ability. You remember Parker, who used to be Coxon's
manager? He can never say enough about it."
Of course I was pleased to hear this. I had always
been pretty sharp in the office, but I had never
dreamed that I was talked about in the City in this
fashion.
"You have a good memory?" said he.
"Pretty fair," I answered, modestly.
"Have you kept in touch with the market while you have
been out of work?" he asked.
"Yes. I read the stock exchange list every morning."
"Now that shows real application!" he cried. "That is
the way to prosper! You won't mind my testing you,
will you? Let me see. How are Ayrshires?"
"A hundred and six and a quarter to a hundred and five
and seven-eighths."
"And New Zealand consolidated?"
"A hundred and four."
"And British Broken Hills?"
"Seven to seven-and-six."
"Wonderful!" he cried, with his hands up. "This quite
fits in with all that I had heard. My boy, my boy,
you are very much too good to be a clerk at Mawson's!"
This outburst rather astonished me, as you can think.
"Well," said I, "other people don't think quite so
much of me as you seem to do, Mr. Pinner. I had a
hard enough fight to get this berth, and I am very
glad to have it."
"Pooh, man; you should soar above it. You are not in
your true sphere. Now, I'll tell you how it stands
with me. What I have to offer is little enough when
measured by your ability, but when compared with
Mawson's, it's light to dark. Let me see. When do
you go to Mawson's?"
"On Monday."
"Ha, ha! I think I would risk a little sporting
flutter that you don't go there at all."
"Not go to Mawson's?"
"No, sir. By that day you will be the business
manager of the Franco-Midland Hardware Company,
Limited, with a hundred and thirty-four branches in
the towns and villages of France, not counting one in
Brussels and one in San Remo."
This took my breath away. "I never heard of it," said
I.
"Very likely not. It has been kept very quiet, for
the capital was all privately subscribed, and it's too
good a thing to let the public into. My brother,
Harry Pinner, is promoter, and joins the board after
allotment as managing director. He knew I was in the
swim down here, and asked me to pick up a good man
cheap. A young, pushing man with plenty of snap about
him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me here
tonight. We can only offer you a beggarly five
hundred to start with."
"Five hundred a year!" I shouted.
"Only that at the beginning; but you are to have an
overriding commission of one per cent on all business
done by your agents, and you may take my word for it
that this will come to more than your salary."
"But I know nothing about hardware."
"Tut, my boy; you know about figures."
My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in my
chair. But suddenly a little chill of doubt came upon
me.
"I must be frank with you," said I. "Mawson only
gives me two hundred, but Mawson is safe. Now,
really, I know so little about your company that--"
"Ah, smart, smart!" he cried, in a kind of ecstasy of
delight. "You are the very man for us. You are not
to be talked over, and quite right, too. Now, here's
a note for a hundred pounds, and if you think that we
can do business you may just slip it into your pocket
as an advance upon your salary."
"That is very handsome," said I. "When should I take
over my new duties?"
"Be in Birmingham to-morrow at one," said he. "I have
a note in my pocket here which you will take to my
brother. You will find him at 126b Corporation
Street, where the temporary offices of the company are
situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement,
but between ourselves it will be all right."
"Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude,
Mr. Pinner," said I.
"Not at all, my boy. You have only got your desserts.
There are one or two small things--mere
formalities--which I must arrange with you. You have
a bit of paper beside you there. Kindly write upon it
'I am perfectly willing to act as business manager to
the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, at a
minimum salary of L500."
I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.
"There is one other detail," said he. "What do you
intend to do about Mawson's?"
I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy. "I'll
write and resign," said I.
"Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row
over you with Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask
him about you, and he was very offensive; accused me
of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, and
that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper.
'If you want good men you should pay them a good
price,' said I.
"'He would rather have our small price than your big
one,' said he.
"'I'll lay you a fiver,' said I, 'that when he has my
offer you'll never so much as hear from him again.'
"'Done!' said he. 'We picked him out of the gutter,
and he won't leave us so easily.' Those were his very
words."
"The impudent scoundrel!" I cried. "I've never so
much as seen him in my life. Why should I consider
him in any way? I shall certainly not write if you
would rather I didn't."
"Good! That's a promise," said he, rising from his
chair. "Well, I'm delighted to have got so good a man
for my brother. Here's your advance of a hundred
pounds, and here is the letter. Make a not of the
address, 126b Corporation Street, and remember that
one o'clock to-morrow is your appointment.
Good-night; and may you have all the fortune that you
deserve!"
That's just about all that passed between us, as near
as I can remember. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how
pleased I was at such an extraordinary bit of good
fortune. I sat up half the night hugging myself over
it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train
that would take me in plenty time for my appointment.
I took my things to a hotel in New Street, and then I
made my way to the address which had been given me.
It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I
thought that would make no difference. 126b was a
passage between two large shops, which led to a
winding stone stair, from which there were many flats,
let as offices to companies or professional men. The
names of the occupants were painted at the bottom on
the wall, but there was no such name as the
Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for
a few minutes with my heart in my boots, wondering
whether the whole thing was an e
laborate hoax or not,
when up came a man and addressed me. He was very like
the chap I had seen the night before, the same figure
and voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was
lighter.
"Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?" he asked.
"Yes," said I.
"Oh! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before
your time. I had a note from my brother this morning
in which he sang your praises very loudly."
"I was just looking for the offices when you came."
"We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured
these temporary premises last week. Come up with me,
and we will talk the matter over."
I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and
there, right under the slates, were a couple of empty,
dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and uncurtained, into
which he led me. I had thought of a great office with
shining tables and rows of clerks, such as I was used
to, and I dare say I stared rather straight at the two
deal chairs and one little table, which, with a ledger
and a waste paper basket, made up the whole furniture.
"Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft," said my new
acquaintance, seeing the length of my face. "Rome was
not built in a day, and we have lots of money at our
backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices.
Pray sit down, and let me have your letter."
I gave it to him, and her read it over very carefully.
"You seem to have made a vast impression upon my
brother Arthur," said he; "and I know that he is a
pretty shrewd judge. Hew swears by London, you know;
and I by Birmingham; but this time I shall follow his
advice. Pray consider yourself definitely engaged."
"What are my duties?" I asked.
"You will eventually manage the great depot in Paris,
which will pour a flood of English crockery into the
shops of a hundred and thirty-four agents in France.
The purchase will be completed in a week, and
meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make
yourself useful."
"How?"
For answer, he took a big red book out of a drawer.
"This is a directory of Paris," said he, "with the
trades after the names of the people. I want you to
take it home with you, and to mark off al the hardware
sellers, with their addresses. It would be of the
greatest use to me to have them."
"Surely there are classified lists?" I suggested.
"Not reliable ones. Their system is different from
ours. Stick at it, and let me have the lists by
Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft. If you
continue to show zeal and intelligence you will find
the company a good master."
I went back to the hotel with the big book under my
arm, and with very conflicting feelings in my breast.
On the one hand, I was definitely engaged and had a
hundred pounds in my pocket; on the other, the look of
the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and
other of the points which would strike a business man
had left a bad impression as to the position of my
employers. However, come what might, I had my money,
so I settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept
hard at work, and yet by Monday I had only got as far
as H. I went round to my employer, found him in the
same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at
it until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday
it was still unfinished, so I hammered away until
Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I brought it round
to Mr. Harry Pinner.
"Thank you very much," said he; "I fear that I
underrated the difficulty of the task. This list will
be of very material assistance to me."
"It took some time," said I.
"And now," said he, "I want you to make a list of the
furniture shops, for they all sell crockery."
"Very good."
"And you can come up to-morrow evening, at seven, and
let me know how you are getting on. Don't overwork
yourself. A couple of hours at Day's Music Hall in
the evening would do you no harm after your labors."
He laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that
his second tooth upon the left-hand side had been very
badly stuffed with gold.
Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I
stared with astonishment at our client.
"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson; but it is
this way," said he: "When I was speaking to the other
chap in London, at the time that he laughed at my not
going to Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth
was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint
of the gold in each case caught my eye, you see. When
I put that with the voice and figure being the same,
and only those things altered which might be changed
by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the
same man. Of course you expect two brothers to be
alike, but not that they should have the same tooth
stuffed in the same way. He bowed me out, and I found
myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on
my head or my heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my
head in a basin of cold water, and tried to think it
out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham?
Why had he got there before me? And why had he
written a letter from himself to himself? It was
altogether too much for me, and I could make no sense
of it. And then suddenly it struck me that what was
dark to me might be very light to Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
I had just time to get up to town by the night train
to see him this morning, and to bring you both back
with me to Birmingham."
There was a pause after the stock-broker's clerk had
concluded his surprising experience. Then Sherlock
Holmes cocked his eye at me, leaning back on the
cushions with a pleased and yet critical face, like a
connoisseur who has just taken his first sip of a
comet vintage.
"Rather fine, Watson, is it not?" said he. "There are
points in it which please me. I think that you will
agree with me that an interview with Mr. Arthur Harry
Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco-Midland
Hardware Company, Limited, would be a rather
interesting experience for both of us."
"But how can we do it?" I asked.
"Oh, easily enough," said Hall Pycroft, cheerily.
"You are two friends of mine who are in want of a
billet, and what could be more natural than that I
should bring you both round to the managing director?"
"Quite so, of course," said Holmes. "I should like to
have a look at the gentleman, and see if I can make
anything of his little game. What qualities have you,
my friend, which would make your services so valuable?
or is it possible that--" He began biting his nails
and staring blankly out of the window, and we hardly
drew another word from him until we were in New
Street.
>
At seven o'clock that evening we were walking, the
three of us, down Corporation Street to the company's
offices.
"It is no use our being at all before our time," said
our client. "He only comes there to see me,
apparently, for the place is deserted up to the very
hour he names."
"That is suggestive," remarked Holmes.
"By Jove, I told you so!" cried the clerk. "That's he
walking ahead of us there."
He pointed to a smallish, dark, well-dressed man who
was bustling along the other side of the road. As we
watched him he looked across at a boy who was bawling
out the latest edition of the evening paper, and
running over among the cabs and busses, he bought one
from him. Then, clutching it in his hand, he vanished
through a door-way.
"There he goes!" cried Hall Pycroft. "These are the
company's offices into which he has gone. Come with
me, and I'll fix it up as easily as possible."
Following his lead, we ascended five stories, until we
found ourselves outside a half-opened door, at which
our client tapped. A voice within bade us enter, and
we entered a bare, unfurnished room such as Hall
Pycroft had described. At the single table sat the
man whom we had seen in the street, with his evening
paper spread out in front of him, and as he looked up
at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a
face which bore such marks of grief, and of something
beyond grief--of a horror such as comes to few men in
a lifetime. His brow glistened wit perspiration, his
cheeks were of the dull, dead white of a fish's belly,
and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his
clerk as though he failed to recognize him, and I
could see by the astonishment depicted upon our
conductor's face that this was by no means the usual
appearance of his employer.
"You look ill, Mr. Pinner!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, I am not very well," answered the other, making
obvious efforts to pull himself together, and licking
his dry lips before he spoke. "Who are these
gentlemen whom you have brought with you?"
"One is Mr. Harris, of Bermondsey, and the other is
Mr. Price, of this town," said our clerk, glibly.
"They are friends of mine and gentlemen of experience,
but they have been out of a place for some little
time, and they hoped that perhaps you might find an
opening for them in the company's employment."
"Very possibly! Very possibly!" cried Mr. Pinner with
a ghastly smile. "Yes, I have no doubt that we shall
be able to do something for you. What is your
particular line, Mr. Harris?"
"I am an accountant," said Holmes.
"Ah yes, we shall want something of the sort. And
you, Mr. Price?"
"A clerk," said I.
"I have every hope that the company may accommodate
you. I will let you know about it as soon as we come
to any conclusion. And now I beg that you will go.
For God's sake leave me to myself!"
These last words were shot out of him, as though the
constraint which he was evidently setting upon himself
had suddenly and utterly burst asunder. Holmes and I
glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a step
towards the table.
"You forget, Mr. Pinner, that I am here by appointment
to receive some directions from you," said he.
"Certainly, Mr. Pycroft, certainly," the other resumed
in a calmer tone. "You may wait here a moment; and
there is no reason why your friends should not wait
with you. I will be entirely at your service in three
minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so
far." He rose with a very courteous air, and, bowing
to us, he passed out through a door at the farther end
of the room, which he closed behind him.
"What now?" whispered Holmes. "Is he giving us the
slip?"
"Impossible," answered Pycroft.
"Why so?"
"That door leads into an inner room."
"There is no exit?"
"None."
"Is it furnished?"
"It was empty yesterday."
"Then what on earth can he be doing? There is
something which I don't understand in his manner. If