"Oh, yes," said Norman. "It is a wonderful place, if you really only knew it."
"And look at that pattern round the border," said the observant widow.
"How nicely it"s worked, and so small."
"It is indeed," said the boy, examining it for the first time and turning a little pale.
This was the pattern:--_-AA-/_: and it reminded him unpleasantly of the symbol he had seen that afternoon.
However, Norman, strong in his new imperial faith, went to his room, nearly cricked his neck examining the stripes in the mirror to see if they were still there and in good order for exhibition, turned in and slept.
Rising betimes the next morning he set out upon his quest. It was a long one, and the said new-born faith in the omnipotence of the British flag underwent a severe trial during this voyage of exploration, for some people seemed never to have heard of "British" and some never to have heard of "Consulate." Those who understood the meaning of these magic words in general failed to illuminate him in particular. Peronella and her mother belonged to this latter category, and so did most of the people he met in the street. At last he was informed in a draper"s shop that it was down in a street off the Palace square. He arrived at the house indicated after a diligent and toilsome search and found it to let and uninhabited. He spent another half-hour scouring the cafes for the caretaker. The caretaker, having been plied with many drinks, directed him to a street off the Cathedral square at the other end of the town.
Having arrived there, he discovered the street and the number. He found himself in front of a preposterously tall house in a state of violent ruin, which appeared about to fall on his head. It bore no outward consular sign at first glance, but by standing well back on the opposite side of the narrow street and craning his neck Norman could just discern what might be a coat-of-arms above a window on the top floor. He began the ascent of a staircase which deserved all the epithets usually applied to such staircases. He discovered during the long and intricate ascent that the house, or rather tower, contained a singular variety of inmates. On the ground floor was a shop where an extremely aged man with large spectacles was carefully affixing small bits of gold braid to form one of the gorgeous patterns which adorn the festal dress of Alsandrian beauty. The first floor was devoted to the offices of an insurance company, which Norman hoped had insured its own premises. On the second floor a photographer exhibited the terrifying results of his art. The contents of the third floor were to be judged from a show-case fixed on the wall in which whole mouthfuls of false teeth were symmetrically arranged. But the entrance to the fourth floor was guarded by a portal on which, by the aid of a match, Norman discovered bell-push and the gratifying legend, "British Consulate."
The door opened mechanically. "A very advanced door," thought Norman as he stepped in, "for this locality." He found himself in a small and neat office, at the first glance not remarkable. Afterwards he noticed, to his surprise, that it was full of contrivances, such as wires and switches and taps--something between a railway signal-box and the manager"s bureau in a telephone exchange. Its only occupant was a thin man, with ruffled, mud-coloured hair, who was rattling on a typewriter with as much vigour as an amateur pianist thumping the presto of the "Moonlight."
"What do you want?" said the typist-clerk, very rapidly and sharply, in the tone of a vixenish and virtuous housewife accosted by blundering vice in a dark street.
"I should like to see the Consul," replied Norman.
"Why?" said the clerk, clicking on a new line and rattling off again.
"Even the British Consulate has gone mad in Alsander," thought Norman, in despair. "Or does he mean to be rude?"
"I have some urgent private affairs to discuss," he said.
"Pa.s.sport?" urged the clerk.
"I"m afraid I haven"t got one," said Norman.
"Name?" insisted the clerk.
"Price," snapped Norman, thankful it was monosyllabic.
The clerk seized a table telephone with one hand, while he still fumbled the keys with the other.
"Price--private--no pa.s.sport," he shouted into the vulcanite ear.
"I must have come to the American Consulate by mistake," thought Norman, amazed at this un-British efficiency.
"In!" roared a voice into the telephone.
Norman could clearly hear it; it came from the next room.
The clerk pushed a b.u.t.ton, the inner door opened, and Norman found himself in the presence of H.B.M. Consul,[1] Alsander.
The appearance of the Consul and his apartment, although peculiar, was the reverse of terrifying, as Norman was glad to find, after the mechanical horrors of the clerk"s abode. In fact, it had hardly the appearance of a office at all. It was true the Consul was sitting at a large desk and wearing a very smart frockcoat, and that on the desk in conspicuous positions were volumes labelled Foreign Office Year Book, Circulars, Trade Reports, Miscellaneous, Shipping, Marriage Register, etc. But the walls of the room; presented a curiously unofficial appearance. They were papered with a thick-looking dull black paper, and ornamented with designs in black and white by Aubrey Beardsley. The carpet was a dull purple, indeed the room was in such harmony (except for the vivid letter-box red of the Foreign Office Year Book) that Norman felt his light-coloured waistcoat and pink cheeks to be unpardonable. The Consul himself was dressed with such a subtle lack of ostentation and was himself of such unostentatious appearance that Norman could not for a whole second discover him at all. At length he made out that the official had long drooping whiskers and was smoking a calabash and writing with his left hand, his right being apparently paralysed.
"Good morning," he said to Norman, in a very cheerful voice, rising to receive him.
"Forgive my left," he continued, cordially, as he extended that member.
"A little accident, you know, Bulgarian bomb at Monastir, in the old days before the war. Compensation, you know. Well, then. However, there we are. Sit down. Take a chair. Or fill a pipe."
"I am so sorry to take up your time," said Norman, settling down in an all-black armchair and reaching out for a match.
"My dear sir," said the Consul. "I am delighted to see you. I may tell you I have been Consul in Alsander for two years and this is the first time I have received a visit in my official capacity. Have you"--his voice sunk into an expectative whisper--"have you a pa.s.sport, signed and in order?"
"I am very much afraid," said Norman, "I neglected to get one."
"That is unfortunate, most unfortunate. But"--here his voice sunk to a guilty whisper "I might give you one. At all events, I a.s.sure you I am delighted to see you. Alsander is very slow, very slow, indeed."
"But you must be very busy," hazarded Norman. "I have never seen anyone so busy as your clerk."
"Ah, my dear sir, we must keep up appearances, you know. I let him think that I never have a moment to spare. I may tell you that I have been here two years and have not written an official letter since the day I announced my arrival. Such a change from Pernambuco, my previous post.
There I never had a minute!"
"But he"s typing like mad," said Norman, surprised, and quite unable to rid himself of the impression of the furious energy which had seemed to him to pervade the outer office.
A faint smile suffused the countenance of the Consul as he explained.
"Oh, I keep him employed, copying sc.r.a.ps of old blue books, you know, and that sort of thing. Might be useful some day."
"You must find life monotonous."
"Ah, yes. Such a change from Pernambuco. No casino, no theatre. The theatre at Pernambuco was delightful. This, you know, is one of our quietest posts. Even Archangel, where I was Vice-Consul twenty-three years ago, was a lot more lively. But I do not complain. The climate is good, the salary tolerable--_poli kala_, as I learnt to say in Patras."
"You have travelled, sir," said Norman, politely.
"Oh, one knocks about a bit and sees things in the Service. Hallo!"
The last e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n was not addressed to Norman, but to the telephone, whose bell was ringing violently.
"Let him wait," said the Consul.
"Perhaps," hazarded Norman, "if you are busy this morning I had better tell my story at once."
"Certainly. But you need not hurry at all. It"s only Dr Sforelli come for his game of chess. You know him perhaps? You have heard of him only?... Yes, the report was correct; he is one of the ablest men in Alsander. His father"s name was Cohen, by the way."
"Cohen Sforelli?" inquired Norman.
"Just Cohen," said the Consul. "Are you an Anti-Semite?"
"I never thought about it," said Norman, determined that he would begin his tale at all costs. "But I am Anti-Alsandrian at present."
"Been trying to sell something? Hallo, there! Let him wait. Only Olivarbo. You know Count Olivarbo? For an Alsandrian, a man of some ability."
"I hope he has not rung you up on urgent business."
"Oh, dear no. I am teaching him golf. Of course, I am a little handicapped"--he glanced pathetically at his limp member--"but the rules and the style, you know, and so on."