The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-29
STORY OF A CORK LEG

Ivy hllH anu MIL AVA 6oueI dIAoAo Pno'
So when l received from my old schoo
chum, Tom Missal, an invitation t.
shoot with him on the LIST Of Septembe
lost no time in dropping him lin
Of acceptance. Tom lives at Harro
dene, some little way down the Soutl
Eastern line
On the eve of the eventful First,
with all my traps, committed myself
to that space destroying bit Of rail
way engineering-the South Eastern
railway.
We had not proceeded far toward oul
destination when a collision occurred
A fair amount Of paint was rubbed OF
some of the carriages and among sun.
dry other minor mishaps, my left leg
sustained compound fracture, which
after being examined by doctor, was
pronounced as unlikely to be Of any
further use to me. The long and short
Of it was-amputation.
Later, l became somewhat "low
down" in health and was advised a
sea-trip would be beneficial. l ar
ranged for one, to be taken during the
more severe months. By the time
the good ship Mytabin arrived at Dur
ban, in Natal, l had become so used
to my new patent-actioned limb, that
I had almost forgotten was its pos
SCISSOR and walked with but the slight
est Of limps.
At one of the houses at which l had
been entertained made the acquaint-
ance Of a Mr.. Boleyn, a young English
man who had a farm, or farms rather,
on the other side of Pletermaritzburg
away among the hills. He had come
to Durham on some matter Of business
and before he returned we saw enough
Of each other to enable us to say, each
to the other: 1--WE cottoned to you
old boy" and in his case he made the
addition: you must come over and
stay with me at Foaming Falls"
"Foaming Falls" was the name he
had given to his residential farm. He
had extracted a promise from me to
visit him. Within a week had met
him in Pietermaritzburg, to which
place he had driven in his cape cart to
meet me. We were soon on the road,
and he in high glee, kept telling me
how delighted Anna was at the idea of
having visitor so lately from home.
had not bargained for meeting
with the womankind, but after he had
explained that Anna was his sister,
and mot bad little woman in her
way" I was in measure reconciled.
Arrived at Foaming Falls, Anna met
us on the stoop Of the veranda. What
a picture she looked-a figure of me-
dunn height, with a glory of lion
tawny hair, pale complexion, with SUI
ficient embonpont to suit my taste.
Dressed in a dark violet-lined CASH
mere gown, with deep orange-color-
ed silk 'kerchief loosely tied around
her throat, she looked-well, as have
said, a perfect picture.
No, / say nothing about her eyes.
hut tho pazella's arc mt r,ora Iir,n;d
We ware som at tah,e and wo po,nnn
and mvsclf at anv ratio woro huna,n
after our drive. Conversation did not
ag-never the ghost Of falter. Her
hobbies, my weaknesses and Boleyn's
anxiety about his stock were ali in
urn trotted ont
Nv s+ov h.d rrn ,,., . ,..
NO vb,cb timo Anna and ~ h.o WI
10 haat -, obu,aa w. u u De.ome
rothor d.nuo ta@... W. "'Aeu ~
laturalized IN company for she had a
urn Tor natural history, and so in
pare Time we sought Tor specimens.
This dolce far niente life could not
asst forever, and the time came when
must perforce make my adieux.
1t was the morning before the day
IN which I had arranged to take my
departure that Anna was In the garden
Walking in a somewhat aimless FASH
on. l Joined her and we soon found
urselves on a favorite topic. was
bout to pick up my pipe, which had
ropped from my fingers to the ground
7hen I saw, right at my feet a huge
rown snake--a mamba, as the species
, named out there.
sprang forward with an effort NJ
imp, but one can't iump very c,evar-
, with an artificial limb attnched a.
last 1 had NOT practiced NV oefort
, clear the reptile brought mo N
REF, and I fell urone on tha gr,vo,
ath. Then followed n fearfu, sbr;eL
ON Anna and blow on my left leg.
course 1t did not hurt met was
le right leg to be hit. Then I saw
ma flying for dear life toward the
ouse, calling the while in lusty tones:
Tack! Jack! where is the whisky?"
BON she reappeared, and with undi-
inished celebrity, whisky bottle in