The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1905-12-29
A YANKEE TRICK
tOriginal.1

uo haDiiiIy OF travellers TO be shut u1
In one Of their compartments with Il
cutthroat or Il lunatic. Paxton, who
was English born, defended the sys-
tenn, pronouncing the American plan
only fit for cattle moving He declared
that Americans preferred their cars be.
cause, having access to one another,
they were free to practice their Yankee
TRICKS ON each other.
He knows better than that" said
Mrs. Paxton. cat any rate 1 do, us l
will prove TO You if you will listen to
me.
AT one time, before 1 was married,
we were stopping in London. Father
was busy all day with some financial
affair, and mother was confined 20 the
house under the care of nurse.
did NIL the sights of the city, iuclud-
ing the Tower, the British museum.
the parks, and then 1 thought would
take run TO Hampton Court had
no business to go Off alone 1t would
have been nll right at home. but there
it was not in good form. In Paris it
would have been impossible. Never
dependence IN me to make the trip.
and, driving to the station, got aboard
the train, stepping into first class
carriage I was delighted to notice that
L was the only occupant and much dis
appointed just before the train started
at the entrance of n gentleman. With
out noticing me lie sat down in the far
thest corner and buried himself in Il
newspaper
where had l seen that face before?
Was It ut the National gallery or i'm
Hyde park or both? 1t seemed to me
that l had seen it not only once, but
several times. 1t could not have been
ut any social 'thering-at least there
had been no introduction-or hc would
have given me an opportunity TO bow
to him. Instead lie paid no more attcn-
tion to me than IL had been a maid
servant, though i wore my smartest
costume just out Of the tailor's hands"
Were YOU out to catch Britis,,
husband|' laughed Paxton.
what do you mean? You know 7
had no idea Of such a thingv' snapped
his wife. Then after a pause she went
on with her story.
"Tlle man after reading his paper for
Il few minutes began to yawn. then fell
asleep. Presently he began to mutter.
could only hear snatches Of what he
said, such as: There's good time COM
ing britannia rules the wave MY
love lives over the sea- Then he
would laugh and sing snatches of songs
and talk again and laugh again, every
time laughing louder than before.
"Of course l was frightened out of
my senses. vowed that if l got out
of the compartment alive 1 would ncv.
er get into another one. But felt
sorry for my travelling companion, who
seemed to belong to the better class
and was dressed like gentleman"
Did you fall in love with him, Lii
lfe?' asked Paxton.
Not at all. He-his delirium or
insanity or idiocy, whatever it was.
kept increasing. 1 put my head out of
The window to see if I could get n
guard, but there was none in sight, and
! desisted"
swearing. dear?' from the husband.
You know very welf did no such
thing, but I confess abused the Eng
lish system Of railway coaches, and 1
10 not doubt the Englishman IL he had,
been awake would have heard me
plainly enough. He seemetl-to fancy
himself in all sorts Of places. At one
time lie was playing cricket, at another
football, finally waking up with: 'Hur-
rnh! Kicked goal, by Jove"
AS soon as his eyes We're open he
looked about him vaguely, then at me.
Seeing that l was disturbed about
he asked very defercntially
what 1t was and when told him apol-
ogized, saying that he had had no sleep
for several days, during which he had
been engaged in exciting work, and
supposed his mental apparatus had
gone on working while he was asleep.
lie was perfectly sane and very gentle
manllke. Having opened a conversa-
ton. / told him where was going, and
he gave me great deal of information
about Cardinal Wolsey's palace. He
said he knew all about it, because he
had been studying 1t up in the guide
book for the purpose Of visiting it and
was on his way there
You surely didn't permit q stranger
to join You In that fashion?" remarked
the husband.
What could / do? The gentleman
seemed SO interested In the palace and
told me so many things that-welI, we.
went through Hampton Court and back
to London in the same compartment"
'Phew" exclaimed Paxton. did
you ever hear the like o. that?'
Il see nothing especially unconven-
tional In It," replied, siding with tho
wife.
go on, my DEAR" said Paxton.
Give us the rest of 1t. It's very excit.
ing, you know. Did he get delirious on
the way backr