The Word in Season

"The Word in Season"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Drones Club
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher Punch
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date August 1940

"The Word in Season" is a short story by comic writer P. G. Wodehouse and part of the Drones Club canon. First published in the UK in Punch in August 1940, the story was included in the 1959 collection A Few Quick Ones.[1]

Drones Club member Bingo Little, his wife Rosie M. Banks, and the club millionaire Oofy Prosser appear in the story. Bingo promises his wife Rosie that he will contribute to their infant son's deposit account. When he loses the money at a horse race, he must find a way to make the money back without letting Rosie, who disapproves of gambling, find out what happened.

A "word in season" means something spoken at the right time.

Plot

Bingo Little's baby, Algernon Aubrey Little, has been proposed by Bingo and seconded by an influential Crumpet for election for Drones Club membership. Some members are reluctant to elect a noisy, messy baby for membership. The Crumpet assures them that Algy will be a beneficent member, as he has a knack for doing the right thing at the right time. The Crumpet tells the other members the following story.

Bingo promised Rosie that he would add ten pounds to a deposit account for Algy for his first birthday. This was all he had on hand after getting an advance on his salary. He bets the ten pounds on a horse, hoping to give Algy twenty pounds. The horse loses. To make the money back, Bingo writes a story called "Tibby's Wonderful Adventure" about a little girl named Gwendoline and her cat Tibby. As editor of Wee Tots, Bingo accepts it for the paper, but the proprietor Henry Cuthbert Purkiss does not pay him for it, saying that all Bingo's contributions are already covered by his salary.

Up till now he had been one of those strong silent babies, content merely to dribble at the side of the mouth and emit an occasional gurgle. It can readily be understood, therefore, that the effect of this piece of hot news on Mrs. Bingo was about the same as that of the arrival of Talkies on the magnates of Hollywood. She left the room as if shot out of a gun.

— Rosie is excited about Algy's first word[2]

Knowing Oofy Prosser is Algy's godfather, Bingo asks him for ten pounds for Algy. Oofy instead pays Bingo to give dinner to a girl named Mabel Murgatroyd, whom Oofy wants to avoid. Mabel and Bingo dine and then go to a gambling place near Bingo's house. Bingo loses his money and police raid the establishment. Bingo hides in a water barrel belonging to his neighbour Mr. Quintin. Mabel hides in the barrel with him until it is safe to leave. The next morning, Rosie returns from a trip, and later confronts Bingo for gambling and hiding in a water barrel with a woman, which she learned about from Quintin. Algy's nanny reports that Algy said his first word, "Cat". This distracts Rosie, temporarily saving Bingo.

Mr. Purkiss and his wife, Rosie's friend Julia, appear. Purkiss wants Bingo to confirm that they were together the previous night, which Purkiss clearly wants his wife to believe. Eagerly, Bingo agrees, and adds that Purkiss had agreed to pay him ten pounds; grudgingly, Purkiss pays Bingo. Bingo tells Rosie that Purkiss can confirm that he was not at the gambling house. He also gives her ten pounds for Algy's account. After Rosie and Julia go to the nursery, Bingo and Purkiss once again agree with each other that they were together the previous night before they also go to Algy.

Publication history

"The Word in Season" was first published on 21 August 1940 in Punch, and also appeared in the US magazine Harper's Bazaar on 15 September 1940 with illustrations by Peter Arno.[3] On 18 May 1958, the story was published as "Bingo Little's Wild Night Out" in the US magazine This Week, illustrated by Richard Hook.[4]

The story was included in the 1959 short story collection A Few Quick Ones, and in the 1982 short story collection, Tales from the Drones Club.[5]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 94, A82b, and p. 178, D124.93.
  2. ↑ Wodehouse (1993) [1959], chapter 5, p. 105.
  3. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 150, D29.1, and p. 178, D124.93.
  4. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 159, D65.12.
  5. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 94, A82b, and p. 126, B25.
Bibliography
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1993) [1959]. A Few Quick Ones (Reprinted ed.). London: The Guernsey Press Co. Ltd. ISBN 0099819503.
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