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Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 69

EDITOR'S WALLET.

Seeing- ¥rs (Jodfrey Off. THINGS THEY REIIEITBEBED TO. SAY, AND AKTIOXES THEY FOBGOT TO BESTOW. I Do we ever say more idiotic things than when we go to railroad ,=tations to see our friends off? Do our faces ever look inors vacuous than when we hurl our lass imbecile remarks in at the car windows? Do we ever make feebler jokes or more imbrue our advice in commonplace ? I think not. Mrs Godfrey is a charming woman, and she has been heard to say that slie was proud of her friends; but do not think she was proud of 'them the other day when they gathered in the Union station to bid her farewell before she left Honolulu. Neither did she lierself shine with any particular lustre. We were gathered in the women's waiting room when she came in. After slic had greeted us all, bought her ticket, and sent a man down to check her baggage, a most appalling silence fell on the group. "You'll write to me before you get to San Francipco, won't you?" Margaret Deane said with the most intense fervour. "Oh, -of course," Mrs Godfrey answered. Thereupon six other friends exacted the same promise. Another silence fell, broken by Mac Donald, "Will you have to change cars?*' he asked anxioiisly. • Mac Donald thinks 'no more of crossing the Continent than he dees of buying a cigar, but he added: "It's the deuce 10 change oars, you know." "No, I don't have to change cars till I get to /Frisco," Mrs Godfrey said. This remark was hailed as a joke, and we all laughed uproariously. "You are the jolliest woman,' little Wakefield said admiringly. "We'll all mies you awfully." A chorus of regret arose. Mrs Godfrey said that we must remember that she was coming back in the spring. "And then you'll be our Jlonolulu queen," the Infant said. "JSTow, don t get the plague," sweet old Mrs Chisholm said, "and have you get my belladonna plasters for seasickness? And have you got those tablets? They are so good if you — if j r ou feel bilious, and " "Mrs Godfrey, you ought to have some dried beef to chaw if you get seasick," MucDonald said. Joiverybody now offered a sure cure for seasickness, and Mrs Godfrey-pre-tended that she would buy them all in iSan Francisco. Aiioth.-r silence fell on the company. " I wonder what time you get to Omaha/' Margaret Deane asked. Mrs Godfrey didn't know nor care, but Wakefield -and Mac Donald got a folder and spent several minutes in fixingthe exact minute. We then held a short argument on the best" position for a berth. Betore this question, in which nobody felt the slightest interest, was settled, Wa-:eneld discovered that it was' time to go down to the train. . , , i -The women aIL squealed ,at this announcement ; the - men fought courteously for the privilege of- carrying- Mrs- Godfrey's hand luggage. We all went into the car with her. T-he men. shook bauds with Mrs Godfrey and tae womeii kissed her damply between, sobs. "Now, do write to its all," Mrs .Chisholm. said, "and remember about -the belladonna plaster-/; "Yes, do write often, and .tell us all about the Sandwich Islands," the chorus cried. "Good-bye — good-bye." We filed out of the car and then gathered in a knot under Mrs Godfrey's window. We wiped our eyes and smiled out. j "Don't get married while you arc gone," the Infant said ill* a. sudden accession of idiocy. ' Mrs Godfrey laughed, and Wakeneld and MaeDonald looked at the Infant as if they desired ardently to eat her — 'bones, picture hat, and all. Mrs Chisholm said that marriage was a lottery. Nobody disputed thi3, and Margaret changed the subject by asking if Mrs Godfrey was sure she had her ticket and her check. The traveller showed them to us. It was time for the train to move. We all said again; "Good-bye — be sure to take care of yourself. Don't forget to write," and those other senseless things that people say through car windows. Mrs Godfrey smiled, and said, "Good-bye, good-bye." The train moved out of the shed, and we were turning away when the Infant had a gleam of lucidity. /'Why, Mr Mac Donald, you forgot to give her that box of candy, and Mr Wakefield has got his roses in his hands yet." • . ' The two men looked first foolish, then vicious. Mrs Ohisholm dived into her reticule and set up a loud wail. "Ai\d I forgot to give her. the belladonna* plasters." Sheturned to the Infant, "Here, dear, you take them. - They'll be -real convenient when you go to school this fall." "Thank you." the Infant returned. She looked hopefully towards Wakefield and MacDonald, expecting them to follow suit with the flowers and candy, but they only glared at her and went up the steps towards the street. The rest of us followed. Somehow we felt that we had not distinguished ourselves I in the parting hour. — Chicago Daily News.