The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-08-16
THE FABLE OF THE ARCHI-
TECT WHO GOT HIS
PANTS PRESSED.
BY ALEX MILLER.

young architect. LII ne nao not ocen
young, this story would never have
been told. If he had not been an ar
chitect, it might not have occurred.
But since he was both, it did occur in
this wise:
A neighboring town-was making ar
rangements to build public building
of some note. The architect was glad
of 1t, for the building of fine buildings
was right in his line, and without he it
was not happy, neither would he have
where to lay his head.
Therefore, when he heard of the town
that was planning to put up fine
building, he bought a ticket for the
town and went thither.
: If the mountain would not come to
Mahomet, Mahomet would go to the.
mountain. So he went to the strange
town to get the plans and specifications
and to make his plans.
He stopped at the hotel, which
seems TO have been a very primitive
affair, or the best part of this story
would never have been told. Now it
so happened that this architect was
also noted for his aesthetic taste and
his pants bagged at the knees. Any
body knows that pants which bag at the
knees are not aesthetic and net even
pretty. If he had been a Turk or a
Chinaman he would not have cared
whether his pants bagged at the knees
Or not. But he was neither of these.
so he concluded to send them out to
have them pressed. ~
He gave them to the clerk to take
out. for that purpose. He gave him
instructions to be sure and come back
in an hour at the outside. Meantime,
he went to bed. Not that he was par
ticularly sleepy. But that is a good
place to 60 under those circumstances.
He stayed in bed till he had studied
out many beautiful designs for build
ings.., BE studied out many of the
most. beautiful. plans for houses, bat
What, good did that do him? A man
may invent the most exquisite plans In
the world, bat If he has no pants, what
good will they do?
A man with a very inferior plan,
with pants, has big advantage over
the man without. He was not only
without pants, but he had had no
breakfast. Being without pants is bad
enough, and when q man is without
both he can haye hardly any fun al all.
When it began to approach noon,
the architect began to grow uneasy.
He got up, but he might have done that
long before. He put on his coat and
hat, but they did not fill the bill.
They did very well as far as they went.
But that was not far enough. How
ever, that was not the coats fault. He
pulled 1t down as far as he could, yet
that was not far enough.
1t was noon and no pants. He was
getting desperate. He was hungry and
he was beginning to picture himself
as starving to death all alone, in a
country hotel. with NO one to hear his
last words. And he had some word to
leave. so he tried his coat and hat
again and ventured to the door. He
stuck his head out, not venturing into
the hall, for reasons that must be APP
parent; at any rate, they are more ap-
parent than his pants were.
He could see no one. He returned
to his room. He made up his mind to
sell his life as dearly as possible. He
said to himself he would shout. He
did so and the rafters echoed back
his voice as If they had. entered into
the spirit of the joke and were mock
ing him
He wrote note to leave in his room,
which should be found by those who
came in search for him after re was
dead. And he uttered anathemas upon
the head of the witless clerk who had
to return his pants. And he
dropped q silent tear on the paper as
he thought of the horrid death that
wss before him. And he was to die
in a'strange hotel without pants. He
had often heard of men dying with
their boots on and it sounded sort of
but where was the romance
in dying without his pants?
1t was more than he could bear. So
be made another last effort to reach
somebody and again stuck his head
out OF the door. He espied the land
lady coming down the hall. He kept
out of sight rs far a. possible and
asked her II she had seen his pants.
She wss mortally offended. She told
him that she was in bsttsr business,
she hoped. 20. beg your pardon"
The hapless architect mosned, shut
won't send you. that Internal clerk
up here till l make . few remarks 70
hima I Am getting hungry"
She began 70 grsap the situstion
md she disappsare9 Presently the