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"You are an intelligent and honest man, as one may see by your
face. We suppose that you are poor and a stranger. Enclosed you will
find a sum of money. It is lent to you for thirty days, without interest.
Report at this house at the end of that time. I have a bet on you. If I
win it you shall have any job that is in my power to give you, of
course, if you are competent to fill it".
No signature, no address, no date.
Well, what a situation to be in! I hadn't the least idea what were
the game or the bet. If I ask the Bank of England to place this bill to
the account of the man it belongs to, they'll do it, for they know him,
although I don't; but they will ask me how I came into possession of
it, and if I tell the truth, they'll put me in the asylum, naturally. If I lie,
they will put me in jail. The same result will follow if I try to change
the bill in a bank, or to borrow money on it. So I had to suffer for a
month without wages or profit — unless I help win the bet, whatever
it may be, and get the job that I am promised.
I began thinking about that job. No doubt the salary would be
large. It would begin in a month; after that I should be all right. Then,
I saw a tailor-shop. Could I afford to throw off my rags and to clothe
myself decently? No; I had nothing in the world but a million pounds.
But soon I was coming back again. The temptation made me give in. I
asked if they had a misfit suit that had been left on their hands. The
fellow I spoke to nodded his head toward another fellow, and gave
me no answer. I went to the indicated fellow, and he indicated
another fellow with his head, and no words. I went to him, and he
said:
"Attend to you immediately".
I waited till he finished what he was doing. Then he took me
into a back room, looked through a pile of rejected suits, and selected
the cheapest one for me. I put it on. It didn't fit, and wasn't in any way
attractive, but it was new, and I was anxious to have it; so I said
shyly:
"Could you possibly wait a few days for the money? I haven't
any small change about me".
The fellow looked at me sarcastically, and said:
"Oh, you haven't? Well, of course, I didn't expect it. I'd expect
gentlemen like you to carry only large bills".
I was hurt and said: