Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-08-04
SHE GOT 'STRAPPED.'

NuUCuIUS HllA q B0Att - ~ tAN
new Hotel Aston; yes, | must confess
that occasionally girls get strapped
Just the same as men. know, be-
cause it happened to me once. ! will
tell o about it.
"At the end of a jolly summer with
some cousins, when | was 20, | got on
the train to go home. had just $1.75
in my purse, and yet | was happy and
care-free. Why? Just because OF my
forethought two months before when |
left a safety fund with my cnupl
who was to join me on the homeward
journey and go with me to the NAM
moth cave. Besides that had ticker
through from the New York starting
point to my Tennessee home with Vari-
Gus stopovers.
"At Niagara Falls | was tempted OF
the gimcrack fiend, and my purse palc
the price. Then l was approached by
a porter with a sorry tale o the
g~oings-on of my trunk. 1t appeared
that the trunk had decided to burst
was swelling rapidly and already part
ing at the seams. l was young and
modest. remembered what was packed
in that trunk, and in what confusion.
The Niagara Falls station platform
was not a seemly place for bursting.
The porter was sympathetic and thought
a dollar would tighten things up enough
to tide me and the trunk over; and ]
wondered whether our nickels could
be stretched over two days travel.
We'll. the details are painful. Tc
live on scant sandwiches and look the
lady still-an empty stomach n a.
heart full of gentle thoughts-is a stunt
| was not up to. The last call for
supper in the dining car made me sick,
and the porter's yearning to brush me
down made me mad. The one light ahead
was my Julia. Faithful friend-how
tenderly l longed to see her again as
| remembered the crisp bills left in her
care.
81 staggered from the train at Nam
moth Cave Junction broken in health,
but with that clear light of hope that
conquers fate. Across the village street
stood the hotel. There would be Julia
ordering pate de foie gras and ice
cream sandwiches. | walked as steadily
as a hungry girl could to the open door
and was met by a stout and smiling
hostess. No, Miss H. had not arrived.
From Auburn? o, then the up train
would bring her. Meantime supper:
Yes, yes, supper by all means. Two
suppers, If she had them to spare. J.
could not eat a thing yesterday.
II was placed, a sole guest, alta large
table, and in country style de fat o. de
lamb vas heaped about me. ate fried
| chicken, hot waffles, butter cakes, egg
bread, preserves, real handmade black.
berry iam-and then chicken and
more waffies, and ham and eggs-and
that was only about half.
But the up train did not bring Julia
! waited all next day; no Julia; no let
ter. l was eating three meals a day
The second morning | began to ask N.Y.
self whether Julia had not always been
a little changeable in her mind-that-
time at school now. I went out anc
~telegraphed, and / felt sure the operator
would tell the landlady l did it, G. o. D.
"The answer came promptly: Cannot
gu CdNO. WIOIG yOu ldoI week. AOult
on here | fell back and made calcu.
lations. Howfa away was 'here?' How
many of that stout wOman's chickens
had | eaten? There was something cruel
IN that woman's smile; l could see il
now; she would be merciless. Were
chickens scarce this year or cheap!
How could | pay my bill? Who would
have dreamed such a thing of Julia,
and she so bright, too, in some respects?
II was tearing things out of my trunk
and weighing their value as against
peach cobblers and butter-and-Bugar
sauce. Should | so and tell the hostess
and beg to work it out? We were fel.
low sou%therners; perhaps our fathers
had fought and hled together. But no
excitement wal binding me to the rea
facts.
My father was a Yankee, and ne did
not fight at all. Ont came shirt waists
sweaters and rubber shoes. | had never
realized before how little silver there
in is toilet articles. There was a doil5
| was embroidering, but it had value
only to some one who loved me. II
would probably take time for the land.
lady to learn to love me, and there wa
no time to spare.
AS you can see, I am not still sitesna
there in that country hotel waiting fc
Julia, nor did / jump my bill; / did 20.
know how, was one reason for thas
Just as l was bitterly bordering thu
hopelessness of escape by blowing Gu,
the light-it being kerosene-my eys
fell on a small object peeping from til.
motley pile on the floor, and | seized j,
with a Diamond Dick howl of joy.
ut was my dime bank, one OF those
neat little inventions which will not
open until it contains a certaIn amount:
and though the amount in this Ii was
very uncertain, indeed, l soon had 1t
open at the cost of my embroidery scis.
sors the bank itself.
Two dollars and eighty cents. flung
the things into the trunk. Then !
sought my hostess and asked with
81 ital1fpI1rt tEnuy xn,,olxo3 ~ t-a1-...