The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-10-15
A MEETING.
go
How a Man Was ReCOg-
nized by His Pipe.

Johnson was distinguished by two
points from other persons. He was an
inveterate smoker of most fantastic
pipe and was a highly successful noun
taineer. He was supposed to know the
Alps far better than any native guide
and was proud both of his pipe and his
reputation as climber. He believed that
again and again he found his way to
peaks which never before had been trod-
den by man, and it upset him little one
day, when he thought he had the whole
of a wide, wild mountain to himself, to
find that a pretty girl was standing on
the bank of a stream at which he had
arrived.
Il want to get across" the girl said.
"However did you get here?" he asked.
He showed his establishment at her pres
ence by taking his pipe from his mouth
and holding the end of the stem about
two inches from his lips.
The girl plunged into a hurried ex-
PLANTATION.
"You know the hotel in the valley?"
she asked breathlessly. "1'm staying
there with my people. This morning
walked about three miles below the ho-
tel and crossed the stream by the bridge
and came up this side. l thought l
should find some way back across the
stream, but I've come all this way, miles
past the hotel, without finding any way.
If go back to the bridge | shall be very
late, and they'll all be anxious, but if
could get across here l think | might be
back before they miss me-"
She looked him up and down, as though
bic ctr 9th Sba thau drew
her slim figure together, as though to
show that she would not be a very heavy
burden johnson professed to know
nothing of women, but he clearly saw
that she was asking him to carry her
across the stream, and he felt that it
would be churlish not to comply with her
request.
IF you could''- she said making up
for the ellipsis with a smile.
Certainly, 1 will" he answered.
He put his pipe back into his mouth,
and taking the girl in his arms, he cross
ed with her to the other side. Jumping
from stone to stone, he sucked hard at
his pipe, seemingly balancing himself
with great puffs of smoke, and when he
sat the girl down on the other bank she
coughed and blinked.
THANK you," she said between her
coughs.
I'm afraid I've half choked and blind
ed you," he apologized, "but had to keep
my pipe in my mouth. 1t is too large to
go in any Of my pockets.
''What a funny looking thing it is"'
'Yes; it's carved like deaths head"
He handed the pipe to her that she
might examine it. He was always pleas
ed to have his pipe admired, and he in
variably gave the hot bowl to any one
who showed the least interest in his
strange treasure, but this time he forgot
how hard he had sucked at the pipe and
that he was giving it into fingers whose
skin was not so thick as his, and it star
tied him to hear the girl scream and to
see her drop the pipe. He darted for
ward and caught the pipe before it reach
ed the ground.
"Great Scott" he cried you might
have broken il"
"Well, you might have told me it was
so hot"
He rubbed the pipe lovingly between
his palms.
ooh, I'm so sorryv' he said. 81 forgot
l wasn't thinking. | apologize"
She accepted his apologies and then
struck down by the back of the stream
to the hotel, while he went up over a
spur of the mountain to his destination,
which was a distant village.
A little more than two years later, and
one dismal autumn evening, when thick,
sticky drizzle was falling, Johnson stood
on the curb in the city and fercely smc&-
ed his remarkable pipe. He had been
walking briskly, but had suddenly stop
ped, undecided where or how to spend
his evening. He would be certain, he
knew, of warm welcome at some
friends in faraway suburb. Indeed he
had been asked to look in there tonight if
he could, but he had no wish to go far on
such night as this, and he was half de-
cided to dine at his club He had not,
however, fully made up his mind what to
do when he heard some one call him by
name.
eli, Johnson, Johnson
He looked up. startled. A hanson had
stopped just opposite to him, and large,
middle aged man leaned out of It,
''How do you do, Johnson?" asked the
man affably.
johnson did not remember ever having
seen him before, but there seemed very
! lllIlC uOuDI lHSI Tic llldA hbNN AAAAb' wv
thinking that his name would soon come
back to his memory, he said he was very
well.
"Doing anything tonight?' the man
asked.
"No," said Johnson.
"Come and dine with me at my club"
johnson hestate6 for a moment. lie
prided himself on an excellent memory.
but this mans face recalled absolutely
nothing to him. He was almost prepared
to swear that he had never seen him, but
the man certainly knew him, both by
face and name. johnson could not ac-
count for this failure of his memory.
which had never failed him before, and
he was most curious to learn who this
man was whom he had so completely
forgotten He felt that to let him go
away without disclosing his name and
the time and place of their former meet
ing would be to court the torture of end
less mental questions and for that reason
accepted the invitation to dinner.
Jump in" said the man and drove of
to the club. johnson hoped that before
the drive was over he would have re-
membered the name of his companion.
out 1t was hope that remained unful-
filed He called countless figures to his
memory, but not one of them fitted with
this large, middle aged man. OF course
there was one easy way out of the diff
Guilty and that was to ask the man, point
blank, who he was, but his complete as
surance checked the question on John
sons lips, for it seemed almost rude to
ask it of one who so evidently expected
to be remembered, and johnson, encour-
aged by this assurance, had waited for
the assistance of his memory until it was
too late easily to put the question.
Johnson supposed that he talked sensi-
bly, during dinner, for his host showed no
sign of amazement at the utterances
which he made mechanically, while he
groped in his brain for some recollection
of the man. What the conversation was
about he had no idea, but he knew that,
in spite of his distraction, he managed to
bear his share of it.
4 The end of the dinner brought no solu-
ton to the mystery. At first Johnson
had thought that this might be some
strange coincidepce of name and features,
but he soon found that considerable por-
ton of his history was known to the man,
who was able to talk with some certainty
ploits. 1t was impossible to tell whether
the man was or was not aware that his
name was withheld from Johnson. He
talked as though he and johnson were
the most intimate of friends and all the
while johnson was bewildered almost to
despair. Who was this man? How was
it he knew so much and yet should be
quite unknown? johnson, usually CAPT
tai player lost game after game of bill
lizards as he tried to puzzle things out.
He fished in every way that occurred to
him for his self appointed friends name,
but the man-whether designedly or not
johnson was unable to say-made no dis
closure.
johnson was quite exhausted before the
end of the evening. He felt limp and
helpless. He was almost certain that he
! had never seen this man before, bit the