The Gay Adventure

sky. Lamps, it is true, still stood erect, but their glass was shattered; missiles and rubbish littered the roadway, shop-windows had not a pane left whole, and here and there makeshift scr

same. It was as if a battle had taken place, or rather as if the town had been sacked and cleared by an

spirit of curiosity dead? If so, that will be 'the end of all things.' Surely everybody can not be murdered or afraid to come out. Surely we sha

But listen! I think I hear a noise over

friendliness

won't stick at trifles. Personally I don't much care what happens, so long as I can get

tle man

orn these twenty years, but I feel somehow different to-day. What I mean is

to him. "Awfully sorry I said th

econd time I have been called a sportsman within twenty-four hours. I ... I rat

if you'll te

considered a mo

id frankly. "I feel I can trus

. Mine is

few drunk. As the guard had said, they were evidently somewhat out of hand, and the looting of the public-houses had not tended to assuage their wrath. Fired by their alleged grievances, liquor, eloquence and the electricity of a mob, they had spent the last few hours in wrecking the town. The police had done all that was possible to stem

crowd. Robert, his heart bumping with fear, interest and excitement, followed him; he was afraid, but not too afraid, and he felt that his holiday was pr

le distribution, for no one made any effort to pay for the goods received. The shop was a miniature Whiteley's, embracing everything from a perambulator to a parachute, and it was odd to watch the incongruity of some of the articles distributed. One man, for example, was given a child's feeding-bottle, and accepted it without demur; with a bellow of approval he seized it by the rubber tube and whirled it round, shouting, till the tub

eg, and with humorous or profane comments throw it to one of the crowd. "Who wants a waistcoat?" he was crying presently; "a regular fancy article, double-wove, stamped on every bleeding yard! Just the

as a joke, and trembled as he saw Tony's face light up with amusement.

to notice the new arrival, but as they observed the opera hat, the smart broadcloth and starched linen, they recognized the presence of one of the upper cl

into flame he took off his hat and smote it. The fabric collapsed with a ridiculous klop, and the crowd, taken by surprise and ready to laugh at the mere trifle, roared. Tony spun it into the air with a careless grace, far over the heads of the thr

ess, he gesticulated for silence. The strikers, not wholly recovered from their surprise, postponed, at least for the time be

r the--fairy!" which were heartily given. The fairy, unused to badinage, retired from the rostrum, and Tony was quick to jump up. "You see, comrades, that I got a rise: may you soon get the same-may you get what you are asking for!" A tornado of cheers covered his corollary, "viz., six months hard," uttered in an undertone. Feeling was shifting a little in his favor now, and he swept on. "Here, I thought, is my opportunity! I am an outcast, dressed in the ridiculous garb

ony seized upon the word

f appreciation and esteem. Behold!" He tore off his coat and waistcoat and trod upon them. "See how I trample the badge of servitude! Observe!" He discarded his nether apparel, knowing that he could not stick at trifles: the crowd's mood might turn if he gave it time. Luckily, his audacity was rewarded, for the audience roared with brutal joy at Tony's remarkable appearance. Without hesitation he s

s arms through Mr. Hedderwick's, and they were allowed to make good their escape.

he said in awestruck tones. "You're

ed, tired b

t? But, by jove! I was i

ight have to use this." He pulled a revolver out of

w perfectly splendid! What on earth do y

a minute, evidently weighing some proble

l lines, but unless you agree to my proposal I shan't tell you any more. You, it appears, are a free agent, young, with nothing to do. I think we might enjoy ourselves much more together than apart. In any case, if we fo

y, "and don't be offende

t for a moment and fr

mean to try, for I have no wish to be traced yet. I'm not a cadger or a confidence-trickster. If you care to finance me til

Hedderwick seemed

is The Happy H

reling where I

t. I wish I'd bagged some boots,

nce more towar