The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1902-09-04
A NIGHT in a Diligence.


VVvvVV.VV
The diligence was in waiting at the
door of the hotel at Coir. a tah'
slim figure appeared In the doorway
an uplifted face lightly framed IN er-
ratio tresses of brown-gold halr'
crowned by a sombre Tam-o'-Shanter
travelling hat. The girl stood con-
fronting an iron-gray world built up
of mountains and storm clouds.
Really going to face the weather?'
said a voice from behind her, and
chilly-looking lady came forward, ruD-
bing her hands in self-congratulatlon.
EliZabeth-that was the name in the
: copy of Browning in her bag-thought
of the number OF the guineas IN her
nurse. and of her promise to the
Princess Pompilia to arrive at the
Palazzo Pompiliani at a certain mo-
nent.
Il am really going" she said. "A
storm on the Alps will be rather glo-
rious.'
She got into the diligence and put
her face out to smile good-by. Strong
brows, an intelligent, inquisitive line
of slender nose, and mouth with
: elastic curves suggested that thls
must have been very piQuant face
before the shadow of those, or other
storm clouds fell on it.
One good thing gained to her by
the weather was that she had the ~
igence all to herself. Her first I'M
preston after she had planted ner
bag under her feet and settled herself
in a corner was that she ought to
seize the opportunity afforded her for
"good cry" However, she reflect
ed that strength was to be in future
II her only reliable friend. Now that
she was putting these hard, gray
mountains between her and the past,
scarcely one look back could be
safely adventured. Yet there was
glance with shaded eyes. Only yes
terday sic was a queen in her own
world. queen of her fathers heart
and home. Now she was suddenly
dethroned and bankrupt, her girlhood
crushed under the ruins Of her fathers
fortunes and the tragedy of his death.
She knew that like things had hap
peneG before in the world she had
lived in. She remembered individ-
ually such a case. Her regret for the
sorrow of those people had hung
about her the length of morning,
but she had danced with spirit at
ball the same night. What, she won
dered. had become of that So-and-So
girl? Probably she, too, had gone
out to be English governess to the
daughter of some other Princess OF
the Pompilianis.
Elizabeth opened her bag and rum
mayed for a magazine, but it was the
Browning that came to her hand.
It was not merely as Browning that
she was taking the book across the
Alps with her; yet she would hardly
have acknowledged mat it was Tor
the handwriting of the word Elizabeth
In the front page corner. She held
the book close, though she did not
open it, and her desire for the maya
zine appeared forgotten.
Night came down early, the weather
darkness hastened its fall. At
point in the road a long whistle sig
nailed the driver OF the diligence, who
thereupon came to stop. A man
opened the door of the vehicle, made
a step to get in, but drew back again.
"Oply one LADY," he said, in Eng
lish. Then I shall not intrude. Il
shall do very well outside, driver"
Elizabeth felt guilty, though re-
lieved. AS the vehicle swung on and
she lay back in her corner, she was
disturbed by an echo, something in
the ring of the voice that had spoken
at the door out of the darkness. She
had pushed the Browning away from
her. Now the storm came down In
earnest, a dry. scattering wind, freez-
ing as a breath of icebergs; the dill
gence rocked and swung; it seemed to
her that at any moment coach and
horses and freight might ride off on
the gale down the precipice.
AS the night wore on and the cold
\grew more intense, she heard the
outside traveller coughing, the man
who had equal right with herself to
the shelter OF an inside seat. Was
she going to be so selfish or so prud-
ish as to give over this fellow creature
to suffering, perhaps danger, for the
qualification of her preference for
priyacy? She watched her oppor-
tunity and communicated with the
driver.
will you tell the gentleman" she
said in German, that the lady re-
quests him to come inside of the
coach?"
A safe halting place was chosen,
and the outside passenger got into the
comfortable interior. He thanked the
LADY and retired into an opposite cor
ner, and his few words were spoken
in German. There was no mistake
about the voice this time. What had
seemed a mere echo on the wind from
her own brain had become reality.
The impossible had como to pass.
She smiled little panied smile in
the impenetrable darkness Of her
place and her wrappings.
The man slept, but Elizabeth was
wakeful. The storm was unabated.
One or two wildlooking stars looked
through rents in the masses of wind
clouds.
Another hour passed. The man
awoke, stirred, sat up and struck a
match.