The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-03-22
Copyright. 1911 by II. K. Fly Go.
CHAPTER w.
A Mouse and a Mountain.


the receptacle of assorted lots OF hu
manity tumbling into 1t from all di
rections, with all sorts Of souls, bodies
and destinations.
The porter received each with that
expert eye of his. His car was his
laboratory. A railroad journey is c
sort of test-tube of character; strange
elements meet under strange condi
lions and make strange combinations
The porter could never foresee the
ingredients of any trip, nor their &C
lions and reactions.
He had no sooner established Mr.
Wedgewood of London and Mr.. Ira
Lathrop of Chicago, in comparative
repose, than his car was invaded by
a woman who flung herself into the
first seat. She was flushed with run
ming, and breathing hard. but she
managed one gasp of relief:
Thank goodness, l made it In
time"
The mere sound of woman's voice
in the seat back of him was enough
to dispense Ira Lathrop. With not so
much as glance backward to see
what manner of woman it might be,
he jammed his contract into his peck
ct, seized his newspapers and retreat
ed to the farthest end of the car,
bouncing down into berth number one,
like "a sullen swapping turtle.
Miss Anne Gattle's modest and
homely valise had been brought
aboard by leisurely station usher,
who set 1t down and waited with a
speaking palm outstretched. She had
her tickets in her hand, but trans
ferred them to her teeth while she
searched for money in handbag old
fashioned enough to be called a reti-
cule.
! The usher closed his fist on the pit
lance she dropped into it and depart.
ed without comment. The porter adj
vanced on her with a demand for
Tickets, please"
She began to ransack her reticule
with flurried haste, taking out of 1t
small purse, opening that, closing It,
putting it back, taking 1t out, search
ing the reticnle through, turning out
a handkerchief, few hairpins, q few
trunk keys, baggage check, a bot
tie of salts, card or two and nu-
merous other maidenly articles, re-
storing them to place, looking in the
purse again, restoring that, closing
the reticule, setting it down, shaking
out book she carried, opening her
old valise, going through certain
white things blushingly, closing it
again, shaking her skirts, and shaking
her head in bewilderment.
She was about to open the reticulc
again, when the porter exclaimed:
81 see it! Don't look no mo-.
see III"
When she cast UP her eyes in de-
spair, her hatbrim had been elevated
enough to disclose the whereabouts
of the tickets. With a, murmured
apology, he removed them from her
teeth and held them under the light
After time he said:
"As neah as / can make out from
the-the undigested potion OF this
ticket, yo' numba is Six"
That's it-siX!
That's right up this way"
LET me sit here till ! get my
breath" she pleaded. Il ran so hard
to catch the train"
"Well, you caught 1t good and
strong"
I'm so glad. How soon do We
start?"
I'm about half houah."
Really? Well, better half an hour
too soon than half minute too late"
She said 1t with such a copy-book
primness that the porter set her down
as a school-teacher. 1t was not bad
guess. She was a missionary. With
a pupil-like shyness ne volunteered:
"Yo' berth is all ready whenever
you wishes to go to bald" He caught
her swift blush and amended it to
s'to retiah."
Retire ?--before all the carr" said
Miss Anne Cattle, with prim timidity.
mo. thank you! intend to sit up
till everybody else has retired"
The porter retired. Miss Cattle
took out bit of more or less useful
fancy stitching and set to work like
another Dorcas. Her needle had not
dived in and emerged many times be-
fore she was holding 1t UP as a weap-
on of defense against a sudden hui
man mountain that threatened to
crush her.
A vague round face, huge and red
as a rising moon, dawned before her
eyes and from it came an uncertain
voice:
"Esscuzhe me, mad'm, no fensh in
tended"
The words and the breath that car
ried them gave the startled spinster
an instant proof that her vis-a-vis did
not share her prohibition principles
Or practices. She regarded the ele-
plant with mouse-like terror, and the
elephant regarded the mouse with
elephantine fright, then he removed
himself from her landscape as quick