“They would suit me well enough, and I told Mr. Moss so; paid him a quarter’s rent in advance, and rose to depart.
“‘Oh, by the way, Mr. Moss,’ I exclaimed, a sudden thought striking me; ‘I will send a man to paint my name on the wall downstairs.’
“‘Very good, sir. I would do it at once if I were you. Carl was a loose fish, and if you delayed it until you got here, you might be annoyed.’
“‘How so? What was he?’
“‘Take a cigar first, Mr. Harker, you’ll find no better in Liverpool. Lord! how like him you do look when I don’t see your eyes!’
“‘And yet I have not been thought to resemble a loose fish before, Mr. Moss.’
“‘I didn’t mean that. Have you never seen an ugly person resemble a very handsome one? I have many a time. Well, about Carl. He was here about two years, and call me a Jew if I could reckon him up. He used to come here about noon and work up to eight or nine o’clock at night; but what business he worked at I could never find out. I know he had a big ledger, and two or three such books; but a big ledger won’t make a business any more than a big carpet bag will, and he always carried one. He would come and smoke a cigar with me now and then; but I never came up here all that time, and he kept his door locked. He always seemed to be expecting a blow, did poor Carl; more like a rat in a corner than anything else, poor beggar. Well, sir, one morning I found the key on my mat, and found the place just as you see it, and have never seen Carl since. One or two queer-looking men have inquired for him, and asked if he was coming back, and I said most likely he would, and likely enough he will.’”
“‘Not at all an interesting story,’ I thought, and felt inclined to yawn in Mr. Moss’s face; but I thanked him for his information, and promised to take possession in three days, which I spent in presenting my letters of introduction, and making other arrangements for the prosecution of my plans.
“At length the eventful day arrived, and I stood in my own office, with my name emblazoned on the door and passage wall. I was waiting for a friend to call on me (who, by the way, had promised to put me in the way of doing some business that very day), and felt impatient for his arrival in consequence.
“The office was clean and tidy, and the floors had been well scrubbed.