The girl, who was indeed the Jeanne d'Arc of their cause, was
their sole means of subsistence. It was her psychic powers that
made it possible for them, in a furtive way, to give their little
entertainments. Their method was, on reaching a village where
there were no chuff troops, to distribute certain handbills which
Bleak had been able to get printed by stealth. These read thus:

THE SIX QUIMBLETONS or The Decanterbury Pilgrims In Their Artistic
Revival Of Old and Entertaining Customs, Tableaux Vivants Vanished
Arts, Folklore Games and Conjuring Tricks Such as The Drinking of
Healths, Toasts, Nosepainting, The Lifted Elbow, Let's Match For
It, Say When, Light or Dark? and This One's On Me. COMMUNION WITH
DEPARTED SPIRITS Please Do Not Leave Before the Hat Goes Round

Having taken their station in some not too prominent place, Bleak
would mount the wheelbarrow and play Coming Through the Rye on a
jew's-harp. This, his sole musical accomplishment, was exceedingly
distasteful to him: all his training had been in the anonymity of
a newspaper office, and he felt his public humiliation bitterly.

When a crowd had gathered, Quimbleton would ascend the barrow and
make a brief speech (of a highly inflammatory and treasonable
nature) after which he would set up the small table and the brass
rail, produce a white apron and a tumbler from his knapsack, and
introduce Theodolinda for an alcoholic trance. It was found that
the public entered into the spirit of these seances with great
gusto, and often the collection taken up was gratifyingly large.
However, the life was hazardous in the extreme, and they were in
perpetual danger of meeting secret service agents. It was only by