Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-05-23
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By ARNOLD BARTON

George Lockwood. a young Ameri-
can. was travelling from Milan. Italy.
to Lucerne. Switzerland. From Luz
sano northward the railroad ascends a
valley till it reaches tunnel through
which trains 20 under the St. Co
thard pass. entering Switzerland at the
northern opening Of the tunnel. The
time Of passage is fifteen minutes-as
long a time underground as in any 9th
er such passage in the world.
On entering his compartment at Lu.
ganO George took a seat opposite a
party Of ladies who were evidently
travelling together. One was appar-
emily about thirty. while the other two
were young girls. The elder had chest !
nut hair. fair complexion and brown
eyes. One of the girls was of north |
ern type, very fair. while the third.
evidently the youngest Of the three.
was certainly Italian, with the dark
hair, eyes and complexion of Italy.
AS for George. he was not only. very
handsome. but had one Of those smiles
that are so winning in either man or
wOman-a smile through which q Iowa
BILE soul speaks to all who look at it.
He was twenty-five years old, an age
when q mans attractiveness is usual
" at its best.
All the morning George Lockwood
sat opposite these three ladies. who
were evidently tourists and chatting
with one another, now in French, now
in Italian. and once he heard the fair
haired girls speak few words that
sounded to him so like English that he
put her down as Swede. Since he,
did not speak any but his native
tongue be did not understand what
they said. but saw they were evidently
bent on enjoying themselves. One of
them during their chat clasped her
hands and looked up toward heaven.
smiling, us though describing something
extremely engaging. If he had been
| more conceited he would have inferred
that the ladies' were talking about him.
The train stopped few minutes at
! the mouth of the long tunnel. and
George got out to stretch his legs. Then
he resumed his seat. and the train. pull
ing out from the station. entered the
| black hole In the mountain. There was
lamp in the compartment, but through
some oversight it had not been lighted.
| George drew forth a match from his
| pocket, struck it and held 1t aloft to
| see if the omission could not be RENE
died. But. there appearing no feasible
way OF doing so, he sat down to pass a
quarter of au hour in the dark. -
Above the rumble Of the train he
could hear wtispertngs between the
ladies' opposite. but they were not
I loud enough to be understood even ii
he knew the tongue in which they were
spoken When about half the distance
in darkness uad teen traversed. sud
denly be felt pair Of arms clasped
about him aud lips pressed against his
So taken by surprise was he that he
did not on the instant think to hold
the kisser. When he did make the
effort he felt pair of sleeves of some
fine material passing through his hands.
]
for the lady who had kissed him to re-
cover her self possession before merg-
ing into the light of day. George pre-
pared himself to scrutinize each face,
believing that she would in some way
betray herself. But seven minutes is
a good deal Of time on occasion. Be-
! sides. when the train shot out of the
tunnel ii stopped at a station only a
| few hundred yards from the mouth.
Instead Of being able to scrutinize the
! ladies opposite him he found them pre-
! pairing to Alight 1T the station.
Batt1ed. ne determined to get out also,
and If they remained at the station he
| would do likewise. but when he saw
that they left their hand baggage in
! the racks he felt easier and remained
in his seat. The ladies' evidently got
out that the kisser might have time to
collect her faculties. for the train stop
| ped but a short tine and they were
| soon in their seats again. Each one
seemed to have good deal to do to
| get settled, and the train was well IN
der way before any Of them gave
George an opportunity to look her over
By that time it was too late: the kiss
er. whoever she was. had completely
recovered her composure.
! The ladies' on arrival at Fluelen. q
station on Lake of the Four Cantons.
took the boat for Lucerne George
passed the ladies occasionally while
he walked on the deck, but refrained
from giving any evidence that anything
unusual had happened. The trio in
turn never looked at him, ignoring him
as thoroughly as if they had never
| seen him before NayerthelaSS he re.