tearapen73
sleepwalker
The best adventures all begin while somebody is dressed in pyjamas.
When “young Captain Haldane of the cavalry” needed the aid of “a hard man to scare,” to whom did he turn? Why to Aintree, of course, who “could be found at noon still in his pajamas and preparing to face the duties of the day on an absinth cocktail.” And when the burglar broke into Tom Swift’s shop to steal the plans for his Giant Cannon, why did Tom delay chasing him? Because he wanted to “get into something a little more substantial than my pajamas.” Oh, if only Tom hadn’t dawdled! And when the spaceman Vidac threatened to freeze Pa Logan’s daughter with a ray gun (“The effects are very simple, but very powerful. You are paralyzed!”) if he didn’t sign the foreclosure on his farm, what did young Billy do? He “burst into the room, clad only in his pajamas. ‘Don’t sign, Pa!’ he screamed. ‘Wait and tell Captain Strong first!'”
Imagine…just try to imagine…if those events had taken place when the participants were dressed in gabardines or tweeds. All the drama, all the suspense, all the mystery would have been lost. No, there are some things that must be faced…that can only be faced…by bold men and courageous women clad in pyjamas.
Sources: Miracle of Las Palmas, Richard Harding Davis, 1897; Tom Swift and his Giant Cannon, Victor Appleton, 1913; The Space Pioneers, Carey Rockwell, 1953.
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