Page:Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field.djvu/77

 ever so insinuatingly. I'll bet he read up the story of the serpent in Paradise.

"'On the contrary, I don't know whether they are vaccinated on their arms or not,' I answered truthfully. 'Maybe they had themselves vaccinated under their arms. I haven't looked.'

"'Some women,' said the policeman, 'are so vain that they get themselves vaccinated on their legs.'

"'Possibly,' I said, 'but I have looked neither under their arms nor under their petticoats—I presume they have legs. However, I don't know anything about them, for sure. And this being their day out, if you must investigate, they will be back about ten o'clock, and, returning, you may look for yourself, if the law says so.'"

Mark indulged in one of his impressive pauses, then continued:

"That policeman did return and told the girls that he was authorized by me to look for their vaccination marks wherever located. Of course, it caused a row all around, the girls protesting that I was no gentleman. So, to end it all, I paid the rent for the whole year, eleven months' rent, and left the flat." 73