Produced by Michael Kolodny
Mr. Alfred Burton, although he was blissfully and completely ignorantof the fact, stood at the door of Fate. He was a little out of breathand his silk hat was reclining at the back of his head. In his mouthwas a large cigar which he felt certain was going to disagree with him,but he smoked it because it had been presented to him a few minutes agoby the client upon whom he was in attendance. He had rather deep-setblue eyes, which might have been attractive but for a certain keennessin their outlook, which was in a sense indicative of the methods andcharacter of the young man himself; a pale, characterless face, astraggling, sandy moustache, and an earnest, not to say convincing,manner. He was dressed in such garments as the head-clerk of Messrs.Waddington & Forbes, third-rate auctioneers and house agents, might havebeen expected to select. He dangled a bunch of keys in his hand.
"If this house don't suit you, sir," he declared, confidently, "why,there isn't one in the whole west-end that will. That's my opinion,anyway. There's nothing in our books to compare with it for value andaccommodation. We nearly let it last week to Lord Leconside, but HerLadyship—she came round with me herself—decided that it was just atrifle too large. As a matter of fact, sir," this energetic young manwent on, confidentially, "the governor insisted upon a deposit and itdidn't seem to be exactly convenient. It isn't always these people withtitles who've got the money. That we find out in our business, sir, asquickly as anybody. As for the steam heating you were talking about,Mr. Lynn, why, that's all very well for New York," he continued,persuasively, "but over here the climate doesn't call for it—you cantake it from me that it doesn't, indeed, Mr. Lynn. I have the lettingin my hands of as many houses as most people, and you can take it fromme, sir, as the direct result of my experience, that over here theywon't have it—won't have it at any price, sir. Most unhealthy we findit, and always produces a rare crop of colds and coughs unknown to thosethat are used to an honest coal fire. It's all a matter of climate,sir, after all, isn't it?"
The young man paused to take breath. His client, who had been listeningattentively in gloomy but not unappreciative silence, removed his cigarfrom his mouth. He was a middle-aged American with a wife and daughterson their way over from New York, and his bu