The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-06-07

meetings, often running far into the
night, that the Great Prince after
days comforting had no yen, no
heart and no spirit in him to count
perforations and decipher cachet
neutrality-suspicious. which made
the science of philately SO thrilling
But events in the lives of mice and
men have strange ways in time of
war, and it came to pass that the
dispatch of one letter was forsooth
to bring the Great Prince cachet
more precious than rubies and rare
roast beef, an addition to the stamp
collection that would give it a cover
which no other album in the world
would possess. 1t happened after
this fashion:
Over the seas, beyond the Alps,
beyond even the land of the Hun
and to the north of the holy cities
| of Damascus and Jerusalem, there
dWelt another Great Prince in Mus
covy.
THE MUSCOVITE PRINCE
Now this other Great Prince was
! a strange fellow with fierce mus
taches VINO smoked a foul-smelling
great black pipe and had moreover
habit of wearing his pants tuck
ed inside his boots, and his shirt
tucked outside his pants. Yet he
was Great Prince indeed, idolized
by his people, and his armies fought
CALAMITY against the hordes of the
Hun. He was good ally.
IN cl,1y fn11nuy fhNi1nh oNl
he would not confer. He confined
himself to doing rather than talk
ing, and he summed every invita-
ton from our own Great Prince to
get together, pull up a chair, put his
dogs under a table and talk things
over like a pal.
Now this was a great rebuff for
our own Great Prince, for how could
a war be fought without confer
ence? But he bethought himself of
plan, a plan which would get
him as much publicity as a con-
ference. He would send the Great
Prince of Muscovy letter.
1t would not he an ordinary let
ter. 1t would be the most expensive
letter ever sent. 1t would be borne
on one of the Great Princes fast
est space machines, Stratoliner
with four great engines churning
flying the 1000 miles there and the
1000 miles back at the wondrous
speed of nearly 200 miles an hour
between stops for oil and gas. True,
the cost of carrying this stamp col
lectorS letter without stamps might
run to ST mile, but what of cost
for SO curious a communication as
this? 1t would be more historic
than the message to Garcia, or the
good news from Client to AK, or the
ride of Paul Revere.
POSTWAR DELIVERS
THE GOODS
So precious indeed was this parch-
ment that it could not go in pouch
like any other letter conducting the
Great Princes business. Instead, it
must have special postman all its
own and for this high honor the
Great Prince sent for one of his
administrators to the court of the
other Great Prince, and sent him
off on a second mission to Muscovy
AS is the custom among all Great
Princes, when the ex-ambassador
postman rang twice and delivered
the letter that travelled by itself
without postage stamps, he was
greeted BETTING a courier with good
news. If the news had been bad
the courier would have been beaten
or purged or liquidated as the
Muscovites say in their quaint way.
But since tine news he bore was
good, the ex-ambassador postman
was merely stuffed with caviar and
sturgeon and 10 shots of vodka.
When the eX-ambasSador post
man had recovered and when the
Great Prince of Muscovy had pen
ned him an answer, the eX-ambas-
| Sador postman mounted his good
Steed Stratoliner, sank his spurs in
its cushioned and carpeted fuselage
and galloped home.
And all the people wondered what
the letters said, but were proud and
pleased to think that the envelope
without postage stamps could come
such long way SO fast, and make
such a lovely addition to the each
cts and covers in the Great Princes
album.