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NO ONE has ever satisfactorily explained how a
itself into orbit . Shooting up over the pass a bit
to know . But the fact remains that get
itself into orbit it did .
And a fine old fuss there was about it , too .
Rev. Edwards .
Aboard , apart from the crew , were Mrs. Megan
and Miss Ethel Yates , hikers from
Birmingham ; Price the Provisions ; and the
Thomas and her five-year-old son Cadwallader ;
Here are the known facts . On 10th July ,
pretty little Morfydd Owen ; Mr. Stanley Hayball
left Dinas at two-thirty-five as usual .
the bus , the 2.20 from Dinas to Llangrwl ,
Dai Pugh , taking a tearful farewell of
recently been Ifor's typist , but was now
Ifor was . For there was his garage hand ,
is established . Ifor Huw Evans , Propr. ,
returning to her home town as a
Yes , the bus set out from Dinas . So much
watched it go from the windows of the
fully-fledged schoolteacher .
Dinas Motor Omnibus Co. Very interested ,
Morfydd Owen . Morfydd , who had until
the world , is it ? " " For me it is , " Dai
said wretchedly , wiping his hands on his
overalls preparatory to a last embrace . " You
the Mixed Infants of Llangrwl . "
hand when you are lording it over
" But I 'm only going fifteen miles away , "
will not be remembering a mere garage
Morfydd was saying . " Not the end of
new world she was entering there might
had qualified as a schoolteacher , poor
could not help wondering whether , now she
be boys equally nice , and with far more
A nice boy of course . But perhaps in the
to offer . The conductor rang his bell .
" Silly boy , " said Morfydd . Though she
little Dai was quite the man for her .
swinging down to the darkening earth . " It
Flying Officer who had burst so unceremoniously into his
passed me at fifty thousand feet , sir . It was
office . " And what did it look like , Broughtons ? Some
But the jet aircraft was already miles away ,
climbing steadily . " Group Captain Llewelyn Jones , Officer
Commanding R.A.F. Station , Dinas , looked keenly at the
sort of rocket ? "
Group Captain looked . " Broughtons , " he said silkily .
Flying Officer Broughtons shuffled his feet .
determined . " It was a bus , sir .
Buses crawl . " Very pale , Broughtons was . But
earth-bound creatures ? Aeroplanes fly , Broughtons .
A single-decker , " he elaborated . Daggers , the
" Didn't they teach you at Cranwell that buses are
" Well , actually , sir , it looked like - like a bus .
back in his chair . " I see . So you met a bus at
fifty thousand feet .
sir . It said Llangrwl . " Llewelyn Jones sat
They 'd got the lights on . There were people inside .
" Did you see the indicator board ? " " Yes , sir . " " And
what did it say ? Mystery Tour ? " Oh , very caustic , that
Group Captain . But Broughtons stood his ground . " No ,
Waving . " Like gimlets , the Station Commander's eyes .
All lit up . Full of people waving as you went past . "
there were anything in Queen's Regulations to cover this ,
isn't , " he ended sadly . " I tried to read the
Suddenly he crouched forward . " Broughtons , if I thought
He waited . But his commanding officer appeared to
I 'd have you court-martialled . But I know there
have forgotten him .
registration number , sir . But it was getting dark . "
quarter-hour intervals , regular as clockwork ?
Time passed . Everyone said , " Pity about Megan
Time passed . The bus climbed , and went quietly
it was a pity at all ; as , indeed , they didn't .
remained empty . And so did the arms of Dai
Thomas , isn't it , " as though they didn't really think
beloved was circling the Poles at three-and-a-
He saluted , and left the presence , very crestfallen ...
Pugh . How could they be otherwise , when his
into orbit . Time passed . The Rev. Edwards' pulpit
Dinas Advertiser . But the London papers ignored
they could have measured up the road and
LOCAL BUS DISAPPEARS announced the
the whole affair . Ifor Evans reported his loss
attitude . Now if there 'd been a good old accident ,
taken an interest .
a bus , is it . Very careless . " That was their
to the police . But they only tut-tutted . " Lost
mysteries , like the Marie Celeste . Then things
But losing a bus ! People were always losing
you will be asking .
seemed , for a time , that the whole affair would
began to happen ... But what about the voyagers ?
be written off as one of those unexplained
things . You 'd be surprised , they said . So it
a supply of food . "
what does such a person do ? He signals
that of a castaway on a desert island . Now