Wanted a Job
The rattle of wheels in the street outside, and the brilliant rays of
the morning sun awakened David on his first morning in London. In a
twinkling he was up and dressed.
'Suppose you've come up to start life, sir,' said Constable Hemming when
his lodger put in an appearance. 'Breakfast's ready, and you can have it
at the back in the parlour, or here in the kitchen along with the missus
and me.'
'Then I'll stop with you,' declared David, smiling. 'Yes, constable, I'm
here to start life. I shall have to look round for work; but first of
all I must go into the city to see a firm of solicitors. I shall have to
find my way there.'
'I'll guide you,' came the answer. 'House rent is that dear towards the
city that I have to come out here. Every morning I take a 'bus to the
central police station and there get my orders. I'm on special duty
these days. We're hunting for a gang of foreign burglars that have come
to London to bother us; but what are you going to do? Medical student,
eh?'
David shook his head vigorously. 'Nothing so grand,' he said. 'I have
to find work of some sort, and I don't care what it is at first, so long
as I can earn something with which to pay my way while I look round.'
The constable's eyes opened wide with astonishment, and for a little
while he regarded his lodger critically, while his wife busied herself
with putting the breakfast on the table. He remembered the conversation
which he had had with her on the previous night. They had agreed without
the smallest hesitation that David was a young gentleman used to more or
less fine surroundings. There was nothing secret or underhand about him;
but they did not imagine that he had left home with the intention of
making his way alone in the world. This information that he must find
some sort of work showed at once that he was dependent solely on
himself.
'Why,' declared Hemming, 'you look as if you ought to be in an office,
or in the army as an officer. Want to find work? What about your
parents?'
Probably his official training caused him to regard David again, and
this time with some suspicion.
'I left home hurriedly after a row,' said our hero promptly. 'I was told
I was not wanted. There was a quarrel about money; I came away
determined to make my own way.'
'But,' began the constable, like Andus, the breezy sailor, feeling that
he ought to give some good advice here, advice culled from his own age
and somewhat wide experience. 'But, look here, sir. Ain't you made a
great mistake? Wouldn't it be better to think things over and turn
back? Most like your parents are advertising for you. I should have to
give information.'
David stopped him with a pleasant smile, lifting his hand as he did so.
Then in a few short words he told the constable and his wife what had
happened, refraining, however, from telling them about the will.
'Now,' he said, looking from one to the other.
'I take it all back; no chap with a bit of pride could do otherwise,'
declared Hemming, warmly. 'So you want work, any sort of work?'
David nodded. 'Anything to tide me over for the time being,' he said.
'Ultimately I mean to leave the country.'
'You wouldn't sniff if I was to mention the job of lift-boy?' asked
Hemming, somewhat bashfully, as if he were almost ashamed to introduce
such a job to David's notice.
'Where? When is it open? Could I work the lift?' asked our hero
promptly. 'To-day I could hardly begin; to-morrow I shall be free.'
'Then you can come along with me to the city,' said the constable,
laughing at his eagerness. 'It so happens that an old soldier, who
belongs to the corps of commissionaires, told me a night or two back
that his firm would be wanting a young chap. It's one of the big London
stores; we'll see what we can do for you.'
David thanked him warmly, and then, remembering his bicycle, mentioned
it.
'I want to sell it,' he said. 'I have some ready money on me; but the
machine will be useless here, and the cash I could get for it useful.'
'Of course, and I could take you to a place where a fair price would be
given; but if you'll take my advice you'll wait a little. Supposing this
London firm is a good way from your lodgings, a bicycle would be handy
to take you to work; the machine'll come to no harm for the moment, and
will fetch it's price whenever you want to part with it. You keep it for
a while. Now, sir, if you're ready we'll set out.'
In five minutes the two were in the street, the constable looking fine
and burly in his uniform, while the gentlemanly appearance of the young
fellow walking beside him caused the neighbours to remark. They
clambered on to a motor-bus at the end of the street, and made their way
into the city. Then they descended close to the Mansion House, and were
soon in conversation with the commissionaire.
'You mentioned a firm as wanted a young fellow for the lift,' said the
constable. 'Is that job still going?'
The commissionaire looked David up and down with an experienced eye, and
noted his straight figure, his good looks, and his general air of
superiority. Then he nodded his head several times in succession.
'That job's still going,' he said, 'and a young chap same as this is
just what's wanted; but he don't want to have kid gloves on his hands
all the while. This firm's looking for a lad as can appear smart when
he's in the lift, and can strip his livery off next moment and clean and
tidy things. Chaps as don't care to dirty their fingers ain't wanted.'
'Then I'm your man,' David blurted promptly. 'I'm not afraid of dirtying
my fingers with clean work--honest work I mean. As to smartness, there I
can't pretend to judge.'
Hemming winked slyly at his friend, who went by the name of Tiller,
while the latter again surveyed David with a critical eye, till the
latter flushed red under the scrutiny. Then Sergeant Tiller's head began
to wag forward and backward again, in a manner evidently characteristic
of him, while a smile broke out on his face.
'You'll do I should say,' he declared. 'Ready to work now?'
David thought for a moment. 'Ready to begin at this moment,' he said.
'But I must see some one in the city during business hours to-day.
To-morrow I could take to work steadily.'
'Then you can leave him to me, Hemming,' said the sergeant, 'I'll take
him right along, and the chances are he'll get the post. I used to work
for the same firm, and seeing as they knew that I had the best idea of
what sort of young chap they wanted, they left it to me to find a man.
One moment, mister, I'll get leave to be off for a while; then we'll
take a 'bus along to Oxford Street. The firm I'm talking about have a
big fashionable store close to Bond Street.'
Within an hour David and his new friend were at their destination,
waiting within the huge glass doors of an establishment, the size and
rich decoration of which filled our hero with amazement; for trips to
London had not often come his way. Mrs. Clayhill, his stepmother, had
never troubled to take him with her.
'There's thousands of pounds worth of things here,' whispered the
sergeant, as they waited for an interview with the manager, 'and, very
naturally, the firm is careful as to whom it employs. There's the lift
yonder. The man working it should really be at the door. From that I
take it that the hand who was here has left. That'll make 'em extra
anxious to get a substitute. Ah, come along.'
David's heart fluttered a trifle as he was ushered into the sanctum of
the manager; for he felt that the interview meant much to him. To be
truthful, he would rather have begun his life at some post more in
accordance with his upbringing; but then, he reflected, beggars must not
be choosers, and so long as the work was honest, it would tide him over
a difficult time. Besides, there was his interview with the solicitors.
It would be fine to be able to declare that he had already found a job,
and was in need of nothing. A second later he was before a diminutive
man, dressed very smartly, who regarded him with the same critical eye
as in the case of the sergeant.
'Just the young fellow, sir,' said the latter, nodding towards our hero.
'Constable Hemming introduced him to me. He's fresh to London, and this
will be his first job.'
'Know anything about lifts and machinery?' demanded the manager sharply.
'Yes, sir; I've worked in the shops at school, and meant to become an
engineer.'
David blurted the words out thoughtlessly, and then could have bitten
his tongue off the next instant. For if he had been candid with other
people, and described how he had left home, here, where he might be
employed to work, he wished his past history to remain unknown. But he
forgot that his whole appearance, his speech, his carriage, all told the
tale of his upbringing. He did not see the old sergeant wink at the
manager. He watched him bend forward and whisper.
'Constable tells me he was driven away from home, sir,' said the
sergeant, in the manager's ear. 'The lad's as honest as they make them.
I'll back him to give satisfaction. Give him a trial. He's the kind of
lad you could turn on to anything; he's a gentleman all over.'
David would have flushed red could he have heard the words, but he was
watching the manager. The latter looked closely at him again, smiled
suddenly, and then asked a question.
'What wages?' he asked.
'Fifteen shillings a week,' answered our hero.
'Nonsense! We start our men with a pound a week. We will give you a
month's trial. Hours eight-thirty in the morning till six. When can you
come?'
'To-morrow, sir. I'd like to have a trial now, but I must see some one
in the city this afternoon.'
'Then go to the lift and have a lesson. To-morrow we shall expect you.
Have you a dark suit?'
David nodded promptly.
'Then come in that: we have livery which ought to fit you. Good-bye.'
It was a much-excited David who emerged from the manager's office. The
sudden succession to a post at a pound a week made him feel giddy, it
was such good fortune. He hardly heard the old sergeant explaining his
errand to the lift-man. Almost unconsciously he shook hands with the
former and thanked him for his help. Then he entered the lift, and
watched his instructor as he ran it up and down. Ten minutes later he
was controlling the affair himself, and within half an hour was
efficient. That morning, he ran the elevator for some two hours all
alone, to the entire satisfaction of his employers, conveying a number
of purchasers to other parts of the building.
'You'll do,' declared the manager, when mid-day arrived. 'You're steady
and keep your head. Don't forget, it is a strict rule that all doors be
closed before the lift is moved. Accidents so easily happen. Now take a
word of advice. Every one can see what you are. Don't talk; keep
yourself to yourself and you'll make no enemies. To-morrow morning at
half-past eight.'
He dismissed him with a nod, and very soon David was out in the street
once more.
'And now for Mr. Jones, the solicitor,' he told himself. 'I don't feel
half so bad about the interview as I did yesterday. That job makes such
a difference. I'll telephone down to his address, and ask when he can
see me.'
He went at once to a call office, and promptly was able to arrange to
see the solicitor at two o'clock. Then he journeyed down into the city,
ate heartily at a cheap restaurant, and finally went to Mr. Jones's
office. It was a very astonished solicitor who received him.
'Why, you of all people!' he declared, as our hero entered. 'Sit down
there. You've got something to tell me; something is troubling you, that
I can detect at once. What is it?'
David at once told him how he had left home, and the cause for such
action.
'I made up my mind to fend for myself,' he said. 'I decided to find work
in London, and to decline the post in an office which Mr. Clayhill
offered.'
There was a serious air on Mr. Jones's face as he listened. 'That was a
bold course to pursue,' he said. 'Work is hard to find in this huge
city. There are so many applicants; but, of course, there is your
allowance. It will enable you to live for the time being.'
David shook his head promptly. 'I've got work already at twenty
shillings a week,' he said. 'I want you and the others to understand
that I mean to stand alone and fight my own battle. I mean to be
independent; I'll not call for that allowance till I actually need it.'
'Then, my lad, all the more honour to you,' declared Mr. Jones, gripping
his hand. 'But, of course, the allowance is yours. I shall make
arrangements to have it at my own disposal, not at that of your
stepmother's. So there was a scene, David? You were told to go. But why?
Money, I suppose.'
In a few words David recounted what had happened, and how he had been
told that he had next to no interest in his father's possessions.
'I knew that father had written home,' he declared. 'He sent me a letter
saying that he proposed to change his will, and he wrote to my
stepmother intimating the same. She denies this fact; but there is my
letter.'
He drew it from his pocket and waited, watching Mr. Jones while the
latter perused it And slowly he saw the solicitor's expression become
sterner and sterner.
'This is very serious, David,' he said at last, 'and though this letter
proves without doubt that your father made a later will, and that your
stepmother has deliberately obscured that fact, yet I fear that matters
cannot be altered. This later will is not to be found. Evidence has come
to hand which is so conclusive that the courts have presumed your
father's death. Nothing can now prevent the execution of the will now in
our possession.'
He looked thoughtfully at David for some few moments, and then pushed
his spectacles back on to his furrowed forehead. 'Nothing can alter the
matter now,' he added, 'unless this later will is found. That seems to
me to be out of the question.'
'I think not. I intend to find it; I shall go to China.'
David's sudden and unexpected declaration took the breath from Mr.
Jones. He pulled his spectacles from his forehead, wiped the glasses
feverishly, and put them back on to his nose. He gripped the two arms of
his chair before he replied.
'What!' he demanded. 'Go to China! But--'
'China is a vast country, yes,' agreed our hero, taking the words from
his mouth; 'but I was in close correspondence with my father. I know
precisely where he was staying, and the roads he travelled. That limits
the part to be searched. How I shall go out there I do not know. It may
take years to bring about; but go I will. Something tells me that I
shall be fortunate.'
There was a long silence between them before Mr. Jones ventured to break
it. At first he had been inclined to look upon David as a foolish young
fellow; but he had some knowledge of the lad, and of his father before
him, and knew our hero to be a steady-going individual. Moreover he had
heard that he was practical, and extremely persistent. He conjured up in
his mind's eye the figures of Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Clayhill, and turned
from them with some amount of annoyance.
'The whole matter is very unfortunate,' he said at last, 'and were it
not that I now feel that I have your interests to protect, I should be
tempted to retire from the post of executor to which your father
expressly appointed me. Of course, I shall have an interview with Mr.
Ebenezer and Mrs. Clayhill, and, as I have said, I shall insist that I
have the paying of your allowance. Further, I will consult one of my
legal friends on your behalf. With this letter before him, it is
possible he will advise you to apply to the courts to arrest the
administration of the will by Mr. Ebenezer Clayhill and his wife,
pending a further search. In that case you would have time to go to
China, and traverse the ground covered by your father. But how you will
manage to get there passes my comprehension.'
He looked across at David, and slowly his serious expression melted into
a smile. He recollected some words which Mrs. Clayhill had let fall at
an interview he had once had with her. Of David she had remarked, when
Mr. Jones had asked after him, 'he is an obstinate boy. Once he has made
up his mind to accomplish a thing, nothing will shake him. He is just
like his father.' And there was David searching the solicitor's face,
unconsciously wearing an expression of dogged resolution. The square
chin, already at such a youthful age showing firmness of purpose, was
set in bulldog fashion. The thin lips were closed in one strong line.
The eyes never flinched nor wavered.
'George!' cried Mr. Jones, suddenly stirred out of his professional
calm, 'I'll help you. I like your spirit immensely, and, unofficially of
course, I believe that you are being victimised. If it's money, why--.'
David held up his hand promptly. 'No thank you, Mr. Jones,' he said,
warmly. 'I am going to do this on my own. It's awfully kind of you to
think of offering money; but I'll make what I want, and put it to my
allowance if need be. If I can, I won't touch the latter. Those people
at 'The Haven' shall see that I am equal to my word. But you are helping
me enormously by discussing the matter. Consult with this friend of
yours, and if he says that an application on my part, with this letter
of my father's, can arrest the splitting up of all his possessions for
the time being, then there is hope. I shall have some time. I may be
able to find the will we know he made.'
Looking at the matter when left to himself, Mr. Jones could not but
admit that there was something of the wild-goose chase about our hero's
resolution to go to China. The finding of the will left by Mr. Edward
Harbor, since murdered by Boxers, was so extremely improbable that the
effort seemed but wasted energy, failure but a foregone conclusion.
'But, on the contrary, the boy might have luck,' he told himself. 'There
is a Providence that watches over such young fellows when their own
parents ill-treat them. Perhaps David will come across the document,
perhaps he will not. In any case, travel to China will open his mind and
help him in the future, and if that is so, the time will not be wasted.
That he will go there I am absolutely certain.'
He had dismissed our hero with a warm and encouraging shake of the hand,
and a promise to communicate with him; and less than a week had passed
when David was in the solicitor's office again.
'I have consulted with my friend,' Mr. Jones told him, 'and he believes
that an application to the courts would be successful. I shall have it
made on your behalf, and, of course, I shall bear the expense. Some day
you may be able to repay me. If not--.'
David stood up at once. 'I shall repay you without doubt,' he declared
solemnly. 'I mean to get on in the world; some day I shall be able to
spare the money.'
'And that "some day" will be soon enough. In the meanwhile I shall go to
the courts. This letter of yours, which I shall take care of, will be
put in as evidence, and the judge will be told that you are going to
China. As a result he may very well order that the estate be left in the
hands of trustees, the income to be given as in the will we have, while
the estate itself will remain untouched for a certain period. In three
weeks' time the case should come forward.'
During those days our hero worked very hard at the establishment where
he had charge of the lift.
'We couldn't have obtained a smarter young fellow,' the manager had
declared more than once, 'while nothing seems a trouble to him. He keeps
his lift and his livery spotlessly clean, and is most careful with our
clients. I shall raise his wages.'
And raise them he did, David receiving twenty-two shillings a week after
he had been there a fortnight. Up and down he travelled all day long in
his lift, announcing at each floor the various departments of the store
to be found there. Sharp young fellow that he was, he soon knew the ins
and outs of the establishment, and was a perfect mine of information. He
looked up trains for the firm's clients, directed others to various
parts of London, and always displayed willingness and politeness. It was
not to be wondered at, therefore, that he gained the esteem and
confidence of his employers. As to the other employees, he was on
excellent terms with them, except in a very few cases, the latter being
men who, like the rest, detected our hero's evident superiority, and
being jealous endeavoured to make matters unpleasant for him.
'Call David Harbor,' sounded across the floor of the store one day, when
the place was empty of customers, while our hero was engaged in cleaning
his lift. Promptly he rolled down his sleeves, slipped on his livery
jacket, and stepped briskly to the manager's office, wondering why he
was wanted.
'Sit down,' said the latter, when he had entered and closed the door.
'Now, Harbor, I wish to be confidential. For six weeks past we have been
missing a number of valuables.'
At the words David rose from his seat, flushing a furious red, while his
eyes flashed at the manager.
'You don't mean to suggest that I----'
'Tut, tut,' came the interruption instantly. 'Sit down, Harbor. I said
that valuables had been disappearing for the past six weeks. You have
been here one month exactly; things were going before you came. Your
arrival here has made no difference.'
David pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his forehead;
for the news, the sudden thought that he might be the suspected person,
had thrown him into a violent heat. 'I'm glad you put it like that,
sir,' he said. 'I began to feel uncomfortable.'
'And I endeavoured at once to show you that you were by no means the
suspected person. I told you I wished to talk to you confidentially.
Well now, there is some one engaged here, we believe, who is robbing the
firm. Up till now our efforts to trace the miscreant have proved
unavailing. We applied to the police. They advised us that some one,
wholly trustworthy, Mr. Harbor, wholly trustworthy, and whose
resolution and pluck we could count on, should be left here to watch.
The directors asked me to suggest a name. I gave yours without
hesitation.'
He sat back in his chair to watch the effect his news had on our hero,
and smiled serenely when he saw the latter tuck his handkerchief away
and assume his most business-like expression.
'Yes, sir,' said David promptly, awaiting further information.
'This is the plan. You and the police are to work together, and when
every one has left this establishment, you will pass in again with the
help of a key I shall hand you. You will patrol the various departments
during the night, and slip out before the hands arrive in the morning.
Your place at the lift will be taken by a substitute for the time being.
It will be given out that you are ill. Of course, there might be some
risk attached to the undertaking.'
'I'll chance that,' declared David at once. 'I should rather enjoy the
experience, not that I am anxious to be a thief taker. Still, I am in
your employ and will obey whatever orders are given me.'
'Then you consent?' asked the manager.
'Certainly: I shall obey your orders seeing that I am in your service.'
'But you could decline to take this risk if you wished. However, we have
considered the matter. There will be a salary of a pound a night while
you are watchman, and a liberal reward if the offender is apprehended.
Now I want you to finish your work, and join me at the police station.
Don't let other employees see you going there. We will make our final
arrangements with the officials of the police.'
It may be imagined that David was somewhat excited after such an
announcement. Not for one moment did he think of declining the task
required of him; for he looked upon it as a duty. He obtained good
wages, these people had been kind to him, and if he could serve them,
all the better. Besides, it might lead to a better and more highly-paid
post. He polished the brass of his lift, put aside his livery, and
emerged from the building, leaving one of the officials to close the
establishment. Then, taking a side street, he hurried to the police
station. Once there the final arrangements were soon made. The manager
already knew that David was lodging with a policeman, and to our hero's
pleasure he learned that Constable Hemming was to take duty outside the
store, being relieved by a friend. Both were to be provided with keys,
while David was presented with a basket containing food and drink. An
electric torch was handed to him, as well as a life preserver and a
whistle. Thus equipped he drove back to the establishment at ten that
night, and slipped cautiously into the store.
Just keep moving and doing things all the while,' Hemming advised him.
'Lights are always kept going on all the floors, so that you'll have no
difficulty in seeing. But it's wonderful how sleepy a fellow gets,
especially when he's done the job on more than one occasion. Keep moving
is the thing. Always remember to walk softly. If you spot anything
funny, keep quiet, and come along to warn me. The end of a stick pushed
through the letter-box will tell me I'm wanted. Don't get scared. It's
only fools and babies as fly from their own shadows.'
Nevertheless David found the ordeal of promenading the huge store all
alone in the silent hours of the night something of an ordeal. For there
were a hundred minor sounds and queer noises to arrest his attention and
rouse his suspicions. However, he mastered his fears, and soon began
really to like the work. Nor did he forget the constable's advice.
During the whole time he was on duty he never once sat down, save to eat
a meal. All the rest of the time he was walking through the place,
making not a sound with his cotton-padded soles, and because of the
movement easily managing to keep awake. Indeed, so well did he sleep
during the day when he returned with the constable, that he found no
wish to rest at night. The exercise he took kept him wakeful and brisk,
ready for anything. But a week came and went, and till then nothing had
happened. It was on a Saturday night, soon after midnight, that our hero
suddenly realised that another strange mixture of sounds was coming to
his ear and echoing dully through the store. Instantly he was on the
_qui vive_.
'Some one moving down below,' he told himself. 'Yes, in the basement:
I'll slip down in that direction.'
Gripping his life preserver, and with the electric torch in his other
hand, he stole across to the stairway, and crouching there peered over
the banisters. No one was to be seen, and now his ear could not detect a
noise. Then, suddenly, a sound reached him. It was a man whispering.
Instantly David clutched the banister and lowered himself head foremost
till he was able to look into the basement, in the centre of which one
single light glimmered. Click! There was the sound of a muffled
footstep, and then a sudden gleam of light over on the far wall. As
David looked he saw the door of a huge cupboard, in which employees were
wont to hang their hats and coats, slide open, while the figure of a man
appeared. There was an electric torch in his hand, and with this he lit
the way behind him. Then another figure appeared, and following him two
others. They stepped into the store, carrying a heavy burden with them.
'At last,' said our hero, struggling back into the stairway. 'Time I
went to warn Constable Hemming.'