El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-20
A Night
A short story.
S HECTOR BIDOCHOTrx reacbed I

= Twas Just clear enough to realize
that he was very intoxicated. He had
lost his hat and broken his cane
against a lamp post which he thought
insisted on getting in his way 1t was
half past three in the morning.
1T is a pleasant reception I will get"
he murmureds Adelaide won't do q
thing to me-
Where the deuce was his key any
way. He sought in all his pockets and
even in his pOcketbOok until at last
he found it in the back pocket Of his
evening coat
Strange! I am really drunk. for I
remember distinctly, / mean, I don't
remember at all that 1 put it into that
he entered very softly and afraid
of awakening his wife he did not even
turn on the electric light He pulled
off his shoes in the hall, took of his
OVercOat and Sneaked into his bedroom
He was prepared for the severest kind
of q curtain ltcture from Adelaide but
was lady surprised to find her fast
asleep; so fast asleep that he could
not hear her DreaIne.
What a wonderful stroke Of luck"
ne thought, If 1 could only get into
bed without awakening her"
1t did not take him long to undress,
though IL was dark The dangerous
thing was to get into bed without dis
turbing her. He raised the coverlet
cautiously and slipped into bed
there was no sound. Then suddenly his
stomach began to trouble him. He felt
as if he were con board a boat in
high sea
Good Lord ne thought, how the
ship rolls and pitches" But ADELAIDE
fortunately slept through II all ana
that was the main thing
Tired from remaining too long IN one
position, he stretched out first one Leg
( then the other. and then even dared
to turn over In doing so discovered
why his wife had not noticed anything
She was not in the bed at all.
This is strange" he said aloud lie
called her name, but no answer came
What does this mean he cried u
riously, Il never heard Of such a thing
before. Adelaide. ] advise you to come
forth right away y on know / never d1f
appreciate practical jokes
But Adelaide remained silent though
he called her several times
Then he pressed the switch, but no
light came
This is too much he rOared, I DO
not allow anyone TO make 1ooi OF
me Adelaide, come in here immediate
". I tell you.
He waited several seconds but there
was not the slightest sound to be
Don't go too far" he shouted. cor
I shall show you who is the master
At last he got the idea to ring for
the maid. He pressed the button and
waited for several minutes.
Gertrude" he shouted
Gertrude was neither to be seen nor
That girl is getting too impudent-
must give her notice right away, but
first 1 must find out where Adelaide
He sat up with a great effort. but
fell back exhausted 1t was no longer
the pitching and rolling of ship. II
felt rather like an earthquake and a
terrible storm was raging outside
This Will never do" ne mOaned-
What in the world has happened?
must 90 out and wake up Gertrude
On all tours he crawled along the
corridor humping against a lot Of fur
niture. There was no electric nghI ana
he had no matches
At last he found the door OF the ser
wants room and opened it
Gertrude" he shouted, why the
devil don't you answer Why don
you come when I call your Where IS
No answer. Aroused into fury he be
gan TO strike the servants bed Win
both fists II was empty
IF this doesn't beat anything I ever
heard Of Something must have nap
pened. ] must get hold of the JanitOr-
As he was about to 60 down stairs
he discovered that he had nothing on
but his night shirt. which IN some
strange way seemed to have turned
around with the buttons in the back
instead OF in front He crawled back
TO the bedroom, but could not IND his
T.
His stomach began 20 trouble him
again and the storm had now grown
into a perfect cyclone. Everything was
turned around. He got up but fell
down again Immediately.
That comes from being drunk" he
murmured-
Without knowing it he had struck
the plain truth.
He lay quiet a few moments to al
low things TO settle down, wondering
where the two women might have
Suddenly a thought struck him: Il
wonder If this is the floor above
He crawled to the window and
peeped through the curtains
1T is easy enough to settle that
question" he thought, "as ours is the
only floor that has a balcony, unless
that has gone the same way as Ade-
laide and Gertrude"
Quite exhausted he grOaned: Vow l
don't understand anything at all II
this is a joke they are playing on me
IL is a most silly one and 1 am going
to go to bed again"
He did so with considerable difficult
~ and a moment later he was sound
asleep. He woke up suddenly, the sun
shining into his race.
what is the matter" he grOaned-
Gertrude why haven't you rolled down
the blindsT
But suddenly he sat up in bed. star
ing about him. His hair stood on end
with horror. Was he perhaps dream
ing? He pinched his ear No. it hurt, so
he must be awake His head was as
heavy as lead and thrObbing as II about
to burst.
where is the wardrobe" he cried
in despair" and the washstand and all
the rest Of the furniture2"
All he saw was n miserable bed which
he did not recognize.
what kind of a game do you call
this2 Adelaide. what have you done
with the wardrobe and the washstand
and all the other furniture2"
No merciful voice answered his de-
He was not yet quite sober and
racked his brain for an explanation,
and sud suddenly it came like flash
of tightening"
ooh, I begin to understand 1t now I
remember now We moved the day
before yesterday. But where does this
old iron bedstead come from? It must
belong to the new tenant who Is
about to move in. This is a nice kettle
Of fish"
And tearing his hair with tears in
his eyes BidOchOuN cried: "Oh, If I
could only remember where we moved
to-"
MARIA TO HAVE
AT $4,000 HOTEL