Welcome to the latest in our series of audio adventures, Tales for Our Time. This month's caper was published a century ago, but may strike you as rather timely: A cabal of globalists is seeking to exploit political dissatisfactions to their own ends ...and all that stands in their way is the eponymous hero of Sapper's Bulldog Drummond.
Some listeners enjoy our tales as a mug of nightly audio Ovaltine twenty minutes before they lower their lamp. Others leave it a few episodes to see if it's worth their commitment and then jump in for a big binge-listen. Either way, in tonight's installment, one brief exchange may require a bit of annotation:
He walked towards the house, and they watched him go in silence. It was as he opened the drawing-room window that Hugh called after him:
"Do you like the horse Elliman's or the ordinary brand?" he asked. "I'll send you a bottle for that stiff neck of yours."
Very deliberately Peterson turned round.
"Don't trouble, thank you, Captain Drummond. I have my own remedies, which are far more efficacious."
That's a reference to what was then the biggest employer in Slough - Elliman's Embrocation, which hit the spot for aches, pains and bruises. It came in two formulas, as you can see in the ad above: "Royal" for your trusty steed, and "Universal" for you. Yes, that's right: In the 1920s people were so primitive that they thought the same product could treat both horses and humans! Not like that today, eh? Headline from The Guardian:
'You are not a horse': FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid
Instead, just get your ninth dose of the jabba-jabba, and you'll be in tip-top shape just like that bloke who's had to pull out of his presidential campaign...
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear Part Ten of our tale simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
Thank you for your interesting comments on our latest yarn. Israel writes from Israel to say:
Mark, I am enjoying this edition of Tales. I must say that the theme music sounds more than a bit like 'No Milk Today.'
Well, each to his own. I am a great admirer of "No Milk Today", as you can hear in my conversation with Peter Noone here. But, gifted as he is, Graham Gouldman is not the composer of our theme music. More on that subject in the coming days.
If you have friends who might appreciate Bulldog Drummond, Northanger Abbey, Nineteen Eighty-Four or our other tales, we have a special Steyn Club Gift Membership that lets them in on that and on all the other fun in The Mark Steyn Club.
If you've only joined the Steyn Club in recent days and missed our earlier serials (Conan Doyle's The Tragedy of the Korosko, Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel, Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda, plus Kipling, Kafka, Dickens, Gogol, Louisa May Alcott, P G Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, H G Wells, Scott Fitzgerald and more), you can find them all on our easy-to-access Netflix-style Tales for Our Time home page. Indeed, it's so easy to access that we've introduced a similar format for our poetry and music outings.
The Mark Steyn Club is now in its eighth year, and helps keep all our regular content - whether in print, audio or video - out there in the world for everyone. In return, membership confers, aside from Tales for Our Time, a few other benefits:
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with yours truly, such as this coming Wednesday's;
~Transcript and audio versions of The Mark Steyn Show and our other video content;
~My video series of classic poetry;
~Booking for special members-only events such as The Mark Steyn Christmas Show (if my woeful health permits);
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world, such as our next Mark Steyn Cruise;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the opportunity to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and please join me tomorrow for Part Eleven of Bulldog Drummond.
