The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-05-06

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY ~HE;"URII".
She got on Il westbouud Olive street al
at Sixth street with her arms full "f bun
dies and her purse in ncr hand.
Carefully depositinS the bundles n"Nt 70
the window. she spread her skirt over III.
remainder of the seat. laid her purse on
what she thought was the window s.il. fold
ed her hands and settled herself for the
homcward ride.
Fare, please" said the conductor. as the
ear bumped across the tracks on Twelfth
street. She reached for her purse. and, not
finding II on the window sill. began 10 Jig
i'm her muh, among the bundles and finally
| into the folds Of her rainy daisy"
| But the purse diln't develop.
! The conductor grew impatient and pro-
| ceeded to make change and punch transfers
for tho other passengers. Meanwhile she
! continued to mmaG in bundles. packets
and every conceivable place for the purse.
She began To grow suspicious and Gazcd
hard at the bnck of the digniiied gentleman
on the seat ahead. Hut he WAS MP ~ his
ears in the baseball news and never sus-
pectsi the thoughts which were fitting
through her mind.
Finally. in desperation. she got ~. STEPPED
into the aisle and shook her skirts. Nothing
dropped. but she looked carefully under and
around the SCAT and proceeded 10 Resume her
former position.
Just then the car gave a lurch and she
reached for the window sill {" steady her
self. Her hand went into the tTo-inch slot
down which the window drops IN hot
weather.
She extricatcd the hand with some diff
iiculty. took her seat ana then Il queer eX-
preston overspTead her face.
SummoninS the conductor with a gesture
Of lmpaticnce she exclaimed, There II is
and pointed to the slot.
The fare-taker didn't understand. But h.
lea ned over. pecprd into the black hn!". and
seeing nothing. asked. There is what"
why. my fare" explained the passenger.
ITS no good To me In there replied tn"
conductor. who still didn't understand
We'll. there it t.. and you'll nave to get
II out" said the %irr;,ated passenger And
the conductor retired to the rear platform
To think the matter over. II. still Didn't
understand.
A passenger who had watched the little
comedy from Il seat across the aisle Joined
the conductor en- TIE platform and pro
ceeied To enlighton him as to the situa-
ton. "The lady dropped her purse down
that Slot" said the passenger.
The hi she did, was the conductors
observation. II wasn't the first time such
Il thing had occurred on his car. and h.
thought he knew how u proceed. Return
ing to the passenger, he said: Just leave
me your address and we viii send your
1.llSf 10 ~ as SJfU III d lL.At hilt I'll III
I'll do nothing Of the kind,' snapped the
passenger. Il want you to get 1t out right
away. | get off ut the mex; corner. and
I'm not going to leave my purse behind"
The car passed the next corner. and sev-
eral m1re. before the conductor finished ex-
planning how IL was impossible for him &,
take off the side of the ear ard get AZ the
purse while the car was running; bat he
only succeeded In convincing the woman
that there wasn't a plot to rob her. She
finally settled the matter, for the time. by
announcing that she wasn't going 20 leav"
that car until she got her purse; and the
conductor again re,ired tn the rear plat
form To think the matter over.
When the car reached its western tcrmi-
nus the passenger the ~conulctgr
and again demanded the return OF her
purse. then and there. When it was c.-
planned how utterly Impossible ii was to
comply with the demand she showed Symp-
toms of w~.erine. for a minute, and eN-
planned that the purse not only contained
money. tut also her iatch-kCy.
MY husband Will get EoEe and find the
house locked. and he won't like II / bit.
Then when he finds / am nowhere in the
neiehtorhood. and that no supper mas been
prepared. ! don't know what he will 40
Then she got angry again. and said SOME
thing about the railroad monopoly. which
she probably didn't mean: and repeated her
threat to stay on the car until she got hfr
purse. If she had to wait all night.
The conductor was a meek-looking. quiet
spoken man, and did not argue the matter
At the erd Of the next trip the passenger
showed signs of restlesSness, but refrained
from further and the next three
round trips were made ia absolute silence
SO far as this particular passenger was
concerned. She sat bolt upright in the seat.
looked neither to the right nor the left:
and her face wore a ccmtiration OF exp-es-
siors which were not tn be fathomsd except
ty tie two men who knew the secret Of her
troubles.
The car was turned in for the ni-ht al
. o'clock. just four hours and a half after
the passenger had started for home. The
n ylrfrrpr hurried 10 the atti,, of the yurer-
intendent and explained the situation as
;ersely as possible; the superintendent
called In two carpenters; and the carpen-
tiers made the passenger happy by return
ing her purse.
What the lady said TO the carpenters. the
superintendent and every one else within