... fjolin and ddJeier by Douglas Edwards J-O-O-OHN! J-o-o-ohn! The shrill voice soared across the farmyard, past the incubating house, through the wood shed and the carpenter's shop and up the long, chalky hillside. Half-way up the hill was a wooden hut, supported on the lower side by stilts. It was nearly filled with bags of dredge- corn, bran and dried milk, and piles of empty sacks. On top ...

... s By William Emms RUBBISH! barked Pembleton, glaring at the little man who had suggested that bad memory runs in families. You could hardly say, he remarked, catching the eyes of such members as were within range, that absent-mindedness is a trait of my family, yet my nephew Clarence-- Clarence Pembleton, the author-- suffers acutely from this complaint. in fact, he gets so wrapped up in ...

... By Bridget Chetwynd WELL outside the town, and only about half an hour's walk from our village, alone in the middle of waste land, was the old cemetery. It had not been used for more than half a century. No one went near it and weeds grew thick and tall. It had been much damaged by a load of bombs from a retreating aeroplane during the Blitz, but there had been no repairs. Mausoleums were ...

... By Richard Parker WHEN I was a small boy, we used to picnic on the downs above Dunstable. The place was called Whipsnade and it consisted of a church, a pub called The Chequers, which I confused for years with the Prime Minister's country retreat, a few small cottages and a vast stretch of empty downland. For some strange reason, my parents were unbearably proud of this emptiness as if they ...

... QU fJunLyarcl By B. L. JACOT HE was stirring his coffee at the end of the counter when Joe moved over, wiping the zinc top as he came. Joe lifted his cup and wiped under it and said quietly: The Boss wants you in the back. Dizzy got off the stool and walked on through. I got a job for you, Dizzy, the big man told him. Show him what's in it first. One of the three men began to count out ...

... By R. D. Faull THE three Frenchmen seated at the bar possessed a common air of preoccupation. The eldest sat chewing his lower lip without much appetite and was obviously extremely bored. Next to him was an arrogantly male young man, whose whole attitude expressed the controlled expectancy of the confident lover. His mind was clearly divided between anticipation and recollection, and at ...

... ESPIONAGE A LA MODE By Bevis Winter THE last job I did for M.I. 5 put paid to a promising career in espionage-- my own. I was detailed by Colonel Moresby to retrieve the stolen plans of a new amphibious landing barge which had been undergoing modification at the Llangrysl Research Station. We had received a signal from our agent in the Middle East to the effect that he had picked up the trail ...

... IT'S A MAD. MAD WORLD! By Ronald JR. Smith HE had an air of melancholy gaiety-- or perhaps it was more of a gay melancholy. Now and then he yawned ecstatically, throwing his head back, tears coming into his eyes. He had the noble, craggy profile of a Roman orator of the great days. And he had his eye-- green and glassy-- on me. Finally he stood up and carrying a tankard half-full of beer, ...

... WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1952 ...

... 1 ly fy^nnlf my C^JaiLerr a\ id I he ClJier Q'Jl aurice (Cranston WHEN I was a child I lived with an aunt by the sea, in an English town that was rapidly becoming a popular resort. Hotels, hotels, hotels, my aunt used to protest, as one large building after another grew up to close our view of the bay. I don't know what your father will say. He was abroad, and had not seen the new ...

... By Bevis Winter WITH a grunt of exasperation Pierre laid down his palette and brushes and crossed the studio to open the door: on the threshold stood a very prosperous-looking character. Despite the fact that the visitor had climbed fifty-nine stairs to the artist's Montmartre garret, he seemed not the least bit breathless. Anticipating a commission for a portrait, Pierre invited him in. ...