There was a curious feeling of hesitation about her; she was half afraid
of this man who had grown into something so different from what might
have been anticipated. Jimmy poor and unknown; Jimmy in a warehouse,
labouring among ordinary men and boys; that was a Jimmy to be taken
frankly by the hand as a comrade in the struggle in this great world of
London. But Jimmy famous; Jimmy in print, to be read and admired by the
million; that was a Jimmy to be approached with care and hesitation.
True, genius appeared to be but indifferently housed, she thought, as
she climbed the dark stairs to his room; but then genius was
proverbially careless in such matters.
We may leap ahead of Moira's hesitating steps, and open the door for
ourselves, and discover Jimmy. Jimmy in a somewhat despondent mood,
having a dull aching wonder in his heart as to whether after all this
game of writing was worth the candle; a little momentary feeling of envy
for those who plodded the ways to offices that held certain salaries for
them at the end of each carefully mapped-out week. For Jimmy had had two
rebuffs that week; there was the evidence of them in packets at his
elbow at that very moment. And beside the packets a certain red-covered
book, that had haunted him long, and over which there had been a storm
that very morning. For the wheezy dame who looked after him had
delivered an ultimatum, and had snapped her fingers at Jimmy's
suggestion that there was certainly money coming to him in the near
future. Jimmy had pulled out periodicals, and had held before her
undazzled eyes stories by himself, with his very name attached to them,
but unpaid for; the good woman had merely retorted that she "couldn't
abide readin' of any sort, an' didn't mean to begin at her time of
life."
Therefore, Jimmy had no prospect of lunch; which might not have been a
serious matter had there been any prospect of dinner, or, after that,
any prospect of a bed. As the wheezy dame before mentioned had taken it
into her head, the better to revive his drooping spirits, to come back
into the room at intervals, and to launch at him further suggestions
regarding the impropriety of his conduct in general, and the
advisability of his earning an honest living at the earliest possible
moment in particular, Jimmy had had a stormy morning, and was not in the
best mood for visitors. Therefore, when, after a preliminary tap at the
door, urgently repeated, the door was opened, and he heard the swish of
skirts, Jimmy, without looking round, saluted his visitor.
"Now, my good lady--I can't do impossibilities--but I should like to do
my work. You shall be paid in time; there's three guineas due to me this
morning, and you shall be settled with to the uttermost farthing. If
you'd read more yourself, and encourage your friends to do so, it might
push up the circulation of some of the papers a bit, and I should get
the money sooner. Please don't leave the door open; there's a frightful
draught."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account