This is the scrap of newspaper that Whimsy Pootling finds in the ransacked study... is it a clue to her father's disappearance? It's the front page of an old copy of the Strelsau English Gazette, Ruritania's only English paper. She is certain her father was on his way to Ruritania when he was last seen.
But what has it to do with him? The newspaper is nearly twenty years old, from the very month she was born. What can the connection be between the mysterious disappearance of Count Maximillian, whoever he is, and her father's disappearance? And who are the dour men in black jackets that have been seen about the village? Were they responsible for the break-in at Pootling Hall?
Whimsy really doesn't know, but she is beginning to suspect that things are going to get a lot more dangerous before she gets any answers...
The image, first posted over at the Lead Adventurers' Forum, is thanks to the wonderful engine at the Newspaper Clipping Image Generator, a fine place to start a story off indeed, and newly added to the links on the left there. Make your own Martian Invasion, Shrinking Ray Discovery, Custard Explosion or whatever you like. But beware (as all press barons should) that with great power comes great responsibility...
Sadly, I can now expose this picture as a forgery. Due to new knowledge that has come out - primarily through the Historical Calendar Generator, it has been determined that the 30th of August 1876 was a Wednesday, not a Monday. So it should read either Wednesday August 30, 1876, or Monday August 28, 1876.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in 1875, the 30th of August was a Monday. Perhaps the '6' in the year is a misprint?