'Gentlemen,' said Josephs, 'don't use hair oil. I can't live without it. That is my only stumbling-block to being a gentleman.'
He put his fingers through his hair, and again Dick sniffed the odour of oil.
'I had several bottles of it with me,' Josephs continued, 'but I dared not use it.'
'This is interesting,' said Dick. 'I should like to know now, from you who have tried both professions, whether you prefer the gentleman to the barber.'
'I do and I don't,' answered Josephs. 'Hair-dressing suits me best as a business, but gentility for pleasure. A fortnight of the gentleman sets me up for the year. I should not like to be a gentleman all the year round.'
'The hair oil is an insurmountable obstacle.'
'Yes,' said the barber; 'besides, to be a gentleman is rather hard work.'
'I dare say it is,' said Dick, 'when you take a short cut to it. Well, I presume this interview is at an end. You may go.'
He jerked his foot in the direction of the door, but Josephs hesitated.
'Colonel Abinger well?' asked the barber.