Piccadilly Jim

ver,there appeared in the laden haze a watery patch of blue: andthrough this crevice in the clouds the sun, diffidently

e, until recently the London residence of the earlof that name; then, passing throu

rica, as he bent over his morning paper. Mrs. Bingley Crocker,

s, the butler, tocome and lower the shade, for she

tracted the substance from hercorrespondence with swift glances of her compelling eyes, just asshe would have extracted guilty secrets from Bingley, if he hadhad any. This was a woman who, like her sister Nesta, had beenable all her life to accomplish more with a glance than othe

elopes Mrs. Crocker looked up,a smile

, for her at-home on thetwenty-ninth."Mr.

, is the Premier's oldest friend.""Uh?""The Duchess of Axminster has written to ask me to look after astall at her bazaar for the Indige

essity in England. Why you ever made such afuss about taking it up, I can't think. You used to be so fond ofwatching baseball and cricket is just the same thing."A close observer

f the telephone,then the measured tones of Bayli

iss en

lephone,madam."Half-way to the door Mrs. Crocker pause

-maidswho passed his door a short time back that there were no sounds."Mrs. Crocker left the

is master

hed the table. It seemed to him that hisemployer was not looking quite himself thi

it earlier in the mor

Ha

invariably racked him in the earlier Summermonths. Ever since his marriage five years previously and hissimultaneous removal from his native

e, andin Summer his agonies were awful. He pined away in a countrywhere they said "Well played, sir!" when they meant "'at-a-boy!""Bayliss, do you play cricket?""I am a little past the age, sir. In my younger days . . .""Do you understand it?""Yes, sir. I frequently spend an afternoon at Lord's or the Ovalwhen there is a good match."Many who enjoyed a merely casual acquain

ction: and, while he had cured himself ofhis early tendency to address the butler a

eager to be of assi

mployer as a shade too closely resembling that of anindulgent father towards

d folded it back at thesporting page

re you say you go sometimes.""I was there yesterday, sir. A very exciting game.""Exciting? How do you make that out? I sat in the bleachers allafternoon, waiting for something to break loose. Doesn't anyth

urf--was sticky--that isto say wet. Sticky is the technical term, sir. When the wicket issticky, the batsmen are obliged to exercise a great deal ofcaution, as the stickiness of the wicket enables the bowlers tom

erday. If you can make sense out of that, go to it."The passage on

lder ...... 12Ducat, b Fielder ................33Harrison, not out ............... 11Sandham, not out .............

dHobbs for a short run, but the latter was unable to get acrossand was thrown out by mid-on. Hayes was the next man in. He wentout of his ground and was stumped. Ducat and Hayward made acapital stand considering

was it. But I think I'dlike to have it on

game?""Never, sir.""Then, Bill," said Mr. Crocker, reverting in his emotion to thebad habit of his early London days, "you haven't lived. Seehere!"Whatever vestige of respect for class distinctions Mr. Crockerhad managed to preserve during the opening stages of theinterview now

, with the air of an excitable highpriest a

a roll from

behindcatcher.""Umps, I take it, sir, is what we would call the umpire?""Call him anything you like. It's part of the game. Now here'sthe box, where I've put this dab of marmalade, and here's thepitcher, winding up.""The pitcher would be equivalent to our bowler?""I guess so, though why you should call him a

ack! Can't be done. Playit safe. Stick ar

mething on the ball

ext right on the nose. Whizzes aroundto second. First guy, the one we left on second, comes home forone run. That's a game! Take it from me, Bill, that'

ned it, sir, that it is familiar to me, though Ihave always known it under anothe

en five years here wi

it with asoft ball and a racquet, and derive considerable enjoyment fromit. I had never

The word cam

ad lived fiveyears in England, but not till this moment had he realised to thefull how utterly alone he was in an alien la

rm was beginning aSalome dance. Watching this person with a cold and suspiciouseye, stood another uniformed man, holding poised above hisshoulder a sturdy club. Two Mask

etached itsel

b shook Bingley Crocker's ampleframe. Bayliss the butler gaze

eacher seeking to instil into animpecunious and sceptical flock the lesson that money does not ofn

home splendour

e birds singing gaily, that came at my call,Give

f his native land ever reached thestage of intimacy indicated by the poet; but substitute

lent disposition, no money, and one son,a young man of twenty-one. For forty-five years he had lived ahand-to-mouth existence in which his next meal had g

ingley Crocker to causeher to single him o

rocker was on board because he was returningwith a theatrical company from a failure in London, Mrs. vanBrunt because she had been told that the slow boats were thesteadiest. They began the voyage as strangers and ended it as anengaged couple--the affair being expedited, n

iffering spirit by theonly surviving blood-

ng, when it was broken up bythe flying wedge of waiters for which the selected restaurant isjustly famous, joyfully announced that work and he would fromthen on be total strangers. He alluded in feeling terms to theProvidence which watches over good young men and saves them fromthe blightin

er final interview with her sister shedescribed the bridegroom-to-be as a wretched mummer, a despicablefortune-hunter, a broken-down tramp, and a

of America now, it was intones of the deepest dislike and contempt. Her friends wereEnglish, and every year more exclusively of England'saristocracy. She intended to become a leading figure in LondonSociety, and already her progress had been astonishing. She knewthe right people, lived in th

tisfaction only one thingmilitated. That

ts hook, she returned to the breakfast-room. Bayliss hadsilently wi

ff of the LordLieutenant, and only arrived in London yesterday afternoon. LadyCorstorphine has promised to arrange a meeting between him andJames. I particularly want them to be friends.""Eugenia," said Mr. Crocker in a hollow voice, "do you

better. I was lunching with the Delafieldsat the Carlton yesterday, and there, only a few tables away, wasJames with an impossible young man in appa

red later that he was a low professional pugilistfrom New York--a man named Spike Dillon, I think Captain Wroxtonsaid. And Jimmy was giving

wildness in a young man is quiteproper in the best set, provided that he is wild in the rightcompany. Every one knows that young Lord Datchet was ejected fromthe Empire Music-Hall on Boat-Race night every year during hisresidence at Oxford University, but nobody minds. The familytreats it as a joke. But James has such low tastes. Professionalpugilists! I believe that many years ago it was not unfashionablefor young men in Society to be seen abou

is wife when she was spe

rs. Crock

rswould never let you hear the end of it."Mr. Crocker was swallowing convulsively, as if testing his larynxwith a view to speech. Like Saul of Tarsus, he had been strickendumb by the sudden bright light which his wife's words had causedto flash u

what meaning wouldher words have other than the

idea of trying to get them tomake me a Lord, have you?""It is what I have been working for all the

give. She affectedto look down on you, to think that I was marrying beneath me. SoI am going to make you an English peer and send Nesta a newspaperclipping of the Birthday Honour

to stop on here till they make me

we have succeeded.""Oh Gee! Oh Gosh! Oh Hell!

letives during the sinking-in process ofher great idea, much as a broad-minded cowboy might listenindulgently to the squealing of a mustang duri

y. It is best that youshould know. It will

d son of the Duke ofDevizes, the Premier's closest friend, the man who canpractically dictate the Birthday Honours. If James and Lord Percycan only form a close friendship, our battle will be as good aswon. It will mean eve

quis of CrockerBaron CrockerBingley, first Viscount CrockerHe bl

m not interested," replied his wife, "in the boys at theLambs