Evening star., 1898-06-04
THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN

"On recent journey that made from
Chicago to st. Louis" said a middle aged
commercial traveller, lone OF the passen-
| gers In the observation car was the usual
mysterious woman. I will not go so far as
| to say thlt, during the long number Of
years I have bten On the road I never
made Journey that did not have a mys-
terious woman, II ore interesting than any
book. to study. But 1 have certainly puz-
zled what l please to call my brain over
the mysterious woman railroad passenger
on great many occasions and in a grea.
many parts of this country, without. ex-
cept in very few instances, being able to
arrive at any satisfactory determination as
to the why, whence, wherefore or whittier
OF her. She presents clue to her past,
present or future in her person, and a-rail
she is inscrutability apotheosized She is
invariably very beautifui-thirty, or a shade
over thirty-and she is always a weil-ccn-
dttiOned woman in her outer aspect-per-
fectly clad for travelling. apparently expe-
rienced in travelling. 'groomed up to the
eyes, as the horsemen say. and the incar-
nation of complete self-possession under
any and all circumstances. She always has
shadow OF sadness in her eyes, and she
d.nuses magnetism as the sun sheds light.
The woman that I started to speak of,
my car mate from Chicago to st. Louis.
quite ans " cred. in every detail of dress
and manner, to this conception of the mys-
ferrous woman a-rail She bronze
haired, and her trouble-haunted eyes flash
ed so many shades of brown-blackness that
one. couldn't begin to determine their ex-
act color. 1 sat directly behind her, and
therefore 1 could not help but observe that
during the greater portion of the journey
she read from a small edition de luxe of
tttZgerald's translation of the Persian
poems of Omar Khayyam l had plenty of
tune TO build up story about the mys-
terious woman. Her husbands a black
guard. of course was the main feature of
my fanciful structure and she has tried to
i've with him in peace dozen times over.
He abused her like a cut-throat, as usual,
yesterday afternoon. and. when he went
down town. she hurriedly and surrepti-
ticusly packed Ter things, and now she's
putting as many miles as possible between
herself and the loafer.' l felt very sorry
10: her by the time 1 had this fabric sll
WeaVed about her, and 1 did some tall
Thinking. BESIDES about the desira biiity Of
the whipping post for brutal husbands AS
the tram began to approach ST. Louis |
wondered # she would be met at the sta
tlon by anybody. 1 didn't think so, for in
nine cases out of ten nobody ever meets
the mysterious woman and once she js
los: In the crowd upon alighting from the
traln, you never see her again in this life
When the train was pulling into the
lnion station in St Louis 1 was SO busy
getting my traps together with nv heal
Dent over he buckles of my grips THAI
Tor moment 1 lost thought of the mys-
ferrous woman. The train had scarcely
come 10 a full step before l heard the rioh
| contralto voice of the mysterious woman
raised in tones of salutation and affection.
why, Moy, you dear old thingv she
was saying. And, Hoppy, Hoppy, how well
you do look!
i glanced up and all of the rest of the
passengers We're So busy taking In the
queer scene that they did not make A
move TO leave the car. The mysterious
woman. all life and animation. was gazing
iondly INTO the slant eyes of as swell a
locker OF young Chinaman a | ever saw
rugged out to the limit in American clothes
ana with enough good diamonds on MIN to
stock jewelry store. He was smiling ami
nappy all over. In his arms he carried a
s0rgeousiy gotten up bit of a four-year-oltI
Snihk, with slant eyes and bland MongoI-
ian features, and a fine suit of way bronzs
hair. o'iAe
am willing to admit that this expert
cree mas served. to large extent, to knock
me mn out of the habit of weaving hard luck
Iabrlcs around the dainty figures of mys-
terlous women a-rail."