The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1896-02-07
A SATISFACTORY FOG.
BY W. L. ALDEN.

at last I've seen one. l saw all the fog /
ever want to see last night"
"It was thick" 1 observed, "and it
seems to have left you feeling rather
tired"
81 am tired" said the colonel. cit
wasn't the fog that tired me so much as
the after effects. Do you know that I
spent this morning at the police sta
ton, and paid a fine, all on account of
that beastly fog? I'll tell you about it
if you've nothing better to do than to
listen.
LAST night 1 went to the Lyceum
theater, and when came out / found
that the fog was so thick that couldn't
even, see a lamp post until had walked
into it. / enjoyed it at first, for it was
a new experience, and started to walk
home, thinking that l could find my
way without difficulty. A man who has
found his way down from the tenth
story of Chicago otel,when the build
ing was burning, and the corridors
were black with smoke, ought,
thought, to be able to get the better Of
any British monarchical fog that was
ever yet made. But found before long
that 1 had made a mistake. l lost my
way, and, after wandering for an hour
or so, was mighty glad to walk into
a cabman, who was leading his horse,
and, as 1 supposed, knew the London
streets as well in fog as in clear
weather. So | just climbed into the
cab and told the man where to take me;
and then l pulled up the windows to
keep the choke-damp out, and started
a cigar, and felt pretty comfortable.
The cabman di1n't dare to get on the
box and drive, though there didn't
seem to be any traffic in the street.
However, didn't concern myself with
the cabman, for there is no use of hir-
ing cab and then doing your own driv-
ing.
eve had been slowly cruising around
London-occasionall running into an
ash box or wandering on to the side
walk-for about an hour las I should
judge when the cab stopped and the
cabman opened the door. was going
to get out, thinking that we had
reached my hotel, but the man stopped
me and said: Better stop where you
are, sir!'
"'And where's that?' said l.
"'Blest if 1 know, said the cabman.
ITO tell the bloomin' truth, sir, don't
know where we are any more than the
dead. 1t may be Whitechapel Though
it don't smell like it) and it may be
Camden Town Though the road is a
little too rough for thaD. Anyway
we're nowhere's rear Piccadilly way.
which is where you want to go, and
that's the only thing I'm sure about
81 don't see. sad |, that this con-
Germs me. hired you to take me to
my hotel. I'm IN 20 sort Of a hurry;
but all the Same ii we're You I'd earn
that fare instead OF ren1alh.ng on the
geography OF London
There AM 10 sort of use in wan
,lerin@ round IN mis- way said the man.
You mast sec tlat yourself, sir! Wen
mover got nov ..e:c unless perhaps
we v:.I.,s into ti.e river or some bloom
IN { -. | put il to you, sir! if that's
the sort 81 t'.;ng you'd like
u h gan TO see that there was more or
less force in what the cabman said, so
asked him what he proposed to do about
it
II think. sir he said, that I'd bet
ter leave you and the cab here for BIT
2:.d try and find a public house-if there
is one opener police station, so as we
can know in a general way where we are.
You can sit quite comfortable in the
cab till come back
"'All right says l. Only you'd bet
ter find a lamp post and make the horse
fast to it, or else anchor him with
weight or something of that sort. I
don't want him to start for Picadilly
OF. his own responsibility
"Well, the cahman led the horse
along little further till he came to
lamp post. which he hit middling fair
with his nose or his forehead Judging
from the remarks he made), and then
he tied the horse and went off, saying
that he wouldn't be gone very long.
81 don't know whether he found
public house open and got drunk, or
whether he found a police station and
got locked up, or whether he was run
over and killed, or just suffocated by the
air. All do know is that have never
laid eyes on that cabman since he left
ME.
"Well, 1 sat in that cab until morning
There was no kind of use in DESERVING 1t
and trying to find my way on foot-I
had had quite enough of that.
''It was just beginning to get little
light, when man lurched up against
the door, and after a little general
swearing got it open and climbed in.
He told me to drive to somewhere that
sounded Ike Victoria street, but might
have been almost anything else, and i'm,
mediately fell fast asleep on the seat be-
side me. Istruck match and managed
to make out that he wore a good hat,
from which it was clear that he wasn't
a vagabond, and so 1 decided to let him
have his nap out. He leaned up in the
corner and snored like a high-pressure
steamboat.
"About eight o'clock the fog thinned
SO much that decided to make start
for Picadilly. My intoxicated friend
was still fast asleep, and now that l
could see him saw that he was mid
dle-aged old party who looked as if he
might be a bank president or something
OF that kind, with too much fondness
for port wine. did not think it worth
while to turn him out, so just cast the
horse loose, climbed the box and drove
off at a slow walk, keeping close to the