A Strange Story (Henry)
In a northern part of Austin, there lived an honest family named Smothers, which consisted of John Smothers, his wife, their five-year-old daughter, and her grandparents. One night, the little girl suffered from a severe colic, prompting John to rush downtown to get some medicine. However, he never returned.
The little girl eventually recovered and grew up to be a woman. Her mother, who had grieved over her husband's disappearance, remarried after three months and moved to San Antonio.
The mother grieved very much over her husband’s disappearance, and it was nearly three months before she married again, and moved to San Antonio.
The little girl also got married and had a daughter of her own, who they named Pansy. They continued to live in the same house where her father had disappeared.
On the anniversary of John Smothers' disappearance, Pansy fell ill with cramp colic. Her father, John Smith, wanted to go downtown to get medicine, but his wife feared that he might also disappear and never return.
No, no, dear John, cried his wife. You, too, might disappear forever, and then forget to come back.
As they sat by Pansy's bedside, an old man with long white hair entered the room. Pansy immediately recognized him as her grandfather.
The old man gave Pansy a spoonful of medicine from a bottle he had brought with him, and she recovered instantly. John Smothers explained that he had been late because he had been waiting for a streetcar.