
was strangely wistful.
81 don't know, child" she said. 1.-THE
season is always pleasant to me-" And
then softly, as though she had forgotten
her nearer and was speaking to herself,
81 was married between Christmas and
New Years sixty years ago-to the only
man In the world.
There was a hush. during which the
young girl gave a quick, startled glance
about the car TO see whether any one had
overheard grandma'S foolish speech. No
one looked at her. The conductor was
| brisky wIpng off few troublesome rain
drops that had driven into his eyes. The
| clustering passenger in the opposite cor
ner was gazing intently down the street
! with a curious culver OF the chin that even
| his pugnaciOus black mustache could not
hide. The mother of the impatient little
boy suddenly lifted him into her arms and
Rugged him close TO her heart The face
tiOus Young mans face was illumined with
tender glow, and made no pretense that
the rain had gotten into his eyes. Outside
| the heavens still wept torrentiaIly, and not
sound came from the moti0nless cable,
but within the car hatred had been ban
lshed, and every passengers heart warmed
with sudden sense OF brotherhood with
every other one. The steamy, heavy air
seemed to lie hten, and not a soul there but
felt its burdens lifted and its sordid gloom
frightened aud purified in the holy radi-
ance that Sh0ne in the wrinkled face of
the passenger who had been married sixty
years ago to the only man in the world.
A French authority estimates the wealth
c. the United Kingdom at SI50 600 0fl0 00C