El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-07
A FATAL NICKNAME.

Why should they say that women are
deficient in a sense of humor? Ought it
not rather to be affirmed that they are toe
sensitive to ridicule, perceive the possibili-
ties of being laughed at more keenly than
men and suffer more?
1t was at one of those garden parties
where a number of women and a few men
were gathered. 1t was delightful weather,
yet one sought the shelter of growth of
shrubbery Upon rustic bench at one
side of such a retreat young lady was
seated alone. On the opposite side were
four or five girls, with the wife of an army
officer. The two parties were quite out of
sight of each other, though so near that
every word spoken by the giddy throng
was distinctly heard by the solitary in
side.
"Let's sit down. Come, Mrs. Granger
this is your place. We have news for you.
Maude Wolcott is engaged. Isn't she
lucky?''
''That depends, of course. Who is the
other victim?'
"Victim? Oh, no-not quite thatl Who
should It be but Lieutenant XenophOn?"
"What! Froggy Xenophon? You don't
mean to tell me he Ia engaged and to
Maude Wolcott? She has such a fear of
ridicule!''
''Froggy! Why Froggy? We think him
quite presentable. He isn't a bit awk
ward. How did he get that niokhame?"
''It is cruel for me to tell you, but ev-
erybody has heard it. 1t isn't anything
to his disadvantage, either, only when one
does anything odd he is almost sure to get
q nickname
''But Froggy is such funny one! And
his eyes do stick out, and he leans forward
when he talks with you. Is that why they
call him Froggy?"
ooh, no; you are running quite away
from the story"
''Then tell it, tell it! We will never
say you told us. Will we, girls?"
A chorus of ''Never!'' was heard.
81 know I ought not to say a word, yet
it was so amusing! 1t was thisway: Lieu
tenant X. had charge OF a gang of men
constructing a military road down-oh,
down south or west or somewhere-it
doesn't matter where or when."
''Of course notl Go on; call it Tehuan-
tepec.'
1.-THE road was to run along the edge of
a heavily timbered knoll that bordered
swamp. There was plenty of wood for
construction purposes, but not much soil
that could be easily got at on account of
the interlocked roots of the trees. At one
place was an open space of water of sew
eral acres, and at this point rocky spur
from the knoll jutted boldly into the wa
ter. 1t was about feet high and 100 feet
wide where the road would cross.
1.-THE engineer who had surveyed the
route proposed to cut down some trees and
with the trunks make grade upward on
both sides, and thus, pass the obstruction.
He thought this expedient the cheapest,
the easiest accomplished and the most suit
able under the circumstances. Lieutenant
x, however, thought it would be a much
more commendable piece of work to get
rid of the obstacle entirely-in fact, to blast
it out of the way. Explosive materials in
any quantity were at his command, and a
mine was in due time excavated under the
rock. The rock appeared to be of friable
material and not deeply imbedded, but to
make it sure thing 800 or 400 pounds of
dynamite or giant powder or glycero-car
bonite-nitrate or whatever was used was
put in position and touched off. There
was an explosion that made the earth