A SPLENDID OFFER.
It was a strange coincidence that only two days after this conversation
with Miss Kennedy, Harry received his first offer of employment.
It came from the brewery, and was in the first instance a mere note sent
by a clerk inviting "H. Goslett" to call at the accountant's office at
ten in the morning. The name, standing bare and naked by itself, without
any preliminary title of respect--Mister, Master, or Sieur--presented,
Harry thought, a very miserable appearance. Perhaps it would be
difficult to find a readier method of insulting a man than to hurl his
own name at his head. One may understand how Louis Capet must have felt
when thus reduced to a plain simplicity.
"What on earth," Harry asked, forgetting his trade, "can they want with
me?"
In business houses, working-men, even of the gentle craft of
cabinet-making, generally carry with them tools, sometimes wear an
apron, always have their trousers turned up, and never wear a
collar--using, instead, a red muffler, which keeps the throat warmer,
and does not so readily show the effect of London fog and smoke. Also,
some of their garments are made of corduroy and their jackets have
bulging pockets, and their hats not unfrequently have a pipe stuck into
them. This young working-man repaired to the trysting-place in the easy
attire in which he was wont to roam about the bowers of the East End.
That is to say, he looked like a carelessly-dressed gentleman.
Harry found at the office his uncle, Mr. Bunker, who snorted when he saw
his nephew.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Can't you waste your time and
bring disgrace on a hard-working uncle outside the place where he is
known and respected?"
Harry sighed.
"Few of us," he said, "sufficiently respect their uncles. And with
_such_ an uncle--ah!"
What more might have passed between them, I know not. Fortunately, at
this point, they were summoned to the presence of the chief accountant.
He knew Mr. Bunker and shook hands with him.
"Is this your nephew, Mr. Bunker?" he asked, looking curiously at the
very handsome young fellow who stood before him with a careless air.
"Yes; he's my nephew; at least, he says so," said Mr. Bunker surlily.
"Perhaps, sir, you wouldn't mind telling him what you want, and letting
him go. Then we can get to business."
"My business is with both of you."
"Both of us?" Mr. Bunker looked uneasy. What business could that be in
which he was connected with his nephew?
"Perhaps I had better read a portion of a letter received by me
yesterday from Miss Messenger. That portion which concerns you, Mr.
Bunker, is as follows."
Rather a remarkable letter had been received at the brewery on the
previous day from Miss Messenger. It was remarkable, and, indeed,
disquieting, because it showed a disposition to interfere in the
management of the great concern, and the interference of a young lady in
the brewery boded ill.
The chief brewer and the chief accountant read it together. They were a
grave and elderly pair, both in their sixties, who had been regarded by
the late Mr. Messenger as mere boys. For he was in the eighties.
"Yes," said the chief brewer, as his colleague read the missive with a
sigh, "I know what you would say. It is not the thing itself; the thing
is a small thing; the man may even be worth his pay; but it is the
spirit of the letter, the spirit, that concerns me."
"It is the spirit," echoed the chief accountant.
"Either," said the chief brewer, "we rule here, or we do not."
"Certainly," said the chief accountant, "and well put."
"If we do not"--here the chief brewer rapped the middle knuckle of the
back of his left-hand forefinger with the tip of his right-hand
forefinger--"if we do not, what then?"
They gazed upon each other for a moment in great sadness, having before
their eyes a hazy vision in which Miss Messenger walked through the
brewery, putting down the mighty and lowering salaries. A grateful
reward for long and faithful services! At the thought of it, these two
servants in their own eyes became patriarchal, as regards the length of
years spent in the brewery, and their long services loomed before them
as so devoted and so faithful as to place them above the rewarding power
of any salary.
The chief accountant was a tall old gentleman, and he stood in a
commanding position on the hearth-rug, the letter in one hand and a pair
of double eye-glasses in the other.
"You will see from what I am about to read to you, Mr. Bunker," he
began, "that your services, such as they were, to the late Mr. Messenger
will not go unrewarded."
Very good, so far; but what had his reward to do with his nephew?
"You were a good deal with Mr. Messenger at one time, I remember, Mr.
Bunker."
"I was, a great deal."
"Quite so--quite so--and you assisted him, I believe, with his house
property and tenants, and so forth."
"I did." Mr. Bunker cleared his throat. "I did, and often Mr. Messenger
would talk of the reward I was to have when he was took."
"He left you nothing, however, possibly because he forgot. You ought,
therefore, to be the more grateful to Miss Messenger for remembering
you; particularly as the young lady has only heard of you by some kind
of chance."
"Has she--has she--sent something?" he asked.
The chief accountant smiled graciously.
"She has sent a very considerable present indeed."
"Ah!" Mr. Bunker's fingers closed as if they were grappling with
bank-notes.
"Is it," he asked, in trembling accents--"is it a check?"
"I think, Mr. Bunker, that you will like her present better than a
check."
"There can be nothing better than one of Miss Messenger's checks," he
replied gallantly. "Nothing in the world, except, perhaps, one that's
bigger. I suppose it's notes, then?"
"Listen, Mr. Bunker----
"'Considering the various services rendered to my grandfather by Mr.
Bunker, with whom I believe you are acquainted, in connection with his
property in Stepney and the neighborhood, I am anxious to make him some
substantial present. I have therefore caused inquiries to be made as to
the best way of doing this. I learn that he has a nephew named Henry
Goslett, by trade a cabinet-maker'" [here Mr. Bunker made violent
efforts to suppress emotion], "'who is out of employment. I propose that
he should be received into the brewery, that a shop with all that he
wants should be fitted up for him, and that he attend daily until
anything better offers, to do all that may be required in his trade. I
should wish him to be independent as regards time of attendance, and
that he should be paid at the proper rate for piece-work. In this way, I
hope Mr. Bunker may feel that he has received a reward more appropriate
to the friendly relations which seem to have existed between my
grandfather and himself than a mere matter of money, and I am glad to be
able to gratify him in finding honorable employment for one who is, I
trust, a deserving young man.'"
"Then, Mr. Bunker, there is this--why, good heavens! man, what is the
matter?"
For Mr. Bunker was purple with wrath. Three times he essayed to speak,
three times he failed. Then he put on his hat and fled precipitately.
"What is the matter with him?" asked the chief accountant.
The young workman laughed.
"I believe," he replied "that my uncle expected the check."
"Well, well!" the chief accountant waved his hand. "There is nothing
more to be said. You will find your shop; one of the porters will take
you to it; you will have all the broken things that used to be sent out,
kept for you to mend, and--and--all that. What we want a cabinet-maker
for in the brewery, I do not understand. That will do. Stay--you seem a
rather superior kind of workman."
"I have had an education," said Harry, blushing.
"Good; so long as it has not made you discontented. Remember that we
want sober and steady men in this place, and good work."
"I am not certain yet," said Harry, "that I shall be able to take the
place."
"Not take the place? Not take a place in Messenger's brewery? Do you
know that everybody who conducts himself well here is booked for life?
Do you know what you are throwing away? Not take the place? Why, you may
be cabinet-maker for the brewery till they actually pension you off."
"I am--I am a little uncertain in my designs for the future. I must ask
for a day to consider."
"Take a day. If, to-morrow, you do not present yourself in the workshop
prepared for you, I shall tell Miss Messenger that you have refused her
offer."
Harry walked away with a quickened pulse. So far he had been posturing
only as a cabinet-maker. At the outset he had no intention of doing more
than posture for a while, and then go back to civilized life with no
more difference than that caused by the revelation of his parentage. As
for doing work, or taking a wage, that was very, very far from his mind.
Yet now he must either accept the place, with the pay, or he must stand
confessed a humbug. There remained but one other way, which was a worse
way than the other two. He might, that is to say, refuse the work
without assigning any reason. He would then appear in the character of a
lazy and worthless workman--an idle apprentice, indeed; one who would do
no work while there was money in the locker for another day of sloth.
With that face could he stand before Miss Kennedy, revealed in
these--his true colors?
It was an excellent opportunity for flight. That occurred to him. But
flight--and after that last talk with the woman whose voice, whose face,
whose graciousness had so filled his head and inflamed his imagination.
He walked away, considering.
When a man is very much perplexed, he often does a great many little odd
things. Thus, Harry began by looking into the office where his cousin
sat.
Josephus' desk was in the warmest part of the room, near the fire--so
much promotion he had received. He sat among half a dozen lads of
seventeen or twenty years of age, who did the mechanical work of making
entries in the books. This he did, too, and had done every day for forty
years. Beside him stood a great iron safe, where the books were put away
at night. The door was open. Harry looked in, caught the eye of his
cousin, nodded encouragingly, and went on his way, his hands in his
pockets.
When he came to Mrs. Bormalack's he went in there too, and found Lord
Davenant anxiously waiting for the conduct of the case to be resumed, in
order that he might put up his feet and take his morning nap.
"This is my last morning," Harry said. "As for your case, old boy, it is
as complete as I can make it, and we had better send it in as soon as we
can, unless you can find any more evidence."
"No--no," said his lordship, who found this familiarity a relief after
the stately enjoyment of the title, "there will be no more evidence.
Well, if there's nothing more to be done, Mr. Goslett, I think I
will"--here he lifted his feet--"and if you see Clara Martha, tell her
that--that----"
Here he fell asleep.
It was against the rules to visit the Dressmakers' Association in the
morning or afternoon. Harry therefore went to the room where he had
fitted his lathe, and began to occupy himself with the beautiful cabinet
he was making for Miss Kennedy. But he was restless; he was on the eve
of a very important step. To take a place, to be actually paid for
piece-work, is, if you please, a very different thing from pretending to
have a trade.
Was he prepared to give up the life of culture?
He sat down and thought what such a surrender would mean.
First, there would be no club; none of the pleasant dinners at the
little tables with one or two of his own friends; no easy-chair in the
smoking-room for a wet afternoon; none of the talk with men who are
actually in the ring--political, literary, artistic, and dramatic, none
of the pleasant consciousness that you are behind the scenes, which is
enjoyed by so many young fellows who belong to good clubs. The club in
itself would be a great thing to surrender.
Next, there would be no society.
He was at that age when society means the presence of beautiful girls;
therefore, he loved society, whether in the form of a dance, or a
dinner, or an at-home, or an afternoon, or a garden-party, or any other
gathering where young people meet and exchange those ideas which they
fondly imagine to be original. Well, he must never think any more of
society. That was closed to him.
Next, he must give up most of the accomplishments, graces, arts, and
skill which he had acquired by dint of great assiduity and much
practice. Billiards, at which he could hold his own against most;
fencing, at which he was capable of becoming a professor; shooting, in
which he was ready to challenge any American; riding, the talking of
different languages--what would it help him now to be a master in these
arts? They must all go; for the future he would have to work nine hours
a day for tenpence an hour, which is two pound a week, allowing for
Saturday afternoon. There would simply be no time for practising any
single one of these things, even if he could afford the purchase of the
instruments required.
Again, he would have to grieve and disappoint the kindest man in the
whole world--Lord Jocelyn.
I think it speaks well for this young man that one thing did not trouble
him--the question of eating and drinking. He would dine no more;
working-men do not dine--they stoke. He would drink no more wine; well,
Harry found beer a most excellent and delicious beverage, particularly
when you get it unadulterated.
Could he give up all these things? He could not conceive it possible,
you see, that a man should go and become a workman, receiving a wage and
obeying orders, and afterward resume his old place among gentlemen, as
if nothing had happened. Indeed, it would require a vast amount of
explanation.
Then he began to consider what he would get if he remained.
One thing only would reward him. He was so far gone in love, that for
this girl's sake he would renounce everything and become a workman
indeed.
He could not work; the quiet of the room oppressed him; he must be up
and moving while this struggle went on.
Then he thought of his uncle Bunker and laughed, remembering his
discomfiture and wrath. While he was laughing the door opened, and the
very man appeared.
He had lost his purple hue, and was now, in fact, rather pale, and his
cheeks looked flabby.
"Nephew," he said huskily, "I want to talk to you about this thing; give
over sniggerin', and talk serious now."
"Let us be serious."
"This is a most dreadful mistake of Miss Messenger's; you know at first
I thought it must be a joke. That is why I went away; men of my age and
respectability don't like jokes. But it was no joke. I see now it is
just a mere dreadful mistake which you can set right."
"How can I set it right?"
"To be sure, I could do it myself, very easily. I have only got to write
to her, and tell her that you've got no character, and nobody knows if
you know your trade."
"I don't think that would do, because I might write as well----"
"The best plan would be for you to refuse the situation and go away
again. Look here, boy; you come from no one knows where; you live no one
knows how; you don't do any work; my impression is you don't want any,
and you've only come to see what you can borrow or steal. That's my
opinion. Now, don't let's argue, but just listen. If you'll go away
quietly, without any fuss, just telling them at the brewery that you've
got to go, I'll give you--yes--I'll give you--twenty pounds down!
There!"
"Very liberal indeed! But I am afraid----"
"I'll make it twenty-five. A man of spirit can do anything with
twenty-five pounds down. Why, he might go to the other end of the world.
If I were you I'd go there. Large openings there for a lad of
spirit--large openings! Twenty-five pounds down, on the nail."
"It seems a generous offer, still----"
"Nothing," Mr. Bunker went on, "has gone well since you came. There's
this dreadful mistake of Miss Messenger's; then that Miss Kennedy's job.
I didn't make anything out of that compared with what I might, and
there's the----" He stopped, because he was thinking of the houses.
"I _want_ you to go," he added almost plaintively.
"And that, very much, is one of the reasons why I want to stay. Because,
you see, you have not yet answered a question of mine. What did you get
for me when you traded me away?"
For the second time his question produced a very remarkable effect upon
the good man.
When he had gone, slamming the door behind him, Harry smiled sweetly.
"I know," he said, "that he has done 'something,' as they call it.
Bunker is afraid. And I--yes--I shall find it out and terrify him still
more. But, in order to find it out, I must stay. And if I stay, I must
be a workman. And wear an apron! And a brown-paper cap! No. I draw the
line above aprons. No consideration shall induce me to wear an apron.
Not even--no--not if she were to make the apron a condition of
marriage."