A Damsel in Distress

selected as his base theMarshmoreton Arms. Selected is perhaps hardly the right word, as itimplies choice, and in George's case there was no choice. There aretwo inns at

trataof Belpher society gather of a night to quench their thirst and

her, with perhaps a sprinkling ofneighbouring farmers to help the conversation along. There is a"shilling ordinary"--which is rural English for a cut off the jointand a boiled potato, followed by hunks of the sort of che

but a lover has to be cast in a pretty stemmould to be able to be introspective when at any moment he may meetan annoyed cinnamon bear. In the English village there are no suchobstacles to meditation. It combines the comforts of civilizationwith the restfulness of solitude in a manne

lats, which it is the peculiar taste of theoyster to prefer to any other habitation. For years Belpher oystershad been the mainstay of gay supper parties at the Savoy, theCarlton and Romano's. Dukes doted on them; chorus girls wept ifthey were not on the bill of fare. And then, in an evil hour,somebody discovered that what made the Belpher Oyster soparticularly plump and succulent was the fact that it breakfasted,lunched and dined almost entirely on the local sewage. There is buta thin line ever between popular homage and execration. We see itin the case of politicians, generals and prize-fighters; andoysters are no exception to the rule. There was a typho

horses; heplayed with the Inn puppy, bestowed respectful caresses on the Inncat. He walked down the quaint cobbled street to the harbour,sauntered along the shore, and lay on his back on the little beachat the other side of the lagoon, from where he could see the redroofs of the village, while the imit

its surface with greengrasses. The evening sun struck rainbow colours from the moistsoftness. Birds sang in

tin falling in love with Lady Maud Marsh and pursuing her to Belpherhe had set himself anything in the nature of a hopeless task. Like

the ukulele. If ever the world has turned black toyou in such a situation and the moon gone in behind a cloud, thinkof George Bevan and what he was up against. You are at least on thespot. You can at least put up a fight. If there are ukuleles in theworld, there are also guit

t an introduction; whose brother's hat you have smashedbeyond repair; whose family wishes her to marry some other man: whowants to marry some other man herself--and not the same other man,but anot

heMarshmoreton Arms. Until then, as I have indicated, he roamed in agolden mist of dreamy meditation among the soothing by-ways of

what was ne

. But this wasn't theday of the week when the general public was admitted. Thesightseer could invade Belpher Castle on Thursdays only, betweenthe hours of two and four. On other d

ident to George that "a

pt hill-top, and saw below him, nestlingin its trees, what was now for him the centre of the wor

--the thought that he couldn't possibly do this five-miles-there

valley would be just thething, if he could arrange to take possession of it. They sat thereall round the castle

e, thought George, when thecastle was the central rallying-point for all those scatteredhomes; when rumou

rm. So must have felt those marauders of old whenthey climbed to the top of this very hill to spy out the land. AndGeorge's case was even worse than theirs. They could at least hopethat a strong arm and

f homing cows floated up tohim from the valley below. A bat had left its shelter and waswheeling around him, a sinister blot against the sky. A sickle moongleamed over the t

rs and sisters of thebrush. In asking for a cottage, indeed, George did precisely asBelpher society expected him to do; and the agent was reaching forhis list almost before the words were out of his mouth. In lessthan half an hour George was out in the street again, the owner forthe season of what the agent described as a "gem" and the employerof a farmer's wife

-way. It was Lady Caroline,and not the easy-going peer, who was really to blame in the matter;but the impression that George got from the house-agent'sdescription of Lord Ma

her brother and studying him at first hand, his heartbled for Maud. It seemed to

red. "I must do something quick."

full of strenuous--if vague--purpose,in the plainly-furnished but not uncomfortable cottage knownlocally as "the one down by Platt's." He might h

ere was a cosysitting-room, a larger bedroom on the floor above and next to thisan empty room facing north, which had evidently served artistoccupants as a studio. The remainder of the ground floor was takenup by kitchen and scullery. The furniture had been constructed bysomebody who would probably have done very well if he had taken upsome other line of industry; but it was mitigated by a very fineand comfortable wicker easy

t he was not accomplishing a great deal inthe matter of helping Maud out of whatever trouble it was that hadbefallen her. The most he could do was to prowl abo

ut from underneath it protruded a pair of long legs, while besideit stood a girl, at the sight of whom George's heart began to thump

ng hisapproach. He stopped close behind her, and cleare

re empty of any recogn

quickly, and a faint f

lp you?" as

ed out into the road f

sat up, turning a grease-strea

know how to fix a car."The young

lything I can do well. Thanks very much and so forth all the sa

or you," hesaid slowly, "I hope you will let me know. I

said in a low voi

grease-streaked young man

" he said. "Rather g

a couple of years ago when I wasthere in my yacht, and he followed me for miles, shrieking adviceand encouragement. I thought it deuced civil of h

tning--very difficult," said Reggieencouragingly. "Be patient. Try and amuse yourself somehow. Askyourself a ridd

d him. And now,business of repairing breakdown."His sm

y down the road in the direction