October 8, 2025 • 52 mins
04 - Part 4. The Intrusion of Jimmy by P.G. Wodehouse.
The action begins with playboy bachelor Jimmy Pitt in New York; having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, he befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet. The cast of characters head to England, and from there on it is a typically Wodehousian romantic farce, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.
The action begins with playboy bachelor Jimmy Pitt in New York; having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, he befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet. The cast of characters head to England, and from there on it is a typically Wodehousian romantic farce, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Part four of The Intrusion of Jimmy by P. G. Woodhouse.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Intrusion
of Jimmy, Chapter ten, Jimmy adopts a lame dog. A
black figure detached itself from the blacker shadows and shuffled
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stealthily to where Jimmy stood on the doorstep. That you, Spike,
asked Jimmy, that's right, boss, Come on in. He led
the way up to his rooms, switched on the electric light,
and shut the door. Spike stood blinking at the sudden glare.
He twirled his battered hat in his hands. His red
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hair shone fiercely. Jimmy inspected him out of the corner
of his eye and came to the conclusion that the
Mullins finances must be at a low webb. Spike's costume
differed in several important details from that of the ordinary,
well groomed man about town. There was nothing of the
flaneur about the bowery boy. His hat was of the
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soft black felt fashionable on the East side of New York.
It was in poor condition and looked as if it
had been up too late the night before. A black
tail coat burst at the elbows and stained with mud,
was tightly buttoned across his chest. This evidently with the
idea of concealing the fact that he wore no shirt,
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an attempt which was not wholly successful. A pair of
gray flannel trousers and boots, out of which two toes
peeped coyly, completed the picture. Even Spike himself seemed to
be aware that there were points in his appearance which
would have distressed the editor of a men's fashion paper.
Excuse these duds, he said, my man's bin and mislaid
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the trunk would be best sued in This is me
number two. Don't mention it, Spike said, Jimmy, you look
up perfect matinee idol. Have a drink. Spike's eye as
gleamed as he reached for the decanter. He took a seat,
cigar Spike sure tanksps. Jimmy lighted his pipe. Spike, after
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a few genteel SIPs, threw off his restraint and finished
the rest of his glass at a gulp. Try another,
suggested Jimmy. Spike's grin showed that the idea had been
well received. Jimmy sat and smoked in silence. For a
while he was thinking the thing over. He felt like
a detective who has found a clue. At last, he
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would be able to discover the name of the Lusitania girl.
The discovery would not take him very far, certainly, but
it would be something. Possibly Spike might even be able
to fix the position of the house they had broken into.
That night, Spike was looking at Jimmy over his glass
in silent admiration. This flat, which Jimmy had rented for
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a year in the hope that the possession of a
fixed a boat might helped to tie him down to
one spot, was handsomely, even luxuriously furnished. To Spike. Every
chair and table in the room had a romance of
its own, as having been purchased out of the proceeds
of that new Asiatic bank robbery, or from the revenue
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accruing from the Duchess of Haven's jewels. He was dumb
with reverence for one who could make Burglary pay to
this extent. In his own case, the profession had rarely
provided anything more than bread and butter and an occasional
trip to Coney Island. Jimmy caught his eye and spoke well.
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Spike he said, curious that we should meet like this
the limit, agreed Spike. I can't imagine you three thousand
miles from New York. How do you know the car
still run both ways on Broadway. A wistful look came
into Spike's eyes. I've been dissided three months. I thought
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it was time I give old Lunnon a call. Things
was gettin too fierce in New York. The copse was
layin fer me. They didn't seem like as if they
had any use fer me. So I beat it. Bad luck,
said Jimmy. Fierce, agreed Spike. Say, Spike said, Jimmy, do
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you know I spent a whole heap of time before
I left New York looking for you. Gee, I wish
you'd found me that you's want me to help you
on some lay boss? Is it a bank or jewels? Well? No,
not that. Do you remember that night we broke into
that house up town, the police captain's house? Sure? What
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was his name? What the copse? Why? Mc? Cakan boss MC? What?
How do you spell it? Search me? Said Spike. Simply
say it again. Fill your lungs and enunciate slowly and clearly.
Be bell like now mac khekn ah. And where was
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the house? Can you remember that? Spike's forehead wrinkled. It's gone,
he said at last. It was somewhars up some street,
up to town. That's a lot of help, said Jimmy.
Try again. It'll come back some time, Boss. Sure. Then
I'm going to keep an eye on you till it does.
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Just for the moment. You're the most important man in
the world to me. Where are you living me? Why
in the park, that's right, one of em, swell detached
benches with a southern exposure. Well, unless you prefer it,
you needn't sleep in the park anymore. You can pitch
your moving tent with me. What here, boss, unless we
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move me for this, said Spike, rolling luxuriously in his chair.
You'll want some clothes, said Jimmy. We'll get those tomorrow.
You're the sort of figure they can fit off the peg.
You're not too tall, which is a good thing, bad
thing for me, Boss. If I'd been taller, I'd have
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stood for being a cop and been buying a Brownstone
house on Fifth Avenue. By this, it's the cops makes
the big money in little old Manhattan. That's who it is.
The man who knows, said Jimmy, tell me more, Spike.
I suppose a good many of the New York Force
do get rich by graft. Sure, look at old man
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mc keekkan. I wish I could tell me about him, Spike.
You seem to know him pretty well. Me. Sure, there
wasn't a waste old grafter than him in the bunch.
He was out for the dough all the time. But say,
did you ever see his girl? What's that? Said Jimmy sharply.
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I seen her once. Spike became almost lyrical in his enthusias. Gee,
she was a boid a peach fer fair. I'd have
left me happy home for her. Molly was a monica.
She's Jimmy was glaring at him. Cut it out, he cried,
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what's that, boss, said Spike. Cut it out, said Jimmy savagely.
Spike looked at him, amazed, Sure, he said, puzzled, but
realizing that his words had not pleased the great man.
Jimmy chewed the stem of his pipe irritably, while Spike,
full of excellent intentions, sat on the edge of his chair,
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drawing sorrowfully at a cigar and wondering what he had done.
To give offense, Boss said Spike. Well, Boss, what's doin here?
Put me next to the game, is it the old
lay banks and jewels from duchesses. You'll be able to
let me sit in at the game, won't yer. Jimmy laughed.
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I'd quite forgotten. I hadn't told you about myself, Spike.
I've retired the horrid truth sank slowly into the other's mind.
Say what's that, Boss, You're cutting it out? That's it?
Absolutely ain't you swipin no more jewels, not me nor uzunda.
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What's its name? Blowpipe? I have sold my oxy acetylene blowpipe,
given away my anesthetics, and I'm going to turn over
a new leaf and settle down as a respectable citizen.
Spike gasped. His world had fallen about his ears. His
excursion with Jimmy the Master Cracksman in New York had
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been the highest and proudest memory of his life, and
now that they had met again in London, he had
looked forward to a long and prosperous partnership in crime.
He was content that his own share in the partnership
should be humble. It was enough for him to be connected, however,
humbly with such a master. He had looked upon the
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richness of London, and he had said, with blucher, what
a silly to lute. And here was his idol, shattering
the visions with a word. Have another drink, Spike, said
the lost leader sympathetically. It's a shock to you. I
guess I taught Boss. I know, I know these are
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life's tragedies. I'm very sorry for you, but it can't
be helped. I've made my pile, so why continue. Spike
sat silent with a long face. Jimmy slapped him on
the shoulder. Cheer up, he said, how do you know
that living honestly may not be splendid fun? Numbers of
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people do it, you know, and enjoy themselves tremendously. You
must give it a trial, Spike me, boss, what me too? Sure?
You're my link with I don't want to have you
remembering that address in the second month of a ten
year stretch at Dartmoor Prison. I'm going to look after you,
Spike my son like a Lynx. We'll go out together
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and see life. Brace up, Spike, be cheerful grin. After
a moment's reflection, the other grinned. I'llbey it faintly. That's right,
said Jimmy. We'll go into society, Spike, hand in hand.
You'll be a terrific success in society. All you have
to do is to look cheerful, brush your hair, and
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keep your hands off the spoons, for in the best
circles they invariably count them after the departure of the
last guest. Sure, said Spike, as one who thoroughly understood
this sensible precaution. And now said Jimmy, we'll be turning in.
Can you manage sleeping on the sofa one night? Some
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fellows we'll give their bed up to you, not me. However,
I'll have a bed made up for you tomorrow. Me,
said Spike. Gee, I've been sleepin' into park all last week.
This is to the Good Boss chapter eleven. At the
turn of the road. Next morning, when Jimmy, having sent
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Spike off to the tailor's with instructions to get a
haircut en route, was dealing with the combination of breakfast
and luncheon at his flat, Lord Dreever called Fault, I
should find you, I observed his lordship. Well, laddie, how
goes it? Having breakfast, eggs and bacon, dur A's Scott.
I couldn't touch a thing. The statement was borne out
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by his looks. The son of a hundred earls was pale,
and his eyes were markedly fish like a fellow I've
got stopping with me, taking him down to Driva with
me to day. Men I met at the club, fellow
named Hoggate. Don't know if you know him. No, well,
he was still up when I got back last night,
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and we stayed up playing billiards. He's rotten at billiards.
Something frightful. I'd give him twenty till five this morning.
I feel fearfully cheap. Wouldn't have got up at all.
Only I'm due to catch the two fifteen down to Driva.
It's the only good train. He dropped into a chair. Sorry,
you don't feel up to breakfast, said Jimmy, helping himself
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to marmalade. I am generally to be found among those
lining up when the gong goes. I've breakfasted on a
glass of water and a bag of bird seed in
my time. That sort of thing makes you ready to
take whatever you can get. See the paper. Thanks, Jimmy
finished his breakfast and lighted a pipe. Lord Dreever laid
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down the paper I say, he said, what I came
round about was this. What have you got on just now?
Jimmy had imagined that his friend had dropped in to
return the five pound note he had borrowed, but his
lordship maintained a complete reserve on the subject. Jimmy was
to discover later that this weakness of memory where financial
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obligations were concerned was a leading trait in Lord Dreaver's character.
To day, you mean, said Jimmy, Well, in the near future.
What I mean is why not put off that Japan
trip you spoke about and come down to Driva with me?
Jimmy reflected, After all, Japan or driver, it made very
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little difference, and it would be interesting to see a
place about which he had read so much. That's very
good of you, he said. You're sure it will be
all right. It won't be upsetting your arrangements, not a bit.
The more the merrier, Can you catch the two fifteen?
It's fearfully short notice. Heavens, yes, I can pack in
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ten minutes. Thanks very much. Good business. They'll be shooting
and all that sort of rot. Oh, and by the way,
are you any good at acting? I mean they are
going to be private theatricals of sorts. A man called
Chatis insisted on getting them up, always getting up theatricals
rot I call it. But you can't stop him. Do
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you do anything in that line? Put me down for
what you like? From Emperor of Morocco to confused noise without.
I was on the stage once. I'm particularly good at
shifting scenery. Good for you, well, so long two fifteen
from Paddington. Remember, I'll meet you there. I've got to
go and see a fellow. Now I'll look out for you.
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A sudden thought occurred to Jimmy Spike. He had forgotten
Spike for the moment. It was vital that the Bowery
Boy should not be lost sight of again. He was
the one link with the little house somewhere beyond one
hundred and fiftieth Street. He could not leave the Bowery
Boy at the flat. A vision rose in his mind
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of Spike alone in London, with Savoy Mansions as a
base for his operations. No Spike must be transplanted to
the country. But Jimmy could not seem to see Spike
in the country. His boredom would probably be pathetic, but
it was the only way Lord Dreaver facilitated matters. By
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the way, pitt, he said, you've got a man of sorts,
of course, one of those frightful fellows who forgot to
pack your collars. Bring him along. Of course, thanks, said Jimmy,
I will. The matter had scarcely been settled when the
door opened and revealed the subject of discussion. Wearing a
broad grin of mingled pride and bashfulness, and looking very
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stiff and awkward in one of the brightest tweed suits
ever seen. Off the stage, Spike stood for a moment
in the doorway to let his appearance sink into the spectator,
then advanced into the room. How do they strack you, boss,
he inquired genially, As Lord Dreever gaped in astonishment at
this bright Being pretty near blind, Spike said, Jimmy, what
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made you get those? We use electric light here. Spike
was full of news, say Boss, dead clothing stores A
willy wonder. Sure the old mug which showed me round
give me the frozen face. When I came in, foised
what's doing? He says, through the woods with you get
the hook? But I hauls out the plunks you'll give
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me and tells him how I'm here to get a
dude's suit, and gee, if he don't haul out suits
by the mile, give me a toast. It did watching him.
It's up to youse, says the mug. Choose something, You
pays the money, and we does the rest. So I
says this is the one, and I put down the plunks,
and here I am Boss. I noticed that, Spike said, Jimmy,
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I could see you when the dark. Don't you like
the duds? Boss inquired Spike anxiously, They're great, said Jimmy.
You'd make Solomon, in all his glory, look like a
tramped cyclist. Dad's right, agreed Spike Day's de limit, and,
apparently oblivious to the presence of Lord Dreever, who had
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been watching him in blank silence since his entrance, the
Bowery Boy proceeded to execute a mysterious shuffling dance on
the carpet. This was too much for the overwrought brain
of his lordship. Good Bye Pitt, he said, I'm off,
got to see a man. Jimmy saw his guest to
the door outside. Lord Dreaver placed the palm of his
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right hand on his forehead. I say, pitt. He said, hello,
Who the Devil's that? Who? Spike? Oh that's my man,
your man? Is he always like that? I mean, going
on like a frightful music hall comedian, dancing, you know?
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And I say, what on earth language was he talking?
I couldn't understand one word? And ten, Oh that's American,
the Bowery variety. Oh well, I suppose it's all right
if you can understand it. I can't. By god, He
broke off with a chuckle. I'd give something to see
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him talking to Old Saunders, our butler at home. He's
got the manners of a duke. Spike should revise those,
said Jimmy. What did you call him? Spike? Ramine, isn't it? Oh?
I don't know, short for Algernon. He seemed pretty chummy.
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That's his independent bringing up. We're all like that in America. Well,
so long, so long on the bottom step, Lord Dreaver halted.
I say, I've got it good, Fore you got what? Why?
I knew I'd seen that Chap's face somewhere before, only
I couldn't place him. I've got him now. He's the
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jolly who came into the shelter last night, Chap, you
gave a quid to Spike's was one of those faces that,
without being essentially beautiful, stamped themselves on the memory. You're
quite right, said Jimmy. I was wondering if you would
recognize him. The fact is he's a man I once
employed over in New York, and when I came across
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him over here, he was so evidently wanting a bit
of help that I took him on again. As a
matter of fact, I needed somebody to look after my things,
and Spike can do it as well as anybody else.
I see. Not bad my spotting him, was it? Well?
I must be off. Good bye two fifteen at Paddington
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meet you there, take a ticket for Driva if you're
there before me. Eight. Good bye. Jimmy returned to the
dining room. Spike, who was examining as much as he
could of himself in the glass, turned round with his
wonted grin. Say, who's the gazebe, boss? Ain't he the
mug use was whit last night? That's the man. We're
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going down with him to the country to day, Spike,
So be ready on your way, boss. What's that he has?
Invited us to his country house, and we're going what
both of us? Yes? I told him you were my servant.
I hope you aren't offended, Nit, what's there to be
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raw about? Boss? That's all right? Well we'd better be packing.
We have to be at the station at two. Sure,
and Spike, yes, Boss, did you get any other clothes
besides what you've got on? Nit? What the why want
with more than one dude suit? I approve of your
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rugged simplicity, said Jimmy. But but you're wearing is a
town suit excellent for the park or the marchioness's Thursday crush,
but essentially metropolitan. You must get something else for the country,
something dark and quiet. I'll come and help you choose it. Now.
Why won't this do in the country, Not on your life, Spike,
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It would unsettle the rustic mind. They're fearfully particular about
that sort of thing in England. Days to the Bad,
said the baffled disciple of beau Brummel with deep discontent.
And there's just one more thing, Spike. I know you'll
excuse my mentioning it. When we're at Driaver Castle, you
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will find yourself within reach of a good deal of
silver and other things. Would it be too much to
ask you to forget your professional instincts? I mentioned this
before in a general sort of way, but this is
a particular case. Ain't I to get busy at all?
Din queried Spike, Not so much as a saltspoon, said
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Jimmy firmly. Now we'll whistle a cab and go choose
you some more clothes. Accompanied by Spike, who came within
an ace of looking almost respectable in new blue serge
small gents off the peg, Jimmy arrived at Paddington's station
with a quarter of an hour to spare. Lord Dreaver
appeared ten minutes later, accompanied by a man of about
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Jimmy's age. He was tall and thin, with cold eyes
and tight, thin lips. His clothes fitted him in the
way clothes do fit one man in a thousand. They
were the best part of him. His general appearance gave
one the idea that his meals did him little good,
and his meditations rather less. He had practically no conversation.
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This was Lord Dreaver's friend, Hargate. Lord Dreaver made the introductions,
but even as they shook hands, Jimmy had an impression
that he had seen the man before, yet where or
in what circumstances he could not remember. Hargate appeared to
have no recollection of him, so he did not mention
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the matter. A man who has led a wandering life
often sees faces that come back to him later on,
absolutely detached from their context. He might merely have passed
Lord Dreaver's friend on the street, But Jimmy had an
idea that the other had figured in some episode which
at the moment had had an importance. What that episode
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was had escaped him. He dismissed the thing from his mind.
It was not worth trying. His memory about judicious tipping
secured the three a compartment to themselves. Hargate, having read
the evening paper, went to sleep in the far corner.
Jimmy and Lord Dreaver, who sat opposite each other, fell
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into a desultory conversation. After a while, Lord Dreavers's remarks
took us somewhat into at turn. Jimmy was one of
those men whose manner invites confidences. His lordship began to
unburden his soul of certain facts relating to the family.
Have you ever met my uncle Thomas? He inquired. You
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know Blunt stores, Well he's blunt. It's a company now,
but he still runs it. He married my aunt. You'll
meet him at Driva, Jimmy said he would be delighted.
I bet you won't, said the last of the Drievers
with candor. He's a frightful man. The limit, always fussing
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round like a hen. Gives me a fearful time. I
can tell you. Look here, I don't mind telling you
we're pals. He's dead set on my marrying a rich girl.
Well that sounds all right. There are worse hobbies any
particular rich girl. There's always one. He's sick me on
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to one after another. Quite nice girls, you know, some
of them. Only I want to marry somebody else. That
girl you saw me with at the Savoy, Why don't
you tell your uncle he'd have a fit. She hasn't
a penny, nor have I except what I get from him.
Of course this is strictly between ourselves. Of course, I
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know everybody thinks there's money attached to the title, but
there isn't not a penny. When my aunt Julia married
Sir Thomas, the whole frightful show was pretty well in pawn.
So you see how it is ever think of work?
Asked jimmy work, said Lord Dreaver reflectively, Well you know
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I should mind work only I'm dashed if I can
see what I could do. I shouldn't know how nowadays
you want a fearful specialized education and so on. Tell
you what, though, I shall don't mind the diplomatic service.
One of these days I shall have a dash at
asking my uncle to put up the money. I believe
I shouldn't be half bad at that. I'm rather a
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quick sort of chap at times. You know, lots of
fellows have said so. He cleared his throat modestly and proceeded.
It isn't only my uncle Thomas, he said, there's Aunt
Julia too. She's about as much the limit as he is.
I remember when I was a kid, she was always
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sitting on me. She does still wait till you see her.
Sort of woman who makes you feel that your hands
are the color of tomatoes and the size of legs
of mutton, if you know what I mean, and talks
as if she were biting at you. Frightful having unburned
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himself of these criticisms, Lord Dreaver yawned, leaned back, and
was presently asleep. It was about an hour later that
the train, which had been take making itself less seriously
for some time, stopping at stations of quite minor importance
and generally showing a tendency to dawdle, halted again. A
board with the legend Driaver in large letters showed that
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they had reached their destination. The station master informed Lord
Dreaver that her ladyship had come to meet the train
in the motor car and was now waiting in the
road outside Lord Dreaver's jaw fell. Oh Lord, he said,
she's probably moted in to get the afternoon letters. That
means she's come in the runabout. And this only room
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for two of us. In that I forgot to telegraph
that you a coming, pitt, I only wired about Halgate
dash it I shall have to walk. His fears proved correct.
The car at the station door was small. It was
obviously designed to seat four only. Lord Dreaver introduced Hargate
and Jimmy to the statuesque lady in the tonneau, and
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then there was an awkward silence. At this point Spike
came up, chuckling amiably with a magazine in his hand. Gee,
said Spike, Say, Boss, the mug what wrote this piece?
Must have been living out into woods. Say there's a
gazebe what wants to swipe the heroine's jewels? What's locked
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in a drawer? So this mug, what do you think
he does? Spike laughed shortly in professional scorn. Why is
this gentleman a friend of yours? Spenney inquired Lady Julia, politely,
eyeing the red haired speaker coldly. It's Spenny looked appealingly
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at Jimmy. It's my man, said Jimmy Spike, he added,
in an undertone, to the woods, chase yourself, fade away, Sure,
said the abashed Spike. That's right, it ain't up to
me to come buttonnin Sorry boss, Sorry gents, sorry, loydy
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me for the tall grass. There's a luggage cart of sorts,
said Lord Dreaver, pointing Sure, said Spike affably. He trotted away.
Jump in pitt said Lord Dreaver. I'm going to walk. No,
I'll walk, said Jimmy. I'd rather I want a bit
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of exercise. Which way do I go? Frightfully? Good of you,
old Chap, said Lord Dreaver. Sure you don't mind, I
do ba walking right? Oh, you keep straight on. He
sat down in the tonneau by his aunt's side. The
last Jimmy saw was a hasty vision of him engaged
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in earnest conversation with Lady Julia. He did not seem
to be enjoying himself. Nobody is at his best in
conversation with a lady whom he knows to be possessed
of a firm belief in the weakness of his intellect.
A prolonged conversation with Lady Julia always made Lord Dreaver
feel as if he were being tied into knots. Jimmy
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watched them out of sight and started to follow at
a leisurely pace. It certainly was an ideal afternoon for
a country walk. The sun was just hesitating whether to
treat the time as afternoon or evening. Eventually it decided
that it was evening and moderated its beams. After London,
the country was deliciously fresh and cool. Jimmy felt an
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unwonted content. It seemed to him just then that the
only thing worth doing in the world was to settle
down somewhere with three acres and a cow, and become pastoral.
There was a marked lack of traffic on the road.
Once he met a cart, and once a flock of
sheep with a friendly dog. Sometimes a rabbit would dash
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out into the road, stop to listen, and dart into
the opposite hedge. All hind legs and white. But except
for these he was alone in the world, and gradually
there began to be borne in upon him the conviction
that he had lost his way. It is difficult to
judge distance when one is walking, but it certainly seemed
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to Jimmy that he must have covered five miles by
this time. He must have mistaken the way. He had
doubtless come straight. He could not have come straighter. On
the other hand, it would be quite in keeping with
the cheap substitute which served the earl of Driever, in
place of a mind that he should have forgotten to
mention some important turning. Jimmy sat down by the roadside.
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As he sat there came to him from down the
road the sound of a horse's feet trotting. He got up.
Here was somebody at last who would direct him. The
sound came nearer, The horse turned the corner and Jimmy
saw with surprise that it bore no rider hullo, he said, accident,
(32:02):
and by jove a side saddle. The curious part of
it was that the horse appeared in no way a
wild horse. It gave the impression of being out for
a little trot on its own account, a sort of
equine constitutional. Jimmy stopped the horse and led it back
the way it had come. As he turned the bend
(32:23):
in the road, he saw a girl in a riding
habit running toward him. She stopped running when she caught
sight of him and slowed down to a walk. Thank
you ever so much, she said, taking the reins from him, dandy,
you naughty old thing. I got off to pick up
my crop, and he ran away. Jimmy looked at her flushed,
(32:45):
smiling face and stood staring. It was Molly mc keechorn,
chapter twelve. Making a start. Self possession was one of
Jimmy's leading characteristics, but for the moment he found himself speechless.
This girl had been occupying his thoughts for so long
(33:08):
that in his mind he had grown very intimate with her.
It was something of a shock to come suddenly out
of his dreams and face the fact that she was,
in reality practically a stranger. He felt as one might
with a friend whose memory has been wiped out. It
went against the grain to have to begin again from
(33:28):
the beginning, after all the time they had been together.
A curious constraint fell upon him. Why how do you do,
mister Pitt, she said, holding out her hand. Jimmy began
to feel better. It was something that she remembered his name.
It's like meeting somebody out of a dream, said Molly.
(33:50):
I have sometimes wondered if you were real. Everything that
happened that night was so like a dream. Jimmy found
his tongue. You haven't altered, he said, You look just
the same. Well, she laughed, After all, it's not so
long ago, is it. He was conscious of a dull
(34:12):
hurt to him. It had seemed years. But he was
nothing to her, just an acquaintance, one of a hundred.
But what more, he asked himself, could he have expected?
And with the thought came consolation. The painful sense of
having lost ground left him. He saw that he had
been allowing things to get out of proportion. He had
(34:35):
not lost ground, He had gained it. He had met
her again and she remembered him. What more had he
any right to ask? I've crammed a good deal into
the time, he explained. I've been traveling about a bit
since we met. Do you live in Shropshire, asked Molly. No,
(34:56):
I'm on a visit, at least I'm supposed to be,
but I've lost the way to the place, and I'm
beginning to doubt if i shall ever get there. I
was told to go straight on. I've gone straight on
and here I am lost in the snow. Do you
happen to know whereabouts Dreaver Castle is? She laughed? Why,
(35:17):
she said, I'm staying at Dreaver Castle myself. What so
the first person you meet turns out to be an
experienced guide. You're lucky, mister Pitt, You're right, said Jimmy slowly.
I am Did you come down with Lord Dreaver? He
passed me in the car just as I was starting out.
(35:38):
He was with another man and Lady Julia Blunt. Surely
he didn't make you walk. I offered to walk. Somebody
had to. Apparently he had forgotten to let them know
he was bringing me, and then he misdirected you. He's
very casual I'm afraid incline that way. Perhaps have you
(36:00):
known Lord Dreaver long since a quarter past twelve last night?
Last night we met at the Savoy, and later on
the embankment, we looked at the river together and told
each other painful stories of our lives. And this morning
he called and invited me down here. Molly looked at
him with frank amusement. You must be a very restless
(36:25):
sort of person, she said. You seem to do a
great deal of moving about. I do, said Jimmy. I
can't keep still. I've got the go fever like that
man in Kipling's book. But he was in love, Yes,
said Jimmy, he was. That's the basilis, you know. She
(36:48):
shot a quick glance at him. He became suddenly interesting
to her. She was at the age of dreams and speculations.
From being merely an ordinary young man, and with rather
more ease of manner than the majority of the young
men she had met, he developed in an instant into
something worthy of closer attention. He took on a certain
(37:10):
mystery and romance. She wondered what sort of girl it
was that he loved. Examining him in the light of
this new discovery. She found him attractive. Something seemed to
have happened to put her in sympathy with him. She
noticed for the first time a latent forcefulness behind the
pleasantness of his manner. His self possession was the self
(37:35):
possession of the man who has been tried and has
found himself. At the bottom of her consciousness, too, there
was a faint stirring of some emotion which she could
not analyze. But unlike pain, it was vaguely reminiscent of
the agony of loneliness which he had experienced as a
small child on the rare occasions when her father had
(37:57):
been busy and distrait and had shown her by his
manner that she was outside his thoughts. This was but
a pale suggestion of that misery. Nevertheless, there was a resemblance.
It was a rather desolate, shut out sensation, half resentful.
It was gone in a moment, but it had been there.
(38:20):
It had passed over her heart as the shadow of
a cloud moves across a meadow in the summertime. For
some moments she stood without speaking. Jimmy did not break
the silence. He was looking at her with an appeal
in his eyes. Why could she not understand, she must understand.
(38:42):
But the eyes that met his were those of a child.
As they stood there, the horse, which had been cropping
in a perfunctory manner at the short grasp by the roadside,
raised its head and neighed impatiently. There was something so
human about the performance that Jimmy and the girl girl
laughed simultaneously. The utter materialism of the nay broke the spell.
(39:06):
It was a noisy demand for food, Poor Dandy, said Molly.
He knows he's near home, and he knows it's his
dinner time. Are we near the castle? Then it's a
long way round by the road, but we can cut
across the fields. Aren't these English fields and hedges just perfect?
(39:27):
I love them? Of course I loved America. But have
you left New York, long, asked Jimmy. We came over
here about a month after you were at our house.
You didn't spend much time there. Then father had just
made a good deal of money in Wall Street. He
(39:47):
must have been making it when I was on the Lusitania.
He wanted to leave New York, so we didn't wait.
We were in London all the winter. Then we went
over to Paris. It was there we met Sir Thomas
Bla and Lady Julia. Have you met them? They are
Lord Dreever's uncle and aunt. I've met Lady Julia. Did
(40:09):
you like her? Jimmy hesitated, Well, you see, I know
she's your hostess, but you haven't started your visit yet,
so you've just got time to say what you really
think of her before you have to pretend she's perfect. Well,
I detest her, said Molly crisply. I think she's hard
(40:31):
and hateful. Well, I can't say. She struck me as
a sort of female cheeryble brother. Lord Dreaver introduced me
to her at the station. She seemed to bear it pluckily,
but with some difficulty. She's hateful, repeated Molly. So is he,
Sir Thomas. I mean he's one of those fussy, bullying
(40:54):
little men. They both bully poor Lord Dreaver till I
wonder he doesn't rebel. They treat him like a schoolboy.
It makes me wild. It's such a shame. He's so
nice and good natured. I am so sorry for him.
Jimmy listened to this outburst with mixed feelings. It was
(41:15):
sweet of her to be so sympathetic, but was it
merely sympathy. There had been a ring in her voice
and a flush on her cheek that had suggested to
Jimmy's sensitive mind a personal interest in the down trodden peer.
Reason told him that it was foolish to be jealous
of Lord Dreaver, a good fellow, of course, but not
(41:36):
to be taken seriously. The primitive man in him, on
the other hand, made him hate all Molly's male friends
with an unreasoning hatred. Not that he hated Lord Dreaver.
He liked him, but he doubted if he could go
on liking him for long. If Molly were to continue
in this sympathetic strain, his affection for the absent one
(41:58):
was not put to the test. Molly's next remark had
to do with Sir Thomas. The worst of it is,
she said, Father and Sir Thomas are such friends in Paris.
They were always together. Father did him a very good turn.
How was that? It was one afternoon, just after we arrived,
(42:20):
a man got into Lady Julia's room while we were
all out except father. Father saw him go into the
room and suspected something was wrong and went in after him.
The man was trying to steal Lady Julius jewels. He
had opened the box where they were kept and was
actually holding her rope of diamonds in his hand when
(42:40):
father found him. It's the most magnificent thing I ever saw,
Sir Thomas told father. He gave a hundred thousand dollars
for it. But surely, said Jimmy, hadn't the management of
the hotel a safe for valuables. Of course they had,
But you don't know, Sir Thomas. He wasn't going to
(43:01):
trust any hotel safe. He's the sort of man who
insists on doing everything his own way, and who always
imagines he can do things better himself than any one
else can do them for him. He had had this
special box made and would never keep the diamonds anywhere else. Naturally,
the chief opened it in a minute. A clever thief
(43:22):
would have no difficulty with a thing like that. What happened, Oh,
the man saw father and dropped the jewels and ran
off down the corridor. Father chased him a little way,
but of course it was no good, So he went
back and shouted and rang every belly could see, and
gave the alarm, but the man was never found. Still,
(43:43):
he left the diamonds. That was the great thing. After all,
you must look at them to night at dinner. They
really are wonderful. Are you a judge of precious stones
at all? I am, rather, said Jimmy. In fact, a
jeweler I once knew told me I had a natural
gift in that direction. And so, of course Sir Thomas
(44:05):
was pretty grateful to your father, He simply gushed. He
couldn't do enough for him. You see, if the diamonds
had been stolen, I'm sure Lady Julia would have made
Sir Thomas by her another rope just as good. He's
terrified of her. I'm certain he tries not to show it,
but he is. And besides having to pay another hundred
(44:27):
thousand dollars, he would have never heard the last of it.
It would have ruined his reputation for being infallible and
doing everything better than anybody else. But didn't the mere
fact that the thief got the jewels and was only
stopped by a fluke from getting away with them do that?
Molly bubbled with laughter. She never knew Sir Thomas got
(44:51):
back to the hotel an hour before she did. I've
never seen such a busy hour. He had the manager up,
harangued him and wore him to secrecy, which the poor
manager was only too glad to agree to, because it
wouldn't have done the hotel any good to have it known.
And the manager harangued the servants, and the servants harangued
(45:12):
one another, and everybody talked at the same time, and
father and I promised not to tell a soul. So
Lady Julia doesn't know a word about it to this day,
and I don't see why she ever should, though one
of these days I've a good mind to tell Lord Dreaver.
Think what a hold he would have over them. They'd
(45:33):
never be able to bully him. Again, I shouldn't, said Jimmy,
trying to keep a touch of coldness out of his voice.
This championship of Lord Dreaver, however sweet and admirable, was
a little distressing. She looked up quickly. You don't think
I really meant to do you? No, No, said Jimmy hastily.
(45:57):
Of course, not well, I should think so, said Molly indignantly.
After I promise not to tell a soul about it,
Jimmy chuckled. It's nothing, he said, in answer to her
look of inquiry. You laughed at something, well, said Jimmy, apologetically.
(46:18):
It's only it's nothing, really, only what I mean is
you have just told one's soul a good deal about it,
haven't you. Molly turned pink, then she smiled. I don't
know how I came to do it, she declared, It
just rushed out of its own accord. I suppose it
(46:39):
is because I know I can trust you. Jimmy flushed
with pleasure. He turned to her and half halted, but
she continued to walk on. You can, he said, But
how do you know you can? She seemed surprised, why,
she said? She stopped for a moment, then went on hurriedly,
(47:03):
with a touch of embarrassment. Why how absurd? Of course?
I know? Can't you read faces? I can look, she said, pointing.
Now you can see the castle. How do you like it?
They reached a point where the fields sloped sharply downward.
A few hundred yards away, backed by woods, stood the
(47:26):
gray mass of stone, which had proved such a killed
joy of old to the Welsh sportsmen during the pheasant season.
Even now it had a certain air of defiance. The
setting sun lighted the waters of the lake No figures
were to be seen moving in the grounds. The place
resembled a palace of sleep. Well, said Molly. It's wonderful,
(47:50):
isn't it. I'm so glad it strikes you like that.
I always feel as if I had invented everything round here.
It hurts if people don't appreciate it. They went down
the hill by the way, said Jimmy, are you acting
in these theatricals they are getting up? Yes? Are you
the other man they were going to get That's why
(48:12):
Lord Dreaver went up to London to see if he
couldn't find somebody. The man who is going to play
one of the parts had to go back to London
on business. Poor brute, said Jimmy. It seemed to him
at this moment that there was only one place in
the world where a man might be even reasonably happy.
What sort of part is it, Lord Dreaver said, I
(48:35):
should be wanted to act? What do I do if
you are Lord Herbert? Which is the part they wanted
a man for? You talk to me most of the time.
Jimmy decided that the peace had been well cast. The
dressing gong sounded just as they entered the hall from
a door on the left. There emerged two men, a
(48:55):
big man and a little one, in friendly conversation. The
big man Anne's back struck Jimmy as familiar. Oh, father,
Molly called, and Jimmy knew where he had seen the
back before. The two men stopped. Sir Thomas said, Molly,
this is mister Pitt. The little man gave Jimmy a
(49:17):
rapid glance, possibly with the object of detecting his more
immediately obvious criminal points. Then, as if satisfied as to
his honesty, became genial. I am very glad to meet you,
mister Pitt. Very glad, he said. We have been expecting
you for some time. Jimmy explained that he had lost
(49:38):
his way exactly. It was ridiculous that you should be
compelled to walk, perfectly ridiculous. It was grossly careless of
my nephew not to let us know that you are coming.
My wife told him so in the car. I bet
she did, said Jimmy to himself. Really, he said aloud,
(49:58):
by way of lending a helping hand to a friend
in trouble, I preferred to walk. I have not been
on a country road since I landed in England. He
turned to the big man and held out his hand.
I don't suppose you remember me, mister mc keeckern. We
met in New York. You remember the night mister Pitt
scared away our burglar, father, said Molly. Mister mc keechorn
(50:22):
was momentarily silent on his native asphalt. There are few
situations capable of throwing the New York Policeman off his
balance in that favored climb. Savoir faire is represented by
a shrewd blow of the fist, and a masterful stroke
with the truncheon amounts to a satisfactory repartee. Thus, shall
(50:43):
you never take the Policeman of Manhattan without his answer?
In other surroundings, mister mc keechorn would have known how
to deal with the young man whom, with such good
reason he believed to be an expert criminal. But another
plan of action was needed here. First, and foremost of
all the hints on etiquette that he had imbibed since
(51:04):
he entered this more reposeful life, came the maxim never
make a scene. Scenes he had gathered, were, of all
things what polite society most resolutely abhorred. The natural man
in him must be bound in chains. The sturdy blow
must give way to the honeyed word. A cold really
(51:25):
was the most vigorous retort that the best circles would countenance.
It had cost mister mc hechorn some pains to learn
this lesson, but he had done it. He shook hands
and gruffly acknowledged the acquaintanceship really really, chirped Sir Thomas amiably,
So you find yourself among old friends, mister pitt old friends,
(51:50):
echoed Jimmy, painfully, conscious of the ex policeman's eyes, which
were boring holes in him. Excellent, excellent, let me take
you to your room. It is just opposite my own.
This way. In his younger days, Sir Thomas had been
a floor walker of no mean caliber. A touch of
the professional still lingered in his brisk movements. He preceded
(52:14):
Jimmy upstairs with the unstrained suavity that could be learned
in no other school. They parted from mister mc achran
on the first landing, but Jimmy could still feel those eyes.
The policeman's stare had been of the sort that turns corners,
goes upstairs and pierces walls. End of Part four
Part four of The Intrusion of Jimmy by P. G. Woodhouse.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Intrusion
of Jimmy, Chapter ten, Jimmy adopts a lame dog. A
black figure detached itself from the blacker shadows and shuffled
(00:21):
stealthily to where Jimmy stood on the doorstep. That you, Spike,
asked Jimmy, that's right, boss, Come on in. He led
the way up to his rooms, switched on the electric light,
and shut the door. Spike stood blinking at the sudden glare.
He twirled his battered hat in his hands. His red
(00:41):
hair shone fiercely. Jimmy inspected him out of the corner
of his eye and came to the conclusion that the
Mullins finances must be at a low webb. Spike's costume
differed in several important details from that of the ordinary,
well groomed man about town. There was nothing of the
flaneur about the bowery boy. His hat was of the
(01:04):
soft black felt fashionable on the East side of New York.
It was in poor condition and looked as if it
had been up too late the night before. A black
tail coat burst at the elbows and stained with mud,
was tightly buttoned across his chest. This evidently with the
idea of concealing the fact that he wore no shirt,
(01:25):
an attempt which was not wholly successful. A pair of
gray flannel trousers and boots, out of which two toes
peeped coyly, completed the picture. Even Spike himself seemed to
be aware that there were points in his appearance which
would have distressed the editor of a men's fashion paper.
Excuse these duds, he said, my man's bin and mislaid
(01:48):
the trunk would be best sued in This is me
number two. Don't mention it, Spike said, Jimmy, you look
up perfect matinee idol. Have a drink. Spike's eye as
gleamed as he reached for the decanter. He took a seat,
cigar Spike sure tanksps. Jimmy lighted his pipe. Spike, after
(02:10):
a few genteel SIPs, threw off his restraint and finished
the rest of his glass at a gulp. Try another,
suggested Jimmy. Spike's grin showed that the idea had been
well received. Jimmy sat and smoked in silence. For a
while he was thinking the thing over. He felt like
a detective who has found a clue. At last, he
(02:34):
would be able to discover the name of the Lusitania girl.
The discovery would not take him very far, certainly, but
it would be something. Possibly Spike might even be able
to fix the position of the house they had broken into.
That night, Spike was looking at Jimmy over his glass
in silent admiration. This flat, which Jimmy had rented for
(02:56):
a year in the hope that the possession of a
fixed a boat might helped to tie him down to
one spot, was handsomely, even luxuriously furnished. To Spike. Every
chair and table in the room had a romance of
its own, as having been purchased out of the proceeds
of that new Asiatic bank robbery, or from the revenue
(03:17):
accruing from the Duchess of Haven's jewels. He was dumb
with reverence for one who could make Burglary pay to
this extent. In his own case, the profession had rarely
provided anything more than bread and butter and an occasional
trip to Coney Island. Jimmy caught his eye and spoke well.
(03:37):
Spike he said, curious that we should meet like this
the limit, agreed Spike. I can't imagine you three thousand
miles from New York. How do you know the car
still run both ways on Broadway. A wistful look came
into Spike's eyes. I've been dissided three months. I thought
(03:59):
it was time I give old Lunnon a call. Things
was gettin too fierce in New York. The copse was
layin fer me. They didn't seem like as if they
had any use fer me. So I beat it. Bad luck,
said Jimmy. Fierce, agreed Spike. Say, Spike said, Jimmy, do
(04:19):
you know I spent a whole heap of time before
I left New York looking for you. Gee, I wish
you'd found me that you's want me to help you
on some lay boss? Is it a bank or jewels? Well? No,
not that. Do you remember that night we broke into
that house up town, the police captain's house? Sure? What
(04:43):
was his name? What the copse? Why? Mc? Cakan boss MC? What?
How do you spell it? Search me? Said Spike. Simply
say it again. Fill your lungs and enunciate slowly and clearly.
Be bell like now mac khekn ah. And where was
(05:06):
the house? Can you remember that? Spike's forehead wrinkled. It's gone,
he said at last. It was somewhars up some street,
up to town. That's a lot of help, said Jimmy.
Try again. It'll come back some time, Boss. Sure. Then
I'm going to keep an eye on you till it does.
(05:28):
Just for the moment. You're the most important man in
the world to me. Where are you living me? Why
in the park, that's right, one of em, swell detached
benches with a southern exposure. Well, unless you prefer it,
you needn't sleep in the park anymore. You can pitch
your moving tent with me. What here, boss, unless we
(05:51):
move me for this, said Spike, rolling luxuriously in his chair.
You'll want some clothes, said Jimmy. We'll get those tomorrow.
You're the sort of figure they can fit off the peg.
You're not too tall, which is a good thing, bad
thing for me, Boss. If I'd been taller, I'd have
(06:12):
stood for being a cop and been buying a Brownstone
house on Fifth Avenue. By this, it's the cops makes
the big money in little old Manhattan. That's who it is.
The man who knows, said Jimmy, tell me more, Spike.
I suppose a good many of the New York Force
do get rich by graft. Sure, look at old man
(06:34):
mc keekkan. I wish I could tell me about him, Spike.
You seem to know him pretty well. Me. Sure, there
wasn't a waste old grafter than him in the bunch.
He was out for the dough all the time. But say,
did you ever see his girl? What's that? Said Jimmy sharply.
(06:55):
I seen her once. Spike became almost lyrical in his enthusias. Gee,
she was a boid a peach fer fair. I'd have
left me happy home for her. Molly was a monica.
She's Jimmy was glaring at him. Cut it out, he cried,
(07:15):
what's that, boss, said Spike. Cut it out, said Jimmy savagely.
Spike looked at him, amazed, Sure, he said, puzzled, but
realizing that his words had not pleased the great man.
Jimmy chewed the stem of his pipe irritably, while Spike,
full of excellent intentions, sat on the edge of his chair,
(07:38):
drawing sorrowfully at a cigar and wondering what he had done.
To give offense, Boss said Spike. Well, Boss, what's doin here?
Put me next to the game, is it the old
lay banks and jewels from duchesses. You'll be able to
let me sit in at the game, won't yer. Jimmy laughed.
(08:01):
I'd quite forgotten. I hadn't told you about myself, Spike.
I've retired the horrid truth sank slowly into the other's mind.
Say what's that, Boss, You're cutting it out? That's it?
Absolutely ain't you swipin no more jewels, not me nor uzunda.
(08:25):
What's its name? Blowpipe? I have sold my oxy acetylene blowpipe,
given away my anesthetics, and I'm going to turn over
a new leaf and settle down as a respectable citizen.
Spike gasped. His world had fallen about his ears. His
excursion with Jimmy the Master Cracksman in New York had
(08:47):
been the highest and proudest memory of his life, and
now that they had met again in London, he had
looked forward to a long and prosperous partnership in crime.
He was content that his own share in the partnership
should be humble. It was enough for him to be connected, however,
humbly with such a master. He had looked upon the
(09:08):
richness of London, and he had said, with blucher, what
a silly to lute. And here was his idol, shattering
the visions with a word. Have another drink, Spike, said
the lost leader sympathetically. It's a shock to you. I
guess I taught Boss. I know, I know these are
(09:31):
life's tragedies. I'm very sorry for you, but it can't
be helped. I've made my pile, so why continue. Spike
sat silent with a long face. Jimmy slapped him on
the shoulder. Cheer up, he said, how do you know
that living honestly may not be splendid fun? Numbers of
(09:52):
people do it, you know, and enjoy themselves tremendously. You
must give it a trial, Spike me, boss, what me too? Sure?
You're my link with I don't want to have you
remembering that address in the second month of a ten
year stretch at Dartmoor Prison. I'm going to look after you,
Spike my son like a Lynx. We'll go out together
(10:15):
and see life. Brace up, Spike, be cheerful grin. After
a moment's reflection, the other grinned. I'llbey it faintly. That's right,
said Jimmy. We'll go into society, Spike, hand in hand.
You'll be a terrific success in society. All you have
to do is to look cheerful, brush your hair, and
(10:38):
keep your hands off the spoons, for in the best
circles they invariably count them after the departure of the
last guest. Sure, said Spike, as one who thoroughly understood
this sensible precaution. And now said Jimmy, we'll be turning in.
Can you manage sleeping on the sofa one night? Some
(10:59):
fellows we'll give their bed up to you, not me. However,
I'll have a bed made up for you tomorrow. Me,
said Spike. Gee, I've been sleepin' into park all last week.
This is to the Good Boss chapter eleven. At the
turn of the road. Next morning, when Jimmy, having sent
(11:23):
Spike off to the tailor's with instructions to get a
haircut en route, was dealing with the combination of breakfast
and luncheon at his flat, Lord Dreever called Fault, I
should find you, I observed his lordship. Well, laddie, how
goes it? Having breakfast, eggs and bacon, dur A's Scott.
I couldn't touch a thing. The statement was borne out
(11:46):
by his looks. The son of a hundred earls was pale,
and his eyes were markedly fish like a fellow I've
got stopping with me, taking him down to Driva with
me to day. Men I met at the club, fellow
named Hoggate. Don't know if you know him. No, well,
he was still up when I got back last night,
(12:07):
and we stayed up playing billiards. He's rotten at billiards.
Something frightful. I'd give him twenty till five this morning.
I feel fearfully cheap. Wouldn't have got up at all.
Only I'm due to catch the two fifteen down to Driva.
It's the only good train. He dropped into a chair. Sorry,
you don't feel up to breakfast, said Jimmy, helping himself
(12:29):
to marmalade. I am generally to be found among those
lining up when the gong goes. I've breakfasted on a
glass of water and a bag of bird seed in
my time. That sort of thing makes you ready to
take whatever you can get. See the paper. Thanks, Jimmy
finished his breakfast and lighted a pipe. Lord Dreever laid
(12:50):
down the paper I say, he said, what I came
round about was this. What have you got on just now?
Jimmy had imagined that his friend had dropped in to
return the five pound note he had borrowed, but his
lordship maintained a complete reserve on the subject. Jimmy was
to discover later that this weakness of memory where financial
(13:13):
obligations were concerned was a leading trait in Lord Dreaver's character.
To day, you mean, said Jimmy, Well, in the near future.
What I mean is why not put off that Japan
trip you spoke about and come down to Driva with me?
Jimmy reflected, After all, Japan or driver, it made very
(13:36):
little difference, and it would be interesting to see a
place about which he had read so much. That's very
good of you, he said. You're sure it will be
all right. It won't be upsetting your arrangements, not a bit.
The more the merrier, Can you catch the two fifteen?
It's fearfully short notice. Heavens, yes, I can pack in
(13:57):
ten minutes. Thanks very much. Good business. They'll be shooting
and all that sort of rot. Oh, and by the way,
are you any good at acting? I mean they are
going to be private theatricals of sorts. A man called
Chatis insisted on getting them up, always getting up theatricals
rot I call it. But you can't stop him. Do
(14:19):
you do anything in that line? Put me down for
what you like? From Emperor of Morocco to confused noise without.
I was on the stage once. I'm particularly good at
shifting scenery. Good for you, well, so long two fifteen
from Paddington. Remember, I'll meet you there. I've got to
go and see a fellow. Now I'll look out for you.
(14:44):
A sudden thought occurred to Jimmy Spike. He had forgotten
Spike for the moment. It was vital that the Bowery
Boy should not be lost sight of again. He was
the one link with the little house somewhere beyond one
hundred and fiftieth Street. He could not leave the Bowery
Boy at the flat. A vision rose in his mind
(15:04):
of Spike alone in London, with Savoy Mansions as a
base for his operations. No Spike must be transplanted to
the country. But Jimmy could not seem to see Spike
in the country. His boredom would probably be pathetic, but
it was the only way Lord Dreaver facilitated matters. By
(15:27):
the way, pitt, he said, you've got a man of sorts,
of course, one of those frightful fellows who forgot to
pack your collars. Bring him along. Of course, thanks, said Jimmy,
I will. The matter had scarcely been settled when the
door opened and revealed the subject of discussion. Wearing a
broad grin of mingled pride and bashfulness, and looking very
(15:49):
stiff and awkward in one of the brightest tweed suits
ever seen. Off the stage, Spike stood for a moment
in the doorway to let his appearance sink into the spectator,
then advanced into the room. How do they strack you, boss,
he inquired genially, As Lord Dreever gaped in astonishment at
this bright Being pretty near blind, Spike said, Jimmy, what
(16:13):
made you get those? We use electric light here. Spike
was full of news, say Boss, dead clothing stores A
willy wonder. Sure the old mug which showed me round
give me the frozen face. When I came in, foised
what's doing? He says, through the woods with you get
the hook? But I hauls out the plunks you'll give
(16:35):
me and tells him how I'm here to get a
dude's suit, and gee, if he don't haul out suits
by the mile, give me a toast. It did watching him.
It's up to youse, says the mug. Choose something, You
pays the money, and we does the rest. So I
says this is the one, and I put down the plunks,
and here I am Boss. I noticed that, Spike said, Jimmy,
(16:59):
I could see you when the dark. Don't you like
the duds? Boss inquired Spike anxiously, They're great, said Jimmy.
You'd make Solomon, in all his glory, look like a
tramped cyclist. Dad's right, agreed Spike Day's de limit, and,
apparently oblivious to the presence of Lord Dreever, who had
(17:21):
been watching him in blank silence since his entrance, the
Bowery Boy proceeded to execute a mysterious shuffling dance on
the carpet. This was too much for the overwrought brain
of his lordship. Good Bye Pitt, he said, I'm off,
got to see a man. Jimmy saw his guest to
the door outside. Lord Dreaver placed the palm of his
(17:44):
right hand on his forehead. I say, pitt. He said, hello,
Who the Devil's that? Who? Spike? Oh that's my man,
your man? Is he always like that? I mean, going
on like a frightful music hall comedian, dancing, you know?
(18:05):
And I say, what on earth language was he talking?
I couldn't understand one word? And ten, Oh that's American,
the Bowery variety. Oh well, I suppose it's all right
if you can understand it. I can't. By god, He
broke off with a chuckle. I'd give something to see
(18:26):
him talking to Old Saunders, our butler at home. He's
got the manners of a duke. Spike should revise those,
said Jimmy. What did you call him? Spike? Ramine, isn't it? Oh?
I don't know, short for Algernon. He seemed pretty chummy.
(18:46):
That's his independent bringing up. We're all like that in America. Well,
so long, so long on the bottom step, Lord Dreaver halted.
I say, I've got it good, Fore you got what? Why?
I knew I'd seen that Chap's face somewhere before, only
I couldn't place him. I've got him now. He's the
(19:09):
jolly who came into the shelter last night, Chap, you
gave a quid to Spike's was one of those faces that,
without being essentially beautiful, stamped themselves on the memory. You're
quite right, said Jimmy. I was wondering if you would
recognize him. The fact is he's a man I once
employed over in New York, and when I came across
(19:32):
him over here, he was so evidently wanting a bit
of help that I took him on again. As a
matter of fact, I needed somebody to look after my things,
and Spike can do it as well as anybody else.
I see. Not bad my spotting him, was it? Well?
I must be off. Good bye two fifteen at Paddington
(19:52):
meet you there, take a ticket for Driva if you're
there before me. Eight. Good bye. Jimmy returned to the
dining room. Spike, who was examining as much as he
could of himself in the glass, turned round with his
wonted grin. Say, who's the gazebe, boss? Ain't he the
mug use was whit last night? That's the man. We're
(20:15):
going down with him to the country to day, Spike,
So be ready on your way, boss. What's that he has?
Invited us to his country house, and we're going what
both of us? Yes? I told him you were my servant.
I hope you aren't offended, Nit, what's there to be
(20:35):
raw about? Boss? That's all right? Well we'd better be packing.
We have to be at the station at two. Sure,
and Spike, yes, Boss, did you get any other clothes
besides what you've got on? Nit? What the why want
with more than one dude suit? I approve of your
(20:57):
rugged simplicity, said Jimmy. But but you're wearing is a
town suit excellent for the park or the marchioness's Thursday crush,
but essentially metropolitan. You must get something else for the country,
something dark and quiet. I'll come and help you choose it. Now.
Why won't this do in the country, Not on your life, Spike,
(21:20):
It would unsettle the rustic mind. They're fearfully particular about
that sort of thing in England. Days to the Bad,
said the baffled disciple of beau Brummel with deep discontent.
And there's just one more thing, Spike. I know you'll
excuse my mentioning it. When we're at Driaver Castle, you
(21:41):
will find yourself within reach of a good deal of
silver and other things. Would it be too much to
ask you to forget your professional instincts? I mentioned this
before in a general sort of way, but this is
a particular case. Ain't I to get busy at all?
Din queried Spike, Not so much as a saltspoon, said
(22:02):
Jimmy firmly. Now we'll whistle a cab and go choose
you some more clothes. Accompanied by Spike, who came within
an ace of looking almost respectable in new blue serge
small gents off the peg, Jimmy arrived at Paddington's station
with a quarter of an hour to spare. Lord Dreaver
appeared ten minutes later, accompanied by a man of about
(22:25):
Jimmy's age. He was tall and thin, with cold eyes
and tight, thin lips. His clothes fitted him in the
way clothes do fit one man in a thousand. They
were the best part of him. His general appearance gave
one the idea that his meals did him little good,
and his meditations rather less. He had practically no conversation.
(22:49):
This was Lord Dreaver's friend, Hargate. Lord Dreaver made the introductions,
but even as they shook hands, Jimmy had an impression
that he had seen the man before, yet where or
in what circumstances he could not remember. Hargate appeared to
have no recollection of him, so he did not mention
(23:09):
the matter. A man who has led a wandering life
often sees faces that come back to him later on,
absolutely detached from their context. He might merely have passed
Lord Dreaver's friend on the street, But Jimmy had an
idea that the other had figured in some episode which
at the moment had had an importance. What that episode
(23:31):
was had escaped him. He dismissed the thing from his mind.
It was not worth trying. His memory about judicious tipping
secured the three a compartment to themselves. Hargate, having read
the evening paper, went to sleep in the far corner.
Jimmy and Lord Dreaver, who sat opposite each other, fell
(23:52):
into a desultory conversation. After a while, Lord Dreavers's remarks
took us somewhat into at turn. Jimmy was one of
those men whose manner invites confidences. His lordship began to
unburden his soul of certain facts relating to the family.
Have you ever met my uncle Thomas? He inquired. You
(24:16):
know Blunt stores, Well he's blunt. It's a company now,
but he still runs it. He married my aunt. You'll
meet him at Driva, Jimmy said he would be delighted.
I bet you won't, said the last of the Drievers
with candor. He's a frightful man. The limit, always fussing
(24:38):
round like a hen. Gives me a fearful time. I
can tell you. Look here, I don't mind telling you
we're pals. He's dead set on my marrying a rich girl.
Well that sounds all right. There are worse hobbies any
particular rich girl. There's always one. He's sick me on
(25:00):
to one after another. Quite nice girls, you know, some
of them. Only I want to marry somebody else. That
girl you saw me with at the Savoy, Why don't
you tell your uncle he'd have a fit. She hasn't
a penny, nor have I except what I get from him.
Of course this is strictly between ourselves. Of course, I
(25:24):
know everybody thinks there's money attached to the title, but
there isn't not a penny. When my aunt Julia married
Sir Thomas, the whole frightful show was pretty well in pawn.
So you see how it is ever think of work?
Asked jimmy work, said Lord Dreaver reflectively, Well you know
(25:47):
I should mind work only I'm dashed if I can
see what I could do. I shouldn't know how nowadays
you want a fearful specialized education and so on. Tell
you what, though, I shall don't mind the diplomatic service.
One of these days I shall have a dash at
asking my uncle to put up the money. I believe
I shouldn't be half bad at that. I'm rather a
(26:09):
quick sort of chap at times. You know, lots of
fellows have said so. He cleared his throat modestly and proceeded.
It isn't only my uncle Thomas, he said, there's Aunt
Julia too. She's about as much the limit as he is.
I remember when I was a kid, she was always
(26:30):
sitting on me. She does still wait till you see her.
Sort of woman who makes you feel that your hands
are the color of tomatoes and the size of legs
of mutton, if you know what I mean, and talks
as if she were biting at you. Frightful having unburned
(26:50):
himself of these criticisms, Lord Dreaver yawned, leaned back, and
was presently asleep. It was about an hour later that
the train, which had been take making itself less seriously
for some time, stopping at stations of quite minor importance
and generally showing a tendency to dawdle, halted again. A
board with the legend Driaver in large letters showed that
(27:14):
they had reached their destination. The station master informed Lord
Dreaver that her ladyship had come to meet the train
in the motor car and was now waiting in the
road outside Lord Dreaver's jaw fell. Oh Lord, he said,
she's probably moted in to get the afternoon letters. That
means she's come in the runabout. And this only room
(27:36):
for two of us. In that I forgot to telegraph
that you a coming, pitt, I only wired about Halgate
dash it I shall have to walk. His fears proved correct.
The car at the station door was small. It was
obviously designed to seat four only. Lord Dreaver introduced Hargate
and Jimmy to the statuesque lady in the tonneau, and
(27:59):
then there was an awkward silence. At this point Spike
came up, chuckling amiably with a magazine in his hand. Gee,
said Spike, Say, Boss, the mug what wrote this piece?
Must have been living out into woods. Say there's a
gazebe what wants to swipe the heroine's jewels? What's locked
(28:20):
in a drawer? So this mug, what do you think
he does? Spike laughed shortly in professional scorn. Why is
this gentleman a friend of yours? Spenney inquired Lady Julia, politely,
eyeing the red haired speaker coldly. It's Spenny looked appealingly
(28:41):
at Jimmy. It's my man, said Jimmy Spike, he added,
in an undertone, to the woods, chase yourself, fade away, Sure,
said the abashed Spike. That's right, it ain't up to
me to come buttonnin Sorry boss, Sorry gents, sorry, loydy
(29:04):
me for the tall grass. There's a luggage cart of sorts,
said Lord Dreaver, pointing Sure, said Spike affably. He trotted away.
Jump in pitt said Lord Dreaver. I'm going to walk. No,
I'll walk, said Jimmy. I'd rather I want a bit
(29:25):
of exercise. Which way do I go? Frightfully? Good of you,
old Chap, said Lord Dreaver. Sure you don't mind, I
do ba walking right? Oh, you keep straight on. He
sat down in the tonneau by his aunt's side. The
last Jimmy saw was a hasty vision of him engaged
(29:46):
in earnest conversation with Lady Julia. He did not seem
to be enjoying himself. Nobody is at his best in
conversation with a lady whom he knows to be possessed
of a firm belief in the weakness of his intellect.
A prolonged conversation with Lady Julia always made Lord Dreaver
feel as if he were being tied into knots. Jimmy
(30:08):
watched them out of sight and started to follow at
a leisurely pace. It certainly was an ideal afternoon for
a country walk. The sun was just hesitating whether to
treat the time as afternoon or evening. Eventually it decided
that it was evening and moderated its beams. After London,
the country was deliciously fresh and cool. Jimmy felt an
(30:32):
unwonted content. It seemed to him just then that the
only thing worth doing in the world was to settle
down somewhere with three acres and a cow, and become pastoral.
There was a marked lack of traffic on the road.
Once he met a cart, and once a flock of
sheep with a friendly dog. Sometimes a rabbit would dash
(30:54):
out into the road, stop to listen, and dart into
the opposite hedge. All hind legs and white. But except
for these he was alone in the world, and gradually
there began to be borne in upon him the conviction
that he had lost his way. It is difficult to
judge distance when one is walking, but it certainly seemed
(31:15):
to Jimmy that he must have covered five miles by
this time. He must have mistaken the way. He had
doubtless come straight. He could not have come straighter. On
the other hand, it would be quite in keeping with
the cheap substitute which served the earl of Driever, in
place of a mind that he should have forgotten to
mention some important turning. Jimmy sat down by the roadside.
(31:39):
As he sat there came to him from down the
road the sound of a horse's feet trotting. He got up.
Here was somebody at last who would direct him. The
sound came nearer, The horse turned the corner and Jimmy
saw with surprise that it bore no rider hullo, he said, accident,
(32:02):
and by jove a side saddle. The curious part of
it was that the horse appeared in no way a
wild horse. It gave the impression of being out for
a little trot on its own account, a sort of
equine constitutional. Jimmy stopped the horse and led it back
the way it had come. As he turned the bend
(32:23):
in the road, he saw a girl in a riding
habit running toward him. She stopped running when she caught
sight of him and slowed down to a walk. Thank
you ever so much, she said, taking the reins from him, dandy,
you naughty old thing. I got off to pick up
my crop, and he ran away. Jimmy looked at her flushed,
(32:45):
smiling face and stood staring. It was Molly mc keechorn,
chapter twelve. Making a start. Self possession was one of
Jimmy's leading characteristics, but for the moment he found himself speechless.
This girl had been occupying his thoughts for so long
(33:08):
that in his mind he had grown very intimate with her.
It was something of a shock to come suddenly out
of his dreams and face the fact that she was,
in reality practically a stranger. He felt as one might
with a friend whose memory has been wiped out. It
went against the grain to have to begin again from
(33:28):
the beginning, after all the time they had been together.
A curious constraint fell upon him. Why how do you do,
mister Pitt, she said, holding out her hand. Jimmy began
to feel better. It was something that she remembered his name.
It's like meeting somebody out of a dream, said Molly.
(33:50):
I have sometimes wondered if you were real. Everything that
happened that night was so like a dream. Jimmy found
his tongue. You haven't altered, he said, You look just
the same. Well, she laughed, After all, it's not so
long ago, is it. He was conscious of a dull
(34:12):
hurt to him. It had seemed years. But he was
nothing to her, just an acquaintance, one of a hundred.
But what more, he asked himself, could he have expected?
And with the thought came consolation. The painful sense of
having lost ground left him. He saw that he had
been allowing things to get out of proportion. He had
(34:35):
not lost ground, He had gained it. He had met
her again and she remembered him. What more had he
any right to ask? I've crammed a good deal into
the time, he explained. I've been traveling about a bit
since we met. Do you live in Shropshire, asked Molly. No,
(34:56):
I'm on a visit, at least I'm supposed to be,
but I've lost the way to the place, and I'm
beginning to doubt if i shall ever get there. I
was told to go straight on. I've gone straight on
and here I am lost in the snow. Do you
happen to know whereabouts Dreaver Castle is? She laughed? Why,
(35:17):
she said, I'm staying at Dreaver Castle myself. What so
the first person you meet turns out to be an
experienced guide. You're lucky, mister Pitt, You're right, said Jimmy slowly.
I am Did you come down with Lord Dreaver? He
passed me in the car just as I was starting out.
(35:38):
He was with another man and Lady Julia Blunt. Surely
he didn't make you walk. I offered to walk. Somebody
had to. Apparently he had forgotten to let them know
he was bringing me, and then he misdirected you. He's
very casual I'm afraid incline that way. Perhaps have you
(36:00):
known Lord Dreaver long since a quarter past twelve last night?
Last night we met at the Savoy, and later on
the embankment, we looked at the river together and told
each other painful stories of our lives. And this morning
he called and invited me down here. Molly looked at
him with frank amusement. You must be a very restless
(36:25):
sort of person, she said. You seem to do a
great deal of moving about. I do, said Jimmy. I
can't keep still. I've got the go fever like that
man in Kipling's book. But he was in love, Yes,
said Jimmy, he was. That's the basilis, you know. She
(36:48):
shot a quick glance at him. He became suddenly interesting
to her. She was at the age of dreams and speculations.
From being merely an ordinary young man, and with rather
more ease of manner than the majority of the young
men she had met, he developed in an instant into
something worthy of closer attention. He took on a certain
(37:10):
mystery and romance. She wondered what sort of girl it
was that he loved. Examining him in the light of
this new discovery. She found him attractive. Something seemed to
have happened to put her in sympathy with him. She
noticed for the first time a latent forcefulness behind the
pleasantness of his manner. His self possession was the self
(37:35):
possession of the man who has been tried and has
found himself. At the bottom of her consciousness, too, there
was a faint stirring of some emotion which she could
not analyze. But unlike pain, it was vaguely reminiscent of
the agony of loneliness which he had experienced as a
small child on the rare occasions when her father had
(37:57):
been busy and distrait and had shown her by his
manner that she was outside his thoughts. This was but
a pale suggestion of that misery. Nevertheless, there was a resemblance.
It was a rather desolate, shut out sensation, half resentful.
It was gone in a moment, but it had been there.
(38:20):
It had passed over her heart as the shadow of
a cloud moves across a meadow in the summertime. For
some moments she stood without speaking. Jimmy did not break
the silence. He was looking at her with an appeal
in his eyes. Why could she not understand, she must understand.
(38:42):
But the eyes that met his were those of a child.
As they stood there, the horse, which had been cropping
in a perfunctory manner at the short grasp by the roadside,
raised its head and neighed impatiently. There was something so
human about the performance that Jimmy and the girl girl
laughed simultaneously. The utter materialism of the nay broke the spell.
(39:06):
It was a noisy demand for food, Poor Dandy, said Molly.
He knows he's near home, and he knows it's his
dinner time. Are we near the castle? Then it's a
long way round by the road, but we can cut
across the fields. Aren't these English fields and hedges just perfect?
(39:27):
I love them? Of course I loved America. But have
you left New York, long, asked Jimmy. We came over
here about a month after you were at our house.
You didn't spend much time there. Then father had just
made a good deal of money in Wall Street. He
(39:47):
must have been making it when I was on the Lusitania.
He wanted to leave New York, so we didn't wait.
We were in London all the winter. Then we went
over to Paris. It was there we met Sir Thomas
Bla and Lady Julia. Have you met them? They are
Lord Dreever's uncle and aunt. I've met Lady Julia. Did
(40:09):
you like her? Jimmy hesitated, Well, you see, I know
she's your hostess, but you haven't started your visit yet,
so you've just got time to say what you really
think of her before you have to pretend she's perfect. Well,
I detest her, said Molly crisply. I think she's hard
(40:31):
and hateful. Well, I can't say. She struck me as
a sort of female cheeryble brother. Lord Dreaver introduced me
to her at the station. She seemed to bear it pluckily,
but with some difficulty. She's hateful, repeated Molly. So is he,
Sir Thomas. I mean he's one of those fussy, bullying
(40:54):
little men. They both bully poor Lord Dreaver till I
wonder he doesn't rebel. They treat him like a schoolboy.
It makes me wild. It's such a shame. He's so
nice and good natured. I am so sorry for him.
Jimmy listened to this outburst with mixed feelings. It was
(41:15):
sweet of her to be so sympathetic, but was it
merely sympathy. There had been a ring in her voice
and a flush on her cheek that had suggested to
Jimmy's sensitive mind a personal interest in the down trodden peer.
Reason told him that it was foolish to be jealous
of Lord Dreaver, a good fellow, of course, but not
(41:36):
to be taken seriously. The primitive man in him, on
the other hand, made him hate all Molly's male friends
with an unreasoning hatred. Not that he hated Lord Dreaver.
He liked him, but he doubted if he could go
on liking him for long. If Molly were to continue
in this sympathetic strain, his affection for the absent one
(41:58):
was not put to the test. Molly's next remark had
to do with Sir Thomas. The worst of it is,
she said, Father and Sir Thomas are such friends in Paris.
They were always together. Father did him a very good turn.
How was that? It was one afternoon, just after we arrived,
(42:20):
a man got into Lady Julia's room while we were
all out except father. Father saw him go into the
room and suspected something was wrong and went in after him.
The man was trying to steal Lady Julius jewels. He
had opened the box where they were kept and was
actually holding her rope of diamonds in his hand when
(42:40):
father found him. It's the most magnificent thing I ever saw,
Sir Thomas told father. He gave a hundred thousand dollars
for it. But surely, said Jimmy, hadn't the management of
the hotel a safe for valuables. Of course they had,
But you don't know, Sir Thomas. He wasn't going to
(43:01):
trust any hotel safe. He's the sort of man who
insists on doing everything his own way, and who always
imagines he can do things better himself than any one
else can do them for him. He had had this
special box made and would never keep the diamonds anywhere else. Naturally,
the chief opened it in a minute. A clever thief
(43:22):
would have no difficulty with a thing like that. What happened, Oh,
the man saw father and dropped the jewels and ran
off down the corridor. Father chased him a little way,
but of course it was no good, So he went
back and shouted and rang every belly could see, and
gave the alarm, but the man was never found. Still,
(43:43):
he left the diamonds. That was the great thing. After all,
you must look at them to night at dinner. They
really are wonderful. Are you a judge of precious stones
at all? I am, rather, said Jimmy. In fact, a
jeweler I once knew told me I had a natural
gift in that direction. And so, of course Sir Thomas
(44:05):
was pretty grateful to your father, He simply gushed. He
couldn't do enough for him. You see, if the diamonds
had been stolen, I'm sure Lady Julia would have made
Sir Thomas by her another rope just as good. He's
terrified of her. I'm certain he tries not to show it,
but he is. And besides having to pay another hundred
(44:27):
thousand dollars, he would have never heard the last of it.
It would have ruined his reputation for being infallible and
doing everything better than anybody else. But didn't the mere
fact that the thief got the jewels and was only
stopped by a fluke from getting away with them do that?
Molly bubbled with laughter. She never knew Sir Thomas got
(44:51):
back to the hotel an hour before she did. I've
never seen such a busy hour. He had the manager up,
harangued him and wore him to secrecy, which the poor
manager was only too glad to agree to, because it
wouldn't have done the hotel any good to have it known.
And the manager harangued the servants, and the servants harangued
(45:12):
one another, and everybody talked at the same time, and
father and I promised not to tell a soul. So
Lady Julia doesn't know a word about it to this day,
and I don't see why she ever should, though one
of these days I've a good mind to tell Lord Dreaver.
Think what a hold he would have over them. They'd
(45:33):
never be able to bully him. Again, I shouldn't, said Jimmy,
trying to keep a touch of coldness out of his voice.
This championship of Lord Dreaver, however sweet and admirable, was
a little distressing. She looked up quickly. You don't think
I really meant to do you? No, No, said Jimmy hastily.
(45:57):
Of course, not well, I should think so, said Molly indignantly.
After I promise not to tell a soul about it,
Jimmy chuckled. It's nothing, he said, in answer to her
look of inquiry. You laughed at something, well, said Jimmy, apologetically.
(46:18):
It's only it's nothing, really, only what I mean is
you have just told one's soul a good deal about it,
haven't you. Molly turned pink, then she smiled. I don't
know how I came to do it, she declared, It
just rushed out of its own accord. I suppose it
(46:39):
is because I know I can trust you. Jimmy flushed
with pleasure. He turned to her and half halted, but
she continued to walk on. You can, he said, But
how do you know you can? She seemed surprised, why,
she said? She stopped for a moment, then went on hurriedly,
(47:03):
with a touch of embarrassment. Why how absurd? Of course?
I know? Can't you read faces? I can look, she said, pointing.
Now you can see the castle. How do you like it?
They reached a point where the fields sloped sharply downward.
A few hundred yards away, backed by woods, stood the
(47:26):
gray mass of stone, which had proved such a killed
joy of old to the Welsh sportsmen during the pheasant season.
Even now it had a certain air of defiance. The
setting sun lighted the waters of the lake No figures
were to be seen moving in the grounds. The place
resembled a palace of sleep. Well, said Molly. It's wonderful,
(47:50):
isn't it. I'm so glad it strikes you like that.
I always feel as if I had invented everything round here.
It hurts if people don't appreciate it. They went down
the hill by the way, said Jimmy, are you acting
in these theatricals they are getting up? Yes? Are you
the other man they were going to get That's why
(48:12):
Lord Dreaver went up to London to see if he
couldn't find somebody. The man who is going to play
one of the parts had to go back to London
on business. Poor brute, said Jimmy. It seemed to him
at this moment that there was only one place in
the world where a man might be even reasonably happy.
What sort of part is it, Lord Dreaver said, I
(48:35):
should be wanted to act? What do I do if
you are Lord Herbert? Which is the part they wanted
a man for? You talk to me most of the time.
Jimmy decided that the peace had been well cast. The
dressing gong sounded just as they entered the hall from
a door on the left. There emerged two men, a
(48:55):
big man and a little one, in friendly conversation. The
big man Anne's back struck Jimmy as familiar. Oh, father,
Molly called, and Jimmy knew where he had seen the
back before. The two men stopped. Sir Thomas said, Molly,
this is mister Pitt. The little man gave Jimmy a
(49:17):
rapid glance, possibly with the object of detecting his more
immediately obvious criminal points. Then, as if satisfied as to
his honesty, became genial. I am very glad to meet you,
mister Pitt. Very glad, he said. We have been expecting
you for some time. Jimmy explained that he had lost
(49:38):
his way exactly. It was ridiculous that you should be
compelled to walk, perfectly ridiculous. It was grossly careless of
my nephew not to let us know that you are coming.
My wife told him so in the car. I bet
she did, said Jimmy to himself. Really, he said aloud,
(49:58):
by way of lending a helping hand to a friend
in trouble, I preferred to walk. I have not been
on a country road since I landed in England. He
turned to the big man and held out his hand.
I don't suppose you remember me, mister mc keeckern. We
met in New York. You remember the night mister Pitt
scared away our burglar, father, said Molly. Mister mc keechorn
(50:22):
was momentarily silent on his native asphalt. There are few
situations capable of throwing the New York Policeman off his
balance in that favored climb. Savoir faire is represented by
a shrewd blow of the fist, and a masterful stroke
with the truncheon amounts to a satisfactory repartee. Thus, shall
(50:43):
you never take the Policeman of Manhattan without his answer?
In other surroundings, mister mc keechorn would have known how
to deal with the young man whom, with such good
reason he believed to be an expert criminal. But another
plan of action was needed here. First, and foremost of
all the hints on etiquette that he had imbibed since
(51:04):
he entered this more reposeful life, came the maxim never
make a scene. Scenes he had gathered, were, of all
things what polite society most resolutely abhorred. The natural man
in him must be bound in chains. The sturdy blow
must give way to the honeyed word. A cold really
(51:25):
was the most vigorous retort that the best circles would countenance.
It had cost mister mc hechorn some pains to learn
this lesson, but he had done it. He shook hands
and gruffly acknowledged the acquaintanceship really really, chirped Sir Thomas amiably,
So you find yourself among old friends, mister pitt old friends,
(51:50):
echoed Jimmy, painfully, conscious of the ex policeman's eyes, which
were boring holes in him. Excellent, excellent, let me take
you to your room. It is just opposite my own.
This way. In his younger days, Sir Thomas had been
a floor walker of no mean caliber. A touch of
the professional still lingered in his brisk movements. He preceded
(52:14):
Jimmy upstairs with the unstrained suavity that could be learned
in no other school. They parted from mister mc achran
on the first landing, but Jimmy could still feel those eyes.
The policeman's stare had been of the sort that turns corners,
goes upstairs and pierces walls. End of Part four
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