The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-27
Our Daily Short Stories
TOO LATE.
BY WILLIAM BLOSS.
copyright. 1901. by Authors syndicats.>


For the twentieth time that long.
gray day wetherby yawned, in the
very desperation of deep ennui. The
pullman was filled with its fair quota
Of passengers, one to every double
seat, and, because he was a reasonably
Well-bred person, Whetherby followed
his furtive yawn by a surreptitious
stretching of his arms and legs. 1t is
bad form to tire other people, just be-
cause one is tired oneself. His berth
was lower /, at the forward end of
the long, luxurious coach, and when in
his seat, looking out into the dismal
sky upon the dismal landscape, his
fellow passengers were not within the
range of his glance. Still, he had al
ready sized up" most of them. They
seemed hardly worth cultivation-cat-
tie men, hurrying home to their vast
herds of beeves out toward the broad
reaches to the Llano Estacado, or Ari-
iona sheep owners who had learned the
costly lesson that Texas steer needs
plenty of grass to fit himself for mar
ket, while the sheep can pick up a
fairly good living off a hillside wherein
a yearling calf would become a de-
pressing rack of bones. There were
some loud-voiced mountaineers-he
reckoned them as such, with that I'M
conscious summing up of tone and
manner and attire a man will accord
TO strangers into whose contact he is
thrown upon long Journey-golng
back to their mines; and travelling
man or two, bound for Rio Grande
towns in the interest of jobbing firms
east of the big river. No, they were
hardly worth while. even to smoke
with. Still, he wanted to smoke. 1t
could be no more duller looking from
the rear of the car than from his win
dow at the side.
So yawning once more behind de-
corouS palm, stretching himself once
more as unobtrusively as might be, he
rose languidly and made his way leis-
urely to the smoking room and obser-
walton car at the other end of his car,
at the very rear of the train. Here he
selected from a morocco case a cigar
with that care a man bestows upon
trifles when the larger concerns of life
are lacking lighted it with close at
tention to the point, that 1t burned
quite evenly, and leaned listlessly
back in a cushioned seat, looking back
at the receding track.
Upon each side a somber wall of
heavy live oak and cypress trees,
cloaked in their gray, funeral inves-
tture of Spanish moss, stretched in
terfninabIy a roofess tunnel, through
which the train sped with monoto-
nous heaviness of heart, as if 1t longed
for free air and a broader view OF the
outside world Only when the rum
xxrhae 2 fTnSflp
spanning some sluggish bayou did the
wearisome outlook vary. Weatherby bit
into his cigar in sullen remonstrance
against so duh a journey.
Looks like a procession of aQuak-
ers," he muttereds surlfly liftmg his
glance to the face of the other occu-
pant of the smoking room, who sat
rigidly in an opposite chair, reading
the New Orleans States. The stranger
scanned Weatherby coldly. rolled him
self another cigarette with easy dex-
terity in one hand. lighted it in calm
silence and resumed his reading with
out response. His face was hard. from
his thin, pointed beard and waXed mus
tache to his sharp, black eyes. He
seemed to suggest a stilleto in a jair
of vinegar. Weatherby felt like slap
ping his face as a diversion, but con.
tented himself with the reflection that
his fellow traveller was a discourteous
brute with WnOm ne dlQn / care 10
talk. anyway.
Some of those Creole ducks think
they are Spanish dukes yet" he MUIR
INJURED under his breath, irrtably.
Then he shut his eyes and fell into
a nap. lulled by the rumbling mono
tone of the flying train. When he
swoke darkness had fallen without
doors. The train was at rest at way
station and a moment later dining
car which had stood upon an adjacent
siding was backed down upon them
and coupled to the sleeper.
Supper time" thought Wetherby,
with a feeling of relief. Here. at least.
was 2. diversion. He would eat, and
give thanks that he had an unfailing
appetite. Perhaps a bit of red snap
PER and some gulf coast crabs would
restore his spirits. He rose quickly
and made his way to his own seat in
front.
AS he stopped over his valise to open
II for some accessory of
his toilet his glance fell
upon what seemed to be a small
piece of gold, lying in the aisle beside
him. He picked it up. 1t was a dainty
ornamental pin, a woman's trihe. to