There I turned up the electric lights and threw myself into an easy-chair.
"Well, Fritz," said I, "I hope that you have brought me some news." "I have lost my job, sir," the man answered, a little sullenly.
"How much was it worth to you ?" I asked.
"It was worth nearly two pounds a week with tips," he declared, speaking with a strong foreign accent.
"Then I take you into my service at two pounds ten a week from to-night," I said.

"The engagement will not be a long one, but you may find it lucrative." The man fingered his hat and looked at me stolidly.
"I am not a valet, sir," he replied.
"If you were I should not employ you," I answered.

"You can make yourself very useful to me in another direction, if you care to." "I am very willing, sir," the man declared,--"very willing indeed.

I have a wife and children, and I cannot afford to be out of employment." "Come, then," I said.

"The long and short of it is this.