Evening Star Newspaper, May 31, 1931, Page 83

t Petherick-Soames. “Bless my soul! I realize you were, going to India. I was there for years. The old Rajputana? Why, know the purser well. I'll come and see you and have a chat with him. No doubt I shal be able to get you a number of little extra at- tentions.” it seemed to Osbert, as he crawled back to the shelter of his Cromwell road bed room, that Fate was being altogether too rough with him. Obviously, if Sir Masterman Petherick- Soames intended to come down to the boat to see him off, it would be madness to attempt to sail. On the deck of a liner under the noon- day sun the general must inevitably penetrate his disguise. His whole scheme of escape must be canceled. =§u§ SBERT ordered two pots of black coffee, tied a w2t handkerchief round his fore- head, and plunged once more into thought. It was getting on for dinner time before he finally decided upon a plan. He had been wrong, he saw, in thinking of flying to foreign climes. Th2 only real refuge was a London suburb. Any momentary whim might lead Sir Masterman to pack a suitcase and take the next boat to the Far East, but nothing would ever caure him to take a tram for Dulwich, Crickle- wood, Winchmore Hill, Brixton, Balhom or Surbiton. Osbert decided to wait till late at night, then go back to his house on South Audley street, pack his collection of old jade and a few other necessaries, and vanish into the unknown. It was getting on for midnight when, creep- ing warily to the familiar steps, he inserted his latchkey in the familiar keyhole. He slipped swiftly into the dark hall and closed the front door softly behind him. It was at this moment that h: became aware that from under the door of the dining room at the other end of the hall there was stealing a thin stream of light. For an instant this evidence that the house was not, as he had sup- posed, unoccupied, startled Osbert considerably. Then, recovering himself, he understood what must have happened. Parker, his man, instead of leaving as he had been told to do, must be taking advantage of his employer's presumed absence from London to stay on and do some entertaining. . Osbert, thoroughly incensed, hurried to the dining room. On the table were set out all the materials, except food and drink, of a cosy little supper for two. The absence of food and drink was accounted for, no doubt, by the fact that Parker and—Osbert saw only 00 good rea- son to fear—his lady friend were down in the larder fetching them. So this was the sort of thing that went on, the moment his back was turned, was it? There were heavy curtains hiding the win- dow, and behind these he crept. It was his in- tention to permit the feast to begin and then, stepping forth like some avenging Nemesis, to confront his erring manservant. He had not been waiting long when there eame to his ears the sound of footsteps outside. Fe softly removed his wig, his nose, his whiskers and his blue spectacles. There must be no disguise to soften the shock when Parker found himself confronted. Then, peeping through the curtains, he prepared to spring. Osbert did not spring. Instead, he shrank back like a more than ordinarily diffident tor- toise ‘into his shell, and tried to achieve the maximum of silence by breathing through his ears. For it was no Parker who had entered, no frivolous lady friend, but a couple of plug- uglies of such outstanding physique that Bash- ford Braddock might have been the lttle brother of either of them. Osbert stood petrified. He had never seen a burgiar before, and he wished, now that he was seeing these, that it could have been arranged for him to do so through a telescope. He was thankful that, when the breath which he had been holding for some 80 seconds at length forced itself out in a loud gasp, the noise was drowned by the popping of a cork. In these days, when almost every body is on some sort of diet, it is rarely that one comes across the old-fashioned type of diner who does not worry about balanced meals and calories, but just squares his shoulders and goes at it till his eyes bubble. Osbert’s two guests plainly belonging to this nearly obsolete species. The first keen edge of his appetite satisfied by about three pounds of ham, beef and mut- ton, the burglar who sat nearest to Osbert was able to relax and look about him. “Nice little crib this, Erest,” he said. “R!” replied his companion. “Must have been some real swells in here ene time and enother.” “R 1" “Baronets and such, I wouldn't be surprised.” “R!” said the second burglar, helping him- self to more champagne and mixing in a little THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 31, 1931 s G2 Al Y . ./ / i - “I may not know all about baronets’ younger sisters,” said the burglar, Ernest, “but I don't gollup my food.” And, as if to drive home the reproach, he picked up the leg of mutton and began to gnaw it with it an affected daintiness. THI next moment the battle had been joined. The spectacle of the other’s priggish object lesson was too much for the burglar Herold. He plainly resented tuition in the amenities from one on whom he had always looked as a social inferior. With a swift movement of the hand he grasped the bottle before him and bounced it on his colleague’s head. Osbert Mulliner cowered behind the curtain, The sportsman in him whispered that he was \ 1 | | e Ao by L. 4. missing something good, but he could not nerve himself to look out. However, there was plenty of interest in the thing, even if you merely listened. The bumps and crashes seemed to indicate that the two principals were hitting each other with vir- tually everything in the room except the wall paper and the large sideboard. Now they ap- peared to be grappling on the floor; anon fight- ing at long range with bottles. And then, with one titanic crash, the battle ceased as suddenly as it had begun. It was some moments before Osbert Mulliner could bring himself to peep from behind the curtains. ; He camg out and gaped down at the ruins. ‘The burglar Harold was lying with- his head in the fireplace; the burglar Ernest was doubled up under the table. Harold had the appear- First Balloons Used in Battles Continued from Eleventh Page porting the advance of enemy troops in a man- ner similar to that of World War aviators. it is said that if Sumner had been one or hours later the day would have been lost, disastrous results to the Union cause, Lowe was in the air throughout the battle of Mechanicsville on June 26, 1862, and on i Marcy, McClellan’s chief of staff: “The dense smoke prevents me from seeing to Richmond. I am very unwell and think it advisable for some good person to be con- stantly up.” An hour later he messaged to the gemeral: “Although I reported myself i on this ecca- sion, I will remain constantly in the balloon. About four miles to the west from here the enemy have a balloon about 300 feet in the air. ally shouted down his observations to the eom- manding general, whose headquarters were directly under the balloon. Throughout the day the balloon was fired on by rebels. From then until May of 1863 several balloons 5 E : g § | i i I ment service and also cut Lowe’s pay from $10 to $6 per day. From the official correspondence it appears that Comstock took an officious and overbearing attitude in his new command, which Lowe resented. OWE wrote to Gen. Butterfield, saying that he had originally been engaged at $10 a day, that he had used a great deal of his own ma- chinery and funds on the job and that he had originally intended to stay with the Army throughout the war. The reduction in pay seemed to him such an injustice that he felt he must retire at once. And, as a matter of fact, he resigned in April, continuing to serve, without pay, until the close of the Chancellors- ville campaign because he felt -that the Army needed him. Once Chancellorsville was over, he quit. Whether the balloon service was continued after his departure is not definitely known. several corps of efficient ballponists trained by Lowe. But even if some officers of the Union Army allowed the Government's most distinguished aeronaut to be driven from the service, appre- ciation of his work was not lacking among the high officers with whom he had served in the i iz L " £ f or a balloon. The only one now definitely known to exist was the one at Richmond, seen steamer do' the James River when the tide went out and left vessel and balloon high and dry on a bar. The Federals gathered it in, and with it went the last silk dress in the Con- federacy. . L Scarcely had the echoes of the kiss died away when Osbert was aware that there was standing at his elbow a tall, broad-shouldered man in evening dress. ance of & man who has been through & wringer. Ernest gave the illuson of having recently become entangled in some pcwerful machinery. If, as was probable, they were known to the police, it would take a singularly keen-eyed consiable to recognize them. The thought of the police reminded Osbert of his duty as a cilizen. He went to the tele- ‘phone and called up the nearest siat.on and was informed that representatives of the law would be round immediately to scoop up the remains. He went back to the dining room to wait, but its atmosphere jarred upon him. He felt the need of fresh air, and, going to the front door, he opened it and stood upon the steps. And as he stood there, a form loomed through the darkness. “Mr. Mulliner, I think? Good evening, Mr. Mulliner,” said the voice of Bashford Brad- Osbert returned his gaze without flinching. He was conscious of a strange, almost uncanny, calm. The fact was that, everylhing in this world being relative, he was regarding Bashford Braddock at this moment as rather an under- sized little squirt. . “Ah, Braddock?” said Osbert. At this moment, with a grinding of brakes, & van stopped before the door and policemen began to emerge. “Mr. Mulliner?” asked the sergeant. Osbert greeted him affably. “Come in” he said. “Come in. Go straight through. You will find them in the dining room. I'm afraid 1 had to handle them a little roughly.” Bashford Braddock had been standing listen- ing to this exchange of remarks with a some- what perplexed air. - “What's all this?” he said. Osbert came out of his thoughts with a start. “Want to see me about anything?” “I just want a quiet five minutes alone with you, Mr. Mulliner.” “Certainly,” sald Osbert. “Certainly,” eer- tainly, certainly. Just wait till these policemen have gone, and I will be at your disposal. Wi have had a little burglary.” . “Burg——" Bashford Braddock was Begin- “You ought to be careful, sir,” he said. *“I don’t say these fellows didn’t deserve all you gave them, but you want to watch yourself.” “Perhaps I did overdo it a little,” admitted Osbert. “But I am rather apt to see red on these occasions. Well, good night, sergeant, good night. And now,” he said, taking Bash- ford Braddock’s arm in a genial grip, “what was it you wanted?” lord Braddock released his arm. He embarrassed. you—" He gulped a little. “Was paper this morning, and I thought—I—er—just thought I would pop round and ask you what you would like for a wedding - present.”