|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 75
Mike stopped short of this giddy height of mastication, but consumed
enough to make him feel a great deal better. Psmith eyed his inroads on
the menu with approval.
'There is nothing,' he said, 'like victualling up before an ordeal.'
'What's the ordeal?' said Mike.
'I propose to take you round to the club anon, where I trust we shall
find Comrade Bickersdyke. We have much to say to one another.'
'Look here, I'm hanged--' began Mike.
'Yes, you must be there,' said Psmith. 'Your presence will serve to
cheer Comrade B. up. Fate compels me to deal him a nasty blow, and he
will want sympathy. I have got to break it to him that I am leaving the
bank.'
'What, are you going to chuck it?'
Psmith inclined his head.
'The time,' he said, 'has come to part. It has served its turn. The
startled whisper runs round the City. "Psmith has had sufficient."'
'What are you going to do?'
'I propose to enter the University of Cambridge, and there to study the
intricacies of the Law, with a view to having a subsequent dash at
becoming Lord Chancellor.'
'By Jove!' said Mike, 'you're lucky. I wish I were coming too.'
Psmith knocked the ash off his cigarette.
'Are you absolutely set on becoming a pro?' he asked.
'It depends on what you call set. It seems to me it's about all I can
do.'
'I can offer you a not entirely scaly job,' said Smith, 'if you feel
like taking it. In the course of conversation with my father during the
match this afternoon, I gleaned the fact that he is anxious to secure
your services as a species of agent. The vast Psmith estates, it seems,
need a bright boy to keep an eye upon them. Are you prepared to accept
the post?'
Mike stared.
'Me! Dash it all, how old do you think I am? I'm only nineteen.'
'I had suspected as much from the alabaster clearness of your
unwrinkled brow. But my father does not wish you to enter upon your
duties immediately. There would be a preliminary interval of three,
possibly four, years at Cambridge, during which I presume, you would be
learning divers facts concerning spuds, turmuts, and the like. At
least,' said Psmith airily, 'I suppose so. Far be it from me to dictate
the line of your researches.'
'Then I'm afraid it's off,' said Mike gloomily. 'My pater couldn't
afford to send me to Cambridge.'
'That obstacle,' said Psmith, 'can be surmounted. You would, of course,
accompany me to Cambridge, in the capacity, which you enjoy at the
present moment, of my confidential secretary and adviser. Any expenses
that might crop up would be defrayed from the Psmith family chest.'
Mike's eyes opened wide again.
'Do you mean,' he asked bluntly, 'that your pater would pay for me at
the 'Varsity? No I say--dash it--I mean, I couldn't--'
'Do you suggest,' said Psmith, raising his eyebrows, 'that I should go
to the University _without_ a confidential secretary and adviser?'
'No, but I mean--' protested Mike.
'Then that's settled,' said Psmith. 'I knew you would not desert me in
my hour of need, Comrade Jackson. "What will you do," asked my father,
alarmed for my safety, "among these wild undergraduates? I fear for my
Rupert." "Have no fear, father," I replied. "Comrade Jackson will be
beside me." His face brightened immediately. "Comrade Jackson," he
said, "is a man in whom I have the supremest confidence. If he is with
you I shall sleep easy of nights." It was after that that the
conversation drifted to the subject of agents.'
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|