El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-14
BY Jean Dinard-

~THEN I started from Rouen
M was radiant with happiness,
w for I had just received let
fer from Yvette in which she told me
that her father had at last consented TO
orr enpa cement She asked me 10
come to Paris Immediately, where she
and her whole family would be on the
platform at 1915 to receive me with
open arms.
suppose the express train ran at IT'S
usual speed, but to me 1t seemed 10
crawl like a snail and l could Ilno
nothing at all of interest in my morn
ing paper Ny cigar went out. put
did not notice 1t, I was too HAPPY 10
think of anything but myself and my
love.
was brought back to earth by
most disgusting sensation. L must re-
mark that / am at times terribly ner-
vous and over-sensitive 1 have always
had a dread Of anything that cra"is
and lust now I had a feeling as IL
some big cold insect was crawling up
nv leg. 1 tried to tell myself 1t was
nothing but imagination, but the SEN
sation was too distinct. l felt L must
get rid of this clammy thing that was
slowly crawling up my left leg, ana III
terror / tore off my trousers ana ran
IN the omen window of the compart-
nent. held them outside and snook
them violently. What dropped out OF
them l do not know, but suddenly a
strong gust of wind tore the trousers
from nv grasp and horror stricken
saw them go sailing away in the air.
followed them with my eyes until
I saw them fall down on a dusty road
running alongside the track-a dark
spot in the dust, which grew smaller
and smaller until 1 could see 1t no
longer.
Not until then did the terrible con-
sequences dawn upon me- / stared at
nv naked limbs as if L had never
before known myself to. have legs.
What a dreadful situation! What
could I do?
Ny first thought was of my trunk
but alas, 1 had registered 1t through
and it was out of my reach in the Dag
gage car I had a small satchel In
the net above my head, but II contain
ed nothing but some cigars. cigarets
and my shaving set.
NV eyes ran around the compart-
ment The curtains were the only
things that might be used, but no, 1T
would never do I thought Of opening
the door and crawling along the foot
board to the next compartment, Dut
even if 1 did not fall off and managed
to reach a smoking compartment with
other passengers they would probably
take me for an escaped lunat1c and
raise an alarm. And suppose l did
succeed in proving my sanity, it was
hardly to be expected that anyone OF
them would be charitable enough to
lend me his own trousers.
No, the situation was hopeless.
sank. back in despair. Here l was sep
arated from civilization merely by the
thin partition to the next compartment,
but | might as well have been in the
middle of Sahara or on the North Pole.
The progress of a thousand years had
been stripped from me in a second.
was on par with the Savages. Never
before had it struck me what an i'm
portant part of civilization clothes are.
In the meantime l was whisked to-
wards the final catastrophe. The train
seemed to fly and the thought Of the
little party waiting for me at Care St
Lezare grew more and more unpleas-
ant I could see them smile and feel
my sweet hopes being crushed forever
Love can stand much, but it cannot
survive ridicule.
The country changed character, we
passed one suburb after another, then
the train slowed down and rolled into
pie and finally caught sight of Yvette
and her people looking for me. Yvette
looked at every passengers face at the
windows. Suddenly a bright smile
spread over her pretty face. She had