The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-01-09

closer into the corner as though he
gained warmth thereby.
Now, to me the room seemed I'm.
pleasantly warm, permeated rs 1t was
by an odor which seems inscparablc
FROM such places, and could not help
saying something to that effect.
Aye he answered, "but If you had
the fever in you as have you'd wish
yourself well out Of this cursed drafty
country"
Well, as far as the country was CON
cerned, he had little to complain Of lie
had not troubled it much Of late years.
Presently train Numbered into the
station, and went to the door to
watch the people coming and going.
When l returned, my father evinccd
some curiosity as to the passengers
who had departed, and even went so
out The scrutiny evidently satisfied
him. for he came back with Il smile and
told me to bring my things out OH the
platform.
uhItudllS W NlllIC uul Nluill SIlu llltU
the station, and my father and | en-
tered a first class smoker. During the
! few minutes that the train stood there
he glued his face to the window and
watched anxiousIy the entrance to the
platform. But at last the guards wills
tie sounded. the engine replied with Il
short, sharp shrek, and slowly we
crcpt out of the station. Then my IA
thcr threw himself back with sigh Of
content, rested his feet on the seat op-
posite and quietly began to fill his pipe.
! Once the train was fairly under way,
the land skimming by us on either side,
, and no sound came but the roar and
the rush Of the wheels, my father SGT
tied himself down to read and I
scarcely think he moved unless it was
to refill his pipe or to cross or uncross
his legs. | tried hard to follow his ex-
ample, tried hard to convince myself
that found my varied store Of litera-
ture interesting, but | was conscious
MI the time Of the utter failure of my
endcavor.
AS we began to approach Shrewsbury
my father diyed once more into his
valise and extracted thcrefrom Brad.
shaw, which he began intcntlv to
study. And here | may state that this
Bradshaw was companion of his
which was in constant requisition.
Thumbed and dog cared. pencil marked
on the margin. it showed a mutilation
or an indignlty upon almost every
page, 10 me Bradshaw has always
been WEAKNESS to the flesh, thing
devised to drive men mad and hurry
their souls TO perdition, but to my fa
lhcr it was an endless page Of lunatic
salight. II didn't matter where the cd
1tors hid away a train, he pounced up
on it like hawk. Their ingenuity was
wasted on him. He rcyelcd in noun
tains Of hewlldering figures: he read
the columns of hioroglyphcs as easily
rs l could read the English alphabet.
The compilrrs little knew when they
chucklcd IN secret over their iiendish
work that they were creating an in
finite source Of intricate happiness for
at least one son Of man.
After studying the mystic pages for
some time he having absorbed his i'll
formation. carefully deposited the pre-
ciullS tome once more in his bag. Then
he began to collect his various papers,
which he also placed in the bag. 1t
looked to me as though lie was making
preparations for leaving the train; but,
knowing this to be an impossiblity. |
merely Regarded it as another of his
lttla eccentricitirs. However. as We
began to slarken down he cried out
suddenly, Stand by"
looked at him He repeated almost
harShly: stand by. Get ready. Don't
stare at me like fool
But this is Shrewsbury"
Il know that as well as YOU"
Thinking it lust possible that the
liquor h" had slipped might have made !
him forget. said, But we started for |
ntnbgh!'
I'VE did nothing Of the kind. We
started for Shrewsbury, and here we
are
AT that moment the train glided into
the station and so cut short all further
rnmonstrance But think he saw
that he had annoyed me, for as we
logged away together In the cab he
explained, with some attempt at plaus-
ibility that II had been his original in
tention to stop the night at Shrews-
bury, but that he had forgotten to
make me acquainted with such trl-
fling detail. assured him that his eX-
PLANTATION was quite unnecessary. In
deed, 1t was Il matter Of perfect indif-
ference to me where we went, since ev-
cry place was sure to prove dstaste-
full My father and did not yet quite !
understand each other, and to have as
You are in no sort Of sympathy Is dis
tinctly distressing.
Arriving at the hotel, his first In
quiry was for a room with two beds,
aud may here state that during the
remainder Of our wanderings we al
ways slept In the same room when 1t
was possible, and when not he insisted
upon two rooms communicating with
each other. In this instance very ex-
cellent room on the second floor was
shown us, a glance at which at once
convinced me of its suitability, but he
was harder to please. He felt the
beds, examined the windows, saw that
the door had both . bolt and key
and then and not until then declared
himself to be fully satisfied.
As II was already late he ordered
dinner to 10 hransht to the r0nm and