Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-02-14
A THREE BOTTLE COMEDY.
By ". E. NORRIS.

early cue nfteruOOn IN m1uWlnteF
very pretty and accurately attired little
lady. followed by poster who carried
her fur lined rug. her travelling bag and
other parapbernalia. excited the respect
fui admiration of the guard in charge
Of the express train which was about TO
leave st. Pancras He touched his cap
a. she advanced along the platform and
mid:
"Beg pardon. ma'am. Mrs Alston:'
Upon receiving an intimstion from
the little lady that that was her name,
he proceeded to unlock the door Of one
OF the compartments. remarking: IRE.
served, by Mr.. LonRwsrth's request,
for you and the rest Of the party, IL you
please. ma'am. Shall get you q foot
warmer"
| "Yes. of course" Mrs Aston re-
piled. rather impatiently. "and will
you be 30 good as to look out for my
maid: She will be here presently. She
is bringing me something that forgot.
Mind you tell her where am as soon
ms she comes.
Mrs. Aston was not much given to
| frowning--which indeed In n dangerous
habit for those who are no longer quite
in their first youth ocontract-but her
usually smooth forehead was now puck
cred up into anxious lines, and il was
evident that she had forgotten some
thing Of importance. After she had
| taken her seat and had tucked herself
MP in her rug she cranei her neck out
| Of the window. alternately scrutinizing
| the clock and the throng OF hurrying
passengers, among whom the missing
maid was nowhere 10 be seen, but she
had TO stop frowning and assume an air
Of pleased surprise when an acquaint-
ance Of hers stepped briskly up to the
carriage door and took of his hat to
her.
"you Of all people!" she exclaimed.
"Are you. by any lucky chance, going
down to Newton Longworth! IL you
are, we shall be fellow travellers
"Of course am" Sir Thomas Clint
terbuck replied. Didn't you know!
Mrs. Lougworth said in her letter that
she had told you, and, to confess the
truth, shouldn't have cared about
sending u couple Of horses all that dis
| tance unless she had had some rather
stronger iuducement to offer me than
the prospect of country ball and three
| or four days hunting"
This spruce gentleman. whose hair
and mustache were quite gray. seemed
indeed TO have reached time Of life at
| which balls usually cease to be fas-
| cinating. while the risks attendant upon
dispatchipg horses by rail in chilly
weather have been learned by expert
ence. Nevertheless Sir Thomas Clutter
buck had retained health and vigor
besides few other Of the attributes OF
youth. Being a childless widower and
very well of he was naturally an in.
| teresting parsonage to childless widow,
who was by no means ~ rich as she
would have liked to be, and Mrs. Al
ston had good reasons for believing that
she herself Was an object Of some inter.
est to the hard riding baronot. She, ON
her side, had latterly developed an ex.
| sreme ardor for the chase. Still, since
she was an Indifferent horsewoman and
had lost her nerve. II may safely be
| assumed that she would not now have
been journeying down to Leicestershire
had she been rs ignorant as she affected
to be Of the composition Of the house
party which had been invited TO meet
her.
Nothing, however. can be more GER.
tain than that she had been left unin.
formed with regard to two OF its mem
bers, for her countenance clouded over
when she caught sight Of them up.
preaching across the platform, and 1t
was in accents Of undisguised annoy
ance that she CALCULATED:
"Oh, bother! Here comes Lord Ar
thur Fulton with that horrid Naylor
woman. and the guard Is bringing them
to our carriage. How like Adela Long
worth to have asked them to travel
down with Us! How do you do, dear
Mrs. Naylor? Are we bound for the
same destination! Yes? So gladr
The tall, dark. beetle browed and
rather handsome woman whom che ad-
dressed responded grufiiy:
"Ohl Is that you? How are you?
Lord Arthur, wish You wouldn't mind
going back and catching hold of my
maid for me. Tell her want that bot
tie Of physic that she was TO call for.
She'll understand.
Lord Arthur Fulton, stalwart young
man, with commission in the Fourth
Life guards. and foolish, good humor-
ed face, was only too willing to execute
any orders which would remove him
from the immediate neighborhood OF
Mrs. Alstcn, whose recognition Of his
salute had been curt. microscopic nod.
The fact was that only q few months
previously he had been Mrs Atoms
devoted slave, but had been uncere-
moniously dismissed by her on the ad-
vent Of q more eligible. albeit more
elderly. suitor. Whereupon he had taken
up in his wrath with Mrs. Naylor, who
at any rate did not labor under the dis
advantage Of being widow. There was
q Mr. Naylor somewhere or other. but
he was a person Of retiring habits,
whereas his loud voiced. sporting spouse
was very decidedly the reverse; hence
the virtuous Mrs Aston disapproved
Of Lord Arthur, and there had been GER
tain passages Of arms between them,
and il was rather nuisance to be con-
demned to spend couple Of hours in a
railway carriage with her.
But il this young man had the corner
of his peIfidious eye upon smoking
compartment the half formed design
had to be abandoned. for, being rather
slow in his movements, he was fore
stalled by the alert little baronet before
he could depart on his mission.
"I'll collar your maid for you, Mrs,
Naylor," Sir Thomas said obligingly.
81 must be of after my man, who also
was to meet me here with a bottle Of
physic which 10 simply Indispensable. :"
And of be went at a run, failing to
catch in his haste o faint entreasy froia
Mrs. Alston.
GOOD heavensl" exclaimed that for
lorn lady inwardly. "Are we all a bot
tie to the bad? II only the other two
stand as much in need of theirs as ! do
Of mine, we are indeed q happy trioT
She stood in terrible need OF hers,
poor woman! Nor can words convey
any idea Of her relief when at the last
moment. after she had almost abandon.