Evening star., 1924-06-23
CHAPTER 1.
The General Dealer.

How it came about that on that
Particular springtide morning 1 was
stranded on the Clarence pier at
Portsmouth with, literally. few
pence in my pocket. is immaterial to
the present purpose; the more peril
nent fact is that there 1 was, in that
miserable predicament, with none to
turn to for immediate help, and ut
teriy blank of mind as to what was
next to be done. i had paid out two
or nay last coppers to obtain entrance
TO that pier-there was vague no
tion that might pick up some porter
age job there which would bring in a
shilling.
With a shilling / could send a tele-
gram to the only man l knew who
would be likely to wire me money
ne was the last resource; for ! had
already pawned my watch and my
oVercoat. and, hourly expecting re-
mlttance which up TO then had not
arrived: had not had the sense TO
make the application by letter which
was now feverishly anxious to make
nS telegraph. There might be some
one coming off a boat at that pier
VINO would give shilling to have
bag carried would undertake the
1oo with fervor. But at the end of
an houI was Stlll unemployed. ana
was thinking of trying the railway
stations; then, very suddenly. the
man came on the scene who plunged
me headlong into action ana adven-
ture.
He was coming away from the win
oook for Ryde and Cowes and South
ampton. this man, and he carried a
ucket in his hand and was clearly
hhneonsc,ous that ii was there. \ big,
s sliy.puiit fellow in IL dark blue
Serge suit, topped by a rather sport
ING sort OF overcoat, he locked to me
IKE a wel1-to-do publican, or, rer-
maps, bookmaker: there was that
ar apout MIN: But just then. what
ever ne was, his great idea was GER
taInly to do something or get some
where In a tremendous hurry; his
eyes, as he came out on the open pier,
were all over the place at once, TAX
ing IN the misty coast line on the op-
poslte side of the water. looking UP
me water itself as if in search of The
Ryoe boat, which even then was
cunning its way toward us. and then
Eiancing first over one shoulder and
the next over the other as if he either
somebody
In his haste, or his nervousness. he
raised his fat. stub-sndeI fingers 20
ms chin and in 81 Going discovered
mat he was holding 4 ticket: | will
swear thai until that instant he had
Iorsotten that he had just taken it,
But now ne hastened 20 thrust n jrto
rs waistcoat pocket and in so doing
n" encountered something else thar
ne had evidently forgotten. His
nnSers ZANE cut of the pocket grasp
ing a scrap OF paper twisted up into
WHAT tney call d COchC.l ha. And
ne-e i made certain that the man was
IN a state of terrible preoccupation
Ter after staring blanIlv At this di.
sps suSers re ne made a sign. of vexation
which said as plainly As possible that
ne had omitted to co something
winch ought to be done at once But
my wits had been sharpened by pri
walton during the last two days. and
without more ado I stepped UP to him.
can | take that somewhere for
you. sir? l said, pointing to the bit
FOUND % pdpe5; and which rn9ha he he was twisting
body" - 'o''e
lie started--rnor. nervnusly than
one would have expected IN such a
big fleshy frame-and gave a sharp
suspicious, and yet, / fancIed, highly
relieved glance.
me- sEh: dv.H What frorn he exclaimed, running
wanting a job?"' knew: what he
meant. Outwardly, l was eminently |
respectable; good clo:ne~, cool foot |
wear: i was even spotless in linen |
But the boat was 1T hand, and l did |
I'D be glad of the chance of earn
Ing few shillings," l answered hur-
riedly. Stranded-unexpecte
you understand I'll carry your note
had evidently made up his mind to
do that, for without another word he
plunged a hand--there were two or
three big: be-diamonded rings on it's
pocket and pulled it out again full of
gold. And picking out a sovereign
with no more concern than if it had
been shilling. he thrust it into my
hand with the bit of folded paper
Look you here. my lad he. said,
confidentially. There's a name on
that .paper-Holiment That's the
chap it's for-Holliment. You get into
those streets between High street
and iI1,, the Hard-you know? Ask for
tell you. And give him that. Go
now-and there's a quid all to your
self: My boat-youll go straight
This Instant said I. He'll have
1t in a few minutes. Greatly obliged
to your
BLESS you" he answered, with a
queer sort of grin. 'Ditto"
He made for the boat. and without
a backward glance I hurried off that
pier. lighter of heart than had been
for forty-eight hours. A sovereign.
for ten minutes walk. / went away
toward tt1gn street 1eel1nR as If the
Bank of England had suddenly be-
come my sole property. Turning a
corner. and CHANGING to look sea
ward saw say,,t the smoke Of the
sharp fsI'ef breeze"ny man as was there ene
scudding. gaily across the water.
Whither?-and why in such hurry.
in so much of a hurry, indeed. that
he had forgotten to send the scrap
of paper which was now in my
pocket-a missive that was evidently
of so much importance that he was
glad to have it carried at any cost.
Sharpened in perception as I was by
hunger (for l had had no breakfast,
and had gone very short the day be-
fore). knew that the man was in
tensely relieved to get rid of that
note and parted with his sovereign
right willingly.
l began to get curious about this
. twisted. crumpled scrap of paper. Who
was Holliment? What was this
highly important message? What did
the whole thing mean? Before I
came to High street, my inquisitive-
ness got the better of me: pulled
out the cooked hat and turned IL over
il was a piece of paper hurriedly
torn out of a cheap account book
a poor quality paper, the first stuff
that had lain to hand. And ! felt
no great compunction, things being
as they were. in unwrapping it and
looking at whatever might be writ
ten inside-there was already a spice
of mystery about this adventure, and
wherever there is mystery there is
danger; wanted to know what l
was in for. in some degree.
Standing for a second in the open
street, / read all that was written.
Two words, heavily underscored:
Clean Away.
There was nothing else. No name;
no address: nothing. was as wise
f1l ho