Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-01-16

would you be surprised TO hear
that this is the fellow to his-the dupli-
| cate, don't you call it? He and [
bought bag apiece at the same shoe
and at the same time, so there's moth
ing very wonderful in the two being
or the same pattern. You were clever
at mares-nesting, weren't you. when
you were boy?"
had been wrought up to such a
pitch of suspense that the relief af-
forded by Number Two's explanation
caused mel am ashamed to say-to
burst out into a silly bleat-Iike hyster-
ical laugh; but fortunately the guffaw
at Number Five's expense was SO gen
eral that my excitement passed I'M
noticed.
Then suddenly changing his tone to
one OF buSiness-like directneSs, Number
Two went on, in hard, cold voice. in
which l thought | detected an Ameri-
can twang:
See here, my friends-I happen to
know the address to which our late
chief was having his letters sent. and
have taken the liberty, as the senior
member of this council, of obtaining
them, and bringing them along to-
night There they are, and you will
see that there is tidy sum, which has
come to hand in the way of subscrip-
tons, to be shared among us. But |
must point out to you that since our
leaders death this council has, so to
speak, been living on its capital. He
was born organizer; and when he
died he had got the machinery of all
the various leagues, unions, secret So
cietes and agitation movements, which
! he directed, into such excellent work.
ing order, that everything has gone
on almost automatically ever since.
1t is good thing for us that it is so.
| Tor, as you are aware, no inconSiderable
portion of the money that is subscribed
hnds its way into our pockets. But
| since he died we have really done
nothing in return for the 'pickings'
which come our way, and if subscrip-
tons are to keep on coming in-and
on that one point at least we are not
| likely to diSagree-it is high time to
| do something to let our subscribers feel
that they are getting their moneys
worth. Whatever that something Is,
| 1t ought to be big-something that
shall strike at the throne of En-
gland itself, and set every other
| throne in Europe trembling; some
thing that will delight our friends and
terrify our enemies, and set all the
rest of the silly world agape like a
pack of geese. And 1 think I've got
1t. Listen! This jubilee, that is so
soon to come off, has done our cause
lncalcuable damage; it has sent sweep
| Ing to the very ends of the world such
a wave of loyalty to the throne as per-
| haps has never passed over our planet
before. Even that unutterable monkey
on a stick, and poser of posers, who
80 loves to play at soldiers, and have
his portrait taken in uniform-the en-
peror of Germany-sits securer on his
throne to-day because of the jubilee in
| England. 1t has strengthened the po-
sition of monarchism immensely. and
has put back the day of democracy by
good so years. The picturesqueness
of the thing and the sentiment of it
the queens being a woman and a
widow, and all that-have turned the
heads of even thoughtful people, and
Il wouldn't surprise me if jubilee day
saw even the staid members of this
council waving their hats and yelling
themselves hoarse with the rest of the
populace.
We'll gentlemen, to come TO BUSH
ness. The Strand, as some of you
know, is to be decorated with festoons
of colored celluloid balls stretched
across the road. This will look pretty
in daylight, and prettier at night, as
each ball is really an electric lamp,
and when they are all lit up the effect
will be splendid. I've taken certain
house in the Strand for the occasion
I've engaged 1t for the night before the
jubilee and for jubilee night as well,
so that people that are nervous about
the crowd land / expect the crowd
won't be a bad second TO the Day of
Judgment in the point of numbers)
can sleep there before and after the
event, and so see the show in comfort
And if any of you want TO see some
thing more exciting than the show,
think ! can promise il, and | shall be
happy TO reserve seats. I've rented
the roof OF the house with the rest OF
it, and when it is quite dark l shall go
up there on the night before the jubi-
lee. | shah take with me certain cell
luloid ball, which looks exactly like
those used for decorative purposes, but
which in reality contains a deadly
bomb so constructed that the slightest
conclusion will explode it. one end of
the wire rope supporting the Iestoons
of celluloid balls is secured to the roof
of the house | have taken. This wire
rope / shah undo, and slip my own
celluloid bomb ball upon it, letting
the thing slide down till it reaches the
slackest part of the rope, which will,
of course, be the center, and so just
over the middle of the road. There
will be too much going on below for
any one to notice that one of the many
festoons along the Strand happens to
have an extra ball; and if they do no
tice it they'll only suppose that it is
one that has got out of its place.
Well, when the show passes | shall be
IN tho roof with nair of charm Stnal