Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-09-10
A Railway Adventure.
BY DIR. MAX NORDAU.

On tnlS nlRuJ tue NluuoWs Ol thV
crowded cafe had been throSn
open, and the fresh, cuOl air of the
spring night struggled for mastery
With the close tobacco laden at
moSphere which filed the large
hall.
A glance out into the night
shOwed The deep.blue heaven oyer
heal and brilliant fall moon
whose cold, clear rays sparkled on
the fre,h foliage of tue budding
trees as they sway ed gently to and
fTo in the light breeze. The mem.
bers Of be society to which at
this time belonged had been accus-
toned for some lime past to Ie-
serve a certain table III the cafe for
themselves, where they met every
evening to chat over and discuss
tue events of The passing hour.
They were, for the most part, re-
spectacle citizens, who had far
more appreciation for bright gas.
light aud a good dinner than for
the charms Of glorious spring
uight, and nothing was further
removed from tneir thoughts on
this particular occasion than
romantic contemplation of the
beauties of nature. Ol the night
am speaking OF, our conversation
was of a prosaic enough character,
as was only natural iu a small town,
aud exhausted itself in discussions
about local matters, the theatre,
taxes, and slmllar-to an outsider
Extremely uninterestiug topics.
Through some chance remark,
however, which l can no longer
recall, the question had sprung up
it it were really credible that q
mans hair could suddenly become
grey III consequence of violent
SD ock to the mind. Some of those
present were only halt inclined to
disbelieve this somewhat startling
theory, whist others could not be
sufficiently scathlng in the remarks
they made concerning people who
were simple enough to place any
credeDce in such nursery tales.
AS the discussion grew warmer
and warmer, until every mem Der
of our party was engaged either in
championlng or combating the
question IN point, a man, seated
near US, rose slowly. pushing his
chair from him, and approached
our table. He was fine, tall fel.
low, of herculean build, and his ln-
telligent features, which bore an
expression OF great determination,
were rendered very striking by a
pair of keen blue eyes; but what
made his appearance still more re-
markabie was the fact that both
bis bair and beard were as white
as SLOW, although they surround
ed a countenance which would no!
permit one to reckon his age At
more than about thirty five.
Excuse me, gentlemen, If l aD
lnterrupting your conyersation,' le
remarked, OOwiDg politely to us.
You were just discussing q
subject that bas more than an
ordinary interest tor me. ! happen
myself to be a living proof that,
under certain circumstances, a
terrible shock to the mind can
produce that self.same physical
effect of which you we're just speak
ing, and which the majority of you
seem to dlscredIt.'
These words naturally excited
the curiosity of all present to the
highest degree. We quickly made
room tor our new acquaintance al
The table, and, when he had seated
himself comfortably, urged him tC
relate to Us the clrcOstances whict
had produced such a strange aud
sudden change 10 his appearance
The stranger feigued no great
sbyness, and acquiesced in thu
most pleasant manner possible bI
relating to us the following;
If any of you gentlemen have
ever interested yourselves NOR
closely IN American affairs, th'
name of Auburn cannot we'll b'
strange to you; 1t denotes muc'
che same for the United States Q