A Bit of Luck for Mabel
Encyclopedia
"A Bit of Luck for Mabel" is a short story
by P. G. Wodehouse
, which first appeared in the United States
in the December 26, 1925 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
, and in the United Kingdom
in the May 1926 Strand
. It was included in the collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets, published in 1940. It features the irrepressible Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge
.
, and Ukridge began frequenting their house.
He has a rival for Mabel's love, who is a Baronet
, which worries Ukridge somewhat, but he is given confidence by his dress, which, as he is at the time staying with his aunt, is rather dapper, top hat, spats and all. Ascot is approaching, and Ukridge agrees to attend with Mabel and her family.
Aunt Julia discovers that Ukridge has pawned
a clock from the spare room, to pay for gifts for Mabel, and kicks him out once more; Ukridge takes lodgings, but one day his hat is blown off and crushed in the street. Needing one for Ascot, he approaches George Tupper for a loan, but Tupper, annoyed at Ukridge for touching him twice in a week, proposes to find Ukridge a job, and fixes up a meeting with a friend of his who is after a secretary. Ukridge agrees, but on the way out picks up Tupper's topper.
The day of the races arrives, and Ukridge gives his coat and hat to his landlady to clean up ready for the big event. She holds them to ransom, refusing to return them unless he pays the back-rent he owes. Desperate for apparel to attend the meet, he has a visitor, who he takes to be Tupper's friend come to interview him for the job; he tricks the man out of his coat and hat, which fit like a charm, and heads off to Ascot.
Arriving, he meets Tupper, who tells him the friend had to cancel their appointment and had left for Paris
the previous evening. Ukridge is bemused, until Mabel asks where her father is - he had, apparently, returned early from Singapore, and had been sent to collect Ukridge and bring him along to Ascot. Having thus embarrassed himself in front of her father, Ukridge gives Mabel up, and hears she later married the Bart.
Ukridge suggests a weighty, moving title for the tale, something about fate and destiny, but Corky has something more fitting in mind...
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, which first appeared in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the December 26, 1925 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the May 1926 Strand
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
. It was included in the collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets, published in 1940. It features the irrepressible Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge
Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge
Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse.Ukridge is a schemer who will do anything to increase his funding -- except, of course, work. An alert and creative opportunist, he makes sure that no kindness shown to him, however...
.
Main characters
- Stanley Featherstonehaugh UkridgeStanley Featherstonehaugh UkridgeStanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse.Ukridge is a schemer who will do anything to increase his funding -- except, of course, work. An alert and creative opportunist, he makes sure that no kindness shown to him, however...
, the irrepressible entrepreneur- Julia Ukridge, his haughty writer aunt
- Jimmy Corcoran, his writer friend
- George Tupper, an old schoolfriend of Ukridge and Corcoran
- Mabel, a girl of respectable family, who Ukridge falls for
- Sir Aubrey, Ukridge's rival for Mabel, a BaronetBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
and a guardsmanColdstream GuardsHer Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
- Sir Aubrey, Ukridge's rival for Mabel, a Baronet
- Mrs Beale, Ukridge's landlady
Plot
Ukridge and his pal Jimmy Corcoran are taking a break in the country, and one night Ukridge decides to tell the story of Mabel and the top hat. Ukridge had met Mabel at a dinner party at his Aunt Julia's house, and had fallen for her hard; she was the daughter of a wealthy colonial type who was busy out in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Ukridge began frequenting their house.
He has a rival for Mabel's love, who is a Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, which worries Ukridge somewhat, but he is given confidence by his dress, which, as he is at the time staying with his aunt, is rather dapper, top hat, spats and all. Ascot is approaching, and Ukridge agrees to attend with Mabel and her family.
Aunt Julia discovers that Ukridge has pawned
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
a clock from the spare room, to pay for gifts for Mabel, and kicks him out once more; Ukridge takes lodgings, but one day his hat is blown off and crushed in the street. Needing one for Ascot, he approaches George Tupper for a loan, but Tupper, annoyed at Ukridge for touching him twice in a week, proposes to find Ukridge a job, and fixes up a meeting with a friend of his who is after a secretary. Ukridge agrees, but on the way out picks up Tupper's topper.
The day of the races arrives, and Ukridge gives his coat and hat to his landlady to clean up ready for the big event. She holds them to ransom, refusing to return them unless he pays the back-rent he owes. Desperate for apparel to attend the meet, he has a visitor, who he takes to be Tupper's friend come to interview him for the job; he tricks the man out of his coat and hat, which fit like a charm, and heads off to Ascot.
Arriving, he meets Tupper, who tells him the friend had to cancel their appointment and had left for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
the previous evening. Ukridge is bemused, until Mabel asks where her father is - he had, apparently, returned early from Singapore, and had been sent to collect Ukridge and bring him along to Ascot. Having thus embarrassed himself in front of her father, Ukridge gives Mabel up, and hears she later married the Bart.
Ukridge suggests a weighty, moving title for the tale, something about fate and destiny, but Corky has something more fitting in mind...
See also
- List of Wodehouse's Ukridge stories