Moe & Gertie: Continued Correspondence

Moe replies to Gertie's letter

Dear Gertie,

Charlie's wife was mad as a hornet. "You," she charged, “A pillar of the community, had to go and get yourself in a fix like this. I'll never be able to live this down. I've a mind to go stay with my mother for a while."

So she went and poor Charlie ambled over to my house and vowed to keep his nose to the grindstone. He don't feel like hobnobbing with the bigwigs on the city council anymore-not since the Beagle Daily News ran the story complete with headline: City Council member Charlie Camberly Arrested-complete with all the juicy details. Charlie decided to resign. I suggested he try to get together with his wife. "Naw," he said, “I can't sweet talk myself outta this one. Besides, her mother is a blue-nose; she'd be a hellcat where Lucinda is concerned. Then her sister, Patience, would butt in and the clucking would be more than I can stand. No, I am ruined; I'll never live this down. I think I'll take to the rails-I'll send you a postcard now and then."

So Charlie left on the next freight. I never expected to see my friend hoboing his life away. But I'm glad I'm sorta a no-account kind of guy. Easy-come-easy-go is my motto. I might have a one time jailbird experience and my name in the Beagle Daily News as of now but I can laugh and I can sing and I'll be the best garbage collector in town.

Have you heard from Pug lately? I always felt bad that he got that moniker hung on him. Course if we boys hadn't been eavesdropping under the window in the schoolroom, we wouldn't have heard Mr. Green describe Henry as pugnacious. I know Henry was always on the fight; he has been from the word go.

But from then on he seemed to take pride in being Pug. He bragged, “I don't take nothing from nobody." But that was after his father explained what pugnacious meant. I heard he'd gone into the ring but I guess he didn't make a name for himself in that profession or we'd have heard by now.

And what about cousin Sylvie? She went off to the big city right after high school. I heard she got married to a big mogul and deemed it unnecessary to visit her parents back in Cornburg. Well, I for one don't miss her…

-From Moe