Dear Sir, - I should like to relate a few experiences of mine which I think will be of interest to your readers.
On Boxing Day in 1928 I was invited to go to a party given by a friend. I arrived rather late, and found that the party had already sat down to tea. I knew all present with the exception of a pretty blonde, next to whom I was placed and who was introduced to me as Miss Summers.
I enjoyed the tea thoroughly and found Miss Summers as entertaining as she was pretty. Tea was finished at length and the party rose, leaving Miss Summers, whose Christian name was Olive, still seated. I waited for her to rise, and was amazed to see that my host was approaching her with a crutch in his hand. The girl rose, and I was then able to see that her right leg was missing. This was my first opportunity of knowing a one-legged girl.
During the evening we played many games, but eventually the party broke up and I saw the girl home and, just as we were about to part, plucked up courage to ask her to meet again.
She laughed and said, "But tomorrow you will meet a girl with both her limbs and forget me."
"The fact is," I replied, "that I rather like you as you are, and I believe you know it."
My next encounter occurred in the summer of 1929, when one day as I went to catch my homeward 'bus I saw, a few yards away, a girl supported by a pair of crutches, beneath whose short skirt only one leg appeared. I sat opposite her in the 'bus, and formed the impression that her left leg was missing from the hip. The girl evidently worked near me, and I saw her on many occasions.
It became obvious to me that I was not the only man interested in her, as at least two other men betrayed to my watchful eye that they were considerably interested. One of them attempted to speak to her on one occasion, but received a very cold reception.
I learnt afterwards that she had only lost her leg quite recently, and was very sensitive about it. I saw her a few days ago, and was wearing an artificial leg which gave her a very awkward walk, and I presumed that she had remained unaware of the one-leg charm.
Later in the summer I went on holiday to a farm in North Devon, and near there I had my most fortunate encounter.
One evening as darkness was falling I was on my way to the farm where I was staying, when I saw a stationary car in the lane. I reached it and saw a girl peering into the engine. She turned to me as I approached, and I saw at once that she was the most perfect girl of her kind that I have ever seen. The beauty of her face was quite remarkable, and her figure perfect, except that she had lost her right leg and was supported by a single crutch.
She explained that the car had broken down and that her companion, an older sister, had gone for help. I offered to see what I could do, and soon we were both busy with the engine. I found what was causing the trouble, and put it right temporarily. I got into the car and started up, noticing that the girl stood aside daintily poised on her one perfect leg and unsupported by her crutch.
I started the car forward, and heard a splintering sound as I did so. The crutch had slipped down by the bonnet, and the forward movement of the car had snapped it in half. I got out rapidly and apologised for the damage I had done. She was most sporting and insisted that the fault was hers. She still had one crutch, but that was at the farm, and there was a fair walk from the garage to the house itself. I lifted her into the car and we garaged it, picking up her sister on he way.
The sister, to my delight, stayed at the garage, and I was left to take the fair monopede to the house by myself. She chatted merrily as I walked along, and I was sorry when at length we reached the house. I set her down tenderly, and as I did so she said:
"I hope I was not too much of a burden."
I was white and strained as I replied that I should like to do it again.
"Tell me," she demanded, "Do you think my loss of a limb makes me unattractive?"
This was too much for me and, drawing her towards me, I confessed that I had been searching for a long time to find a girl as attractive as she was.
I must not detain you further, but suffice it to say that I am now married to this fascinating monopede, and my married life has been one long thrill. I hope to tell you more about my wife in the future. In the meantime, Mr. Editor, will you please publish this letter in your following number and, if possible, illustrate it?
Yours truly,
Monopede's Husband