Part 4 (1/2)
”It works very nicely,” said Raffles Haw. ”It is quite a new thing--never before done, as far as I know. You see the names of the various wines and so on printed on the notes. By pressing the note down I complete an electric circuit which causes the tap in the cellars beneath to remain open long enough to fill the gla.s.s which always stands beneath it. The gla.s.ses, you understand, stand upon a revolving drum, so that there must always be one there. The gla.s.ses are then brought up through a pneumatic tube, which is set working by the increased weight of the gla.s.s when the wine is added to it. It is a pretty little idea. But I am afraid that I bore you rather with all these petty contrivances. It is a whim of mine to push mechanism as far as it will go.”
”On the contrary, I am filled with interest and wonder,” said Robert warmly. ”It is as if I had been suddenly whipped up out of prosaic old England and transferred in an instant to some enchanted palace, some Eastern home of the Genii. I could not have believed that there existed upon this earth such adaptation of means to an end, such complete mastery of every detail which may aid in stripping life of any of its petty worries.”
”I have something yet to show you,” remarked Raffles Haw; ”but we will rest here for a few minutes, for I wished to have a word with you. How is the cigar?”
”Most excellent.”
”It was rolled in Louisiana in the old slavery days. There is nothing made like them now. The man who had them did not know their value. He let them go at merely a few s.h.i.+llings apiece. Now I want you to do me a favour, Mr. McIntyre.”
”I shall be so glad.”
”You can see more or less how I am situated. I am a complete stranger here. With the well-to-do cla.s.ses I have little in common. I am no society man. I don't want to call or be called on. I am a student in a small way, and a man of quiet tastes. I have no social ambitions at all.
Do you understand?”
”Entirely.”
”On the other hand, my experience of the world has been that it is the rarest thing to be able to form a friends.h.i.+p with a poorer man--I mean with a man who is at all eager to increase his income. They think much of your wealth, and little of yourself. I have tried, you understand, and I know.” He paused and ran his fingers through his thin beard.
Robert McIntyre nodded to show that he appreciated his position.
”Now, you see,” he continued, ”if I am to be cut off from the rich by my own tastes, and from those who are not rich by my distrust of their motives, my situation is an isolated one. Not that I mind isolation: I am used to it. But it limits my field of usefulness. I have no trustworthy means of informing myself when and where I may do good.
I have already, I am glad to say, met a man to-day, your vicar, who appears to be thoroughly unselfish and trustworthy. He shall be one of my channels of communication with the outer world. Might I ask you whether you would be willing to become another?”
”With the greatest pleasure,” said Robert eagerly.
The proposition filled his heart with joy, for it seemed to give him an almost official connection with this paradise of a house. He could not have asked for anything more to his taste.
”I was fortunate enough to discover by your conversation how high a ground you take in such matters, and how entirely disinterested you are. You may have observed that I was short and almost rude with you at first. I have had reason to fear and suspect all chance friends.h.i.+ps.
Too often they have proved to be carefully planned beforehand, with some sordid object in view. Good heavens, what stories I could tell you!
A lady pursued by a bull--I have risked my life to save her, and have learned afterwards that the scene had been arranged by the mother as an effective introduction, and that the bull had been hired by the hour.
But I won't shake your faith in human nature. I have had some rude shocks myself. I look, perhaps, with a jaundiced eye on all who come near me. It is the more needful that I should have one whom I can trust to advise me.”
”If you will only show me where my opinion can be of any use I shall be most happy,” said Robert. ”My people come from Birmingham, but I know most of the folk here and their position.”
”That is just what I want. Money can do so much good, and it may do so much harm. I shall consult you when I am in doubt. By the way, there is one small question which I might ask you now. Can you tell me who a young lady is with very dark hair, grey eyes, and a finely chiselled face? She wore a blue dress when I saw her, with astrachan about her neck and cuffs.”
Robert chuckled to himself.
”I know that dress pretty well,” he said. ”It is my sister Laura whom you describe.”
”Your sister! Really! Why, there is a resemblance, now that my attention is called to it. I saw her the other day, and wondered who she might be.
She lives with you, of course?”
”Yes; my father, she, and I live together at Elmdene.”
”Where I hope to have the pleasure of making their acquaintance. You have finished your cigar? Have another, or try a pipe. To the real smoker all is mere trifling save the pipe. I have most brands of tobacco here. The lockers are filled on the Monday, and on Sat.u.r.day they are handed over to the old folk at the alms-houses, so I manage to keep it pretty fresh always. Well, if you won't take anything else, perhaps you would care to see one or two of the other effects which I have devised.
On this side is the armoury, and beyond it the library. My collection of books is a limited one; there are just over the fifty thousand volumes.