| |
Home »
Directory »
In Debt
In Debt: Get money back with our loans. Consolidate your debt with a fast loan from E-Loanshop.com. Click for a typical example of how we can reduce your payments and save you money. Sorry, no tenants. Poor credit? CCJs? Refused by other lenders? Talk to us now. Wentworth Direct Finance offers unsecured loans of between £1,000 and £15,000. Flexible terms. UK tenants and homeowners welcome. Refused a loan? Juggling your finances? Robbing Peter to pay Paul? Don't borrow more money. Debt management will help you if you are struggling. Free debt advice & consultation.
... . You will find him at 126b Corporation
Street, where the temporary offices of the company debt in are
situated. Of course he must confirm your engagement,
but between ourselves it will be all right.'
"'Really, I hardly know how to express my gratitude,
Mr. Pinner,' said I.
"'Not at all, my boy. You have only got your deserts.
There are one or two small in debt things--mere
formalities--which I must arrange with you. You have
a bit of paper beside you there.
Kindly write upon it
"I am perfectly willing to act as business manager to
the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited, at a
minimum salary of L500."'
"I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket.
"'There is one other detail,' said he. 'What do you
intend to do about Mawson's?'
"I had forgotten all about Mawson's in my joy.
'I'll
write and resign,' said I.
"'Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row
over you with Mawson's manager. I had gone up to ask
him about you, and he was very offensive; accused me
of coaxing you away from the service of the firm, and
that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper.
"If you want good men you should pay them a good
price," said I.'
"'He would rather have our small price than your big
one,' said he.
"'I'll lay you a fiver,' said I, 'that when he has my
offer you'll consolidation debt in debt never so much as hear from him again.'
"'Done!' said he. 'We picked him out of the gutter,
and he won't leave us so easily.' Those were his very
words."
"'The impudent scoundrel!' I cried. 'I've never so
much as seen him in my life. Why should I consider
him in any way? I shall certainly not write if you
would rather I didn't.'
"'Good! That's a promise,' said he, rising from his
chair. 'Well, I'm delighted to have got so good a man
for my brother. Here's your advance of a hundred
pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the
address, 126b Corporation Street, and remember that
one o'clock to-morrow is your appointment. consolidation debt
Good-night; and may you have all the fortune that you
deserve!'
"That's just about all that passed between us, as near
as I can remember. You can imagine, Dr. Watson, how
pleased I was at such an extraordinary bit of good
fortune. I sat up half the night hugging myself over
it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train
that would take me in plenty time for my appointment.
I took my things to a hotel in in debt New Street, and then I
made my way to the address which had been given me.
"It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I
thought that would make no difference. 126b was a
passage between two large shops, which led to a
winding stone stair, from which there were many flats,
let as offices to companies or professional men. The
names of the occupants were painted at the bottom on
the wall, but there was no such name as the
Franco-Midland Hardware Company, Limited. I stood for
a few minutes with my heart in my boots, wondering
whether the whole thing was an elaborate hoax or not,
when up came a man and addressed me. He was very like
the chap I had seen the night before, the same figure
and voice, but he was clean shaven and his hair was
lighter.
"'Are you Mr. Hall Pycroft?' he asked.
"'Yes,' said I.
"'Oh! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before
your time.
I had a note from my brother this morning
in which he sang in debt your praises very loudly.'
"'I was just looking for the offices when you came.
"'We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured
these temporary premises last week. Come up with me,
and we will talk the matter over.'
"I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, in debt and
there, right under the slates, were a couple of empty,
dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and uncurtained, into
which he led me. in debt I had thought of a great office with
shining tables and rows of clerks, such as I was used
to, and I dare say I stared rather straight at the two
deal chairs and one little table, which, with a ledger
and a waste paper basket, made up the whole furniture.
"'Don't be disheartened, Mr. Pycroft,' said my new
acquaintance, seeing the length of my face. 'Rome was
not built in a day, and we have lots of money at our
backs, though we don't cut much dash yet in offices.
Pray sit down, and let me have your letter.'
"I gave it to in debt him, and he read it over very carefully.
"'You seem to have made a vast impression upon my
brother Arthur,' said he; 'and I know that he is a
pretty shrewd judge.
He swears by London, you know;
and I by Birmingham; but this time I shall follow his
advice. Pray consider yourself definitely engaged."
"'What are my duties?' I asked.
"'You will eventually manage the great depot in Paris,
which debt in will pour a flood of English crockery into the
shops of a hundred and thirty-four agents in France.
The purchase will be completed in a week, and
meanwhile you will remain in Birmingham and make
yourself useful.'
"'How?'
"For answer, he took a big red book out of a drawer.
"'This is a directory of Paris,' said he, 'with the
trades after the names of the people. I want you to
take it home with you, and to mark off all the hardware
sellers, with their addresses. It would be of the
greatest use to me to have them.'
"'Surely there are classified lists?' I suggested.
"'Not reliable ones. Their system is different from
ours. Stick at it, and let me have the lists by
Monday, at twelve. Good-day, Mr. Pycroft. If you
continue to show zeal and intelligence you will find
the company a good master.'
"I went back to the hotel with the big book under my
arm, and with very conflicting feelings in my breast.
On the one hand, I was definitely engaged and had a
hundred pounds in my pocket; on the other, the look of
the offices, the absence of name on the wall, and
other of the points which would strike a business man
had left a bad impression as to the position of my
employers. However, come what might, I had my money,
so I settled down to my task. All Sunday I was kept
hard at work, and yet by Monday I had only got as far
as H. I went round to my employer, found him in the
same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep at
it until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday
it ThirdPart600_700 was still unfinished, so I hammered away until
Friday--that is, yesterday. Then I brought it round
to Mr. Harry Pinner.
"'Thank you very much,' said he; 'I fear that I
underrated the difficulty of the task. This list will
be of very material assistance to me.'
"'It took some time,' said I.
"'And now,' said he, 'I want you to make a list of the
furniture shops, for they all sell crockery.'
"'Very good.'
"'And you can come up to-morrow evening, at seven, and
let me know how you are getting on. Don't overwork
yourself. A couple of hours at Day's Music Hall in
the evening would do you no harm after your labors.'
He laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a thrill that
his second tooth upon the left-hand side had been very
badly stuffed with gold."
Sherlock Holmes rubbed his hands with delight, and I
stared with astonishment at our client.
"You may well look surprised, Dr. Watson; but it is
this way," said he: "When I was speaking to the other
chap in London, at the time that he laughed at my not
going to in debt Mawson's, I happened to notice that his tooth
was stuffed in this very identical fashion. The glint
of the gold in each case caught my in debt eye, you see. When
I put that with the voice and figure being the same,
and only ThirdPart600_700 those things altered which might be changed
by a razor or a wig, I could not doubt that it was the
same man.
Of course you expect two brothers to be
alike, but not that they should have the same tooth
stuffed in the same way.
He bowed me out, and I found
myself in the street, hardly knowing in debt whether I was on
my head or my heels. Back I went to my hotel, put my
he ... |
|
