“What about references?” said he.
“Oh, references; yes, I suppose you had better have some references,” I replied, though, to tell the truth, I had not thought of them before.
He rubbed his chin with the back of his hand and screwed his rosy face into a deliberative expression, while his eyes twinkled cheerfully.
“I don't mind 'aving a go at the job,” he remarked, after a couple of minutes' reflection.
“Apply this evening,” I said. “Bring a reference if you have one, and I shall engage you, Halfred!”
For the rest of our journey together his gratitude and pleasure, his curiosity, and his qualms as to how much he remembered and how much he had forgotten of a man-servant's duties, delighted me still further, and made me congratulate myself upon my discrimination and judgment.
We parted company among the docks and shipping of the very far east of London, and after rambling for a time by the busy wharves and breezy harbor basins, and, marvelling again at the vastness and variety of this city, I mounted another omnibus and drove back to my rooms.
“A man to see you, sir,” said the maid.
Could it be Halfred, already? No, it was a very different individual; a tall and stately man, with a prim mouth and an eye of unfathomable discretion. He stood in an attitude denoting at once respect for me and esteem for himself, and followed me to my room upon a gently creaking boot.
“Well,” said I, at a loss to know whether he came to collect a tax or induce me to order a coffin, “what can I do for you?”