"That is unfortunate, most unfortunate. But"—here his voice sunk to a guilty whisper "I might give you one. At all events, I assure you I am delighted to see you. Alsander is very slow, very slow, indeed."
"But you must be very busy," hazarded Norman. "I have never seen anyone so busy as your clerk."
"Ah, my dear sir, we must keep up appearances, you know. I let him think that I never have a moment to spare. I may tell you that I have been here two years and have not written an official letter since the day I announced my arrival. Such a change from Pernambuco, my previous post. There I never had a minute!"
"But he's typing like mad," said Norman, surprised, and quite unable to rid himself of the impression of the furious energy which had seemed to him to pervade the outer office.
A faint smile suffused the countenance of the Consul as he explained.
"Oh, I keep him employed, copying scraps of old blue books, you know, and that sort of thing. Might be useful some day."
"You must find life monotonous."
"Ah, yes. Such a change from Pernambuco. No casino, no theatre. The theatre at Pernambuco was delightful. This, you know, is one of our quietest posts. Even Archangel, where I was Vice-Consul twenty-three years ago, was a lot more lively. But I do not complain. The climate is good, the salary tolerable—poli kala, as I learnt to say in Patras."
"You have travelled, sir," said Norman, politely.
"Oh, one knocks about a bit and sees things in the Service. Hallo!"