"Get up for this lady," said one bolder than the
rest, giving the stranger a sharp admonition on the shoulder. He pulled
his travelling cap over his eyes, and doggedly refused to stir. There was
now a regular hubbub in the car; American blood was up, and several
gentlemen tried to induce the offender to move.
"I'm an Englishman, and I tell you I won't be brow-beat by you beastly
Yankees. I've paid for my seat, and I mean to keep it," savagely shouted
the offender, thus verifying my worst suspicions.
"I thought so! - I knew it! - A regular John Bull trick! just like them!"
were some of the observations made, and very mild they were, considering
the aggravated circumstances.
Two men took the culprit by his shoulders, and the others, pressing
behind, impelled him to the door, amid a chorus of groans and hisses,
disposing of him finally by placing him in the emigrant-car, installing
the lady in the vacated seat. I could almost fancy that the shade of the
departed Judge Lynch stood by with an approving smile.
I was so thoroughly ashamed of my countryman, and so afraid of my
nationality being discovered, that, if any one spoke to me, I adopted
every Americanism which I could think of in reply.
