"There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairsand a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head thatwas even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidateas he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault inthem which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seemto be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turncame the little man was much more favourable to me than to any ofthe others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that hemight have a private word with us.
"'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he iswilling to fill a vacancy in the League.'
"'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He hasevery requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything sofine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, andgazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly heplunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on mysuccess.
"'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will,however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.'With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until Iyelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he ashe released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But wehave to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs andonce by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax whichwould disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to thewindow and shouted through it at the top of his voice that thevacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below,and the folk all trooped away in different directions until therewas not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of themanager.
"'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one ofthe pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Areyou a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?'
"I answered that I had not.
"His face fell immediately.
"'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I amsorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for thepropagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for theirmaintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be abachelor.'
"My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I wasnot to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over fora few minutes he said that it would be all right.
"'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might befatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such ahead of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon yournew duties?'
"'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,'said I.
"'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding.'I should be able to look after that for you.'
"'What would be the hours?' I asked.
"'Ten to two.'
"Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr.Holmes, especially Thursday and
Friday evening, which is justbefore pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little inthe mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man,and that he would see to anything that turned up.
"'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?'
"'Is 4 pounds a week.'
"'And the work?'
"'Is purely nominal.'
"'What do you call purely nominal?'
"'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in thebuilding, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your wholeposition forever. The will is very clear upon that point. Youdon't comply with the conditions if you budge from the officeduring that time.'
"'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,'said I.
"'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sicknessnor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you loseyour billet.'
"'And the work?'
"'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the firstvolume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, andblotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you beready to-morrow?'
"'Certainly,' I answered.
"'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate youonce more on the important position which you have been fortunateenough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home withmy assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleasedat my own good fortune.
"Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was inlow spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that thewhole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what itsobject might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether pastbelief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would paysuch a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could tocheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of thewhole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a lookat it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with aquill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off forPope's Court.
"Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right aspossible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Rosswas there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me offupon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in fromtime to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock hebade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I hadwritten, and locked the door of the office after me.