MARCUS CLARKE'S SUN-BATH
EXCEEDINGLY FUNNY STORY. . _ .» A rather amusing but serious summer story concerns Marcus Clarke's early and, alas! all too brief happy days. One of the many fads of Marcus was the sun-bath. Marcus firmly believed that all complaints of the rheumatic type could be driven out of the human body by exposing it to the clear rays of the sun for a few hours every morning—and I am inclined to think there is more good in the sun-bath after all than there is in a shipload of patent medicines and a whole college full of surgeons boxed together. One day Marcus dropped in on a friend at Carlton who suffered from sciatica, and as there was no one else at home at the time, easily persuaded him to peel off and go into the orchard at the back in the light and airy costume of Adam before the Fall and give the sun-bath a fair and square show. Marcus decided to have a sun-bath also, and a few minutes later both men were strolling round beneath the trees, eagerly discussing one of those interesting psycholo--gical subjects upon which Marcus could talk so learnedly and so charmingly as well. No notice of how the time was flying or anything else, but the topic discussed was taken, until suddenly a peal of woman's laughter burst upon the pair of sun-bathers, and a merry voice exclaimed: "Come this way, Flo. Charlie's in the Summer-house having a smoke, 1 suppose. Nice fellow he is to leave irr charge of any place." That closed the psychological discussion with a snap, for the naked Marcus darted behind the equally naked Charlie, and excitedly whispered: '' Good Heavens! Whatever shall we do ? Those women are between us and our clothes !" "Oh it'll be all right," replied Charlie, " it's only my wife and her sister." " Oh, y-y-yes !" stammered poor Marcus, "that's all very well for you. You know the ladies, and besides, you're a hardened married man, but I'm a single innocent, and by Heaven I'll drop dead if they see me in this state ! Good gracious! They're coming now! Hide me ! Sit on me ! Shout to them to go back. Don't stand there like a dumb ass. Do something ! Oh, Lord ! No more sun-baths for me!" The "hardened husband" then gave the warning, but Marcus never smiled agairr—until he found himself in the snug parlour of his favourite pub. in Melbourne.
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Bibliographic details
Golden Bay Argus, Volume VII, Issue 69, 26 September 1901, Page 2
Word Count
405MARCUS CLARKE'S SUN-BATH Golden Bay Argus, Volume VII, Issue 69, 26 September 1901, Page 2
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