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Show AN ICfc. DELAY. now the Stat of the North River lnflu-erne lnflu-erne European Travel. New dimmers nro eften added to the undertaking of a Kurnpenn tour by the presence of ico In the North river. If you think that a fanciful proposition you should have been with uio when I went i over to llobuken. It was a cold tlay and the river wna pretty full of ico a good deal fuller rimn it had Iwcn the day before a fact that Borne of my fellow passengers learned to their surprise and ugnny when It wna too late. Why agony, miles the boat wna jiilu. i ny Htfoiiy, unless tne uonc wna smashed? Hecniiso they were crossing to take an outgoing stentner. Tliey were three well dressed, tfi ntlriimnly fellows that is, they were very gentlemanly when they came aboard with their sticks nnd their rugsund their umbrellas neatly strapped up, and their handbags shining like Xmaa present with silver initials. They sat. down together, and one pulling out lils watch remarked easily that they had plenty of time, nnd another one said that it was "bciiNtly to be no early, don't you know, with all the fellows that are bores, you know, hanging around talking to you for hours," and the third said, "Yes, and the plank was always ho choked with the visitors you couldn't find your stateroom state-room without a lot nf fuss, ami that a steamer the hour la-fore she sailed was tho best place for pickpockets in tho world, and that be never wanted to Is? on hand fifteen minutes before the gangplank was drawn In." .Meanwhile the boat had tlrawn out nnd was putting on steam to crush her way through the ice. The three gentlemanly fellows had done everything just as they had meant to, and were beautifully satisfied satis-fied with themselves, but they did not seem to know a great deal about ice In the Korth river. I'rcttyaoou the boat stopped that, is ahe ceased to go forward, and hh one of the passengers said, "Ix'gau to cliaw on the ice." The ice did not seem to mind It, neither at first, did t lie three ocean bound travelers, lint time went on and the hoat didn't, nnd after a while it licgau to strike them that this wits a bad combination, and that if it kept up lung enough it might be inconvenient. One went out of tho cabin saying he waa going toflnd somebody to ask about things. This Napoleonic measure did not perceptibly percept-ibly increase our all but imiierceptible progress. When he came back the three looked at each other very blankly, then they looked at t heir watches and looked blanker. They did not seem to find mtlch consolation in conversation. They began tramping about uneasily. One discovered that from a window the) could see their steamer lying at her dock. They all at a nil at her ia turn long and earneMtly. Still the boat "chawed" on the ice. Then muttering!, mut-tering!, of profanity could lie heard from their once gentlemanly lipn. At la-t the boat forged abend for a few feet, nnd the trio in woe looked each other in the face and smiled once more. When progress again stopped and the "chawing" was renewed their hint estate wa.s Worse than their first. When flnalls'.by backings and starlings and many maneuvers that all consumed time, wo got into the clear water they looked ten years older than they did when we left New York. Never had a trip to Kurope used up more vitality In the same length of time. They tried to exchange a few words about the improbability improba-bility of the steamer leaving exactly on time, but t heir voices seemed to stick in their thronts, and it was plain to nny niau with a watch in his pocket and an advertisement adver-tisement of the line in his paper that they were still left, even if the steamer should be a good ninny minutes late. When at la.st we got in they had their measures arranged for the best, light they could make. They had taken all their traps anil bags to some employee on the ferryboat to keep till called fur, only putting put-ting in their pockets some small things from their contents, for carriages and hacks are not common around that part of Iloboken, and they were w ise enough to prepare for the run that they soon took. They started from the Imat at very nearly full sjwd, fn spito of cheerful warnings from fellow passengers, newsboys nnd others to save their wind. A number of them followed at a lesser speed to see how they came out. A cry of "Stop thief" waa raised by an unenlightened llobokeuer, but lie was choked otf. The three gentlemanly gentle-manly fellows were for the time hardened to all the slings and arrows of outrageous fort une. Not so when one of them had to come back alone, lie was shorter and fatter than his companions; they Hew ovei the wavering gangplank just as it waa trembling on the very point of retirement from public service. Ho didn't. He to-turned to-turned amid expressions of sympathy from the interested populace to hunt up the man that had nil their "things," and with plenty of time to consider what he'd do next. New York Herald. |