Produced by Karen Lofstrom and PG Distributed Proofreaders

PENNY PLAIN

BY
O. DOUGLAS

TO MY BROTHER WALTER

SHOPMAN: "You may have your choice—penny plain or twopence coloured."

SOLEMN SMALL BOY: "Penny plain, please. It's better value for the money."

CHAPTER I

"The actors are at hand,
And by their show
You shall know all that you are like to know."
Midsummer Night's Dream.

It was tea-time in Priorsford: four-thirty by the clock on a chill
October afternoon.