Dear Sir, - I must thank you far publishing my letter in your July double numbers; and, as promised, I now write to relate my further experiences at the dinner which, as I have told you, was attended by no fewer than five monopedes and two one-legged men.
After dinner I missed June and found myself in the company of the beautiful Spanish-looking girl, whose name was Dolores and the girl whom I have likened to Anita Page, and will therefore call Anita.
We walked along for some distance in the grounds of the house, and I noted how each time as Dolores placed her single crutch forward and how charming she looked. Anita, too, made a pretty picture as she swung gracefully along on her crutches.
We found a seat at last, and I was able to sit opposite the two girls.
I was wondering what to talk about, when Dolores solved my problem. "Well, Mr. Ensor," she said, "don't you find it strange to have dined with so many lame ducks?"
I replied that I found it strange but pleasant, and that I could not accept the words "lame ducks." After that the conversation never lagged, and I found out a good deal of the history and thoughts of the two incomplete beauties.
Dolores, apparently had lost her right leg when quite a child. Her loss did not worry her until she reached her 'teens, and there she became acutely conscious of it. When she was 15 she had an artificial leg made, and she used this for two years. During this time, although she was a girl of exceptional beauty, she received little attention from the opposite sex. Soon after she was 18 however, a slight accident damaged the leg, and she was forced to use crutches. The very first time she used them she was followed by a young man, who eventually spoke to her. The young man asked her to take dinner with him, and an appointment was fixed.
Dolores duly kept the appointment and appeared daintily dressed and using her artificial leg, which had been repaired. She was surprised to notice that the boys face dropped when he saw her. However, he was very nice to her, but did not suggest another appointment.
Once again the leg had to go back for repairs, and Dolores took to her crutches. Again she met the boy, who asked her to go to a show with him at a future date. That night Dolores received a note from the boy asking her to use her crutches when she met him. This request caused her to wonder whether after all her one-legless was repugnant.
At any rate, she complied with his request, and at that meeting the boy revealed that her single leg and crutches did appeal to him. Thereafter Dolores abandoned her artificial leg and took to crutches, and eventually to a single crutch.
Anita was then persuaded to give her own history. She was perhaps less thrilled with her condition than Dolores. She had lost her leg only two years previously, and the loss compelled her to abandon a promising stage career. She confessed, however, that she was glad to find that there were people who found her single leg charming, and therefore made no effort to disguise her loss.
At this juncture we were joint by our host and hostess and June. I was thrilled to see that June was clad only in bathing costume, it being her intention to bath in the beautiful partly natural and partly artificial lake in the grounds.
I think I can best give my readers an accurate idea how June looked by asking them to imagine a girl of the beauty of Vilma Banky clad in a costume revealing every line of her figure, standing supported by a single slender crutch.
Yours truly,
Lover Of Monopedes.