The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-06-30 00:00:00

SATUADA.Y, JUN 4 30, 1888.

CAUGHT' AT LAST;

os,
THE FELON T 3 BRAND.

"......• ,

• \-
CHAPTER IL.
L.
THE SPIDER'S WEB.
1 You know now the stock from which Fabian van
/ . Flewker sprang. You shall next become acquainted
with the man as he was when the events hereinaftez
.- s iet forth took place.
t
„II 1 After the death of her husband, Rosalba lived in
- luiet and retirement until the birth of her boy. Then
•y degrees, she resumed the practice of her profession
flit whether the spirit of clanship among th(
1 otterdam burghers was strong against her, whethes
,r unhappy story becoming known throughout tin
buntly unjustly prejudiced Dutch audiences, I am
triable to say. It is enough to know that hes
topularity in Holland was at an end. After vainly
truggling against the current for several years, she
kisely yielded to necessity, and removed to Paris.
even Pieter Maritzburg, pitiful at first, finally turned
hia back upon the woman to whom he attributed the
downfall of his master's house.
Fabian grew up with a Dutch intellect and a Dutch
bias, upon which was grafted a French education.
From his father he inherited liberality of mind, and
In original mode of thought which led him to strike
out a path for himself, and positively to indulge in
Ideas . From his Hebrew mother he derived shrewd-
ness, prudence, caution, an ardent love of making
money, and a passion for bargaining, with which the
Jew seems born. By preference, he bargains with
the Gentile; still, rather than not bargain at all, one
e. kw will chaffer with another, in tones that become
l' shriller and shriller as the discussion proceeds, and
. with expressions a tithe of which would make two
Saxons enemies for life, but which they only look
s upon as a part of the excitement and pleasantry inci-
dental to a mercantile transaction.
It is not surprising, then, that Fabian van Flewker,
having, as we know, blood of the peculiar people in
his veins, early decided that money-dealing was to be
the object of his life. He served as junior clerk in
the house of the great Baron Dathan von Redshield,
In the imperial city of Frankfort-on-the-Maine;
studied his profession later under that master of
the art, Manasses ben Judah, at Amsterdam; and
Perfected his education subsequently in the change
de rnonnaie (Money-changers' office) of MM. Levi,
Moise, and Company, upon the Goldsmiths' Quay
it Paris. Then his mother died, leaving to
Fabian, at that time about five-and-twenty, the not
inconsiderable savings of her professional career. With
this sum he was enabled to purchase an interest in
the house of Levi and Co., where he was then a sub-
ordinate, and finally, upon the retirement of the senior
Partner, to represent in his single person the entire
,
firm.
in 1849 Van Flewker broke up his Paris establish-
ment, and migrated to London. Bullets and bombs
were not unfrequent in Paris streets about that time;
and Van Flewker, as a prudent trader, not having
much faith in the stability of things in France, con-
sidered it would be more advantageous to pursue
his calling upon British ground. Therefore you
find his name upon the door-posts of 99, Augustine-
close.
Fabisa van Flewker and Co.—the Co., as previously
stated, being a myth—started in business as "mer-
chants and general foreign agents ;" designations
about as conveniently vague perhaps as it would be
Possible to adopt. They were money-changers and
foreign bankers; they dabbled in discounts and mort-
gages, of a safe and lucrative kind; they were agents
for all the foreign lotteries in and out of being, they
inserted advertisements in newspapers all over the
world; they collected debts through their correspon-
dents in the principal Continental towns, they pro-
vided English schools with masters and governesses
from abroad, and foreign seminaries with teachers
of the English tongue: in short, constituted them-
selves useful middle-men between John Bull and tbe
foreigner. Upon everything the firm undertook they
charged a per-centage or commission. In every case,
"it was a principle," said the firm, to be paid that
per-centage or commission in advance; loss was,
therefore, almost impossible."
Hardly any transaction was too insignificant for
the firm, scarcely any operation too large. If an
alderman wanted a courier, they found one in an
Incredibly short space of time; if the Emperor of
China wanted a steamer, they bought him one;
always, of course, charging the usual per-centage.
If an oppressed and down-trodden nationality
wished to raise the funds requisite for throwing off
the usurper's yoke, and applied to Van Flewker and
Co. for that laudable purpose, proffering as security
, notes upon the national treasury, payable when the
aforesaid yoke had been removed, the eminent firm
cheerfully undertook the business; and from even
the most unpromising schemes the genius of the house
,
: managed to extract same profit.
The firm grew in the estimation of the public. It
It began to be "known in the City" that if any out-of-
the-way information was required, it was to be
.1 obtained at the new establishment. The business
,i prospered. At first confined to the narrow office in
~ Augustine Close, it waxed until, like an over-fed 1
r snail, it grew too large for its dwelling.
A man of less astuteness than the proprietor would
si have removed to larger premises, and have made his
firm more public by greater show. Not so sagacious
. Van Flewker. In place of launching into useless
I, outlay, he divided his responsibilities. A handsome
' suite of chambers was taken in Pall Mall, in which
an office was established. This branch was styled
the West-end department, and M. Napoleon-Victoire
Parlandet appointed to its command. Hither was
transported the discount and mortgage business, the
portion of the operations of the firm which required
snore display, more glitter, than was necessary in the
, Close. A further diversion was made by setting up
an extensive warehouse down Wapping way, for the
supply of sailors' stores and slops, and the judicious
advance of money upon the pay-notes of improvident
mariners. This, proving an extremely profitable
branch of the concern, might not inaptly have been
. ~ styled the " Milch-cow Department," acting mainly as
a feeder to the rest. Greater extension still was 1
, acquired by the formation of a branch at Hamburg,
, • placed in charge of a tried and trustworthy agent, to
1 • whom was confided the care of Continental affairs.
. t'he head and director of the whole, passing his
ime chiefly in travelling from branch to branch,
and superintending all, was Mynhees Fabian van
. Flewker.
But it is time that you made his peraonal acquaint-
ance.
. The first of the three clerks who seeded the Close
the morning after Kleckser had analysed the character
of M. Parlandet for his companions' enlightenment,
'was Whiffles, who found the countince-house occupied
1 by Bill Pordy, the errand-boy—a chubby youth of about
ifourteen, with red hair, a saucy nose, and a leer in his
greenish eyes extremely near akin to a squint. Pordy
was gifted with a comic turn, and possessed more than
the share of mischief usual at his age. He was constantly
getting into hot water with the clerks. Scarcely a week
sassed without his being threatened with dismissal—
threat forgotten by all parties as soon as uttered.
ae boy was an excellent mimic, and frequently amused
' he clerks for hours when business was slack.
•.. "Anybody been, Pordy ?" asked Whiffles.
"Ain't there just ?" replied that eccentric youth,
pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards the
sanctum. "Guvnor's back," he added in a stage
Whisper. " And ain't he grumpy ? that's all? He
smacked my 'ed, Mr. 'Whiffles," concluded the injured
youth.
"Did he ?" said Whiffles, equably. " Ah, well, 1
laresay you deserved it. If Mr. van Flewker wants
no, he'll call, I s'pose." And Whiffles busied himself
n his books.
Had a Philosopher been present interested in ascer-
ailing the precise length to which a boy's tongue can
3°BBibly be protruded, he might have gained the
snowledge by measuring the organ of Pordy, vibra-
ting derisively behind unconscious 'Whiffles's stool.
Retribution, in the shape of Kleckser, however, at
that moment entered the counting-house from the
rear. Two sounding slaps, one upon either ear,
followed by the yell such discipline usually evokes
from the juvenile pipe, testified to the promptness of
band of the avenger.
"You shall make faces at Mr. Viffle behint his pack,
leetel bosewicht !" (Miscreant), exclaimed the German.
"I have great mind to baint your saucy chops as
ell von clown, and turn you out in de street."
Kleckser, be it remarked in passing was the only
- person in the office of swhom Pordy stood in actual
awe; not from the lad's receiving more punishment
; it his hands than at those of the rest, but owing to
he quaintness of the chastisements the German con-
tently devised. One of these consisted in placing
Pordy upright between his knees, and, after gazing
In solemn silence into the boy's face, addressing him
gravely for several minutes in the German tongue.
This Pordy especially hated. In the first place, he
did not understand a syllable that Kleckser said; in
the next, he shrewdly guessed the exhortation was
, not of a complimentary kind. An additionally comic
Clement was introduced into the relations (s. the
pair, by Kleckser undertaking to correct Pordy's
, pronunciation. The gravity of the clerks was often
averset by the remarkable jargon resulting from the
, sollision of the Cockney with the 'Teuton dialect.
, Dccasionally, however, the lad's love of mimicry
reercame even his fear, and led him, whenever he
bought it could be done with impunity, to imitate
:leckser's accent and faulty grammar to his face.
ometimes the German perceived the trick; more
, •equently it escaped his notice. When he did detect
, • le offender, the punishment was dire.
. "Oh, Mr. Kllsekser, sir, please don't !" exclainied
.•e peccant Portly, rubbing his ears alternately. "1
int go to malib faces, sir. It was quite a haccident,
i • ; indeed it waT!"
" Vhat you mean by thaccident,' basetoicht ?" ex.
t
imed Mentor. "Am I not always telling you not
. put von h vhere Nature and de grammar say dat
•
shouldn't come? Spell de vord." .
" H-a-x,hax," commencedPordy ; then stopped, see-
, g in his tutor's eye that he was wrong, and tried
aiti. "A-k-s—aks s-i—si, d-e-n-t—dent—aksident
aat's right, ain't it, Mr. Kleckser ?"
"Pordy," observed Kleckser, gravely, "I will have
• 0 talk to you, if you ton't take care. It's not right
•von bit; all de odor vay."
"Not right von bit; all de oiler vay," mimicked BM
In apparent dismay, "Dear me, sir! who'd ha' thought
't ? Oh, please, sir, tell me how to spell it 1 I shoul
4olite to know."

,

Bleckser was about to comply in all simplicity, wher
Whiffles pointed out that Pordy was only laughing at
him. The lad's eager disclaimers and Kleckser's
threatened revenge were both summarily stopped by
a shrill whistle from the speaking-tube communicating
with the private room, summoning Whiffles.
At a desk in the back office sat the principal of the
firm. A stout man with broad shoulders, a long
body, and short legs. Seated, he appeared of averagE
height; when he rose, you saw that he was belovs
the middle size. Age, about fifty; complexion,
sallow olive; black hair, whiskers and moustache
and an unmistakably Jewish nose. The colour of his
eyes you could not see for his spectacles, except wher
he removed these occasionally to rub the lenses; ther
you perceived that they were weak, twinkling, anc
watery, yet with an expression of much shrewdness
The hue of the glasses being a light blue, the precis(
direction of the wearer's gaze was an inpenetrabh
mystery.
The sanctum itself was a comfortable room, hand.
somely furnished. Upon a table at one side werc
three telegraphic-instrument dials, communicating
respectively with the West-end department, with thE
marine-stores at Wapping, and Van Flewker's resi-
dence in Bloomsbury-square. Viewing the man sit.
ting at this centre, and thinking of the wires radiating
therefrom in three different directions, you were irre-
sistibly reminded of a watchful spider, ensconced
'in the recesses of its web. Came a heedless fly, buz-
zing about any of the extremities, and got his gauzy
wings entangled in the meshes of the web, the spider
was upon him in an instant, and flishes directions
along the wires how best to secure his prey. A gutta-
percha speaking tube, communicating with the
counting house, ascended the wall at the merchant's
side, and vanished near the ceiling. Opposite the
desk was 'a large window, looking into the garden
attached to the house; and higher up in the wall,
entirely commanding the apartment, was a small
aperture, occupied by a pane in a movable frame
which opened from the passage.
A pile of letters and newspapers, in variously
coloured envelopes, and covered with postage stamps
af many hues, was upon the desk. Van Flewker
opened them quickly, and mastered the contents in a
rapid glance, and laid each upon one of four different
heaps. At this moment Whiffles knocked.
"Mr. Vhiffle," said the merchant, querulously, "I
am here just half von hour, and not von of my clerks
is yet arrive. That is the reason ?"
"I've been 'ere this ten minutes' sir," answered
Whiffles; "and the other gentlemen have just come
in. Its only this minute gone ten."
"Hey, vhat ?" exclaimed the merchant, snap-
pishly, pulling out his watch. "Ii M. Parlandet
here ?"

"Not yet, sir."
"Telegraph he shall come down at once."

Whifile-s Went to the instrument nearest the door of
the sanctum, tuned the lever and sounded the bell.
No answer.

"He must 'ave left already, sir, I think."

i‘ Vhat ? Tell him I vish to see him directly he
shall come," said the merchant, and returned to his
letters. ,

CHAPTER IV.
AL PARLANDET DISPLAYS HIS ABILITY.

NOT long afterwards M. Parlandet arrived; and upon
hearing his principal's desire, appeared in the
sanctum. The conversation that ensued, like all
between these two, was mostly carried on in French;
but as this happens to be an English story, intended
for English readers, I shall take the liberty of giving
it chiefly in our native tongue.
"Well, M. Parlandet," was the merchant's greeting,
"here have been fine doings again in Hamburg! The
old game—the old game! Will you never learn a little
wisdom?"
" But, monsieur, what has happened now P" inquired
Par], in well-actedamazement.
"What has happened ?" retorted his principal.
"Everything has happened. Stupidity, eat elessness,
disobedience to my express orders. That is all, M.
Parlandet ; nothing more."
"Monsieur van Flewker, you surprise, you alarm,
you horrify me. But one source of satisfaction is
open to my troubled mind. It is that your anger, with.
put doubt so just and so noble, is not directed against
your most humble slave."
" Against whom else then ?" cried the merchant, in
shrill and passionate tones.
"Without doTibt against that wretched Schmidt,
the Hamburg agent," replied Parlandet, coolly.
"That miserable good-for-nothing; so ungrateful to
the best of men and most munificent of benefactors."

"Schmidt !" shrieked Van Flewker, savagely.
.Schmidt has done nothing but carry out your in-
structions, M. Parlandet—your careless and erro-
neous interpretation of my express desires. When
Schmidt acts for himself, he always meets my wishes.
When he is inspired by you, I find my plans invariably
crossed. What say you to that, monsieur 2"
"Monsieur van Flewker," replied Pan, solemnly,
spreading his fleshy fingers, terminated by long, black-
tipped nails, widely apart over the region usually
occupied by the heart, my conscience—that never-
failing consoler of the upright man—speaks me free
from blame. If Schmidt has done wrong, it is that
he has misconceived my orders. Come, let us hear
what crime the unhappy man has perpetrated."
Van Flewker re-commenced.

"Did I not expressly order, before I went to
Paris, that no bills drawn by Saxon wool-merchants,
upon houses here were to be negotiated without
Schmidt making special report upon the standing of
the drawers? Answer me that, monsieur."
"Monsieur, your memory, as ever, is of the most
accurate," replied Parlandet.
"Good. Further, did I not explain to you, clearly,
plainly, in unmistakable tering, that the reason for
this precaution was my having received advices from
Schmidt that the crop of German wool this year was
defective; that sheep had perished by hundreds from
the murrain and the protracted winter; that the
Australian fabric was rapidly beating the Saxon
material out of the market; and that the wool fair at
Chemnitz would be of the most indifferent kind?
"And in the teeth of all this," continued the
merchant, with increasing vehemence, "when my
back is hardly turned; before, in fact, I have even
crossed the Channel, you telegraph to Schmidt to
make st widely known throughout the German wool-
trade that he is in a position to procure them dis-
counts upon most advantageous terms. Your reasons
for this extraordinary proceeding, M. Parlandet, if
you please ?" demanded the merchant, dropping his
tone to calm and concentrated wrath. "And why
have bills for more than nine hundred pounds been
discounted against my orders ?"
"The deuce !" thought Paul. "The matter is more
serious than I had supposed."
He drew breath and uttered a long and incoherent
rhapsody about devotion, duty, &c., which his chief
listened to with growing impatience. At last, taking
advantage of a break, he said--
" I am to understand, then, M. Parlandet, that
you did not issue any such instructions to Schmidt ?"
asked Van Flewker, eyeing his manager keenly.
"Monsieur, I did not," said Parlandet, boldly;
"Schmidt has entirely misconceived my meaning.
He is to blame, not I.'
"Good !" ejaculated Van Flewker. am not
surprised, M. Parlandet, that you should take this
line. It entirely accords with my experience of your
character; and I should have been vexed at having
formed an erroneous judgment, had you told the
truth. As it happens, I can prove that you are
speaking what you know to be false. I have seen
Schmidt, and he has furnished me with this. Do you
recognise it ?"
Van Flewker handed to Parlandet the copy of the
telegraphic dispatch which he had sent to the Ham-
burg agent, and had then entirely dismissed from his
memory. Most men would have been abashed at this
open conviction of having said the thing which is not;
but this was one of those dilemmas in which M. Par-
landet shone.

" !" thought he, as his eye rapidly took in the
sense of the despatch, and the entire transaction again
rose up before his mind; "ii a Inc Schmidt !" (He
has seen Schmidt.) And upon that hint he spake.

"Strange !" he said, meditatively, laying the des-
patch upon the desk; " strange ! my dear M. van
Flewker; how wonderful are the workings of the
human mind! Stranger still the doctrine of chances.
Now, I could have sworn that this message had never
been sent. I distinctly recollect, now you recall the
circumstance, writing out instructions, which must be
somewhere in my drawers at the West-end, fox
Schmidt, exactly according to your orders. I recollect
further thinking at the same moment how easy it
would be, by merely altering a word or two in the
despatch, to convey precisely the opposite meaning.
Insensibly, without doubt, the pen must have traced
my thoughts upon the paper, and thus have followed
the direction of my mind. By an unfortunate acci-
dent the wrong message, then, must have been sent t,c
Mr. Vhiffle, who, no doubt, forwarded it without ex-
amination. A most careless proceeding of the book-
keeper, M. van Flewker, and justly deserving your
severest reprehension."
"Very ingenious, M. Parlandet," observed Van
Flewker, dryly. "You couldn't lay your hand upon
the other despatch now, could you, at a moment'e
notice?"

"Most unluckily, my dear sir," replied unblushing
Part, "I could not. But yesterday I now remembet
to having cleared out all useless papers; and that
message, no doubt, was among the number. But it
is really, as you observe, a most singular coincidence.
and deserves to be remembered."

"As it will be, M. Parlandet," returned thE
merchant.

Van Flewker did not think it necessary to inform
his subordinate that no real harm had actually beer
done. The Hamburg agent, aware of his chief's
approaching visit, had retained the bills until he coulc
receive from Van Flewker's own mouth instructions
as to the course he should pursue. Of this Parlandet
knew nothing. It was not his habit to concern him.
self with the inferior details of business matters; to
meaner intellects he entrusted the labour of carrying
his ideas into execution.

This little difficulty being as M. Parlandet con-
ceived, satisfactorily surmounted, he next proceeded
to acquaint his chief with the various business opera-
tions that had taken place during the fortnight of his
absence.

"Application made three days ago," said worthy
M. Parlandet, "to your most devoted, let me see, a
solicitor, one Mr. Valkare Hooke, New-square, Lincoln's
Inn. This monsieur had been commissioned by a
client to mortgage his large estate in Ireland, includ-
ing a splendid ca,stle, spacious grounds, several farms.

Li;

a flourishing village, and rich salmon fisheries upon
the coast—for a most paltry sum. A little two
thousand pounds is all required."
Here came in an angry ejaculation from Van
Flewker, which arrested Pan. . . .

"Be not alarmed, my benefactor," was his exhor-
tation. "The transaction is genuine. I have seen
with my own eyes the plan of the estate. It is mag-
nificent, superb !"
"What has been done in the matter ?" demanded
the merchant.

"But nothing whatever !" responded Pan. "That
is to say, except just the preliminary negotiations."
"And the outlay," observed Van Flewker, "is to be
but one little two thousand pounds? I must say,
decidedly cheap at the money.'
"Is it not ?" responded Pan. "A trifle, a bagatelle
a wretched, inconsiderable grain of sand! To be
gained so easily, too. The client of M. Valkare Hooke
resides at Brussels in embarrassed circumstances, and
would certainly not be able to redeem the mortgage.
He is one officer retired—Major O'—something;
these cursed names of barbarians it is impossibe to re-
collect ! Tahi tah ! tah ! What can it be ? Aha!
I have it. Major O'Blandish, late Dragoons of the
Enniskilling. The estate calls itself Knick-Knack—
ah, these names !—Knockmavelty, it is that, Knock-
mavelty Castle, in the department of Galway. Ah
M. Van Flewker, believe me, this grand opportunity
must not be cast away."
" Good !" said Van Flewker, coolly disentangling
the facts from Pan's embroidery. "An Irish major,
hiding at Brussels from his creditors, in debt, desires
to borrow two thousand pounds on mortgage of
Knockmavelty Castle, Galway. 'You hare seen the
plan put faith by his solicitor—naturally very favour-
able and promising. Now, let us see if we can dis-
cover how the case really stands." -
He turned to the speaking-tube at his side, and
called for Whiffles. When the book-keeper ap-
peared, his master asked him whether he knew any.
thing of the investment so strongly recommended by

Knockmavelty Castle, sir?" said 'Whiffles pon-
dering. "Oh, ah ; that's the Irish swindle Meehan
*rote about. It's a do, Mr. VanFlewker ; that's what
it is.

"Eh !" ejaculated Pan, in extreme surprise.
"Go on, Mr. Viffie," said the merchant. "Tell me
all vhat you know about it."
"Well, sir, the advertisement was in all the papers
for more than a week, and thinking it was as well to
know if there was anything in it, I told Mr. Gwillim
to write to Meehan in Dublin to make enquiries. We
received the answer yesterday. The thing's a swindle,
sir."

"Fetch de letter," said the merchant.
Whiffles, upon his return, read an extract from the
Dublin letter, which fully bore out his statement.
Parlandet's face, during the reading of the extract
by Whiffles, would have formed a study. The air of
proud self-satisfaction which he had worn a short
time before had dwindled gradually to an expression
of appalled dismay, most ludicrous to an uninterested
observer, from which he was roused by a quick
question of his master—
"Well, M. Parlandet ?"
"I was about to remark, my very dear and most
respected Monsieur van Flewker," said Pan, "when
interrupted by your summoning M. Viffle, that, in
matters of this sort, however promising they may ap-
pear at the outset, the utmost caution is an indis-
pensable necessity. You will notice with pleasure, I
feel sure, how entirely this observation has been
justified."
A knock at the door stopped Van Flewker's answer.
"A person, who says his name's 'Ooke—Valker
'Ooke—vants ter see yer, sir," announced Pordy.
"Eh ?" exclaimed the merchant, turning angrily
towards Pan. " What is the meaning of this,
Monsieur Parlandet ?"
The fox was in the toils. This time there was no
escape; double and wind as he might, the earths
were stopped.
"It is true, my benefactor," he confessed, "that
in the extremity of my zeal for your service, I may
have been a little precipitate. You will pardon the
error, for the sake of the willing mind. I did
certainly mention to this Monsieur Hooke that ho
should call to-day, but it was with the view to ex-
amine more closely the nature of the affair."
"Go into the office and wait," said Van Flewker,
savagely. "Boy, dell do gentleman he shall walk
in."

Exit Pan, in considerable trepidation, and enter
Mr. Walker Ho ,ke, whose stay in the sanctum was
of the briefest kind. In less than five minutes M.
Parlandet was again in his master's room.
"This is too bad !" shrieked the merchant, before
his subordinate had time to close the door. "You
have agreed, in my name, to execute this mortgage,
although my express orders are that all such proposals
are to be referred to me. You tell this man to come
here--here, to my office, and before my people—
to bring his deed to be executed, and to receive
the money. Where is your authority for this ? In
future, undertake nothing without consulting me.
Make no engagements without my special order. If
lam nct here, advise with Vhiffle. I can rely upon
him, although I cannot trust) you. Now, out of my
sight! I shall take care your power of mischief is
stopped in future. Go There is the door !"
Parl saw that in his present mood he might as well
toy with an angry lion as trifle with Van Flewker.
Assuming an air of the deepest contrition, he spread
both hands deprecatingly upon his breast in his accus-
to-ned manner, bowed his very lowest, and rapidly
withdrew; but there was a dangerous glitter in the
manager's eye as he muttered to himself, when at a
safe distance from the Close upon his return home,
"Wait a little—wait a very little, dear benefactor!
The good time will come.
Fan Flewker had been sorely vexed by what had
t Lken place. The credit of the house had been im-
perilled. What if Mr. Walker Hook, in revenge for
his summary dismissal, were to spread a report that
the well-known firm of Fabian van Flewker and Com-
pany had been unable to command the sum that his
client required ? There would be a run upon the
house in an hour! Parlandet must be allowed no
chance of repeating so dangerous a blunder.
Van Flewker summoned Whiffles to the sanctum,
and began to dictate a letter. Its contents were
these :

Fabian Tan Flowker and Co.'s General and Foreign Agency,
London, August —, 1859.
James Waterton, Esq., L'pool.
DEAR SIR,—You will oblige us greatly if, at your earliest
convenience after receipt, you will select and consign to our
address a young man of intelligence and ability, age 25 to
80, not a Londoner, well acquainted with French and Ger-
man, and thoroughly versed in every kind of business
routine. We are in want of a person answering this de-
sc,ipVen, to act as confidential clerk in one of our establish-
m ,nts.
You will please select only such a person as you have ascer-
tained, by previous examination, to be really fitted for the
position.
It is indispensable that he should be an Englishman, and
never have lived in London before. Our Mr. Fabian van
Flew): or states that he is sick of foreigners, and wants a man
upon whom he can in every respect rely.
You will further oblige us by furnishing the person you may
select with sufficient money to pay his fare (second class,
ordinary train) to town, and to remain here, if we consider it
necessary, several days. bhould ho be found suitable, he will
be engaged at once.
Requesting your best attention to this communication, we
are, dear sir, your most obedient servants.
FABIAN VAN FLEWKER AND COMPANY.

"Well," said Whiffles to himself, as he sealed and
directed this epistle in the outer office, "that's the
first shot against Parl's comfort. I wonder 'ow 'e'll
take it?" Time will show."

(To be continued.)