Jewel Of A Girl By (Raja Tridiv Roy)

        In the fashionable quarter of Karachi there was a newly opened jeweler's shop. One rainy day an ivory white Cadillac glided up to the entrance and ejected a sophisticated young lady dressed in the height of fashion. One did not need a second glance to realist that she belonged to the elite of the city. She had made one or two rather expensive purchases previously and the establishment was grateful for her august patronage.

              She was led to the private office which was situated in the center of the building. Some weeks ago she placed a telephonic order for identical pair diamond sets, set in platinum. There was one in the case, She had asked for a twin. Now she inquired about the second set.

             It was all but ready- Only if madam would wait.
             "So sorry I'm in a hurry. I'LL pick it up in the evening."

            She collected one set and the cash memo and then paid cash as was her custom.  "Please keep it ready. I shall return at five " She smiled sweetly, Her purchase snugly in her spacious handbag. the manager bowed her out of his private office.

        At 5 P.M. The lady reappeared and was instantly conducted to the private room. The manager, beaming handed her the second case. "The memo is packed inside, madam."
        "how considerate. Thank You so much."
The lady, with package under her arm. nonchalantly walked out onto the main showroom.

         The manager, immensely buoyed at the successful sale of two very highly priced sets of diamonds, was still smiling complacently. He said barely audibly, Punctuated with an apologetic throat clearing now and then.

                "Madam today is a little pre-occupied." As this made no impression on the lady, Who continued on her outward journey, he reminded her again. "The Money, Madam. A trifle, of course."

             "What," exclaimed the lady in amazement, turning round confronting him aggressively, Some purchasers, or intending ones, watched enthralled.

           "Today madam is very absentminded."

           "I don't know what you're talking about," said the lady and resumed her graceful walk.

          "Stop her," Shouted the Manager at the doorman, In Alarm.

            "Ladies and gentlemen, this lady is running away with my ornaments, without paying."

          "Are you, by  any chance , accusing me of theft?" Her eyes blazed indignantly.

          "No, Madam, perhaps this is a lapse of memory on your part."
 
The Lady smiled. "Now please do not try to detain me. I've an appointment."

          "Appointment! . Pay me first." The Manager stood by the entrance blocking her path.

           "This is preposterous. I'm afraid I shall be compelled to ring for the police."

        An elderly man detached himself from the eager crowd of observers and strode forward.
He addressed the Manager who was now twitching in agitation.

           "Are You," said self-appointed arbiter, "are you accusing this lady of theft? Daylight robbery would be more appropriate."

           "Well, it amounts to that. She is walking off without paying. And as cool as ics."

           Madam, and what do you say to this charge"

          "You are all my witnesses," said the lady in a voice of offended dignity, her eyes taking in the congregation, "You have heard this--This Manager accuse me of theft/ I'm going to sure him for damages."

          "Certainly,"said the spokesman of the crowd. "provided his charge is false."

         "Ring up the police, Then," said the lady, a picture of a much wroged soul.

          "I certainly shall," said the Manager and did so.

          The Police came. A case was instituted. According to evidence adduced in court it was conclusively proved that the lady had purchased only one set of ornaments, which was found in her spacious handbag with the cash memo.
The numbers of the notes which the lady had paid tallied with those found in the Manager's safe. The Bank confirmed not only the numbers but also her inveterate practice of having numbers of her notes noted, checked and countersigned when the amount withdrawn was large. Yes, she had drawn the sum the lady previous to the incident.

         The Establishment lose not only the Jewels and her patronage but had to pay heavy damages for the lady was of unblemished reputation. and of position.

         The Manager lost his job as well as his security deposit with the firm. But to this day he is still a bachelor he believes that the lady had an attack of amnesia. The alternative, based on his study of human nature, was unthinkable when applied to this lady therefore inapplicable.


The Author 

Read More

Heroes And Heroines By (Stephen Leacock)

         "What Are you reading?" I asked the other day of a blue-eyed boy of ten curled up among the sofa cushions.
             he held out the book for me to see.
         "Dauntless Ned among the Cannibals," he answered.
            "Is it Exciting?" I inquired.
           "Not Very," said the child in a matter-of-fact tone.
       "But it's not bad. "
     I took the book from him and read aloud at the opened page.
        "In a compact mass the gigantic savages rushed upon our hero, shrieking with rage and ground fearlessly, his back to a banana tree. with a sweep of his cutlass he severed the head of the leading savage from this body , While with a back stroke of his dirk he stabbed another to the heart. But resistance against such, Ned was borne to the ground. His arms were then pinioned with stout ropes made of the fibers of the boo-booda tree. with shrieks of exultation the savages dragged our hero to an opening in the woods where a huge fire was burning, over which was suspended an enormous cauldron of bubbling oil. "Boil him, boil him!" yelled the savages, now wrought to the point of frenzy!
                      "that seems fairly exciting, isn't it?" I said
           "oh he won't get boiled," said the little boy. "He is the hero."
       So I knew that the child has already taken his first step in disillusionment of fiction.
       Of Course he was quite right as to Ned. This Wonder full youth, the hero with whom we all begin an acquaintance with books, passes unhurt through a thousand perils. Cannibals, Apache Indians, Was, Battles, Shipwrecks, leave him quite unscathed. At the most Ned gets a flesh wound which is healed, in exactly one paragraph, by that wonderful drug called a 'Simple'.
      But the most amazing thing about this particular hero, the boy Ned, is the way in which he turns up in all great battles and leading events of the world.
       It was Ned, for example , who at the critical moment at Gettysburg turned in his saddle to General Meade and said quietly, "General, the day is ours." If it is," Answered Meade, as he folded his field glass,"You alone, Ned, Have saved it."
        In the same way Ned was present at the crossing of the deal ware with Washington. thus:
  "what do you see, Ned?" said Washington as they peered from the leading boat into driving snow.
     "Ice," said Ned, "My Boy," Said The Great American General, And a tear froze upon his face as he spoke, "You have saved us all."
          "here is Ned at Runnymede when King John with pen in hand was about to sign the Magna Carta.
           "For a moment the king paused irresolute, the uplifted quill in his hand, While his crafty furtive eyes  indicated That he might yet break his plighted faith with assembled barons.
          Ned laid his mailed hand upon the parchment.
"Sign it," he said sternly, "or take the consequences."
              The King Signed.
"Ned," Said the baron de Bohen, As he removed his iron vizor from his bronzed face,"thou hast this day save all England."
            In the stories of our boyhood in which Ned figured, There was no such thing as a heroine, or practically none. At best she was broght in as an afterthought. It was announced on page three hundred and one that at the close of Ned's desperate adventures in the West indies he married the beautiful daughter of Don Diego, the Spanish governor of Portobello; Or else, at the end of the great war with Napoleon, that he married a beautiful and accomplished French girl. Whose parents had perished in the Revolution.
              Ned generally married away from home. In fact his marriages were intended to cement the nations, torn asunder by Ned's military career. But sometimes he returned to his native town, all sun-burned, scarred and bronzed from battle (the Bronzing effect of being in battle is always Noted( : he had changed from a boy to a man, that is, from a boy of fifteen to a man of sixteen. In such a case Ned marries in his 76 own home town.. It is done after this fashion.
                      "But who is this who advances smiling to greet him as he crosses the familiar threshold of the dear old house? Can this tall, Beautiful girl be Gwendoline, the child-play-mate of his boy-hood?"
                   Well, can it? I ask it of every experienced reader--can it or can it no 

The Author (Stephen Leacock)

                                

Read More

The Reward Written By (Lord Dunsany)

our Talk at the Club one day was of opportunity and determination. Some said opportunity was required for success, and millions never had it; other that only determination was needed. And then joined in , all for determination. if a man was determined to get anything and stuck to it long enough. he got it, said jorkens.
          "Anything?" asked terbut.
          "Anything" jorkens replied, "so long as he sticks to it, and stick sto it hard enough and long enough. Anything whatever.'
             Terbut disagreed.
                            'Life is like a race.' Jorkens went on, 'in which they tire after a while and sir down, or get interested in something else instead. the man who keeps on wins the race'
'And Suppose a man wanted to be skating champion of the Sahara,' Said Terbut, 'and couldn't afford the money to get there.'
           'He'd make the money,' said Jorkens, 'And he'd build a skating-rink in the Sahara and organize a competition there. He'd be skating chapion all right, if he really gives all his time to it.'
"Could you tell us a case like that?' asked one of us
           'As a matter of fact, I can, " said jorkens, ' A very similar case.'
           "Let's Hear it,' Said Terbut.
                                   'There was a young fellow,' said jorkens, 'to whom his parents probably used to say the very things that we have been saying now; and very likely he, as many young fellow do, may have wanted to prove them wrong. i dont know: it was a long time ago. But, Whatever his motive was, he hit on a most extraordinary ambition, and stuck to it. It was nothing less than to appointed Court acrobat.
           "What?' Said Terbut/
           'Acrobat,' jorkens went on, 'to the Court of the country in which he lived.'

           'What kind of country was that?' asked Terbut.
          Never mind what kind od country was , said jorkens. ' And as a matter of fact its customs weren't so silly as you suppose. They had no post of Court acrobat, and never had had. But that didn't stop young Gorgios. That was his name. He Was a Good High jump and the hurdles and the hundred yards at his school.'
          'Well, There was opportunity,' Argued Terbut,'if he was born a good athlete.'
         'But wait a moment,' Said Jorkens. 'You don't remain an athlete all your life, and he still had to get the post created.'
          'How did he do that?' asked terbut.
'Simply by sticking to it,'said Jorkens. ' He went into politics. They all do in that country. But he went into them harder than anyone else, and never gave up his ambition. of course he made speeches, and fine ones, on many other subjects; but all the while he stuck to jis one idea. the years went by, and the day came when he had power enough to preach his ambition openly,and he told them how the glory of their country and of its ancient throne would be increased if the post of Court acrobat were created. He gave examples of other Courts and gearter ones. Of course many opposed him: that is politics. Of course it took a long time: that is politics too. But as the years went by he were down opposing arguments, till he had taught people what a lesson it would be to all the nations to have a young athlete at Court exhibiting perfect physical fitness, and how such an example would strengthen their soldiers and enable the finally to win the just rights of the nation in victorious battle against their accursed neighbors. and so the idea caught on; and to make a very long story short, the post of Court acrobat was duly created'
          'Both parents of Gorgios were by then long dead. By then, Little remained to be done: he had only to stick for a few more days to that wild idea of his and then, When the Question arose of choosing an athlete to fill the newly-made post, Whom could they choose but the man who had worked for it all those years?
         'So Gorgios was appointed acrobat to the Court, And learned so late in life, What always Takes Time, That his parents were right after all. It Only remained then to inguurate him. And that is where i came on the scene, wandering about Europe as I used to do in those days when food used to be cheap and I was young and could easily walk long distances. I Came to that country and they were wonderfully friendly, and they let me see the great ceremony, which took place as soon after the creation of the post as Gorgios's uniform could be got ready. And very magnificent clothing it was, a tight-fitting suit of red velvet, all gay with gold buttons and shining with lines of gold lace that wound and twisted about it. The great throne-room had been turned into a kind of gymnasium, with the members of the Royal House seated along a raised platform at one end, and the principal officers standing beside and behind them. great curtains of red and gold were hung along the walls and the high swings of acrobats hung down with gilded ropes from the celling, and a row of neat hurdles was arranged on the polised floor: like the ones over which Gorgios had won his race when at school. Lights glittered, a band in pale green and gold played softly, and it was indeed a splendid scene. i will not describe it to you.because everything there, the uniforms and the ladies' brilliant dresses, was utterly put in the shade by the moment when the doors opened with a flood of golden light, and the old man in his brilliant uniform appeared between them for the crowning of his life's work. His white hair and the red uniform of the Court acrobat showed each other off to perfection, and his thin figure worn with age was made all the more melancholy by the tight-fitting uniform. As thought tried by his long patience and the work of a lifetime, he walked slowly in his pointed shoes and leaned on a gilded stick. he came to the hurdles that he remembered, over which once he had won so easy a victory. As he came to the first he looked up for a moment with a sloghtly sad expression towards the Royal Platform. As though he asked some question with his eyes. Whatever the question was it was at once understood. Royal smiles were directed towards him, and gentle applause broke out from every hand, which he understood at once, and the old bent from moved on awau from the hirdle. once he raised a hand to touch the lowest of the swings that were hung from the ceiling. But again the applause broke out, assuring him that no actual activity was expected of him. And so; having made his bows, he was led to a seat, his life's ambition achieved. it must have taken him more than sixty years to do it, since first he came by that strange ambition of his. but he did it Not many stick to a thing for so long.'

                    And Jorkens uttered a quiet sigh, so clearly mourning over some lost ambition that he himself had given up , that not even Terbut asked him What it was.


The Author Lord Dunsany

Read More