Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, June 27, 1917: 1917 AlmanackVarious
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, June 27, 1917: 1917 Almanack
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
"You are seen falling, falling, falling, still in your car, with the
descending cataract. Over and over you are turned in the seething
waters, dashed against rocks, hurled through ravines, and finally you
are given a sheer drop down a perpendicular waterfall of three hundred
feet. Out of the white foam formed in the bed of the waters you emerge
swimming strongly hand over hand, until at last you reach the broad
waters of the placid river, and finally the shore. Here you notice a
train passing some little distance away, and in it, gazing out of one
of the windows, you observe--Bill, the murderer! You at once start in
pursuit; by a superb effort you catch up the train, and just succeed
in swinging yourself safely on board. You can do a little sprinting, I
suppose?"
"I could give an ordinary train a bit of a start, no doubt," said
Percy with confidence.
"Just so," pursued the producer. "And now you find yourself
confronting the miscreant, Bill. The train is passing through a city.
It is on the elevated railway. Bill makes a dash for the door, springs
out, and lands on the roof of a house. You follow him--your leap being
considerably greater, because between his jump and yours the train has
proceeded a certain distance."
"Precisely," said Percy.
"Now there is a scramble over the roof-tops. You climb up pipes, slide
down slates, leap across spaces between separate houses, cling to
coping stones, and all that sort of thing."
"I grasp the idea," said Percy.
[Illustration: "HE CUTS THE WIRES ON WHICH YOU ARE CROSSING."]
"At last Bill is seized with a notion. He throws himself on to the
telephone wires, and, hanging by his hands, manages to convey himself
across to the houses on the opposite side of the road. You imitate
him. As Bill arrives on the other side, he turns and cuts the wires
on which you are crossing. Before the ends of the wires fall, however,
you turn a quick somersault and land beside Bill. Once more there is
a race over the roofs until Bill reaches a factory chimney. Down the
shaft he dives. So do you. Into the furnace below, then out of it, the
chase continues--it doesn't pause for a moment."
"Not a moment," echoed Percy as in a trance.
[Illustration: "THE LAST SCENE OF ALL WILL BE YOUR WEDDING."]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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