St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-10-29

n. morning. He really felt badly tt
n think how much alarmed and dis
:, tressed his wife would be when sh,
~ discovered his absence.
he When he stepped rom the train al
III Bristol rain was falling quite rapidly
Sc and one feeble light in front OF tn,
- station shone through the deep dark
' ness. Mr.. Whitaker inquired of tn,
81 man upon the platform the way tc
l. A hotel, and then he started to 60 tc
At it. In descending the wet and slip
perry steps of the platform he lost his
footing and fell. He was very much
i hurt and found that he could not rise
e he called for help and when the rail
d road mantle only man who was
lie any where about-came to him, he
-, discovered that further assistance
= would be required, Tor Mr.. Whita.
{ ker's leg was broken. The man soon
J. brought three other men, and placing
the hurt man upon board they car
ried him TO a hotel and sent for a
doctor. If Mr.. Whitaker, sitting in
the car, had thought himself very
foolish man, what did Mr.. Whitaker,
, lying far away from home in a
wretched hotel, with his leg broken,
think Of himself? Mr.. Whitaker
! thought that If there was a colossal
idiot on this earth he was that per-
, sonage.
Early in the morning he sent tel
egram to his wife, urging her to come
to him at once, and right speedily
came reply from her, saying that
she would take the train which ordi.
narily reached Bristol at nine o'clock
From the window of his bedroom in
the hotel the invalid could see the
station and the railroad, and as he
watched them, while he longed for
the train to come, he tried 20 arrange
in his mind, for his wife, an explana-
ton of his conduct which would pre-
sent 1t IN the best possible light.
Mr.. Whitaker resolved, after think
ing the matter over, that the best
thing to do would be frankly to con.
TESS his fault and to throw himself
upon his wife's mercy. He heard the
whistle which announced the ap-
proach OF the nine O'Clock train. The
train came in view and drew up at
the station. Mr.. Whitaker looked
eagerly at the persons who got out
OF the cars, but Ellen was not among
them. She had not come. He fell
back upon the bed with a sigh and
began again to grow angry with her,
But the poor woman was on that
train. Alarmed by the discovery
when she rose in the morning that
Mr.. Whitaker was not in the house,
her alarm was increased when she
received the telegram sent by him.
what could be the explanation OF the
mystery of his disappearance? She
Was so agitated that she could hardly
prepare tor the journey. But she
reached the depot and got into the
car, and began to move toward Bris.
tol. Somewhat weary from too
great nervous excitement, she placed
her muff against the frame of the car
window and rested her head upon it,
while her veil covered her closed ewes.
Unhappily she had arranged herself
with her deaf ear up, and so she did
not hear the conductor when he
shouted BRISTOL" and she was so
deeply absorbed in thinking of Mr..
Whitaker that she did not notice that
the train had stopped.
When he found that his wife had
not come, Mr.. Whitaker made up his
mind to go home at all hazards. A
steamboat stopped at the wharf at
halt-past nine, on its way to the CITY:
and borne upon litter he had him
self carried on board. In an hour he
was at the city wharf, whence
wagon carried him to his house. He
was shocked and disappointed to
ascertain from the servant that Mrs.
Whitaker had gone to see him in the
train in which she said she would 90.
he could not comprehend why she
had missed him; and all day long he
lay IN bed worrying about her and
wondering why she did not come.
Mrs. Whitaker got back to Bristol
about noon, and ascertained by in
curry that her husband had returned,
with broken leg. to the city. There
was no train that she could take
until four O'Clock, and she spent the
interval in inquiring about the acct
dent to Mr.. Whitaker and in irving
vainly to ascertain the reason of his
conduct. About half
past five O'Clock he heard her voice
in the lower entry, He listened
eagerly to her quick footsteps upon
the stairs Then she flung the door
open. Mrs. Whitaker did not speak
as she entered the room. She uttered
little cry, flew to the bedside, and
put her arms about her husbands
neck and kissed him.
Mr.. Whitaker ielt that il he should
have exact justice dealt to him he
would be sent to the scaffold.
When she had nearly smothered CT
HIM with kisses she sat down beside A
him, and taking hold of his hand said
And now, dearest, tell me what
caused all this strange trouble ?"
why, you know. Ellen" said Mr.. hh'
Whitaker, "it was your deaf ear" s.
"How do you mean?" nj
you slept with it up" y
And then Mr.. Whitaker related the >.
whole story, and as he did so his wife |