Edgar Wallace

“ He wrinkled his forehead in thought. "I wish one could buy babies," he said, "the same as you can buy cats and canaries."
"Don't make Maggie an offer, or she'll give him to you," warned Gwenda, bubbling with laughter. "Chick, you ought to run a crèche! And talking of infants reminds me that Solburg has had a youthful reporter with him all the evening. Solburg is a good sort, and I think he was splendid to you this afternoon; but he has queer ideas about things, and he'll do almost anything for an advertisement. He always runs some stunt for the first night of a show." ”

“ Chick must take the child himself to discover a doctor—no simple matter in a strange neighbourhood.
Fortune was with him, for he picked up an empty taxi almost at the door. Under the influence of the taxi's jolting progress, Samuel's shrieks died to a whimper. Though the night was cold, and Chick had neither great-coat nor hat, he was moist with fear.
A policeman directed him to a doctor's house, and suggested a hospital. The doctor was out, and Chick grew moister. Gwenda! She would understand. He directed the taxi to the Strand. ”

“ He had intended, in spite of her admonition, discovering when the new play was to be produced, but the matter had slipped from his mind.
"You think I'm an awful creature, don't you?" asked Maggie for the third time during the meal.
"I never think people are really awful," said Chick. "When I was learning to box, the first thing I was taught was to have a very high opinion of the people I had to meet—and they were queer fellows, too. If I don't think badly of them, why should I think badly of you? It is a pity you don't love Samuel——"
"Have some more potatoes," said Maggie almost roughly. ”

“ Leither, lighting another cigarette, "and I've come to this conclusion—this business is growing, but it isn't growing fast enough. We are losing 'lives' that we ought to get. There are scores of members of the aristocracy who can't be got at, Pelborough. Good lives—first-class lives. Now, I'll tell you what, Pelborough. A partnership!"
"A partnership?" said Chick. "Are you taking a partner, Mr. Leither?"
Mr. Leither inclined his head.
"What about my obliterating myself, turning this little business into a company—the Marquis of Pelborough's Insurance Agency, eh?" ”

“ She told him that his new landlord was a lawyer's clerk, and that his wife was inclined towards spiritualism.
"Otherwise, they're ideal people," she said, and went on to talk about Gwenda. Here she was fascinating to Chick. She was the first person he had ever met who knew his friend or was anxious to talk about her. Maggie knew surprisingly little of Gwenda's early life, as it proved.
"She's never mentioned her husband to me," said Maggie, "and, Heaven knows, I've spoken enough about my little bit of trouble. Sometimes I think Mr. Gwenda Maynari must be in gaol, she's so cheery." ”

“ Gwenda was no more audible than her fellow-players. She was corrected twice by Mr. Solburg, to Chick's surprise and disgust. "Cross to left down stage. Miss Maynard. No, no, down stage in front of Miss Walters. That's right. You ought to be near the door. Stop! Put a chair there, somebody, to indicate the door."
He took a cigar-case from his pocket and offered it to Chick.
"Don't smoke cigars? You're wise." Solburg was regarding the stage seriously and intently. "How would you like to be an actor, my lord?" ”

“ The house in which Maggie Bradshaw lived was divided into two maisonnettes, and Maggie had mentioned casually that the people below her—a middle-aged couple—had a room to spare, but could not offer board. Chick would take this room and board with Maggie. Not an ideal compromise, but one which had its advantages.
"If he can stand the society of two old married ladies," said Maggie humorously, "to say nothing of that kid of mine, he can come." ”

“ His fellow-guests brought him their autograph books, and he signed "Chick Pelborough" until it was pointed out to him that members of the nobility only signed their title-names, whereupon he flourished "Pelborough" under certain moral maxims which were favourites of his.
It was late when his taxi reached Doughty Street, and he began to wonder if the household was in bed. After much ringing, Maggie appeared, still in her dressing-gown.
"Hullo!" she said in surprise. "I thought you weren't coming for a week. Have they chucked you out?" ”

“ For Mr Leither represented a category which was in direct opposition to the Shipmet school, and believed implicitly in the printed word.
"I'm sorry, my boy—my dear Pelborough," he said, when Chick had stolen furtively into the office, the first furtive act of his life. "Seemed true enough. Why shouldn't you go on the stage, my dear boy? It is a very respectable profession. I have had several good 'lives' from the stage. I negotiated one policy for ten thousand pounds."
"Mr. Solburg's won't be a good life, if I see him this morning," said Chick, with some heat. ”

“ But Gwenda knew better than any, better than the delighted Chick, that Mrs. Shipmet's change of front was due to the fear that she would also lose Chick and the advertisement which the Marquis of Pelborough would bring to her boarding establishment. And, in truth, Chick had already composed, in his mind, the letter announcing his forthcoming departure from Brockley. ”

“ Leither's offer."
"Why do you think he offered it to you?" she asked.
Chick considered.
"I suppose it is because I had come into this title," he said, "and he thought that I couldn't afford to keep it up. There's a tremendous lot of kindness in the world, Gwenda, in people whom you'd never suspect, too. It makes me go all choky when I think about it."
She looked at him long and earnestly.
"You make me go all choky at times," she said quietly. "Now eat your lunch, and afterwards we'll go over to Doughty Street and interview Maggie." ”

“ It was nearly ten o'clock when he realised that Maggie had been gone a long time. And with that realisation came a faint and fretful howl. He jumped up, located the sound, and went into the right room, to discover Samuel blinking strangely and making queer noises.
"What is the matter, old top?" asked Chick, picking him up in his arms. But Samuel continued to behave strangely. And then, looking round for a bottle. Chick saw the letter propped up against one of the ornaments on the mantelshelf. He carried the baby nearer and read:
"I am going to leave Samuel. ”

“ But the day-book had been handed over to the ledger clerk, and the addressing of envelopes had been taken in hand by the typist. There was apparently no work for Chick to do, except to sit still whilst Mr. Leither patted him from time to time, or respond when addressed as "my dear Pelborough." Many more people came to call upon the insurance agent than had ever called before. They spoke to Mr. Leither, but they looked at Chick. ”

“ Chick noted the flowers on the desk—they were snowdrops—and stopped to sniff their faint fragrance.
Mr. Leither was also an early arrival, for he had read the tremendous news in the evening newspaper.
City Clerk Succeeds to Marquisate of Pelborough. Successful claimant to an extinct peerage dies, and title goes to a young insurance agent. ”

“ He'll have had his advertisement, and that is all that will matter. It is too bad."
How "bad" it was, Chick discovered when he turned up at Leither's. Although the hour was early, the office was besieged by reporters. Had Chick waited and seen them, his denial would have been printed. Instead, a warning—which was not intended as a warning—delivered by the ledger clerk, who was waiting on the mat, sent him hurriedly to the nearest telephone station, there to call up Mr. Leither and implore him to get rid of the Pressmen. Which Mr. ”

“ She came back in ten minutes and handed him a key.
"Your room is facing the entrance," she said. "They've put your trunk inside, so you can't mistake your little cell. Do you want to see your new home? They won't be in bed for hours yet, and Mr. ”