A Damsel in Distress

The first requisite of an invading army is a base. George, having

entered Belpher village and thus accomplished the first stage in

his foreward movement on the castle, selected as his base the

Marshmoreton Arms. Selected is perhaps hardly the right word, as it

implies choice, and in George's case there was no choice. There are

two inns at Belpher, but the Marshmoreton Arms is the only one that

offers accommodation for man and beast, assuming--that is to

say--that the man and beast desire to spend the night. The other

house, the Blue Boar, is a mere beerhouse, where the lower strata

of Belpher society gather of a night to quench their thirst and to

tell one another interminable stories without any point whatsoever.

But the Marshmoreton Arms is a comfortable, respectable hostelry,

catering for the village plutocrats. There of an evening you will

find the local veterinary surgeon smoking a pipe with the grocer,

the baker, and the butcher, with perhaps a sprinkling of

neighbouring farmers to help the conversation along. There is a

"shilling ordinary"--which is rural English for a cut off the joint

and a boiled potato, followed by hunks of the sort of cheese which

believes that it pays to advertise, and this is usually well

attended. On the other days of the week, until late in the evening,

however, the visitor to the Marshmoreton Arms has the place almost

entirely to himself.

It is to be questioned whether in the whole length and breadth of

the world there is a more admirable spot for a man in love to pass

a day or two than the typical English village. The Rocky Mountains,

that traditional stamping-ground for the heartbroken, may be well

enough in their way; but a lover has to be cast in a pretty stem

mould to be able to be introspective when at any moment he may meet

an annoyed cinnamon bear. In the English village there are no such

obstacles to meditation. It combines the comforts of civilization

with the restfulness of solitude in a manner equalled by no other

spot except the New York Public Library. Here your lover may wander

to and fro unmolested, speaking to nobody, by nobody addressed, and

have the satisfaction at the end of the day of sitting down to a

capitally cooked chop and chips, lubricated by golden English ale.

Belpher, in addition to all the advantages of the usual village,

has a quiet charm all its own, due to the fact that it has seen

better days. In a sense, it is a ruin, and ruins are always

soothing to the bruised soul. Ten years before, Belpher had been a

flourishing centre of the South of England oyster trade. It is

situated by the shore, where Hayling Island, lying athwart the

mouth of the bay, forms the waters into a sort of brackish lagoon,

in much the same way as Fire Island shuts off the Great South Bay

of Long Island from the waves of the Atlantic. The water of Belpher

Creek is shallow even at high tide, and when the tide runs out it

leaves glistening mud flats, which it is the peculiar taste of the

oyster to prefer to any other habitation. For years Belpher oysters

had been the mainstay of gay supper parties at the Savoy, the

Carlton and Romano's. Dukes doted on them; chorus girls wept if

they were not on the bill of fare. And then, in an evil hour,

somebody discovered that what made the Belpher Oyster so

particularly plump and succulent was the fact that it breakfasted,

lunched and dined almost entirely on the local sewage. There is but

a thin line ever between popular homage and execration. We see it

in the case of politicians, generals and prize-fighters; and

oysters are no exception to the rule. There was a typhoid

scare--quite a passing and unjustified scare, but strong enough to

do its deadly work; and almost overnight Belpher passed from a

place of flourishing industry to the sleepy, by-the-world-forgotten

spot which it was when George Bevan discovered it. The shallow

water is still there; the mud is still there; even the oyster-beds

are still there; but not the oysters nor the little world of

activity which had sprung up around them. The glory of Belpher is

dead; and over its gates Ichabod is written. But, if it has lost in

importance, it has gained in charm; and George, for one, had no

regrets. To him, in his present state of mental upheaval, Belpher

was the ideal spot.