San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-07-06
Peculiar Cases OF the Blues.

A pale young man enterou ia"ye'
office and closed the door with his back
like Vermonter, and said he had
struck the right place and he asked him
to proceed.
swell, what want to know is, II a
man marks me for life can collect
damages from him9"
The lawyer said it was the easiest
thing in the world to collect damages in
such cases.
"Then," said the young man, II girl
goes out riding with me to a picnic, and
she gets marked for life, car she collect
damages from me?"
The lawyer scratched his head a
moment, looked wise then thought n
moment again with his forefnger on
his forehead, looked into volume of
patent office reports and finally ex.
pressed the opinion to the young man
that in the latter case there was no pos
sible show of the girls collecting dam
ages from him. The young man threw
down $40 as a retainer, and said that
the lawyer could consider himself en-
gagged for the season to prosecute one
case and defend another. The lawyer
put the money in his vest-pocket me-
chanically, as though it was mere
matter of form, and told the young man
to state his case. Taking off his hat
and wiping the perspiration off his fore
head, he proceeded: ..r
"Well, want you to commence
against livery keeper for $4,000
damages. You see last summer I hired
a team and top buggy to take a girl
out to Oconomowoc to the yacht racing
and we were going to take dinner at
the hotel. On the way out there the
almightiest thunder storm you ever saw
came up. 1t drenched us from head to
foot. There wasn't dry rag on me,
and the girl said if there was on her she
didn't know where it was. But it final
ly cleared off, and we drove into
Oconomowoc and around by the
lake and got out in the wood. We had
on white clothes. I had on a pair of
Marseilles pants and the girl had on a
white muslin dress. swell, sir do you
know when we got out the whole back
of us from the knees to the small at the
back, was as blue as indigo. The bug"
gy cushion was blue, and when it got
wet the blue just fairly run off and it
was the bluest blue that you ever saw.
When she stood off with her back toward
me I could think of nothing but an
italian sunset on the Lake of Chrome.
She was the bluest girl, true blue and
no mistake. And my pants! I went
away from her to get q better view of
the yacht race and swear a little. 7
must have looked to her like some old
blue in the theatre. Well, we didn't
dare go to the hotel to dinner, and
were afraid to stop at Med where
the Light Horse squad was in camp,
where knew all the boys, and we did
not get anything to eat except glass
of beer and piece of dog sausage at
Pewakee, which I had Prussian bring
out to the buggy. The girl got mad
because I laughed little at her having
the blues, and she wouldn't speak to
me all the way home. We came into
town after dark and I thought the affair
would blow over; but blast me if the
blue color didn't set on my skin, and
nothing will take it off. I have tried
everything but it is just as blue to-day
as it was that night I got home from
Oconomowoc. From my knees to the
small Of my back I am deeply, darkly,
beautifully blue, and probably shall be
during my natural life, and want the
livery man sued. If wanted to travel
with the circus as a tattoed man would
not mind it so much, but I don't. /
never knew before that blue was fast
color"
"Well this is only half the trouble.
About a week after we got back, the
girls father came to me with gun and
asked me what kind of colored person
was I. 1t seems that the blue was just
as set in its way in his family as it was