“Well,” drawled one of the oldest, “sometimes we set and think, and then again other times we jest set.”
Not long before his death Thomas B. Reed visited some friends at their summer residence at Watch Hill, R. I. Late in the afternoon he was driven up to Westerly to take the 7 o’clock train for Boston. It was a warm evening, the horses lagged and he missed the train, the last Boston-bound train stopping at Westerly that night.
As Mr. Reed had an important engagement in Boston early the next day, he seemed worried until he learned that there was a Boston express which passed Westerly at 9 o’clock. Then he smiled.
Going to the telegraph office, he directed a telegram to the superintendent of the road in Boston, and sent the following message:
“Will you stop the 9 o’clock express at Westerly to-night for a large party for Boston.”
The answer came: “Yes. Will stop train.”
Mr. Reed read the message, and smiled. When the train pulled in Mr. Reed quietly started to board it, when the conductor said: “Where is that large party we were to stop for?”
“I am the large party,” replied Mr. Reed, and he boarded the train.