Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-07-27

By fG Ga,,Ch} t,ETf,G;


western diocese call .ae "tlc padre,
coupling thr .Enucn3o with al intima
tion that | shJali have bc Il priest o
the older faith rather than q poor cler
gynan Of onr own. IL my own lookin:
glass and which of Us Is ever vouch
safed peep into that Of auyther u fin
nothing 10 Justify the inference Th'
quicksilver images the ii~ure OF mid
die aged person, whose len tary habi
has siclltcd a face never ruddy, who's,
vigils with the student : lamp have be
gun to acceutuate the stoop in Tathe
ungainly pair of shoulders, whose attir'
is not and has never been, | trust
mere than decently ecclesiastical in Gu
aud ensemble.
None the less. sincerity Compels thu
admission that III travelling / am no
iHfreqaeutly taken Tor Il Romish priest
and that even here in my own littl,
parish of CarbonoTo the coal miners cal
me Father Penbarton. 1t was this alb
surd misconception, heightened, posi-
bly,. by the fact that | was reading {
small black bound book which may hav,
been mistaken for breviary, that lee
to my ENHANCEMENT in a romantic affair
on the railway-an ENHANCEMENT which
has since cost me many disquieting mo
ments. Not that hold myself in any
way accountable or blameworthy, be f
understood. but merely because it ha:
given my clerical associates fresh Oc
casion for other of their i'll chosen ant
meaningless gibes.
The beginning of it was in this wise
/ had been on a visit to the bishop and
had boarded the train to return to my
parish. Having taken a seat in The
Pullman, was reading the small blacl
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. At their incoming l fancied they
were the inevitable newly married cou
pie whose presence seems nowadays L
be a necessary, complement TO the pas
senger list of any public conveyance
The young man was a clerk of somt
sort, one would say, and his face wa:
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 most
agreeable study in youthful beauty,
and her flashing brown eyes, alight
with repressed excitement, had a lool
in them which carried me swiftly bacl
to my-but pardon me, this is not the
story of my own youthful follies.
l perceived at once that the two were
laboring under some stress of emotion
which | took to be very natural embar
rassment. and as they sat facing me
thonght 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 eel
leagues IS uncharjtable enough to insin
uate that the change was made in ordeI
that their conversation might be the
better overheard, charge which wish
to repel with proper seorn. That theil
talk was overheard is a matter of nc
moment Every right minded person
will agree with me that motives and
not incidents are the cosmic principles
underlying any code of ethics.
'Great Jehoash! You say he did
come home to dinner, after all?"
The speaker was the young man, and
there was a very emphatic note of un-
easiness in his voice
Eyes, he did" answered the young
woman "And that isn't all. I'm al
most sure he suspected something"
tYou are? Why? What makes you
think so2'
1.-The way he acted. He was as short
as pie crust all through dinner, and
when l left the table he asked if you
had called; said he had seen you in the
carriage driving down Alameda street. -
The young man groaned quite audi
bly,. "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 ?"
Il said Why, poppa-Mr. Roderick
After you've forbidden him the
house?' -
The young man chuckled as if the
sinful equivocation We're applausive
rather than a thing to be sorrowfully
deprecated.
"Good What did he say to that ?"
''He was angry-as he always is
when your name is mentioned He said
you were uIlscrupulous enough to do
anything. Then ne asked me if 1 could
be ready to start for Aunt Josephine s
tomorrow.
''And you told him You couldf'
II did just that, but didn't tell him
l would. Oh, why doesn't the train
start :"
heard the click of the young man s
watch case
Chiefly because it isn't time We
have five minutes yet"
"Oh!" The exclamation was almost u
sob. ''If he catches the o'clock car
down town, he can overtake us here,
can't he?'
The watch case clicked again
''He might, but it's unlikely. The
car is due at the corner Just at our leav-
ing time, and he would have block to
walk-or run But l was thinking of
something else. If f'he has his wits with
him we shan't be safe till we pass the
yard limits. "
''The yard limits? l don't under
stand"
I'VE have to stop to register at the
limits. If he just misses us here he can
take a carriage, run the legs off the
horses and intercept us at the yard sta
tion. 1t can be done. I've done it my
self more than once with belated pas
senger -
"Oh, horrors Alan, if you let me be
taken back now, I'll never speak to you
again rs long az | livel"
you needn't threaten me. 1t won t
be my fault if we're captured. I'm not
any more anxious to meet your father
just now than you are, asserted the
young man. earnestly.
Then silence supervened, and had
leisure to construct the accusation. 1t
was wedding party, indeed, but a
priori-an elopernent, in short. This
sweet faced young woman with the re-
mindful eyes was taking her future in
her hand to give it over into the keep
ing of young man whose consent to
such a proceeding was his sufficient CON
demnation. l pictured to myself the
distress of the father. whose wishes
had been so unfilially disregarded. He
was doubtless kind and indulgent par
ent-are not all modern parents culpa-
bly, so2-and his objections to the alert
young man were probably well rooted