The Mysteries of London; or, Lights and Shadows of London Life — page 71: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF.LONDON LIFE. or an from the ” remarked Greene, as he returned the paper; “it seems to be the preliminary announcement of a new company starting; but what I have to do with it, curse me if I can tell.” “My dear sir,” returned Parkins, in his oiliest manner, “you have every thing to do with it, You are the company yourself, and I am the honourable secretary and treasurer pro tem.” “ Unriddle me this od “Simply then, this is the result of the conversation that you and I had togethera few days ago. You inti- mated your wish to establish some profitable connec- tion with a public association, and I immediately created one réady for your use.” “Bat what are the preparations you have made? and what is the mode by which this extraordinary power is to be achieved?” om; icity,” responded Parkins, with a knowing leer, “ that wonderful power, sir, about which every body will now believe any thing, and of which the most scientific confess they know nothing. Every body is to have the means of flying placed at their disposal—wings for the million—pinions for the people —a gigantic scheme, my dear sir, affording us a vast field for speculation.” ' “Of course dropping the first letter of the last word ?” ' €To be sure,” agreed Parkins, his face illumined with a reciprocal smile; “we must take care of our own interests first. 1 shall to-night draw up the prospectus, and to-morrow they shall be issued toa select few. The United Kingdom General Flying Company, provisionally registered; capital 100,0002., in shares of 52. London to Canton in fifteen minutes, and all that sort of thing. Safe to take.” Really, Parkins, I think you had better have de- | P vised something more feasible. I am afraid this is too bold a claim on general gullibility.” « Nonsense, my good fellow,” argued Parkins; “the more outrageous any idea is, the more certain is it to command notice now-a-days, Give that same bump of credulity a good hard knock, and you will make an impression where a slight tap will pass off unobserved. I am having a few working models made that will serve as toys to amuse the first batch of hungry share- holders we get; and when the scheme is ripe for dissolution, the bubble bursts, and scatters a few thousands into our pockets for the trouble we have taken.” | - “And this paragraph—— ?” “Ts paid for, and appears this very day in one of the evening newspapers, by which means we shall get a hold on the public ear, with the detailed par- ticulars that will follow. We shall be sure of getting a few good names to start with, for there are plenty of rich noblemen who love to have their titles brought before the world in connection with scientific schemes ; and I will take care to make the whole affair look as plansible as possible.” “ Well, I resign the formation of its plan entirely to yourself, in the first instance,” replied Greene; “ and when I am called upon to figure in it, you shall have the best assistance in my power. How proceeds our fF in the north?” “Hal there we aro bafiled —defeated,” returned Parkins, with a sigh; “ but we have the satisfaction of knowing that we have been conquered by a most formidable opponent. I received a letter from our agent at Manchester this morning, who informs me that every share in the market has been bought up by a person who calls himselt Sir pe esis. ng. though what connection he has with our baronetcy can’t discover, He is said to have just returned from abroad, and to be amazingly rich, as, indeed, he ought to be from the extensive purchases he is making, [n railways alone he has invested a hundred thousand pounds in three days, paid in ready money; and go where you will, among carriage-builders, picture. dealers, or jewellers, you shall constantly hear of some fresh order that is being executed for him, f suppose he will turn out to be some wealthy old nabob who has been amassing a fortune in India all his life, and who has now grown from a cadet to a Croesus.” “ Then this project of yours will be thought of just in time; for I suspect our enjoyment of the estate to which you have appointed me as the long-lost heir will not be of very long duration, They are beginning to look at the authenticity of the claim that has been established, rather more closely than I desire.” “They are too late, my dear sir,” contentedly added Parkins, “ much too late to effect any useful purpose by their examination. Those papers will bear the closest scrutiny. There is, indeed, but one man I am afraid of, and he——” The return of the boy at this moment, with an answer to the letter he had taken, cut short the reye« lation of the source of Mr. Parkins’s apprehensions, 9s: Well, Dick, what did they say?” inquired Par. kins, shifting his spectacles so as to look at the mes« senger with a fall, penetrating eye. The boy glanced suspiciously at the form of Greene, but receiving the token of an assuring nod from his master that the tenor of the reply might be commu- nicated aloud without scruple, he intimated that the firm to which he had been dispatched were quite wil- ling to negotiate the bills on the terms that had been ro “And did they make any observation?” pursued Parkins; “did they seem to hesitate at all?” . “I heard the head clerk say in a whisper, as I left, that he thought you could have hardly come by the bills in a fair manner,” said the boy, looking boldly upwards into the face of his employer, without wayer- ing in a single muscle, “Vil have that impertinent Jackson discharged to- morrow,” muttered Parkins threateningly, and at the same time colouring up with the imputation. “But come here, Dick,” he added quickly after, softening his tone; “ Mr, Fitzroy Greene has kindly promised to take you into his service. How would you like to be a tiger?” “What! and wear top-bouts and buttons!” ejacu- lated Dick, delightedly, with a vision. of his future importance flashing up before him. “Oh, shouldn’t I like to see myself holding on by the straps behind a cab and cutting away through the Park like winkin,” and, completely intoxicated by the dazzling picture of the imagination that his fancy had conjured up, he caught hold of the back of a chair, and went through the pantomime ofan imaginary ride behind it. “You must be steady, Dick, very steady,” said Parkins, in cold, piercing accents, that instantly sub- dued the small boy’s exuberance of animal spirits; * you will be the constant attendant of Mr. Greene, wherever he goes; do you understand? and I shall expect that you will make him a good servant, and do credit to my recommendation.” Whilst Greene was carelessly lounging before the desk, and whistling through the calendar of the official] almanack, Parkins glanced significantly at the small boy, who returned his gaze with a look that showed ree _~ -— Se COMMICEOOOKS (E©)