Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1910-12-12
An Advantage of
/ astldlous Smoking



woman. am an lnyeterate smoker.
and 1t occurred 10 me that perhaps the
lady would not object 10 my lighting
g cigar. ! asked her permission. she
assented graciously, aud. taking one
from my cigar case, lighted Il. II
was long cigar, pointed al both ends.
and remarkably well made mention
this because II IL had been loosely
wrapped probably there would be moth
Ing OF especial interest in this story.
AS I began TO pun composedly | drew
from my pocket morning paper and
commenced 10 read.
Il envy you your solace, monsieur. "
the lady remarked. Travelling Is duh.
and we women have 30 such way OF
passing the time"
lowered my paper and for the first
time took a look at her. She was pass
ably good looking. comparatively young
and very well dressed. Since she had
been SO good as to-pern4it me 10 smoke
l considered II only fair that ! should
take her hint and relieve her ennui by
chatting with her was aware that
the day Of making acquaintance in
this way even in America had passed.
and even there It had never been usual
for the woman 10 take the Initiative.
but my companion looked bored, and
attributed her desire simply TO be tenn
porarily amused
tested her on different topics and
soon found that she was most interest
ed in pleasures-exciting pleasures,
such as the theater and the race course.
She preferred, however, 10 talk OF nov
els and evinced IN especial interest In
those Of Emile Zola Indeed, she con-
yersed about the characters in those
unconventional romances with a free
dom that arrested my attention. And
it seemed to me that the more uncon-
ventional the characters the better she
liked them. Finally. taking the latest
Of Zola's stories published from her
travelling bag, she opened II at a GER
tain page and asked me to sit beside
her aud read a passage, giving rs an
excuse for not doing so herself that
she was very poor reader.
Pardon me-" said II am smoking
The fumes would be unpleasant to
you"
Not at all. / love them"
But" protested, you see that the
ash on my cigar is very long. II /
should move it would fan Now, l am
fasudious about my smoking. love
freshly lighted cigar, and so long as
the ash remains In It's place the cigar
seems as It was at the first touch Of
the match Indeed, It tastes the same.
But once knock of the ash and the
cigar IS but a stump the smoke gets
IN my eyes and-well II Is not the
same By any means
To tel the truth. this was but an ex-
cuse. had come 10 suspect the lady
to be an adventures and did not look
with complacency upon being shut up
alone with her She seemed to discern
from my refusal to sit by her that
had my suspicious and. instead OF at
tempting to allay them. began to work
upon my fears.
"A man who scorns lady's ad-
yRnces Should be made to pay for his
rudeness.' she said sharply.
1 considered this a threat and TO dis
play an unconcern ! did not feel | re-
sumed my paper. Indeed, there was
nothing else for me TO do. I felt sure
that the woman would spring a trap
on me for the purpose of extorting
blackmail. and saw before ME a seri-
Gus complication, possible arrest and
Imprisonment But the more inward
trepidation | felt the more outward
GOODNESS l showed. l concentrated my
attention upon maintaining the ash on
the end Of nay cigar Every time re-
moved the cigar from between my lips
and put It back did so with the ut
most care Presently the woman took
out her watch and looked at It.
we will reach the station at y. IN
five minutes" she said. II need 500
francs. Choose between giving them
to me or an arrest on a charge Of as
sault when the train stops"
Had she been willing to settle for a
napoleon would not have yielded. !
consider 1t demeaning In any man TO
pay blackmal. 1t may or may not
be common sense, but / do not believe
ia making a beginning in that direc-
ton. gave the woman no reply, but
continued to appear interested in keep
ing the ash on the end OF nay cigar
Finally the houses by the way grew
thicker. and the train slowed down.
"Ill settle for 1000 francs" said the
woman. "In one minute more my
price viii be 1900" At the same time
she began to pull her apparel awry to
indicate that she had been through a
struggle.
I smoked on.
II another minute the train pulled up
at the station The woman put her
head out Of the window and shrieked
for tie guard he came. followed by
officials and curious people, and drew
open the door
This brute has assaulted me" said
the woman. Arrest him"
The guard and his followers all lev
eled their eyes at me. Taking what
little remained OF my cigar from my
houth. extended IL slowly toward
the crowd on the platform.
Gould 4 man." said, interiors
with any one and keep an ash like that
on the end OF cigar:"
AS l spoke the woman, upon whom
flashed the reverse Of the situation she
had planned. brushed against me.
SLIGHTLY shaking me The ash fen on