1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



137 



THE ORIENT EXPRESS. 



A bold Bulgarian shepherd boy who looked so 

 like a sheep, 

 So gentle yet so sportive in his showy shep- 

 herd's dress, 

 Lay down upon the railroad track and played 

 he was asli-ep 

 To fool the engine driver on the Orient ex- 

 press. 



The driver, who disdained to slay the ram 

 upon the rail, 

 Put on the brakes, reversed the wheels and 

 tui'ned his face awa3'. 

 The stoker stood beside him, for it seemed his 

 heart would fail, 

 Whereat the shepherd boy stood up and 

 laughed and ran away. 



Then came the Irish section boss the day the 

 train came back 

 And poured about a barrel o' tar between 

 the ties that day ; 

 Bo when the shepherd boy lay down the tar 

 upon the track 

 Trickled through the whiskers of his robe 

 and held him where he lay. 



The driver could not hear the cry that .swept 

 the right of way. 

 The deathcry of the shepherd, and his soul 

 was filled with mirth. 

 He opened up the throttle valve and turned 

 his face away ; 

 The train bore down upon the boy and swept 

 him from the earth. 



— Cy Warman in New York Sun. 



A MODERN LOVE. 



Mr.s. Martha Deuiain, known before 

 marriage as ISiartha Sprigg, was 6 feet in 

 height, !iad foot that required broad sevens 

 to shod them, moved the atmosphere like a 

 hurricane as she swept out of the drawing 

 room of the old country house at Henley 

 and had a voice that could not whisper 

 words of love — it was a loud, powerful 

 voice, like an auctioneer's. 



"She's a fine woman, isn't she?" re- 

 marked her husband, lighting a cigar be- 

 tween the assertion and the question, and 

 then puffing contentedly, as he gazed in 

 reverie across the richly hucd rug and the 

 new f angled tiled hearth into the fire. 



"Yes, ye-s-s! She is a fine woman, "I 

 answered, scarcely able to repress a laugh. 

 She was altogetlier too fine for nie, and I 

 was amazed that Frank, who was a pretty 

 man, fair, ]3ctite, with nn aristocratic face 

 and a languid manner, should ally himself 

 for life to such a. looking woman. 



"She's taken complete possession of 

 me," murmured Frank. "I'm like a good 

 boy — I never go anywhere without lier — 

 and I like the bondage, ' ' he added tender- 

 ly, ' ' because I love her. ' ' 



"xvh.».e did you meet her?" I asked. 



noting tne toucn or real reeling In hlg 

 voice. (I had been away ranching in Amer- 

 ica for a couple of years and did not know 

 the story of his courtship. ) 



"Oh, in the most ordinary way, " he 

 said, deftly making a smoke ring over the 

 end of Jiis nose. "I was paired to play 

 with her in a golf match on the Peak 

 Links, She was qiiite a stranger — visitor 

 at Buxton. All I knew al)out her was that 

 her people were from Manchester; her fa- 

 ther was in calico prints. She strode and 

 drove like an amazon. She alternately 

 terrified and amused me. The caddies, 

 when we stood at the tee, could not keep 

 their impudent faces straight at our dis- 

 proportion. Martha — or, as I addressed 

 her at the time. Miss Sprigg — has a sense 

 of the grotesque, too, and as I struggled 

 over the rough ground and foozled the 

 drive at the tliird hole she gave a sonorous 

 chuckle indicative of suppressed amuse- 

 ment, and I hated her. ' ' 



"What!" I ejaculated in surprise. 



"I detested her, "he continued. "Her 

 skill with the driver, her towering form, 

 deep voice and superiority of manner made 

 me feel so mean aiul small. Little did I 

 think that I was destined to worship her." 



"It must have been a sharji conversion, " 

 I hazarded. 



"It w;.s, " he replied, "a sharp and 

 dramatic conversion. The ground, as you 

 know, is strangely riven in the Peak. 

 Near the far hole the golf course was bro- 

 ken by a stream. A bridge had been flung 

 across the brook for the use of the players, 

 but unfortunately my cleek stroke did not 

 clear it. The ball fell short and rolled into 

 the water. It was a picturesque river, 

 flowing through the limestone formation, 

 and it was made up of such swift erratic 

 currents that to recover the ball needed 

 sharp work ef eye and hand. I was savage 

 and reckless, and in rashly endeavoring to 

 net the ball overbalanced and plunged 

 with a sharp cry into the current. 



" ' 'E's tumbled i't' mine run,' shouted 

 the caddie in dismay and whirled his arms 

 about like a maniac. 



" Meiinv\-hile, struggle as I might, the 

 brook, which appeared insignificant when 

 viewed from the bank, carried me rapidly 

 away from help. The limestone banks 

 grew higher. I saw the golfers gesticulat- 

 ing above me, but they were unable to 

 give me succor. The water was icy, and I 

 no longer wondered how it was possible to 

 petrify. I was becoming petrified myself, 

 except in nnind. My brain was in a tu- 

 mult of fear, for now the stream, bearing 

 me on its dark bosom, had entered a 

 strange subterranean gulf, the walls of 

 which weix! here black as Erelms, there 

 dazzling with spar or gleaming with lead 

 vein. The air was clammy and yet stifling. 



