The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-09-20
THE COST OF A TRAIN

walking OH the Moscow promenade,
leaning upon her husbands arm ana
letting tho long train Of her rich dress
sweep the dirt OF the street
4 young officer, coming hastily from
Il side street, was So careless as to catcl,
one of his spurs i'll the lady's train, and
in an instant Il great piece was torn out
Of tho costly bat fral material of the
dress
beg u thousand pardons, madame
said the officer, with q polite bow, and
then was about passing on when he was
detained by the lady's husband.
You have insulted my wife. "
Nothing was farther fron, my intcn-
ton, sir. Your wife's long dress is TO
blanc for the accident, which sincere
" regret and 1 beg YOU once more to
receive my apologies for any careless
ness on my part" Thcreupon he at
tempted to hasten on.
You shall not escape So. said the
lady To-day is the first time have
worn this dress, and it cost 200 rubles.
which you must make good. -
My dear madame, beg You not to
detain me. I am obliged to go on duty
at once. AS TO the 200 rubles. I really
cannot help tho length of Your dress,
yet L beg your pardon for not having
been moro cautious >
You shall not stir, sir. That you
are obliged to go on duty is nothing to
us. My vito is right The dress must
be made good.
The officers face grew pale
You force mo to break through tho
rules of tho service, and | shall receive
punishment. "
Pay the 200 rubles, and you arc free"
The quickly changing color III the
young man S face betrayed how inward
ly disturbed he was, but stepping close
up to them both ho said, with apparent
self command:
You will renounce your claim when
tell you that | am u poor man, who
has nothing to live ON but his officer
pay. and the amount of that pay hardly
reaches tho sum of 200 rubles in n
whole year. l can therefore make no
amends for the misfortune except by
again begging your pardon.
"Oh, anybody could say all that, but
We'll see if it's true Well find ont if
you have nothing but your pay. de-
clare myself not satisfied with your ex-
cuses, and l demand my money!" per-
sisted the lady i'll the hard voice of :.
thoroughly unfeoling woman.
"That is true-you are right" the
husband added, dutifully supporting
her 'By good luck we have tho open
court now i'll session Gowith us before
the judge, and he will decide the mat
ter
All protestatiOns on the officer part
that he was poor, was expected on duty,
and SO forth, did not help matters To
avoid an open scene he went with them
to the courtroom, where tho gallery was
denscly packed with crowd OF people.
After waiting some time the lady had
leave to bring her complaint
What have yon TO answer to this?"
said tho judge, turning to the officer.
who seemed embarrassed and half in de-
spair.
On the whole very little As the
lateness of the hour and being required
on duty compelled INC to hurry | did
not notice this lady's train, which was
dragging on the ground. l caught one of
my spurs i'll it and had the misfortune
to tear her dress. Madame would not re-
celve my excuses, but perhaps now she
might find herself more disposed to for
Slvencss when l again declare that /
committed this awkward blunder with
out any mischicvous intention, and
earnestly beg that she will pardon me. -
A murmur ran through the gallery,
evidently from the people taking sides
with the defendant, and against long
trains in general and this lady in par
ticular
The judge called 10 order and asked,
Are you satisfied with the defendant
explanations?
Not at all satisfied. 1 demand 200
rubles for my torn dress -
Defendant. will you pay this sum?''
II would have paid it long before
this had | been in position to do So
Unfortunately am poor. My pay as an
officer is all that l have to live on. -
You hear, complainant, that the de-
PENDANT is not able to pay the sum you
demand of him. Do you still wish the
complaint to st;md?'
Il wish it to stand. The law shall
give me my rights.
There ran through tho rows Of people
mnrmur Of Indignation that sounded
like rushing of water
"Consder, complainant, the consc-
quenco Of your demand. The defendant
can be punished only through being de-
prived of his personal liberty, and by
that you con obtain no satisfaction,