e emancipation from boyhood into adolescence, is certainly very
fascinating. Let me assure my reader that the bound from a monosyllabic
name to a high-sounding epithet of three syllables is almost as
enchanting as this assumption of the _toga virilis_. I had often felt
the terrible brevity of Potts; I had shrunk from answering the question,
"What name, sir?" from the indescribable shame of saying "Potts;" but
Pottinger could be uttered slowly and with dignity. One could repose on
the initial syllable, as if to say, "Mark well what I am saying; this
is a name to be remembered." With that, there must have been great and
distinguished Pottingers, rich men, men of influence and acres; from
these I could at leisure select a parentage.

"Do you go by the twelve-fifteen train, sir?" asked the waiter, breaking
in upon these meditations. "You have no time to lose, sir."

With a start, I saw it was already past twelve; so I paid my bill with
all speed, and, taking my knapsack in my hand, hurried away to the
train. There was considerable confusion as I arrived, a crush of cabs,
watermen, and porters blocked the way, and the two currents of an
arriving and departing train struggled against and confronted each
other. Amongst those who, like myself, were bent on entering the
station-house, was a young lady in deep mourning, whose frail
proportions and delicate figure gave no prospect of resisting the shock
and conflict before her. Seeing her so destitute of all protection, I
espoused her cause, and after a valorous effort and much buffeting, I
fought her way for her to the ticket-window, but only in time to hear
the odious crash of a great bell, the bang of a glass door, and the
cry of a policeman on duty, "No more tickets, gentlemen; the train is
starting."

"Oh! what shall I do?" cried she, in an accent of intense agony,
inadvertently addressing the words to myself: "What shall I do?"

"There 's another train to start at three-forty," said I, consolingly.
"I hope that waiting will be no inconvenience to you. It is a slow one,
to be sure, stops everywhere, and only arrives in town at two o'clock in
the morning."

I heard her sob,--I distinctly heard her sob behind her thick black veil
as I said this; and to offer what amount of comfort I could, I added,
"I, too, am disappointed, and obliged to await the next departure; and
if I can be of the least service in any way--"

"Oh, no, sir! I am very grateful to you, but there is not