The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-15
A BANANA PEEL
AND FRIBLEIGH

''There! See that?" said Fribleigh, and he
gave a vicious and determined slash with
his cane at something on the pavement.
| He seemed to have missed it. He stopped
in his walk and made another slash "sce
that? OF all the useless trash in creation.
| Then he made a third slash. The third
| slash was successful; the point of FRI
| bleigh's cane caught scrap of. banana
| peel and sent it flying over to thSS6ther side
| of the street.
What were bananas created for, any
way?" he continued. stomach aches?''
THE banana, Fribleigh," l said condo
| scendngly, "the banana which you fool
| ishly describe as useless trash, is whole
| some fruits that have been given to man
| by a beneficent providence. 1t does not
| produce stomach aches in those whose con-
| stitutions are sound"
ut produces broken legs, then" he in
| terruped me. .as
las you grow older. my boy" I said
you will learn to know better. You will.
l hope, find out that there is good even in
| banana skins"
You walk on one unawares," FriBleigh
growed as we turned the corner into an
other street. You walk on one unawares
| and then tell me where the good of them
| comes in. Hello!" aae
+ As he uttered this sudden exclamation, I
looked up and saw an elderly lady, decided
~ well dressed, sitting on the pavement
some ten yards ahead of us and feeb,y try
ing to rise.
We both started to run to the lady's aid,
Fribeigh cxclaiming, ''Fu bet it was a ba-
mana peel?
1t was a banana peel. The lady had put
! her foot unawares n a scrap of that slick
| insidious substance and had fallen heavily.
F.! 1t was not, we found, that she was too fee
| BILE to rise, but the shock had stunned her
| little distance away was a handsome
| seal leather pocketbook and an ivory ham
/ died sunshade.
Fribleigh and I, as it CHANGED, were the
only two grown-up males within call. The
passersby who ran up at the same time
we did included two other middle-aged
women and one messenger boy, but most of
them were little girls just let out of
school on the same block
Don't try to make her stand" l said to
Fribleigh. "She may have fractured leg,
for all we know Pick up that pocketbook
and let's lift her..
"Wherc shall we lift her top said Frib-
leigh, with aggravating GOODNESS.
That was indeed the difficulty AS he put
the question to me Frblegh had stuffed
the pOcketDOOh INSIDE MS ONerc0at
There was much chatterng among the
school children, much coincidence, and both
| the middle-aged ladies offered smelling
| salts of some kind. One of them turned to
| the uniformed messenger boy and told him
| in a peremptory tone, as if it were a mos
senger boys business to know the address
| of all we,l-to-do persons to make haste and
| tell us at once where the lady lived.
Il don't know where the lady lives said
the boy Indignantly, II wasn't carrying
| her."
| perhaps it's in the pocketbook,'' said
| He opened the pockethook and found in
it these different visiting cards which he
| read aloud:
Mr.. Vance @. Waddell,' Mrs. James P.
Morris Miss Brightie Mortimer Him.
| And no address on any of them"
| just then one of the ladies with the
| smelling salts exclaimed joyfuly, "She's
| regaining consciousness" The she went on
! to fire a volley of questions at the unfor-
! tunate victim of the banana peel.
Excuse me. madam" said Fribleigh
| quietly and sedately. And he lSnelt down
on the pavement. Can you tell us where
| you live, so that we may get hack and
| take you home?" he said very distinctly.
| Wait the lady gasped. OIL think
| Oh. my anke!''
| Say boys" the messenger boy brusque-
| ly interrupted, don't you want me to go
and call that hack over there. See it COM
ing down the side street?"
"Yes," 1 said, hurry up and bring 1t
| here
Fribleigh and l lifted her into the hack
| and drove with her to a doctors office not
| two blocks away. And so the exeitment in
| the street was abruptly ended without the
| Intervention of either an ambulance or
| notc this-of a policeman.
But when we had reached the doctors Of
| fec 1t appeared that our task was not end
20 bc mi CharpP had
| ceyed in her fall that, we soon Learned.
was sprained ankle, and the doctor told
us that no serious consequences need be
| feared on that score.
The more serious and pressing problem
was TO find the lady's name and address In
order to communicate with her family, The
| doctor could not help us here. She herself
| was in such agony that 1t seemed cruel TO
| trouble her with questions.
81 must do something to ease, that pain -
| said the doctor.
what do you think of banana peel
now" Fribleigh said to me savagelya
"Much what I thought before.' said
..But the question is, how are we to CON-
municate with her people? It's getting late
and they will in horrible state of mind
about her. We must get directory.
what for?'
"To find the address of those people
whose cards you've got there. in the peck
etbook."
All this time the doctor was busy admin
istering some drug to his patient, while The
Doctors female attendant was busy taking
off her shoe and stocking preparatory te
the operation.
Friblegh and went into the outer Office
to consult the directory. OF those names
on the three visiting cards. that OF Nad-
dell occurred only once, and its owner was
policeman whose first name was Michae
mot likely to be connected with this neat
~ engraved card. Morris appeared eighi
times-ono James Patrick and one james
Parsons-and Mortimer twice Then W.