Paddington At Large

When they had finished their picnic Mr Gruber led the way towards a small enclosure where the swings and slides were kept and he stood back while Paddington, Jonathan, and Judy hurried inside to see what they could find. Paddington in particular was very keen on slides and he was anxious to test a large one which he had seen from a distance.

It was when the excitement was at its height that Mr Gruber suddenly cupped one hand to his ear and called for quiet.

“I do believe there’s a band playing somewhere,” he said.

Sure enough, as the others listened they could definitely hear strains of music floating across the park. It seemed to be coming from behind a clump of trees and as Mr Gruber led the way across the park it gradually got louder and louder.

Then, as they rounded a corner, another large enclosure came into view. At one end of it there was a bandstand and in front of that there were rows and rows of seats filled with people listening to the music.

Mr Gruber pointed excitedly at the bandstand. “We’re in luck, Mr Brown,” he exclaimed. “It’s the Guards!”

While Mr Gruber went on to explain that the Guards were a very famous regiment of soldiers who kept watch over Buckingham Palace and other important places, Paddington peered through the fence at the men on the platform. They all wore brightly coloured uniforms with very tall black hats made of fur and their instruments were so highly polished they sparkled in the sun like balls of fire.

“It’s a good many years since I went to a band concert in the park, Mr Brown,” said Mr Gruber.

“I’ve never been to one, Mr Gruber,” said Paddington.

“That settles it then,” replied Mr Gruber. And as the item came to an end and the audience applauded he led the way to the entrance and asked for four five pence tickets. They just managed to squeeze themselves into four seats near the back before the conductor, a very imposing man with a large moustache, raised his baton for the next item.

Paddington settled himself comfortably in his seat. They had done so much walking that day he wasn’t at all sorry to be able to sit down and rest his paws for a while and he applauded dutifully and cheered several times when, with a flourish, the conductor at last brought the music to an end and turned to salute the audience.

Judy nudged Paddington. “You can see what they’re going to play next,” she whispered, pointing towards the bandstand. “It’s written on that board up there.”

Paddington took out his opera glasses and leaned out into the aisle as he peered at the board with interest. There were several items called ‘Selections’ which he didn’t immediately recognize. These were followed by a number of regimental marches, one of which had just been played. After that came another selection from something called a ‘Surprise Symphony’, which sounded very good value.

But it was as he peered at the last item that a strange expression suddenly came over Paddington’s face. He breathed heavily on his glasses several times, polished them with a piece of rag which he got from his suitcase, and then looked through them again at the board.

“That’s called a selection from Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony,” explained Judy in a whisper as the music started up again.

“What!” exclaimed Paddington hotly as his worst suspicions were confirmed. “Mr Gruber’s paid five pence each for our tickets and they haven’t even finished it!”

“He died a long time ago,” whispered Judy, “and they never found the rest of it.”

“Five pence each!” exclaimed Paddington bitterly, not listening to Judy’s words. “That’s twenty pence!”

“Ssh!” said someone in the row behind.

Paddington sank back into his seat and spent the next few minutes giving the conductor some hard stares through his opera glasses.

Gradually, as the music reached a quiet passage, everyone closed their eyes and began to sink lower and lower in their seats until within a matter of moments the only movement came from somewhere near the back of the audience as a small brown figure got up from its seat by the gangway and crept towards the exit.