The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-08-22

By way of prologue, le1 nv so ,4or.
have, never been quite aoe w. cav
stang why my colleagues N 'nIs a. l's
western diocese call me 'he p"ule'
coupling the innuendo with an mum"
zion shat l should have been priest Oh
fine older faith rather than a poor Ger
pvmas, Of our own. In my own looking
e,Iasss-and which Of us is ever Youch-
safedsa peep into that of another hho
nothing to justify the inference inc
ouickSiIver images the figure Of md
dle-agad person, whose scdentaTy haoi'
has sirklied a face never ruddy; whose
vigils with the students lamp have be-
gun to accentuate the stoop IN a rather
ungairay pair of shoulders; whose
tire is mot, and has never been, ! truAN
more than decendy ecclesiastical in cdV
and ensemble.
None: the less, sincerity compels the
ADMISSION that in travelling | am not m
Frequently taken for Romish priest, and
that even here in my own little parish.
of Carf0noro the coal miners call me tr
PenburtOn. 1t was this absurd mlscon-
ception Enlightened, possibly. by the fact
that l svas reading small-blackbound
book which may have been mistaken for
a breviasy, that led to my ENHANCEMENT
i'm q romantic affair ON the railway-an
ENHANCEMENT which has since cost me
many d!squieting moments. Not that
l hold myself in any way accountable
or blameworthy, be it understood; but
merely because it has given my clerical
associates fresh occasion for other
of their El-chosen and meaningless gibes.
The beginning of it was in this wise |
had been on visit to the bishop, and
had boarded the train to return to my
parish. Having taken a seat in the Pull
man, | was reading the small, black
bound book-which, l beg to protest,
was not a breviary-when two young
persons entered the car and established
themselves in the section next TO my
own. Att their incoming | fancied they
were the zinevitable newly married cou-
pie whose presence seems nowadays to
be necessary complement to the pas
senger list of any public conveyance.
The young man was clerk of some
sort, one would say; and his face was
vaguely familiar 1t was clean-cut
smooth-shayen and of the alert type
which marks the younger men of bust
ness in this progress-ridden region. The
young woman was petite and distinc-
lively handsome. Her face was a most
agreeable study in youthful beauty, and
her flashing brown eyes, alight with re-
pressed excitement had a look in them
which carried me swiftly back to my
but pardon. me; this is not the story of
my own youthful follies.
I.perceivGd at once that the two were
laboring uDder some stress of emotion
which | took to be very natural embar-
rassment; and as they sat facing me |
thought to relieve them in some measure
by taking The opposite seat with my
back toward them. | desire to empha-
size this point because one of my col
leagues is cncharita BILE enough to in
sinuate that Che change was made in or
der that thei$ conversation might be the
better overheard charge which | wish
to repel with proper scorn. That their
talk was overheard is a matter of no mo-
ment. Every right-minded person will
agree with me that motives and not in
cidents are the cosmic principles under
lying any code of ethics.
Great Johoash! You say he did come
home to dinner. after all?'
The speaker was the young man, and
there was very emphatic note of I'M
easiness in his voice.
Eyes, he did," answered the young
woman. And that isn't all; I'm almost
sure he suspected something"
"You are? Why? What makes you
think SOP
1.-THE way he acted. He was as short
as piecrust all through dinner; and when
| left the table he asked if you had call
ed: said he had seen you in the carriage
driving down Alameda ST.
The young man groaned quite audibly.
"Of course he did! That idiotic driver
turned out for a: furniture van Just as
we were meeting. him and drove up TO
the very curb. | made myself as small
as l could, but he couldn't help seeing
me. What did you tell him?''
i said, Why popa-Mr. Roderick!
After you've forbidden him the house?'
The young man chuckled as if the sim
full equivocation were applausiye rather
than thing to be sorrowfully deprecat-
ed
Good! What did he say to that?"
he was angry-as he always is when
your name is mentioned; he said you
were INSCRIPTIONS enough to do any
thing. Then he asked me if could be
ready to start for Aunt Josephine's to-
morrow"
'And you told him you could?'
II did, just that; but didn't tell him
I would. O, why doesn't the train
start?
I heard the click of the young mans
watch case.
Chiefly because it isn't time. We
have five minutes yet"
"O!'-the exclamation was almost a
sob. IF he catches the / o'clock car
down town he can overtake us here.
can't hep
The watch case clicked again.
HE might, but it's unlikely. The car
is due at the corner just at our leaving
time, and he would have a block to
walk-or run. But 1 was thinking of
something else. If he has his wits with
him we shan't besafe TIL we pass the
yard limits
1.-THE yard limits? /: don't under
stand"
'We have to stop to register at the
limits. If he just misses Us here he can
take q carriage, run the legs off the
horses and intercept us Eat the yard
station. 1t can be done. 1--WE done it
myself more than once With a belated
passenger"
40, horrors! Alan, if yo. let me be
taken back now I'll never speak to you
again as long as | live"
You needn't threaten me. 1T won't be
my fault if we're captured. I'm not any
more anxious to meet your gather just
II