National Baptist world., 1894-10-05
A RAILWAY EXPERIENCES.
The Tale of an Unfortunate German Spoil,
q Fellow-Traveler's Trip

a Fellow-Traveler's Trip.
The train had just rolled out of Chi
cago, and the passengers in the parlo
cars were getting acquainted with eacl
other. East of Buffalo parlor car trav
elers are stiff and formal and rarel,
make acquaintances, but west of tha
point formality is practically unknown
On this train this lack of stiffness wa.
unusually pronounced, so the men al
sought the smoker and talked about
the strike, and the women, left tt
themselves. exchanged papers and mag
azlnes and petted the babies Withir
an hour the strangers had been trans
formed into very jolly family party
and the men were dragging their new
made acquaintances before their wives
and sisters and introducing them with
as much heartiness as though they haC
been bosom companions from childhood
Among the passengers in the first
parlor car was German-American
He was man past middle age, With
blue eyes. rather forid complexion,
and a long, carefully-trimmed brown
beard. he was accompanied bv his
wife and two children, little girl and
boy, the latter just emerging from
babyhood. In the next seat to the
German sat brOwn-b bearded man. and
IN the general mcllowing of hearts
these two became quite confidential.
"Yes, l am a Chicagoan," said the
brown bearded man, ''and a manufac.
turer OF fancy goods. l am going tc
New York on little business trip.
You, l should judge from the presence
OF your family, are bent on pleasure
The German sighed deeply.
Il regret to say you are Mistaken >
said he. "This trip is the saddest l
ever took in my life. 1 belong to Mil
waukee. I went to Milwaukee twentv
years ago, when it was little town,
and l have grown up with it. All nv
friends live there. l made a little com.
potency there, and l dislike very much
to leave it. But must go away. Nv
doctor has told me that 1 must gc
abroad, and as it is uncertain when I
will be able to return l am taking nv
family with me-
THAT is too bad," said the Chica
goan, ''but you really don't look i'll at
all; in fact, l should pick you out as
man of remarkably good health"
"Yes, yes, get no sympathy" said
the German. My appearance bellies the
facts. don't feel ill now, but l might
be dead next minute Ihave heart dis
ease, and my physician tells me that
may die at any moment. There is o
fatty degeneration of the heart, OF
something of that sort, do not know
just what he calls it. Anyhow, he
told me | must go to Baden, and that
IS my only hope. l am constantly in
fear that l will not live to get there
Anyhow, [ feel sure l never will re-
turn"
The Chicagoan moved a little un.
easily in his chair, and as soon as op-
portunity offere to break off the con.
versatiOn he retired to the smoker
where he breathed sign of relief and
attempted to divert his thoughts from
the unfortunate German by smoking a
cigar. He kept away from the Ger.
man during the evening, and had al
most forgotten about him when
bedtime arrived. After he had got
into his berth, however, the recollec-
ton of the Germans presentiment oc.
CURED to him and interfered with his
going to sleep. He tossed about for
some time rather nervously, but had
begun to doze gently when he was sud.
denly aroused by the voice of a child.
He sat uHin his berth and heard the
child's voice saying in a low, frightened
whisper:
Papa. papa!''
1t Immediately occurred to him that
the German had retired with his little
boy in the same berth. He listened in
tently and again heard the child call
his father. There was no response and
40 other sound in the car save the roar
Of the wheels and the occasional creal1.
ing of windows as the train turned
around curves. The idea immediately
struck the Chicagoan that possibly the
Germans presentiment had come true.
Perhaps he had died in his sleep.
The boy continued to call to his ia
ther, the voice becoming louder and |
more frightened as the calls failed tc
elicit any response. The ChicagoaD /
was very much alarmed. Possibly the |
cigar had been too heavy, or his dinner |
did not sit we'll. He felt nervous, and |
unpleasant fancies would not leave him
He was almost certain that the German
was dead. The thought of the little
boy in the berth alone with the corpse
of his father made him shiver. He |
didn't know what to do. He didn't |
want to arouse the other inmates of the
car, and at the same time he felt that
it was only humane to make an in
vestigation. He rang the electric bell
in the porter's room, but that worthy
was probably asleep, for there was no
response. After repeated efforts to get
him the Chicagoan thrust his head out
between the curtains and tried to look
into the berth occupied by the German
All he could see was a tiny hand
thrust out between the curtains of the
berth. The child was no longer call
ing, but was sobbing in low, fright.
ened voice. The Chicagoan got up
and, tiptoeing over to the berth, pulled
the curtains aside. The German Law
on his back. breathing gently, with
his mouth slightly open. The Chica
goan returned to his berth and went
to sleep. He said nothing to the Ger
man the next day, but he told his
friends afterward that the suspense
and fears of that night had spoiled his
IIO L L A.