glasses, dived into thejungle again, came out with a handkerchief, polished thespectacles, put them on his

sed eyes. "Begin!""I was adjusting my glasses, sir.""All set now?""Yes, sir. Sh

iss," moaned Jimmy, s

Go on!"Bayliss

CLUBSPRIGS OF NOBILITY BRAWLJi

says, sir.""We live and learn. Carry on."The butl

ING PERCY(England)vCYCLONE JIM(America)F

of humour ofyours again. That isn't in the paper

""Shall I go on, sir?""Most doubtless. Let me hear all."Bayliss resumed. He was one of those readers who, whether theirsubject be a murder case or a funny anecdote, adopt a measuredand sepulchral delivery which gives a suggestion of tragedy andhorror to whatever they read. At the church which he attended onSundays, of which he was one o

d. Battling Percy has a kind heart,but Cyclone Jim packs the punch.""The immediate cause of the encounter had to do with adisputed table, which each gladiator claimed to haveengaged in advance over the telephone.""I begin to remember," said Jimmy meditatively. "A pill withbutter-coloured hair tried to jump my claim. Honeyed wordsproving fruitless, I soaked him on the jaw. It may be that I wasnot wholly myself. I seem to remember an animated session at theEmpire earlier in the evening, which may have impaired myself-control. Proceed!""One word leading to others, which in their turn led toseveral more, Cyclone Jim struck B

and some brisk work ensued in neutral territory. Percylan

g it up witha right to the chin. Percy swung wildly and upset a bottleof champagne on a neighbouring table. A good

oth hands effectively. TheBattler fell into a clinch, but the Cyclone broke awayand, measu

pression that I was fighting three twin-brothers, and Imissed several opportunities of putting over the winningwallop by attacking the outside ones. It was only in the

is too much like work.'"Bayliss ce

oodlegammon. Why is this,Bayliss?""I couldn't say, sir.""Look at me. I go out to spend a happy evening, meaning no harmto any one, and I come back all blue with the blood of thearistocracy. We now come to a serious point. Do you think mylady stepmother has read that sporting chronicle?""I fancy not, Mr. James.""On what do you base these words of comfort?""Mrs.

tics of thelesser sand-eel, which as you doubtless know buries itself tailupwards in the mud on hearing the baying of the eel-hounds andremains in that position till the danger is past, I shall be ableto postpone an interview. Should you be questioned as to mywhereabouts, inflate your chest and reply in a clear and manlyvoice that I have gone out, you know not where. May I rely onyou

hoes; for, as he sometimesobserved to his son, it had the distinction of being the onlyroom on the ground floor where a fellow could move withoutstubbing his toe on a countess or an honourable. In this peacefulbackwater h

n's entrance. He muttereda welcome through

w of the den that soothing silence ratherthan aimless chatter should prevail. It was

on lunch at theCarlton. You oughtn't to have taken him there, Jimmy. That's whatgot her goat. She was there with a bunch of swells and they hadto sit and listen to Spike talking about his half-scissors hook.""What's their kick against Spike's half-scissors hook? It's adarned good one.""She said she was goin

erious. High-spirited Young Patricianstuff, the sort of thing that's e

n't care if thingswere different, but I'll tell you exactly how I stand. I didn'tget wise till this morning. Your stepmother sprang it on mesuddenly. I've often wondered what all this stuff was about, thisliving in London and tr

don't want toget stung. I gathered all that from your stepmother. Say, Jimmy,I'm not asking a lot of you, but there is just one thing you cando for me without putting yourself out too much.""I'll do it, dad, if it kills me. Slip me the info!""Your stepmother's friend Lady Corstorphine's nephew . . .""It's not the sort of story to ask a man with a headache tofollow. I hope it gets simpler as it goes along.""Your stepmother wa

you don'tseriously mean Lord Percy Whipple.""Eh?"J

'Why, that I cannottell,' said he, 'but 'twas a famous victory!' If I had known,dad, nothing would have induced me to lay a hand upon Perce, savein the way of kindness, but, not even knowing who he was, itwould appear from contemporary accounts of the affair that I justnaturally sailed in and expun

ageneral thing shared his notions of what was funny and could berelied on to laugh in the right place, would have been struck,like himself, by the odd and pleasing coincidence of his having

demonstrative nature,but there had always

ght of having hurt him was like a physical pain. Hislaughter died away and

ollars if I'dknown. Isn't there anything I can do? Gee whiz! I'll go rightround to Percy now and apologise. I'll li

er on her sister. That's allthat's troubling me, the thought that this affair will set usback, this Lord Percy being in so strong with the guys who givethe titles. I guess it will mean my staying on here for a whilelonger,

ever mind, Jimmy. It's unfortu

d. It's going to be allright. I'll fix it. I'm going right round to this fellow Percynow to make things all right. I