A British Railway Incident.

Otago Witness, 14 December 1893, Page 49

A British Railway Incident.

A traveller's tale of British phlegm is told in the following terms : a Frenchman was seated in a smoking carriage, and had for his companion a " milord Anglais." Enter a British miss — of course with a plaid and protruding teeth and a Skye terrier. She sat opposite tbe milord. He politely informed her that she had by mistake got into a smoking carriage. She made not the slightest answer, but eat grimly on. The milord threw away his cigar, much to the astonishment of the Frenchman, who, according to the story, sat watching what would happen. When they reached the next station the milord said, with the cold dignity of his race and caste : •'Madam can now change into anon-smokiDg carriage. If she does not I shall assume that she does not mind smoke, and shall light another cigar." Madam said never a word, but stared in front of her. The train went on again and the milord lighted up. When his cigar was Wdll alight and the train in motion, the lady bent forward, took the cigar out of the milord's mouth, and threw it out of the -window. The milord not only did not make any remark, but he did not even seem disturbed. All he did was to wait a minute, and then to bend over the lady, seize the Skye terrier, which was lying in her lap, and fling it out of the window. Of this act the lady, to the complete astonishment of the French spectator, took no notice whatever. At the next station both the lady and milord got out, but without exchanging a word in regard to the cigar-and-dog incident, while the Frenchman turned over in his head an etude on the subject of " Les Anglais Taciturnes." — London Spectator.