The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-06-24
the morning of our hurried
pack up and get away from
Luxor we lost Mr.. Peasley. 1t

NJ
W Luxor we lost Mr.. Peasley. 1t
was a half-hour before the sailing Of
the boat, and we we're attempting to
lock trunks, call in the porters, give
directions as to forwarding mail and
tip everybody except the proprietor all
at the same time.
This excruciating crisis comes with
every departure. The fear of missing
the boat. the lurking suspicion that
several articles have been left in lower
drawers or under the sofa, the dread
of overlooking some worthy mental
who is entitled to baksheesh, the I'M
easy conviction that the bill contains
several overcharges-all these com
bine to produce a mental condition
about half way plain "rattles" and
female hysteria And then, to add
to the horror of the situation, Mr.
Peasley had disappeared.
IA. hands yere needed-one to boss
the porters, another to round up the
tippees, another to audit the charges
for extras" another to make final
search for razor strops and hot water
bags (of which we had left trail from
Chicago to Cairo. Instead OF attend
ing to these really important duties
We were Looping madly about the hotel
looking for Peasley. We asked one
another why we had invited him to
Join the party. We called him all the
names that we had invented on the
trip to fit his unusual personality. One
of these was a 'flat-headed fush.'
don't know what flush is, but the
more you study 1t and repeat it over TO
yourself the more horrible becomes
the fun significance of the word. Also
We called him a "swoZzle," which
means a chump who has gone on and
on, exploring the furthermost regions
of idiocy, until even his most daring
companions are left far behind. We
called Mr.. Peasley a ''walleyed
spingo," the latter being a mullet that
has lost all sense of shame. Ordinary
abuse and profanity became weak and
ineffective when pitted against words
of this scathing nature.
Reader, if you have a lifelong friend
and you feel reasonably sure that you
never could quarrel with him or be
out of patience with him or find fault
with any of his small peculiarities, go
on long trip with him in foreign
lands. You will be together so much
of the time that finally each will be-
gin to hate the sight of the other.
There will come off days, fraught with
petty annoyances, when each will have
a fretful desire to hurl cameras and
suit cases at his beloved playmate.
Suppose your lifelong friend has some
little eccentricity of manner or speech,
some slight irregularity of behavior at
the table or a perverted and stubborn
conviction which reveals itself in
every controversy. You may have
overlooked this defect for years be-
cause you met him only at intervals,
but when you begin to camp with him
you discover every one of his shining
faults. And how they do get on your
nerves! Next to matrimony, perhaps,
travelling together is the most severe
test of compatibility.
We liked Mr.. Peasley. Looking back
over the trip, we can well believe that
the expedition would have been rather
tame if deprived of his cheering pres
ence. But he was so full of initiative
and so given to discovering byways
of adventure that he was always break
ing in on the programme and starting
little excursions of his own. He was
very hard man to mobilize. If we
had solemnly agreed to get together
for luncheon at l O'Clock, three of
us would be waiting at the food garage