THE SMILIN’ STRANGER.
Thinks I to myself, “Good land! was there ever such a clever critter on earth?” I handed him a clean towel, and told him I was sorry. But he smiled, and said, “it wasn’t any matter,” and wiped his sweetly smilin’ face, and handed the towel back smilin’.
The other feller never said a word, though one of the eggs broke onto the legs of his white pantaloons. Jest at this crisis, a tall man with whiskers came up, and said somethin’ to ’em, and they got up and went to the other end of the car, where there was a lot of smart lookin’ men. As they went by me the clever feller slipped on a piece of orange peel, and a most fell. But if you will believe it, the critter smiled.
I see that all of them smart lookin’ men acted dreadful reverential towards the two, and I says to a bystander behind me, “Can you tell me sir who that clever critter is, and the other one?” Says he, “That is Skyler Colfax, and General Grant.”
I rose right up in my seat, for at the mention of them two honored names, such emotions rushed onto me—that it drownded out fear, and all the shrinkin’ bashfulness of my sect, and I forgot in that wrapped moment that I wasn’t Josiah, and I advanced right onwards towards them two noble men. Every man round ’em see the lofty expression onto my face, and kinder fell back, and I walked right up and gripped Skylers’es hand with one of mine, while I held my umbrell in the other tremblin’ with emotion.
“Skyler, I am glad Tirzah Ann took ’em out too quick.”
He didn’t know what I meant, but that blessed man smiled, and agin I spoke in the same tremblin’ tones.