or what ever it might be, I should have urged Frank's immediate return
to my anxious betrothed. But for her loving anxiety he never would have
come down on such a night. But for the dog one of us must have been
killed. And first of all, but for the instinctive sense of danger the
telegraph wires would never have spoken a warning to my excited fancy;
and this manifest feeling of apprehension, though I strove hard to
conceal it, held the man in the box at bay.

The practical result of the episode was a more commodious station-house,
and more men on duty. My salary was raised; but eventually I gave up the
situation because my wife could never feel satisfied to have me perform
night work after the fearful experience I have related.

As to Frank, he is not backward with explosive English whenever the
subject is mentioned, and no amount of persuasion could ever reconcile
Cato to the station-room.




A Cluster of Ripe Fruit

CHARACTER STUDY


They were five sisters, all unmarried; they lived in the old Dutch town
that was made memorable by Barbara Frietchie's exploits. They never
hoisted a Union flag, or did any grand thing; but they deserve a place
in story just the same. Their name was Peyre, and the young people
called them "The Pears", not in derision, for the regard they inspired