m

eanwhile, at the drones club, a rather painful scene had been taking place. psmith, regaining the shelter of the building, had made his way to the wash-room, where, having studied his features with interest for a moment in the mirror, he smoothed his hair, which the rain had somewhat disordered, and brushed his clothes with extreme care. he then went to the cloak-room for his hat. the attendant regarded him as he entered with the air of one whose mind is not wholly at rest.

“mr. walderwick was in here a moment ago, sir,” said the attendant.

“yes?” said psmith, mildly interested. “an energetic, bustling soul, comrade walderwick. always somewhere. now here, now there.”

“asking about his umbrella, he was,” pursued the attendant with a touch of coldness.

“indeed? asking about his umbrella, eh?”

“made a great fuss about it, sir, he did.”

“and rightly,” said psmith with approval. “the good man loves his umbrella.”

“of course i had to tell him that you had took it, sir.”

“i would not have it otherwise,” assented psmith heartily. “i like this spirit of candour. there must be no reservations, no subterfuges between you and comrade walderwick. let all be open and above-board.”

[p. 67]“he seemed very put out, sir. he went off to find you.”

“i am always glad of a chat with comrade walderwick,” said psmith. “always.”

he left the cloak-room and made for the hall, where he desired the porter to procure him a cab. this having drawn up in front of the club, he descended the steps and was about to enter it, when there was a hoarse cry in his rear, and through the front door there came bounding a pinkly indignant youth, who called loudly:

“here! hi! smith! dash it!”

psmith climbed into the cab and gazed benevolently out at the new-comer.

“ah, comrade walderwick!” he said. “what have we on our mind?”

“where’s my umbrella?” demanded the pink one. “the cloak-room waiter says you took my umbrella. i mean, a joke’s a joke, but that was a dashed good umbrella.”

“it was, indeed,” psmith agreed cordially. “it may be of interest to you to know that i selected it as the only possible one from among a number of competitors. i fear this club is becoming very mixed, comrade walderwick. you with your pure mind would hardly believe the rottenness of some of the umbrellas i inspected in the cloak-room.”

“where is it?”

“the cloak-room? you turn to the left as you go in at the main entrance and . . .”

“my umbrella, dash it! where’s my umbrella?”

“ah, there,” said psmith, and there was a touch of manly regret in his voice, “you have me. i gave it to a young lady in the street. where she is at the present moment i could not say.”

the pink youth tottered slightly.

“you gave my umbrella to a girl?”

[p. 68]“a very loose way of describing her. you would not speak of her in that light fashion if you had seen her. comrade walderwick, she was wonderful! i am a plain, blunt, rugged man, above the softer emotions as a general thing, but i frankly confess that she stirred a chord in me which is not often stirred. she thrilled my battered old heart, comrade walderwick. there is no other word. thrilled it!”

“but, dash it! . . .”

psmith reached out a long arm and laid his hand paternally on the other’s shoulder.

“be brave, comrade walderwick!” he said. “face this thing like a man! i am sorry to have been the means of depriving you of an excellent umbrella, but as you will readily understand i had no alternative. it was raining. she was over there, crouched despairingly beneath the awning of that shop. she wanted to be elsewhere, but the moisture lay in wait to damage her hat. what could i do? what could any man worthy of the name do but go down to the cloak-room and pinch the best umbrella in sight and take it to her? yours was easily the best. there was absolutely no comparison. i gave it to her, and she has gone off with it, happy once more. this explanation,” said psmith, “will, i am sure, sensibly diminish your natural chagrin. you have lost your umbrella, comrade walderwick, but in what a cause! in what a cause, comrade walderwick! you are now entitled to rank with sir philip sidney and sir walter raleigh. the latter is perhaps the closer historical parallel. he spread his cloak to keep a queen from wetting her feet. you—by proxy—yielded up your umbrella to save a girl’s hat. posterity will be proud of you, comrade walderwick. i shall be vastly surprised if you do not go down in legend and song. children in ages to come[p. 69] will cluster about their grandfather’s knees, saying, ‘tell us how the great walderwick lost his umbrella, grandpapa!’ and he will tell them, and they will rise from the recital better, deeper, broader children. . . . but now, as i see that the driver has started his meter, i fear i must conclude this little chat—which i, for one, have heartily enjoyed. drive on,” he said, leaning out of the window. “i want to go to ada clarkson’s international employment bureau in shaftesbury avenue.”

the cab moved off. the hon. hugo walderwick, after one passionate glance in its wake, realised that he was getting wet and went back into the club.

* * * * *

arriving at the address named, psmith paid his cab and, having mounted the stairs, delicately knuckled the ground-glass window of enquiries.

“my dear miss clarkson,” he began in an affable voice, the instant the window had shot up, “if you can spare me a few moments of your valuable time . . .”

“miss clarkson’s engaged.”

psmith scrutinised her gravely through his monocle.

“aren’t you miss clarkson?”

enquiries said she was not.

“then,” said psmith, “there has been a misunderstanding, for which,” he added cordially, “i am to blame. perhaps i could see her anon? you will find me in the waiting-room when required.”

he went into the waiting-room, and, having picked up a magazine from the table, settled down to read a story in the girl’s pet—the january number of the year 1919, for employment agencies, like dentists, prefer their literature of a matured vintage. he was absorbed in this when eve came out of the private office.