NEAR THE END OF HIS JOURNEY
Reading edition
A distinguished lawyer and politician was traveling with a pass on a train, when an Irish woman came into the car lugging along a big basket and a bundle, and sat down near him. When the conductor came in to collect the fares, the woman paid her money, and the conductor passed by the lawyer without collecting anything. The good woman looked at him and said, “An’ faith, an’ why is it that the conductor takes the money of a poor Irishwoman, an’ don’t ask ye for anything, an’ ye seem to be a rich mon?” The lawyer replied, “My good woman, I am traveling on my beauty.” The woman looked at him more carefully for a moment, and said, “An’ is that so? An’ then, sure, you must be near your journey’s end.”