PENNY PLAIN

BY

O. DOUGLAS



TO MY BROTHER WALTER




SHOPMAN: "You may have your choice--penny plain or twopence coloured."

SOLEMN SMALL BOY: "Penny plain, please. It's better value for the
money."




CHAPTER I

"The actors are at hand,
And by their show
You shall know all that you are like to know."
_Midsummer Night's Dream_.


It was tea-time in Priorsford: four-thirty by the clock on a chill