I saw a green veil, and a lady looking around for her lost teeth, and having ascertained that no one was killed, I limped away and hid behind a stump.

I stayed behind that stump three mortal hours.
When the train went again on its winding way I was not one of the passengers.

I walked, bruised and sore as I was, to the nearest village, and took the first train in the opposite direction.

That evening, as father and mother were sitting down to their solitary but excellent tea, I walked in on 'em.
"No more foreign trips for me," said I; "I will stick to Babbletown, and try and stand the consequences." About four days after this, father laid a letter on the counter before me--a large, long, yellow envelope, with a big red seal.

"Read that," was his brief comment.
I took it up, unfolded the foolscap, and read: "JOHN FLUTTER, SENIOR:--I have the honor to inform you that my client, Miss Alvira Slimmens, has instructed me to proceed against your son for breach of promise of marriage, laying her damages at twelve hundred dollars.