The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-30
A MISTAKE:
But 1t Made No Differ
ence In the End
By LESTER ROWLAND
Good night, darllngI"

ing car. 1t was late, and was one of
the last to retire. The lamps were
turned low. Suddenly the curtains
were divided. l could see the outline
Of womans head and bust leaning
over mo. A pair OF lips were pressed
against mine.
''Oh, heavens" In the same voice as
the good night, darling"
Evidently the lady had expected to
find the waxen lips of child and had
met instead the mustached lips of
man. OF course she had simply mis-
taken the berth. There are many such
| mistakes on sleeping cars, and 1t is a
wonder there are not more. The mo-
ment one leaves his section at night
when the curtains are all hung every
curtain looks the same, and if he goes
to the end Of the car and returns he
Is lost In wilderness of drapery. Per
haps the lady felt her mistaken the
dark she couldn't see it-before her
lips touched mine. but slight curve
In the track threw her in my direction,
and they were pressed down upon
mine In an unintentional long drawn
kiss-a kiss that neither Of us could
help, but to me delicious kiss, so de-
licious that lay awake half the night
thinking about It.
The car was occupied by through
passengers, and believed l should in
the morning find the lady who had
said good night darling" and had
given me that delicious kiss. did not
think she would likely know whom
she had kissed, but fancied that l
should be able to single her out from
among the other women on the car.
I could hear a child's voice in the next
section, and doubtless the lady had in
tended to kiss the child good night
Hardly had the berths near me been
made up in the morning when l began
my observations. In the section where
I had heard the child's voice sat lit
tie girl of ten, young lady of twenty
and a nursemaid. In the section next
mine on the other side sat an elderly
couple. There was but the one young
woman near me, and, though it had
been too dark for me to see her the
night before. l could not, at least l
would not believe that she was old.
| listened for the sound Of the voice
of the lady who sat with the little
girl, and the moment l heard it I
knew it belonged to her who had said,
Good night, darling"
There were two of us in my section,
I, who had occupied the lower berth,
and a man who had slept in the upper
berth. There was no reason to suppose
that the young lady knew which slept
below. Whether she knew that she had
kissed one Of us l had no means Of
knowing. 1t was quite possible that
she had located the section after the
mishap. l determined that she should
not suspect from any betrayal of mine
that l was the fortunate pOssessor of
the lost kiss.
She was sitting with her back to me.
and l could only see her side face
when she turned to speak to the child
who sat beside her. 1 was pleased to
notice that the profile was attractive
arose and went into forward car
for no reason in the world than to
have look at her full face when
returned. When l did return from the
moment l opened the car door till
had passed her she was looking out
through the window.
In this she made a mistake. In such
matters between the sexes we find
clews in very small things, just as the
detectives do. BY refusing me a sin
gle glance the lady caused me to sus-
pect that she had made some progress
In learning whom she had kissed. Wo-
men are far more adept at finding out
such things than men, and there was
no more reason why should have 10.
Gated her as the one who made the
blunder than that she should have To-
Gated me as the one who had profited
by It.
l was very glad to notice that the
trio-the lady, the little girl and the
nurse-had settled themselves for a
long journey. They had a hamper con-
tanning food dainties sufficient for sew
eral days journey. My lady settled
herself down in n graceful and easy
position. The little girl arranged her
toilet for comfort, and there was ev-
cry indication that they were there to
stay. l had high hopes that should
be able to occupy the same car with
them all the way to San Francisco,
whittier was bound. But how should
| get acquainted, for II must refrain
from a word with my lady what
would 1t profit me?
1t was not long before 1 saw the
tickets Of the party in whom l was
interested and that they were the
same as mine. therefore had no oc-
casion to hurry an acquaintance, but
formed my plans for one. AS a good
general will attack the weakest point,
so did l. The little girl could not re-
main all the while in her section and
soon began to race through the car,
Joining another child about the same