PENNE (helpless under the spell)--If you will be so good.
(Exit Miss Lore.)
ASBESTOS CURTAIN
[Illustrations: Two letters of reference taken by young Will
Porter from North Carolina to Texas]
TICTOCQ
[These two farcical stories about Tictocq appeared in
_The Rolling Stone_. They are reprinted here with all of
their local references because, written hurriedly and for
neighborly reading, they nevertheless have an interest
for the admirer of O. Henry. They were written in 1894.]
THE GREAT FRENCH DETECTIVE, IN AUSTIN
A Successful Political Intrigue
CHAPTER I
It is not generally known that Tictocq, the famous French detective, was
in Austin last week. He registered at the Avenue Hotel under an assumed
name, and his quiet and reserved manners singled him out at once for one
not to be singled out.
No one knows why he came to Austin, but to one or two he vouchsafed the
information that his mission was an important one from the French
Government.
One report is that the French Minister of State has discovered an old
statute among the laws of the empire, resulting from a treaty between
the Emperor Charlemagne and Governor Roberts which expressly provides
for the north gate of the Capital grounds being kept open, but this is
merely a conjecture.
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