The American Credo Part 13

--217

That farmers afford particularly easy prey for book-agents and are the largest purchasers of cheap sets of Guy de Maupa.s.sant, Rudyard Kipling and O. Henry.

--218

That George Was.h.i.+ngton never told a lie.

--219

That a dark cigar is always a strong one.

--220

That the night air is poisonous.

--221

That a hair from a horse's tail, if put into a bottle of water, will turn into a snake.

--222

That champagne is the best of all wines.

--223

That it snowed every Christmas down to fifteen years ago.

--224

That if a young woman finds a piece of tea leaf floating around the top of her tea cup, it is a sign that she will be married before the end of the year.

--225

That if, after one l.u.s.ty blow, a girl's birthday cake reveals nine candles still burning, it is a sign that it will be nine years before she gets married.

--226

That if, while promenading, a girl and her escort walk on either side of a water hydrant or other obstruction instead of both walking 'round it on the same side, they will have a misunderstanding before the month is over.

--227

That it is unlikely that a man and woman who enter a hotel without baggage after 10 P.M. and register are man and wife.

--228

That all country girls have clear, fresh, rosy complexions.

--229

That chorus girls spend the time during the entr'-actes sitting around naked in their dressing-rooms telling naughty stories.

--230

That many soldiers' lives have been saved in battle by bullets lodging in Bibles which they have carried in their breast pockets.

--231

That each year the Fourth of July exodus to the bathing beaches on the part of persons from the city establishes a new record.

--232

That women with red hair or wide nostrils are possessed of especially pa.s.sionate natures.

--233

That three-fourths of the inhabitants of Denver are lungers who have gone there for the mountain air.

--234

That, when sojourning in Italy, one always feels very lazy.

--235

That the people of Johnstown, Pa., still talk of nothing but the flood.

--236

That there is no finer smell in the world than that of burning autumn leaves.