The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-24
FEN ROUTE.

Edward Pellingham had never taken "a hand" It seemed much more in ac- cord with his temperament to let other folks do the playing, the gaming, the winning and losing, while he looKeu on.
 do not mean to say that he did not work. He worked as he exercised, or ate or slept--because it was healthfu' and desirable to do so. But he never forgot to mind his own business-ano minding ones own business IS the most pusilanimous of the virtues.
 At 3S he was wondering what ne would do next. His business-he was in iron-enjoyed prosperity which re- lieved him even rom the interest which attaches to anxiety. He would have liked to have seen Europe, or possibly Asia. But he had no tongue save his own, and no travelling com panion. He had a notion that he might miss the ofiice and he was sure he would be put cut at not having ms bath every morning. He remarked contemptuously to himself that he was a creature of habit; and that his bablt was small and dull and trite.
 Life reached its periods with artistic brevity-he knew that. A man was paragraph. bon mot, an epigram CT an ejaculation! here'd be an end of Dlnl DeIOre ne Knew IL, ana tlO Cic to weep at his ''finis.'
 It made him almost depressed. And, moreover, he was tired of dragging a jaded body about the streets, which bitterly cold and hard and slippery, with horrid blasts of icy winds sweep ing down between the sky scrapcrS, and an air half-Opaque with snivcring and filthy smoke-clouds. He said 10 himself that at least he would see some blue sky before he died.
 So he bought ticket to California. advanced fine young man to the jun for partnership, and chuckled sar- donically when he heard the fellow was going to rush into matrinony on the strength of 1t.
 He knows how to take hand, any way" he said enviously-or was it en- vjousiy? Perhaps he thought it was very foolish to complicate life like that
 Anyway, he got on the train, and settled himself for his vacation. That particular car of the overland train had five occupants beside himself. There was a middle aged husband and wife. who sat beside each other in si- lence. and who wore black. They have lost a child" thought Pellingham. T suppose they are go- ing to California to forget. And am going to remember--soinethln which 1 am not sure I ever knew" There were two men also; one, a German who read "Neitche;" the other an American with long, thin face. a pinched nose and a towering brow. His eyes had strange, penetrating light in them.
 There was another passenger-a wo- man. She had a speaking face and rnA ,HA tIyaI, 4z LA s~~ terested in almost everything. From the outset Pellingham determined that she should be allowed to show no in- terest in him. He hated a vivacious woman. He could see she was intelli. gent and alert. If she had been one oi | those Spanish Californians. with lids as languid as camelia leaves. and 8 subtle glance, and a mind competed of devotion and passion he might have found her worth the reading-but this virile human document two seats 1T front of him. actually frightened him For two days all went well. But over beyond the second divide some. thing happened. At first no one an ticipated any trouble from a white cloud up northward. It rested the eyes. strained with the imperative blue of the sky of the further plain But after an hour. the thing turned into a white curse of inAnitisima frozen flakes. The cabin window wal thick with the frozen sleet and the en- gineer could not see the track before him: the wheels slipped and guttereG on the rails. The cold drifted in ths cars. The engine staggered drunkenlS through the drifts. At length a hall came.
 The middle aged husband and wife took hold of hands and sat still. They didn't seem to care very much. "It's all the same to them," though Pellingham. trying to stifie the pang o pity at his heart. The pale-facet American took out his cigar case ant examined 1t.
 | Mine perfectos," he said aloud. II I put myself on three day these vii hold out as long as three goes in nine By that time they ought to have u' dug out"
 ''The coal won't last three days, said the woman with the speaking face.
 What an offensive suggestion, murmured Pellingham. '1 knew hel l brain was too active. Probably Sh' belongs to a woman's club" | The hours wore along. scant. meal was served. the officers of thu train having decided that caution fl the use of food was wise. Pellinghan desired to eat in dignif1ed silence. Blu the German had become loQuacious and was inclined to tell stories in hi broken English. He gave them a stir ring account of a blizzard he had ono | encountered in Russia; and the woman with the objectionable suitability SC | him a wager that an American bliz zard was more strenuous than a Rus sian blizzard, and he took it. He wag cred a little gold compass he wore ol his chain against a stick pin tha pinned the soft scarf about her shoul ders. Pellingham had to look at he against his inclination. She ha, abundant soft brown hair. and som difficulty in disposing of 1t in conven tent form about her shapely head. He eyes were blue-no, green-no, nc gray!
 "Opals-but not fire opals," com
 mented Pellingham.
 Her brow was low and broad, ther
 was a space between the eyes and
 full frontal development that reminde
 Pellingham of horse he had ono
 owned. It had been a good beast. an
 he had trusted it. But that was n
 reason why he should trust the woman
 Moreover there was a hint of mocker
 about her mouth. and when she smile
 she showed teeth that seemed abnorm
 ally numerous and white.
 Cruel and coquettish, as like a
 not" reflected her critic.
 He heard the long-faced America
 with the hypnotic eyes talking abou
 X-rays and transcendentalism; an
 the German eulogizing the gymnas
 system, and the middle-aged pair say
 ing: