Leslie Harrison Lambert, who wrote under the name of A. J. Alan (1883-1941), was an English magician, intelligence officer, short story writer, and radio broadcaster. He kept his identity secret, while as a spinner of yarns, humorous, fantastic, or mysterious, he became ever-more popular, especially via his regular radio broadcasts.

The Cabmen's Shelter is the humorous tale of a doomed amateur dramatics performance that aims to raise money for a cabmen's shelter at the local station. Everything that could possibly go wrong manages to go even wronger...and yet the performance is a wonderful success.