The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-07-27
A TUNNEL KISS.

train which was hurrying toward the
Rhine. We had struck up an acquaint-
anccship, rs tourists SO often do AS q
| rulo don't caro- to havo anything to do
with my fellow passengers, but Fraulcin
Martha had quite captiyatcd me. AS shc
entered the compartment for nonsinokcrs
had taken her travelling bug from her
hand and put it carefully on the rack for
her. Then had resigned my corner seat
to her and put up the window, so us to
protect her from tho draft, which She found
too strong. AS the train started we OK
changed u word in praise of the weather.
which had become much cooler after 4
heavy rain and was worry pleasant for
travelling, and we gradually got into n
very interesting conversation.
Fr1ulein Martha chuttod very nicely ana
made no prctcnsion to supcrflnc education.
She could not he called young but when
she laughed she became II child. Her laugh
was clear and silvcry, and her face lost its
rather serious expression. This induced
me to mako all kinds OF jokes, which evil
IDENTIFY amused her immensely Whom u
girl laughs as Fraulcin Martha did, the
man who provokcs tho laughter becomes
humorst i'll spite OF himself She was
Il capital listener, too, and it is a rare
thing To find II good listener among the
Other scX." As she listened hc, face re-
spondcd to AL l said. Besides being so
charming mentally she had II very pretty,
elegant figure, which the eye Of IL connois.
sour (my cyc) never wcnricd of watching
and discovering new traits of beauty. She
was dressed i'll Il very simple travelling
gown, which displayed to perfection all
the pretty lines of her form.
She was not alone. in tho next seats
OF the compartment s;it II married couple,
and opposite thCm was their daughter IA
pretty, shy girl, who had just emerged
from the bread and butter miss state.
These people were relatives of Frnulcin
Martha, who, when ask d her 10 tell me
something about them, said that the man
was called fenchcl and was possessed of
the mistaken idea that he was tho wiscst
inan III Christondom He thought that he
could hear the grass grow if ne tried to-
though, ns II matter OF fact, he never did try
to-and also that he possessed the gift of
prophecy. To him coming events always
considerably cast their shadows before. If
he did not happen to have forctold an
event before it happened, ii was simply
because 1t had Slipped his mcmory-an-
other time he wouldn't forget. Frau
Fcnchcl admired her husbands cxtraor-
binary qualities and therefore did not dare
To contradict him when he asserted that
daughter was no son-in-law for him. for
II was easy To SEQ that, once married, the
young rascal would turn out IL thorough
Don Juan and would cause unhcard of
misery in the household. The young man
iii question, who was called Tnubc- Bern
hard Taubc, did not look likely To fulfill
such u prophecy. He was rs SHY as Frau
lcin Roschcn Fcnchcl, With whom he was
deeply i'll love Both these facts were quite
evident. The most daring decd he had
ever pcrpctrltcd was when, Herr Fcnchel
having informed him that he intended to
accompany his vito and daughter to tho
Rhine on the following "Wednesday, he
Taubc-had said that, strange to say, he
too, was going to tho Rhine on the same
day and with Herr Fcnchel's permission
would join them
This was not very agreeable to old Fen
chcl. In the first place rs Il prophet, no
ought to have forcsccn the young mans
intended journey, and secondly, he was
afraid that Taubc'S society would DO moro
acceptable to Roschcn than he approved of
In the Inter assumption he was quite
right. Roschcn was as happy as Herr
Tnubc, although the young people had
only ventured to hint as much to Frau
Fcnchcl, who, aware of her husbands
aversion to Taube because of his conceal
cd Don Juan proclivitics, had limited in re-
turn that Roschcn was too young to think
of love, and Herr Taubo was not old
enough.
Fraulcin Martha told me this in a man
nor which showed that she was heartily
sorry for the young folks. 1t was evident
that she was on the side of the lovers and
was very angry with Fcnchcl for tyrannic-
ally trying to hold them apart. Although
sho was not full of that eager desire for
matchmaking which is SO strongly devcl-
oped in many ladies who have left youth
full follics and youthful wisdom behind
them, still she loved Roschen dearly and
wanted her to be happy. There arc some
girls, +" she snd, 90 whom single life
would mean misery and ruin, and our
Roschcn is one Of them. If she is not al
lowed to marry, her life will DO spoiled
BY this time our train had approached
series of tunnels. We were occasional
ly plunged into secp darkness, in which
nothing was heard beyond the rumbling
of tho carriages and tho occasional inyol.
untary "Ah!' of passenger who was
reading the newspaper or studying his
guidcbook, and who was suddenly disturb
cd in his occupation. Fraulen Martha
wanted to find something in her handbag
and in n tunnel took off her silk glove. the
better to accomplish her object. When we
again emerged into daylight, noticed
that her unglovcd hand was of SURPRISING
Wilderness Its beauty it is beyond mo to
describe, for black letters nrc not adaptcd
to the description of such whitcn.ss. And
what an elegantly shaped hand it wasl
laid bet with myself that it would quite
disappear in my own hand If Fraulcin
Martha would he so accommodating MS to
let mo try the experiment. But sho was
fn hn CO. l..