The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-04-06
A YANKEE TRICK
lCriginal.)

Nuitc NiulilS illOTllllly Mllu my
friends the PaNtons the subject turned
upon the English railway coaches and
the liability of travellers to be shut up
in one of their compartments with II
cutthcoat or Il lunatic. Paxton, who
was English born, defended the sys-
TEN, pronouncing the American plan
only tit 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.
H knows better than that said
Mrs. Paxton. AT any rate 1 do, as l
will prove to you if you will listen to
me.
AT II time, before 1 was married,
we We're stopping in London. Father
was busy all day with some financial
affair, and mother was confined to the
house under the care Of a nurse. i
did all the sights of the city, includ-
ing the Tower, the British museum,
the parks, II then l thought I would
take a run to Hampton Court. 1 had
AO SAitS 81 VI olOAE. IL MOulNl
have been all right at home, but there
it was not in good form. In Paris it
would nave been impossible. Never
! theless ! had just enough of Yankee in
dependence in me to make the trip.
and, driving to the station. l got aboard
the train. stepping into Il first class
carriage. | WAS delighted to notice that
l was the only occupant and much dis
appointed just before the train started
at the entrance OF a gentleman. With
out noticing me he sat down in the far.
thest corner and buried himself in n
newspaper.
"Where had l seen that face before2
Was it at the National gallery or i'll
Hy3c park o. both? 1t seemed to me
that | had seen it not only once. but
several times. Lit could not have been
at any social gathering-at least there
had been no NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. he would
have given me an opportunity to bow
to him. Instead he paid no more atten-
ton to me than if | had been Il maid
! ervant. though | Wore my smartest
costume just out of the tailor's hands"
Were YOU out to catch a British
husband?" laughed Paxton.
'What do YOU mean? You know I
had no idea of such Il thing!." snapped
his wife. Then after a pause she went
on with her story.
THE man after reading his paper for
a few minutes began to yawn, then fell
asleep. Presently he began 10 mutter.
l could only hear s%natches of what he
said, such as: There's a good time COM
ing. Britannia rules the wave My
love lives over the sea- Then he
would laugh II sing snatches of songs
and talk again and laugh again, every
time laughing louder thar before.
"Of course l was frightened out of
my enses l vowed that if / got out
of the compartment alive | would new
err get into another one. But | felt
sorry for my travelling companion, who
seemed to belong to the better class
and was d>essed like a gentleman"
did you fall in love with him, Lil-
lie?" asked Paxton.
mot at all. He-his delirium or
insanity or idiocy, whatever it was.
kept increasing. l put my head out OF
the window to see if l could get a
guard, but there was none in sight, and
l desisted."
"Swearing. dear?' from the husband.
"You know very we'll l did no such
thing, but l confess l abused the Eng
lish system of railway coaches, and l
do not doubt the Englishman if he had
been awake would have heard me
plainly enough. He seemed to fancy
himself in all sorts Of places. At one
time he was playing cricket, at another
football, finally waking up with: 'Hur-
rah. Kicked a goal, by Jove..'
AS 500 as his eyes were open he
looked about him vaguely, then at nue..
Seeing that | was disturbed about
something, he asked very d%eferentially
what it was II when l told him apolv
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.
He was perfectly sane and very gentle
ton, / told him where l was going, and
he gave he n great deal of information
about Cardinal Wolsey's palace. He
said he knew all about it, because he
had been studying it 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 l do? The gentleman
seemed so interested in the palace and
told me 80 many things that-well, We
went through Hampton Court and back
b London in the same compartment"
"Phewr' exclaimed Paxton. Ibid
you ever hear the like O. thatf'
II see nothing especially unconvsn.
tional in it," I replied. siding with the
wife.
"Go on. my dear" said Paxton.
'Give us the rest of it. It's very excit.
I. ing, you know. Did he get delir1ous on
the way back? ?"