The Town on a Very Small Hill.

I’ve started getting a visit from somebody in Mound, Minnesota. It’s an odd name for a town, isn’t it – Mound? If it was in West Virginia, I expect it would be called Slag Heap.

Anyway, you’re more than welcome, Mound. I’ve no doubt you’re a very lovely town. And what’s in a name anyway? I’m sure there must be lots of beautiful women called Ethel, for example.

Come to think of it, I knew a girl called Ethel at school – Ethel Onions. That’s a pretty odd name, too, but I’m sure she was probably very nice if you got to know her. I’m fairly sure it was she who threw up in class one day, a fact to which I was alerted by the piece of undigested Brussels sprout which rolled under my desk. As I recall, I declined to kick it away. I thought it was probably still warm.