As it began to glide past the pavement of wet asphalt I closed my eyes to postpone the bitterness of disappointment, if only for a few seconds.

Perforce I opened them again as the train was stopping, and there, the very first thing they fell upon, looking portly and imposing in a fur coat, was the rubicund-faced Head of the Firm himself.

"It _is_ good," I thought, and supported myself for a moment by the hat-rack, for the revulsion of feeling produced a sudden faintness.

He saw me, and sprang forward with a beaming yet respectful countenance.

"It is _very_ good," I thought.
"My dear sir," he began obsequiously, "I do trust that my telegram has not incommoded you, but my news was such that I felt it necessary to meet you at the earliest possible moment, and therefore wired to you at every probable address." I gave the porter who took my bag a shilling.