Hugo | Page 7

this lovely and interesting
organism I enjoy every hour of the day. What else can I want?'
Polycarp raised his eyebrows.
'Do you suppose it would add to my fun to have a million in the bank--I,
with an income of two thousand a week? Do you suppose I should find

it diverting to be at the beck and call of a board of directors--I, the
supreme fount of authority? Do you suppose it would be my delight to
consider eternally the interests of a pack of shareholders--I, who
consider nothing but my fancy? And, finally, do you suppose it would
amuse me, Hugo, to have "limited" put after my name? Me, limited!'
'Then,' said the lawyer slowly, 'I am to understand you are not willing--'
'My friend,' Hugo replied, dropping into his chair, 'I would sooner see
the whole blessed place fall like the Bastille than see it "limited."'
Polycarp rose in his turn.
'My clients,' he remarked in a peculiar tone, 'had set their minds on this
affair.'
'For once in a way your clients will be disappointed,' said Hugo.
'What do you mean--"for once in a way"?'
'Who are your clients, Mr. Polycarp?'
'Since the offer is rejected, it would be useless to divulge their names.'
'I will tell you, then,' said Hugo. 'Your client--for there is only one--is
Louis Ravengar. I saw it stated in a paper the other day that Louis
Ravengar had successfully floated thirty-nine companies with a total
capitalization of thirty millions. But my scalp will not be added to his
collection.'
'I shall not disclose the identity of my clients,' Mr. Polycarp minced.
'But, speaking of Mr. Ravengar, I have noticed that what he wants he
gets. The manner in which the United Coal Company, Limited, was
brought to flotation by him in the teeth of the opposition of the
proprietors was really most interesting.'
'You mean to warn me that there are ways of compelling a private
concern to become public and joint-stock?'

'Not at all, Mr. Hugo. I am incapable of such a hint. I am sure that
nothing and nobody could force you against your will. I was only
mentioning the case of the Coal Company. I could mention others.'
'Don't trouble, my dear sir. Convey my decision to Louis Ravengar, and
give him my compliments. We are old acquaintances.'
'You are?' The solicitor seemed astonished in his imperturbable way.
'We are.'
'I will convey your decision to my clients.'
Accepting a cigar, Mr. Polycarp departed.
Without giving himself time to think, Hugo went straight to
Department 42, and direct to the artist in hats. She stood pale and
deferential to receive him. The heat was worse than ever.
'Your name is Payne, I think?' he began. (He well knew her name was
Payne.)
'Yes, sir.'
Other employés in the trying-on room looked furtively round.
'About half-past eleven an old gentleman, with white moustache, came
into this room, Miss Payne. You remember?'
'Yes, sir.'
'What did he want?'
'He was inquiring about a hat, sir,' she hurriedly answered.
'For a lady?'
'Yes, sir.'

'Thank you.'
And he hastened back to his central office, and breathed a sigh. 'I have
actually spoken to her,' he murmured. 'How charming her voice is!'
But Miss Payne's physical condition desolated him. If she was so
obviously exhausted at 12.30, what would she be like at the day's end?'
'I've got it!' he cried.
He seized a pen and wrote: 'Notice.--The public are respectfully
informed that this establishment will close to-day at two o'clock.'
He rang a bell, and a messenger appeared.
'Take this to the printing-office instantly, and tell Mr. Waugh it must be
posted throughout the place in half an hour.'
Shortly after two o'clock Sloane Street was amazed to witness the
exodus of the three thousand odd. The closure was attributed to a whim
of Hugo's for celebrating some obscure anniversary in his life. Many
hundreds of persons were inconvenienced, and the internal economy of
scores of polite homes seriously deranged. The evening papers found a
paragraph. And Hugo lost perhaps a hundred and fifty pounds net. But
Hugo was happy, and he was expectant.
At ten o'clock that night a youngish man, extremely like Simon Shawn,
was brought by Simon into Hugo's presence under the dome. This was
Simon's brother, Albert Shawn, a member of Hugo's private detective
force.
'Sit down,' said Hugo. 'Well?'
'I reckon you've heard, sir,' Albert Shawn began impassively, 'the yarn
that's going all round the stores.'
'I have not.'
'Everyone's whispering,' said Albert Shawn, gazing carefully at his

boots, 'that Mr. Hugo has taken a kind of a fancy to Miss Payne.'
Hugo restrained himself.
'Heavens!' he exclaimed, with a clever affectation of lightness, 'what
next? I've only spoken to the chit once.'
'Don't I know it, sir!'
'Enough