The barber's explanation was as good as any, seeing
that he himself could give no satisfactory account of the
circumstances which had reduced him to his sorry pass. So Desmond
held his peace though he felt constrained to reject the barber's
offer of a pick-me-up.
From the shaving saloon, Desmond sent a messenger out for some
clothes, and for the next three hours amused himself by
exhausting the resources of the Turkish bath. Finally, about the
hour of noon, he found himself, considerably refreshed, swathed
in towel, reposing on a couch, a cup of coffee at his elbow and
that morning's Daily Telegraph spread out before him.
Advertisements, so the experts say, are printed on the front and
back of newspapers in order to catch the eye of the indolent, on
the chance that having exhausted the news, they may glance idly
over the front and back of the paper before laying it aside. So
Desmond, before he even troubled to open his paper, let his gaze
wander down the second column of the front page whence issue
daily those anguishing appeals, mysterious messages,
heart-rending entreaties and barefaced begging advertisements
which give this column its characteristic name.
There his eye fell on an advertisement couched in the following
terms:
"If Gunner Martin Barling, 1820th Battery, R.
Pages:
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313