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THE SWOOP!

or

How Clarence Saved England

_A Tale of the Great Invasion_





by P. G. Wodehouse

1909





PREFACE

It may be thought by some that in the pages which follow I have painted
in too lurid colours the horrors of a foreign invasion of England.
Realism in art, it may be argued, can be carried too far. I prefer to
think that the majority of my readers will acquit me of a desire to be
unduly sensational. It is necessary that England should be roused to a
sense of her peril, and only by setting down without flinching the
probable results of an invasion can this be done. This story, I may
mention, has been written and published purely from a feeling of
patriotism and duty. Mr. Alston Rivers' sensitive soul will be jarred
to its foundations if it is a financial success. So will mine. But in a
time of national danger we feel that the risk must be taken. After all,
at the worst, it is a small sacrifice to make for our country.

P. G. WODEHOUSE.

_The Bomb-Proof Shelter,_ _London, W._





Part One




Chapter 1

AN ENGLISH BOY'S HOME


_August the First, 19--_

Clarence Chugwater looked around him with a frown, and gritted his
teeth.

"England--my England!" he moaned.

Clarence was a sturdy lad of some fourteen summers. He was neatly, but
not gaudily, dressed in a flat-brimmed hat, a  handkerchief, a
flannel shirt, a bunch of ribbons, a haversack, football shorts, brown
boots, a