Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-05-10
On the
Journey
BY cIcELY ALLEN


81 am very sorry Il cannot be ar
ranged" said the young man, with
,enrecatory wave of his hand. but
IAN the latest popular novelist Last
chance TO get your reading matteri
No books sold on train after 1t startsr
The newsboy bawled this In Amy Cur
tis ear. and she lost all the young man
sail except the words cant climb
those beastly steps"
Not that she cared. She was quite
ohle to climb the little ladder to the
unper berth. Her lip curled scornfully
oh il doesn't matter In the least
vou know. II was the conductors idea,
7 assure you. only in the south. where
come from, men, as rule, are more
obiging."
She picked M her novel and pro-
ceeded to ignore McKean's presence
Tie looked at her blankly. then flung
himself down the sleeper to the smok-
ing compartment. well. | do think
she's a bit harshr' He pulled out
paper and tried TO forget the scorn in
The eyes but recently lifted to meet
his.
In the meantime the girl In section I
stared wrathfuliy at the letters in her
book. which fairly danced before her
ewes. "A nice beginning for my trip,
/ never wanted to go to Colorado
Springs anyhow. had much better
remained at Bar Harbor than to let
the Carriers invelgie me into coming
west"
With this final reflection she com
menced to read In earnest, but some
how her mind went back to the very
disagreeable young man who had dis
regarded the sleeping car conductors
request that he yield the lower berth
10 the young woman, whose Pullman
ticket had been duplicated by care
less employee in an uptown office. She
could not forget the real regret in his
eyes nor the nervous. embarrassed way
In which he had smoothed his hair
while be was offering his hating ex-
PLANTATION. She could not reconcile
this. however, with the fact that he
had declined to climb the little steps
In her stead 1t was most annoying,
she argued. that she could not forget
certain fascination which his long, firm
hand had held for her and the hair he
had smoothed.
She could imagine that he had spent
hours trying to brush out a certain
tendency to crisp curls. She was very
glad there was something that could
L. than
curls, and after deciding thus she was
more content.
She did not see him again until she
entered the diner at dusk. The only
place left for her was single seat at
a table meant for four. The three pas
seneers already seated were men, talk
ing business In rather loud tones. Amy
hesitated. A figure at the table oppo-
site rose suddenly. The very disagree
able young man who had sentenced her
TO the upper berth was standing beside
her.
Take my place" he said eagerly.
"and l Will go over there with the
men" He had been occupying seat
at one of the small tables, and a gray
haired woman was sitting opposite
him.
Amy saw all this at a glance, and
with a surprised uplifting Of her eye
brows and mechanical Thank you"
accepted the seat. The young man had
not yet been served. and she realized
that the change had not embarrassed
him in the least
Quite willing to do things that do
not incommode him." she thought
scornfulIy.
The young man did not presume up
on the reception of this courtesy. Di-
rectly after dinner he once more retired
to the smoking compartment, and Amy
early ordered the porter TO make UP her
berth. Once tucked snugly away, she
forgot her grievance. The steady Chunk
Chunk OF the wheels was a singular lul-
laby TO which she soon yielded.
1t seemed as II she had not been
asleep more than three minutes when
She awoke to the most horrible noises
that she had ever heard. What had
hAppenedI Had the train run into a
circus or a jungle of wild beastsf No,
the train was still moving. Its unre-
hitting clunk-elunk could be heard
at intervals between the awful sounds
which now assailed her ears. If it was
not wild beasts, then maybe some one
around her was dying.
This pretty, carefully reared, ever
protected southern girl had never seen
any one die, and In her ignorance OF
this and various other matters she was
working herself up into a fine frenzy.
Alphabetically deep and agonized roar
was followed by sound that was a
cross between penny whistle and a
sob. She could stand the suspense no
longer. She pushed the tiny button and,
carefully arranging the curtains, stuck
out her head to meet the look of In
curry In the porter's black face. Up
and down the car she gave a hasty
glance. Apparently no one else realized
the tragedy that was going on so close