Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-12-09

LET my curtain alone" called some
one from inside. go away.
Mr.. March had opened the wrong
curtain.
"Oh. beg pardon, madam he
said, much mortified that he should
have broken open a. lady's bedroom.
Mrs. March and Rob and Nellie
stood close together in the middle OF
the aisle, at their wits end. They did
not dare to open another curtain for
fear it would, be somebody else's bed
room, and not their own.
'I'n call Ben," said Mr.. March;
hell know
But Ben was nowhere to be found.
At last they fouid him sound asleep
in a little stateroom at the end OF the
car. -...- aa..-. s
"Ben, come show us which are our
sections" said Mr.. March.
Ben was very sleepy. He came
stumbling down the aisle, rubbing his
eyes. = &.s III, "a h ':.I-
Reckon there is your berths; I
made em all up ready for YOU" said
Ben land pulled open the very curtain
Mr.. March had opened before.
"Oh, don't open that one, there's
lady in there" cried Mrs. March; but
she was too late. Ben had thrown the
curtains wide Open.s n
The same angry voice as before
called out, 'r wish you'd let my cur
tains alone. What are you about?'
Done made mistake this time,
sure" said Ben, cOmpOsedly drawing
the curtains together again; but not
before Mrs. March and Nellie and
Bob had had time to see into the bed
and had seen that 1t held mother
with five children. They all lay as
snug as you please; the three little
ones packed like herrings in q box,
across the foot of the bed, and the two
others on the inside, and the mother
lying on the outer edge, almost in the
aisle. AS Ben pushed back the cur
tains, she muttered: ~ III
There isn't any room to spare IN
this berth, if that's what you're look
ing for" SE
Rob and Nellie gave .smothered
laugh at this. as--. '..... ..o.
Hush, children" whispered Mrs.
March. "You wouldn't like to be
laughed at" !.
ooh, mamma, it's so FUNNY" said
Rob. 1--WE can't help it." =. ~
Mrs. March did not think 1t funny
at all. She began to be in !, despair
about the night. ~,
The very next section to the one
with the five children was one OF
Mr.. March's, and luckily those were
the curtains Ben opened. :.
Here you are, all right he said
cheerfully. Here's, all your things. !
done piled 'em up first rate for you. "
Piled UP they were, indeed. The
lunch basket: the strapped bundle OF
blankets, the overcoats, the water
proofs, the leather bags, all one above
another on one bed. -.
"Where are we, to sleep, mamma
exclaimed Nellie. stl>
"On top said Rob. "Hurrah! hur-
rah!'' and he was about to jump on
the top of the pile.
BE quiet, Rob-" said his father,
Eve must go to bed as quietly as we
can, and not wake people up. we
ought to have come earlier. Almost
everybody is asleep, think" ,..
At this point rose two great shores,
so. close that Mrs. March started. d
.Mercy!" she exclaimed. "How that
frightened me-" ~ -
Snore! snore! snore! The sounds
came as regularly as the striking OF
clock: they were most uncommonly
loud shores. Mr.. March looked at his
| wife and smiled. Mrs. March did not
smile in return; she did not like this
state of things at all.
At last they had sorted out the
things they needed, and the rest they
pushed under their berths-au bu,
the big lunch basket. Mr.. March hao
to carry that out to the end OF the cal
and set it by the stove. Then MT
March and Rob climbed into their Dec
and shut the curtains; and Mrs. Marct
and Nellie climbed into theirs, anc
| shut their curtains, and began to un
dress. Presently Mr.. March , called
across in a whisper:
s'Wife, what shall l do with Rob's
clothes?" =. g..
s.I'm sure l don't know" she re
Piled. There isn't a sign Of hook
here to hang anything on"
sNor here" replied Mr.. March. "1'l
leave them all in pile on the foot
Of, the bed
:..'That'll do very we'll for mans
clothes" thought Mrs. March; but
must hang up our gowns and skirts
| At last she had bright thought. She
stood up on the edge of the bed ant
hooked the skirts over the rod the
curtains were swung from. 1t was al
she could do to reach It; and, just al
she was hooking the last skirt on, thu
car gave lurch, and out she fell, GU
into the aisle, and across it, through
the curtains of Mr.. March's berth
right on to his bed.
Goodness, alive, Sarah! is this
your" he exclaimed, jumping VI
frightened. He was just falling
asleep. ~
".Well, believe so," she said; I'm
not sure" ...
"Oh, mamma, did it hurt your
called Nellie, anxiously.
"No, no, DEAR" replied her mother
"I'm coming right back" But before
she went, she whispered in her hus
bands ear:
| Robert March, / think sleeping
car is the most detestable place l evel