The Opelousas courier., 1905-10-28
u
I1E

ti w I'll
y bridges, roaring through
~1R cuts and dashing contemp-
t;ulSiy past the small, unimportant
stations. The afternoon WAS drab and
dreary, the landscape traversed by the
road never had great claims to at
Effectiveness, and to-day the absence
OF contrasting light and shade COM
pleSely stripped it Of its even mediocre
interest. A GriZzly fog hal settled
upon the world, clUaking with gray
the feds ANA woods and buildings and
brushing the car windows with Il pro-
voki%g mist.
With one exception til" passengers
were dull. ana disgruntled. Nothing
WAS 10 be seen oMtside. and little i'll
side. Even the ~t%aiE-boy had subsidized
inta ssleamy IL recognizing tia
fulilty CT trying 10 dispose of his
wares to such all u~nrcsponsivc con-
parry.
The Gnl! trace OF animation in evil
Gence aG0wn the isle OF the whole
train WAS fo"lld in the coach behind
III t@l!lyt-E. AVE- At BtDs lliSlIly Plo-
tos:at against goodness knows what.
*lt i:ere Il group o. sympatliZing kin
sAlrHVG"2d to comfort him. Certainly
r. c3@,A not rightly complain of ueg-
l2rt. LIE WAS being rcgaiel With at
teE.ioIS the most S0iic:tOHS. and eSne-
i2lly from his cI<tod;an-a girl Of
t~ft"2n. who raitel him and danced
l!iEi aud tempted him With an endless
variety of distractions. BHt her wiIes
wee il van. He refused to be turned
aside from the sl;rilI recital of his
woes. real CT imaginary.
O>ruryiEg Il double seat opposite.
Horace t<ilroy, general superintendent
OF the western division OF :he road,
fum"l and demonstrated under his
breath. He repentea having come into
II Of thn ordinary coaches, but. on
the other hand, how otherwise was he
to pursue his pet method Of keeping
posted OH all the workings of his de
nartmen.? lie argued that unless lie
sometimes doffed his official privilege
of private CAR and pass, and rode on Il
ticket, like everybody else. lie could
rot gain tie complete knowledge which
lie was after. He was thus brought
into close contact with patrons. and
employees, aid if lie WAS enabled to re-
main incognito so much the better.
In truth, The indulgences Of his hob
by had its disadvantages also, and
wa nov putting the finishing polish
on what lie considered TO be the most
Gisagreeable trip he ever had taken
over his line. But he was determined
to stick it out. He had encountered a
number of offending matters in both
management and manners. and lie was
headed Ecmeward with his notebook
full Of memoranda which BODIED i'll for
Lis sullalterlls.
In the Chicago office the force OF
clerks was waiting iii fear and rem
Bling The arrival Of the executive.
From a single curt, decisive message
addressed to the chief clerk all all}re-
heHIed that trouble was i'll store for
somebody. Whenever the general su-
parintenGent came back cross and ner-
yons his immediate subjects paid tile
penalty for being present.
Superintendent Kilroy gaZed Gil the
Eaby as on an into.orahle nuisance.
He made IL resolve that lie would pro-
pose to tie management of the SYSTEM
the INTRODUCTION, us an experiment, of
q ~si.arial coach, Hoise-proof, for the
conveyance of babies and party. No
doubt tie travelling public would hail
this as IL h.essed innovation.
Perhaps lie would favor the protib-
ting tie carrying of children without
an adult escort. Here was a case in
point across the aisle. Reclining half
at length i'll his corner, from beneath
his hat tipped over his eyes lie WRATH
fully scra.iniZed tile casa Five
children uHittteRGeI-one Il ba.y, and
The eldest one Il mere clit-outrageous.
Had Il mother or other mature person
been with them of course that baby
would not be acting so; it would be
quiet somehow. The superintendent
POSSESSED vague ideas concerning bal
bics. lie being Il bachelor.
The little family obtruded itself upon
the superintendent observation ratll-
er more than he desired. lie could
shut it out from neither sight nor hear
ing. The fact was very irritating. He
was Of tile opinion that at least two of
the children badly needed washing.
Yet conscientiously he con6 not blame
the busy young body in cl Hrge.
She herself was disheveysd. but was
doing her best. She had a worried,
motherly way about her that was
quite at variance with the two slender
faxen braids hanging down her back.
Her face was round and pink. aud her
Eyes were ii clear gray-blue. She wore
a plain, sober-colored frock, with none
of those pretty ribbons and dainty
tucks so dear to the heart Of any girl.
However, she bore an air OF n%eatness.
as much ~neatness as was compatible
with the intimate supervision Of four
active juniors-a miss OF eight, n miss
of six, a rogue of three. and a regular
rascal assuredly, 10 more. than ten
months. With these to right and to
left and in front, and a huge telescope
bag threatening her from the rack
above-all, what a plight, even were
not the baby crying incessantly!
Imbued witllthe firm conviction that.
not only infants, but all children.
should be restricted to that car Which
lie had i'll project, finally the superin-
tendent desperately appealed to what
few winks he simply must have de-