SV - 05 - Sergeant Verity and the Swell Mob. by Francis Selwyn Page B

man's time rather.'
    Inspector
Croaker's lip quivered, as though he might weep. His voice sank to a softer,
imploring tone.
    'Then who was telling fortunes
in your tent on Sunday afternoon?'
    'Dunno, do I? That's your bloody silliness.'
    At last Croaker turned on the Great Lavengro.
    'Very
well, my man,' he breathed. 'You think yourself clever. Yes you do. But let me
tell you this. My eye is upon you from this moment. Infringe one by-law, cause
one complaint, and I shall be upon you like the wrath of God! I neither know
nor care why you practise this present deceit. But you shall hear more of me,
sir! Depend upon it!'
    'Tell you what,' said Lavengro reasonably, Tm going
from here to swear an affadavy of all this. And then, if so much as the shadow
of one of your tall hats falls on my tent, I’ll be round the watch-committee
with a copy. Saying how I was brought here forcible to perjure meself over
things that never happened. They'll have your privates off you and mounted over
the Town 'all porch.'
    There was an ill-suppressed
snort of mirth from one of the uniformed constables behind Verity. The Great
Lavengro, with a sense of theatrical dignity, swept from the room. Verity
decided that the time had come to disclose the other predictions of the man who
had posed as Lavengro on the previous afternoon.
    'Sir,'
he said smartly, 'there's one thing I gotta say, sir. With respect, sir.'
    But Croaker was surveying the
room with eyes which seemed blinded by his own interior humiliation. Suddenly
aware of the sergeant's voice he brought his gaze into focus on Verity's smug
red face. And then his agony became insupportable.
    'Get out!' he
cried. 'This minute! Get out! Get out!’
    Above
the glitter of the afternoon sea, the dry summer turf of the downland was
covered by fairground tents and canvas booths. Banners fluttered from their
tops and a great painted placard in red and blue announced 'Newsome's Alhambra
Palace Circus! A Brilliant Assemblage of Equestrian Novelties! Lessons in the
Polite Art of Equitation Given Daily by Madame Pauline Newsome!'
    Elsewhere, the same
information streamed from long strips of printed bills. A single flag
proclaiming 'Newsome's Equestrian Novelties!' drooped in the warm air. Newsome
himself stood in a wooden box by the entrance, like a saint in a niche, his
leather purse ready to receive the coppers. From within a small braying band of
brass instruments was playing 'All Among the Barley'.
    Verity
stood before the entrance with Miss Jolly a few paces behind him. She had
equipped herself for whatever might occur, the pink crinoline concealing the
riding trousers, in which she could move with improbable speed. Verity
surveyed the other young women outside the tent with a red-faced scowl. Jolly
watched with an occasional flash of her eyes to right or left, eager for her
prey.
    Newsome
with his broad-brimmed farmer's hat and hoarse voice was haranguing the crowds.
    'This
way, ladies and gents, for the equestrian novelties, incorporating for the
first time in this town Rowley's medieval tournaments! See two fair damsels
joust for the love of the same knight! See the winner in her bride attire. . .'
    Verity's
eyes narrowed. He knew something of Rowley's medieval tournaments and the girls
who made up its retinue. A troupe of light-fingered young sluts, he thought.
Far and away the most likely to make the bogus Lavengro's prediction come true.
He was watching the rear entrance of the tent, where Newsome's 'artistes'
assembled. A deep satisfaction filled his heart.
    The girl was no more than
fifteen years old, but he knew her well enough. She was a sturdy tomboy, one of
Newsome's jousting maids. The fair hair was combed from its central parting to
lie loose on her shoulders, the snub nose, narrow eyes and thin mouth giving an
impression of wilful insolence. Her figure was tightly cased in a white singlet
and riding trousers of a smooth lavender blue cotton.
    'Who's she, then?'
    He was aware of Miss Jolly's