I struck the shady path beneath the terrace of the
National Liberal Club, and sat myself down on a comfortable
bench. The only other occupant was a female in black. As I take
no interest in females in black, I disregarded her presence, and
gave myself up to the contemplation, of the trim lawns and
flower-beds, the green trees masking the unsightly Surrey side of
the river, and the back of the statue of Sir Bartle Frere. A
continued survey of the last not making for edification (a statue
that turns its back on you being one of the dullest objects made
by man), I took from my pocket a brown leather-covered volume
which I had fished out of a penny box: "_Suite de l'Histoire du
Gouvernement de Venise ou L'Histoire des Uscoques, par le Sieur
Houssaie, Amsterdam, MDCCV._" A whole complete scholarly history
of a forgotten people for a penny. The Uscoques were originally
Dalmatians who settled at Segna on the Adriatic and became the
most pestiferous colony of pirates and desperadoes of sixteenth
century Europe. I opened the yellow-stained pages and savoured
their acrid musty smell.
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