"You haven"t much sense, but you"ve got a backbone, anyhow. Eat, and talk afterwards." d.i.c.k fell upon eggs and bacon and gorged till he could gorge no more. Torpenhow handed him a filled pipe, and he smoked as men smoke who for three weeks have been deprived of good tobacco.
"Ouf!" said he. "That"s heavenly! Well?"
"Why in the world didn"t you come to me?"
"Couldn"t; I owe you too much already, old man. Besides I had a sort of superst.i.tion that this temporary starvation--that"s what it was, and it hurt--would bring me luck later. It"s over and done with now, and none of the syndicate know how hard up I was. Fire away. What"s the exact state of affairs as regards myself?"
"You had my wire? You"ve caught on here. People like your work immensely. I don"t know why, but they do. They say you have a fresh touch and a new way of drawing things. And, because they"re chiefly home-bred English, they say you have insight. You"re wanted by half a dozen papers; you"re wanted to ill.u.s.trate books."
d.i.c.k grunted scornfully.
"You"re wanted to work up your smaller sketches and sell them to the dealers. They seem to think the money sunk in you is a good investment.
Good Lord! who can account for the fathomless folly of the public?"
"They"re a remarkably sensible people."
"They are subject to fits, if that"s what you mean; and you happen to be the object of the latest fit among those who are interested in what they call Art. Just now you"re a fashion, a phenomenon, or whatever you please. I appeared to be the only person who knew anything about you here, and I have been showing the most useful men a few of the sketches you gave me from time to time. Those coming after your work on the Central Southern Syndicate appear to have done your business. You"re in luck."
"Huh! call it luck! Do call it luck, when a man has been kicking about the world like a dog, waiting for it to come! I"ll luck "em later on. I want a place to work first."
"Come here," said Torpenhow, crossing the landing. "This place is a big box room really, but it will do for you. There"s your skylight, or your north light, or whatever window you call it, and plenty of room to thrash about in, and a bedroom beyond. What more do you need?"
"Good enough," said d.i.c.k, looking round the large room that took up a third of a top story in the rickety chambers overlooking the Thames. A pale yellow sun shone through the skylight and showed the much dirt of the place. Three steps led from the door to the landing, and three more to Torpenhow"s room. The well of the staircase disappeared into darkness, p.r.i.c.ked by tiny gas-jets, and there were sounds of men talking and doors slamming seven flights below, in the warm gloom.
"Do they give you a free hand here?" said d.i.c.k, cautiously. He was Ishmael enough to know the value of liberty.
"Anything you like; latch-keys and license unlimited. We are permanent tenants for the most part here. "Tisn"t a place I would recommend for a Young Men"s Christian a.s.sociation, but it will serve. I took these rooms for you when I wired."
"You"re a great deal too kind, old man."
"You didn"t suppose you were going away from me, did you?" Torpenhow put his hand on d.i.c.k"s shoulder, and the two walked up and down the room, henceforward to be called the studio, in sweet and silent communion.
They heard rapping at Torpenhow"s door. "That"s some ruffian come up for a drink," said Torpenhow; and he raised his voice cheerily. There entered no one more ruffianly than a portly middle-aged gentleman in a satin-faced frockcoat. His lips were parted and pale, and there were deep pouches under the eyes.
"Weak heart," said d.i.c.k to himself, and, as he shook hands, "very weak heart. His pulse is shaking his fingers."
The man introduced himself as the head of the Central Southern Syndicate and "one of the most ardent admirers of your work, Mr. Heldar. I a.s.sure you, in the name of the syndicate, that we are immensely indebted to you; and I trust, Mr. Heldar, you won"t forget that we were largely instrumental in bringing you before the public." He panted because of the seven flights of stairs.
d.i.c.k glanced at Torpenhow, whose left eyelid lay for a moment dead on his cheek.
"I shan"t forget," said d.i.c.k, every instinct of defence roused in him.
"You"ve paid me so well that I couldn"t, you know. By the way, when I am settled in this place I should like to send and get my sketches. There must be nearly a hundred and fifty of them with you."
"That is er--is what I came to speak about. I fear we can"t allow it exactly, Mr. Heldar. In the absence of any specified agreement, the sketches are our property, of course."
"Do you mean to say that you are going to keep them?"
"Yes; and we hope to have your help, on your own terms, Mr. Heldar, to a.s.sist us in arranging a little exhibition, which, backed by our name and the influence we naturally command among the press, should be of material service to you. Sketches such as yours----"
"Belong to me. You engaged me by wire, you paid me the lowest rates you dared. You can"t mean to keep them! Good G.o.d alive, man, they"re all I"ve got in the world!"
Torpenhow watched d.i.c.k"s face and whistled.
d.i.c.k walked up and down, thinking. He saw the whole of his little stock in trade, the first weapon of his equipment, annexed at the outset of his campaign by an elderly gentleman whose name d.i.c.k had not caught aright, who said that he represented a syndicate, which was a thing for which d.i.c.k had not the least reverence. The injustice of the proceedings did not much move him; he had seen the strong hand prevail too often in other places to be squeamish over the moral aspects of right and wrong.
But he ardently desired the blood of the gentleman in the frockcoat, and when he spoke again it was with a strained sweetness that Torpenhow knew well for the beginning of strife.
"Forgive me, sir, but you have no--no younger man who can arrange this business with me?"
"I speak for the syndicate. I see no reason for a third party to----"
"You will in a minute. Be good enough to give back my sketches."
The man stared blankly at d.i.c.k, and then at Torpenhow, who was leaning against the wall. He was not used to ex-employees who ordered him to be good enough to do things.
"Yes, it is rather a cold-blooded steal," said Torpenhow, critically; "but I"m afraid, I am very much afraid, you"ve struck the wrong man. Be careful, d.i.c.k; remember, this isn"t the Soudan."
"Considering what services the syndicate have done you in putting your name before the world----"
This was not a fortunate remark; it reminded d.i.c.k of certain vagrant years lived out in loneliness and strife and unsatisfied desires. The memory did not contrast well with the prosperous gentleman who proposed to enjoy the fruit of those years.
"I don"t know quite what to do with you," began d.i.c.k, meditatively. "Of course you"re a thief, and you ought to be half killed, but in your case you"d probably die. I don"t want you dead on this floor, and, besides, it"s unlucky just as one"s moving in. Don"t hit, sir; you"ll only excite yourself."
He put one hand on the man"s forearm and ran the other down the plump body beneath the coat. "My goodness!" said he to Torpenhow, "and this gray oaf dares to be a thief! I have seen an Esneh camel-driver have the black hide taken off his body in strips for stealing half a pound of wet dates, and he was as tough as whipcord. This things" soft all over--like a woman."
There are few things more poignantly humiliating than being handled by a man who does not intend to strike. The head of the syndicate began to breathe heavily. d.i.c.k walked round him, pawing him, as a cat paws a soft hearth-rug. Then he traced with his forefinger the leaden pouches underneath the eyes, and shook his head. "You were going to steal my things,--mine, mine, mine!--you, who don"t know when you may die.
Write a note to your office,--you say you"re the head of it,--and order them to give Torpenhow my sketches,--every one of them. Wait a minute: your hand"s shaking. Now!" He thrust a pocket-book before him. The note was written. Torpenhow took it and departed without a word, while d.i.c.k walked round and round the spellbound captive, giving him such advice as he conceived best for the welfare of his soul. When Torpenhow returned with a gigantic portfolio, he heard d.i.c.k say, almost soothingly, "Now, I hope this will be a lesson to you; and if you worry me when I have settled down to work with any nonsense about actions for a.s.sault, believe me, I"ll catch you and manhandle you, and you"ll die. You haven"t very long to live, anyhow. Go! Imshi, Vootsak,--get out!" The man departed, staggering and dazed. d.i.c.k drew a long breath: "Phew! what a lawless lot these people are! The first thing a poor orphan meets is gang robbery, organised burglary! Think of the hideous blackness of that man"s mind! Are my sketches all right, Torp?"
"Yes; one hundred and forty-seven of them. Well, I must say, d.i.c.k, you"ve begun well."
"He was interfering with me. It only meant a few pounds to him, but it was everything to me. I don"t think he"ll bring an action. I gave him some medical advice gratis about the state of his body. It was cheap at the little flurry it cost him. Now, let"s look at my things."
Two minutes later d.i.c.k had thrown himself down on the floor and was deep in the portfolio, chuckling lovingly as he turned the drawings over and thought of the price at which they had been bought.
The afternoon was well advanced when Torpenhow came to the door and saw d.i.c.k dancing a wild saraband under the skylight.
"I builded better than I knew, Torp," he said, without stopping the dance.
"They"re good! They"re d.a.m.ned good! They"ll go like flame! I shall have an exhibition of them on my own brazen hook. And that man would have cheated me out of it! Do you know that I"m sorry now that I didn"t actually hit him?"
"Go out," said Torpenhow,--"go out and pray to be delivered from the sin of arrogance, which you never will be. Bring your things up from whatever place you"re staying in, and we"ll try to make this barn a little more shipshape."
"And then--oh, then," said d.i.c.k, still capering, "we will spoil the Egyptians!"