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The Blyth Standard, 1930-04-03, Page 6The Knock -out But There Was a Still Worse Blow to Come By WILLIAM FREEMAN Henry ilenyon sat h an imitation Jacobean choir upholstered hi Smite. tion hide, ants allowed his gaze to wander contentedly over the rest of the drawing -room furnishings of his new house in St. Chrysflda's Avenue, It was the name given by a builder with imagination to the very newest thoroughfare in London's very neweat suburb. On the left of Henry were houses which would doubtless be oc- cupied directly the walls were paper- ed, the electric fittings fitted, and the first Instalment pald: On his right were plots still awaiting the laying of the first brick, Opposite—well, you couldn't see what was opposite --though, 131 point of fact, it was Just a field—because the fog was too thick. Henry, in short, was 05 much alone as the late R. Crusoe, Esq., of Footprints Parade, The island. It had been his condi. tion since seven o'clock hi the even- ing, when his daily help departed. Abruptly his attention wandered. Footsteps, too faint to be noted by an ear less experienced than Henry's, were coming along the gravel path to the side door. Henry, with astonishing speed for a man who weighed fourteen stone and was fifty-one last birthday, rose, slip- ped into the hall, changed the coat he was wearing for another, and, return- ing, switched off the light and turn• ed out the gas -lire. The room was at the back, and heavy plushette cur- tains covered the french windows. The visitor's step paused at the side door. Henry, sitting motionless in the darkness, smiled sardonically as he heard the handle softly tweed; he had locked up the entire house au hoar earlier. The footsteps resumed their patrol, rounded the corner, and halted hnmedtately outside. A series of small, scratching sounds ensued, There was a creak, and the left-hand window swung open, and someone stepped lightly into the room. Henry continued to smile sardoni- cally. Following further uncertain move• menta, including a stumble that brought a muttered curse from the visitor, an electric torch clicked, a wedge of yellow brlihancce cut the darkness. "Hello, Albert!" said Henry iu a loud, cheerful voice, Albert, whose other name was Price, dropped the torch with a crash. The room was plunged in darkness again. "Don't get rattled," said Henry pleasantly. He rose to his feet and switched on the light. "Glad to see you; more` glad than I'm surprised. Mind shutting the widnow? The fog's pouring in like—well, like fog. Thanks! And now slt down." But Mr, Price, having closed the window, carried obedience no further, He was a tall, loosely -built man, dress- ed with funeral respectability in black that went with his long, melancholy face, the chin of which was muffled Int a woollen scarf. "Come by train?" continued Henry, "No; walked," said Albert sarcasti- cally. "All the way from 'Aggerston. Seventeen miles In thirty-five min - totes." "You're telling stories!" sold Henry reprovingly. "You did come by train. The only walking you've done has been from the station." "That was a deal farther than I wanted, anyway," "And now you have come—" "Listen to me, my lad!" Albert's growl was a menace in itself. "No, don't talk—don't try to talk. Just listen! If you don't, you've as much chance of seeing the sun rise to -mor- row morning as—as a goldfish has of having kittens. I came out o' clinic 'smornin'" He paused. Henry—wisely—refrained from cow: ment But his expression hinted that he had known all about Albert's ro• lease—which, indeed, he had, "Told you I'd look you up, didn't I?" continued Albert, "Wrote It down on prison paper last month. And the guv'nor let it go. Didn't contain no threats, that letter didn't, ''Oping to call and see you on the 14th ult.,' it saki. Not that 'ult.' was the right word; but I couldn't remember the right one, and I knew as you'd under- stand." Henry nodded to indicate complete Understanding. "Very well, then—'ere I am. And I gents fifty quid, and the promise of another fifty in three months' tine." "You want all that?" "I do. And I'm goin' to get it. And it there'a any silly 'anity-panlcy, 'Every--" "I'vo not got the money in the house, And a cheque wouldn't ]help." "Not a bit. But there's other things besides money and cheques." ' "I know, Albert. Het—" "You talk too much, 'Every. You always 'aro talked too much. If you 'ain't been so chatt while we was crackbn that crib o' Lord Putney's, the cops wouldn't have rumbled there was anything wrong, and I wouldn't 'ave got the stretch I did." "1 tried—" "It was me as was tried. Yon—you was all might," A growing sense of injustice made Albert raise ills voice. "Yost didn't trip over one of the damned lines as we'd laid for 'is lord- ship and pitch 'eadlong and get took. Yon got clear with about a thousand quids' worth of antique joolery and bricky-brach. Never even saw your silly old fat face, they didn't" "Anyhow—" "Down 'ere you're the respectable bachelor, ain't you—the retired City bloke? Takes round the plate on a Sunday, I shouldn't wonder- Thhckin' o' stanlin' for the Urbiug Distrlck Council, with yer photo in the local rag, and all the rest of it!" The more exasperated he became time more Mr. Price's English deterior- ated, "An' you a bloomin' welshes' turned cracksman and craslisman turned— well, I ain't sure what you 'ave tun'n• ed!" he concluded fiercely, "And don't care, as long as I get what I come for!" henry rose to his feet, kis arms hanging stiffly : at his side, a faint smile on lois face. He took a couple of quick paces towards the visitor, Albert backed even more quickly. From his pocket he whipped a small block pistol "'Ands up!" he snapped, kis muffler slipping from his chin in his excite- nment, "No 'auky-panky! Quick-- 'fore I comets three! One, two—" Henry's arms rose with convul- sive suddenness, while Albert read- justed his muffler with lois free hand. "Glad to notice you ain't lost what little sense you started with!" sneer- ed Albert. "Quite true," said Henry. "Fifty quid was what you said, wsn't it?" "Yes. And another fifty in three months." "But I haven't got It." "Said that before, didn't you?" "Fact!" "It's either the money or the shin- ers. 'Osv much 'ave you got?" Henry's forehead wrinkled as he made a hasty calculation, "Eighteen. Twenty, if you include a couple of sovereigns I've been sav- ing as souvenirs." "Not good enough!" "Try something else, them!" From somewhere in time depths of Henry's coat a flat shot out and land- ed on Albert's muffled -up chin, Al- bert wont down with a crash, But Albert, contrary to tradition and legitimate expectation, did not stop down. Il0 was on his feet again almost instantly. Nor did he appear to be suffering. Judging from ex- pressions, it was Henry who was time victim. Albert, after one glance at him, sat down in a chair and collaps- ed In helpless laughter.. lie had excuses. Henry, to begin with, appeared suddenly to possess Porn' arms—two raised rigidly above Ills head; two with the hands grasp- ing one another am'oss leis waistcoat, And his face was distorted with agony. At last Albert's guffaws ceased, "'Ene'y— "Well?" groaned Henry, "What made you Oink of a couple of false arms fixed in a coat will Ie the real ones was underneath?" Henry unbent sufficiently, in both senses, to confess that he had borrow- ed time invention from the late Charles Peace. "But that there goin' up with a jerk when I says, "Ands up'?" "That was my own idea." admit- ted HenrY, "Dashed neat, I calls it!" said Al- bert, handsomely bestowing credit where credit was due. "I put on time coat wisen I heard you coning," said Henry, still further un- bending. "What made you think of that chin -spike?" "More'n once," said Albert, "I been put to sleep by some chap giving me time knock -out, and woke up to find myself in the charge -room. It's my weak spot, that there chin of mine. So I fixed up a metal gadget with a sort of nutmeg•grater surface, which is hid by a muffler. Any bloke can knock me down ,but 'e can't knock ire S'MATTER POP— In Search of a Substitute. Fee Fo Fi Fum! BEARS ARE VERY TAME IN OUP WESTERN PARKS They frequent camps and hotel grounds for whatever food may be found. Here is shown one doing a little bit of sleuth work in a barrel. out—unless, o' course, the back of my 'cad 'its something knobbly. 'Every—" "Well?" "I got an idea. What about letting bygones be bygones, and making a fresh start together?" !What d'you meat—fresh start?" "Partnership, 'Enery—us two. We done it before. Two inventive blokes like me and you ought to be able to make a do of it --fools and drawing• room stuff. Me shoving open the scul- lery windows, and you choosin' the best pieces out o' the cabinet. 'Igh- class 'ousel only visited, not by ap- pointment." Albert chuckled at his own wit. "There's something In the idea," admitted Henry. "Though you did do your best to murder 1110" "That there pistol wasn't loaded, not really." He reverted to the part- nership, "h'e'll snake it fifty -fluty, 'Eery. You with them false ams o' years; me with my patent chin" "The trouble with that," said Henry, "is that it doesn't cover all your silly mug." His fist shot out again, this time aiming at time limited space be- tween Albert's eyes. Alpert, duelling sideways, escaped scatheless. He leapt for Henry's throat, was shaken off, and received a buffet on the side of Ills face. "Look opt!" he scouted suddenly. "The cops! 'Wind you!" "Nothing doing!" said Henry grim- ly, and flung himself bodily on Albert. They swayed and felt to time floor with a crash which landed them side by side with their heads on the kerb, and knocked two china ornaments from the nmantelshelf, One of them pitched on Henry's temple, turning the yellow brlghtnes of the roost into black darkness. Presently the darkness cleared. Four policemen were bending over him, "Where—where's Albert?" inquired Henry, "Albert time Undertaker," said the sergeant who seemed In charge, "is In the cupboard Rader the stairs. We found him hiding there—he hadn't time to get out of the house—and locked him in. If he hadn't twisted his ankle 1011011 110 fell—" "Twisted his ankle, did he?" "That's right. Feeling better? Be- cause if so, we've a car waiting at the corner." "IV -what for?" "To take you and your pall to 1. e station. We got the tip from the Yard that Albert was on his way here by the 10.22; and as he don't take even - ung trips in the fog for his health, we followed him." "But what have I got to do with it?" "We've had our eye on you, official- ly speaking, for some time, Mr. Ben-! yon, " said the sergeant. There was a short silence, cluing which a key turned • in the passage, and another official voice said. "Comae out of 13, my fad!" "Well, well!" said Henry, rising, with philosophic calms, "This'll give Albert a new nickname, anyway, 'Old Tin -chin," that'll bo lois tally!" "What about yourself?" came the voice of Albert from the passage. "'Four -Armed Fatty' — that's what they'll shout after you, my lad!" "I wouldn't lose no sloop over that if I teas you," said time sergeant soothingly; "it isn't likely to happen for another three years." And it was so.—Answers. White Man's Burden In Far East Slipping Changing Times Has Taken the Romance Out of Life For Many Great Adventurers A certain self-pity used to tinge the work of some writers when speaking of the "white man's burden"—espec- Lally in Asia, But now It begins to look as If he is to be relieved of this burden --and 111000315 no wish of his own. The present generation may see the white man more or less quietly voted out of Asia, says Feng -Sint in time Sydney (Australia) Bulletin, Mean- while he recalls that Europe fastened he• dominion on Asia in a highly auto- erotic style, and Imo proceeds: "Jan P!elerszoon Coen, whose 300th birthday has just been celebrated in Batavia, ruled rice Dutch East Indies like an independent monarch, "God was with limn on the spot, and there was no such thing as a Labor majority 10 the government at home to worry lute. "Stamford Baffles, whose 100th birth• clay has just been observed in Sing• apore, seized that Island and found- ed the British dominion of Malaya, practically on his own initiatl e. "Single-handed, James Brooke quiet- ly made himself raja of Sarawak, e country larger than Britain, and no- body troubled to ask him where he got his mandate. "A syndicate composed of a Jew and two Englishmen floated 300,000 Borneo's savages into a limited liabil- ity company with less formality than an Australian manufacturer stats a shoe factory." Even up to time World War colonial administrations were practically ir- responsible, according to this contri- butor to the Sydney Bulletin, At least, he adds, they were responsible only to a person in "a distant Foreign O1loe." But since the war, we are told, things have changed enormously, The Bolshevik upheaval spread abroad the proletarian doctrine, It is noted. Asia lapped it up, but it is -pointed out also— "President Wilson helped on time work with his slogan of self•deternmin- atton. European Demos began to get Interested in his colored brother. "In the imperial Parliaments of Holland, France, Britain, and Am- erica the radical Oppositions began to demand a share in the control of the destinies of a third of the human race, hitherto the solo preserve of colonial offices, "The results have been interesting. "It has only been mlecssary for ,,countries like Egypt, Turkey, India, the Philippines, and China to assume time outward garb of democratic In- stitutions for unsophisticated Euro- pean Demos to believe that they have absorbed the spirit therof. "Nothing could be further from time truth, Democracy can no more func- tion in the India of today than a motor -tractor could In a rice -swamp. China has rubbed along successfully with the family system for 4,000 years. "Faced with time problem of con• veining patriarchal rule into a re- public, she has only succeeded In producing a new Son of Ileaven in a modern general's uniform. "But time effect on the doctrine of white superiority has been disastrous. Time was • when a white man was safer in a civil -war area in Chiina than walking in some parts of an Aus- tralian capital "Today he is liable to confiscation of goods or imprisonment of person. The British raj in India merely keeps the ring while time local democrat rends the loin -cloth of his fellow de- mocrat, or suspends hostilities to throw a joint bomb at a viceroy. "In the Philippines Uncle Sam has been edged out of pretty well every position of authority." All these reflections were suggest• ed to Feng-Shul of time Sydney Bulle- tin by an act of the Chinese Governi• ment that he says is marked with Chinese "characteriatlo slimness." This description he takes from time fact that this Government announced that "as far as It is concerned, extra- territoriality, or time aright of foreign- ers to live under their own laws, has been abolished as from January 1" If time announcement were to be tak- en at its face value, he avers, the coneequencee would be serious, and he continues: "The foreign trade of China would be thrown into confusion, the muni- ' Yes, Willie, when time Pllgn ime landed at Plymouth Rock it was dreadfully cold and they suffered ter- ribly." "Why didn't they go to Florida for the winter?" What Chicago needs, mono than Big B111, le a big billy. °aii°'UIIIII1111ilII IIVIIiIIH 11 mI SMART BOU00IR ENSEMBLE: Consists of two-piece pyjama sets and matching robe, according to Fay Wray, seven star, seen here in flesh satin and embroidered net costunme, cipal rule of the tuililon-city of Shang- hai would become illegal. I'oreign residents numbering upward of 300,• 000 would have no security of person or property, and there would probably be armed Intervention. "No Chinese declaration need ever be taken at its face value, however. Some months age Dr. M. T. Z, 'Pyau, time I ssomiutaug's most eminent an thorny on international relations, made I1 clear what the move Portend. ed. "Ho advised the Government to de• nounco tho treaties, bat to follow up the announcement with no action. "The result would be to stampede time Powers into a conference, Demo- cratic Western sympathizers with the Flowery Republic's aspirations would then be mobilized on China's side and Chinese statesmen would be in a position to start the 30100, tri wilich they are p051 -masters, of playing one Western country off against another. This is what is about to happen, - "China's move is not its immediate- ly serious as it looks; yet it is symp- tomatic of something that is serious. It brings up the whole question whether the European Demos can he a successful imperialist." Col. Barker, V.C. Now, he, who in 1110 battlefields of ah', Scathless tiro' many a stirring cons. bat 001550, Till half a hundred victories crowned his male, And valour's proudest cross seas his to Wear; 130, who, in those broad' battlefields, did Clare Death, winged with shot and shell, and flying flame, Here, under peaceful skies, with the selfsame Heroic poise of soul, soared, unaware That death had shipped with him 10 his last flight. The doom he could not strive with struck him down. So passed the many -laurelled hero; he Abides forever on the shining height, With those brave sous of starry -bright renown, And heroes of the earth, and air, and sea, J.0.M.D. THE PAST There are those who want to get away from all their past; who 13 they could, would fain begin all over again. Their life seems one long failure. But you nest learn, you must let God teach you, that the only way to got rid of your past is to get a future 0511 of it. Phillips Brooks. The surest protection against fail•. tire is never to attempt to do any, thing. By C. M. PAYNE BTC., 6Ye.