Some Danger Involved Read Online Free PDF

books. We’ll discuss them thoroughly after dinner.” He tucked the dog under his arm like a book and preceded me down the staircase.
    My day was spent in hard study. It reminded me of my time at university. Mac brought me several cups of green tea, no doubt at the insistence of my employer. I thought there was a sardonic gleam in the young butler’s eye. Lunch proved to be a rather tasteless stew and a hard roll. Later, dinner was even worse, a Scottish feast of mutton, mashed turnips, and potatoes. Not that I was grumbling, but I would have preferred a plate of jellied eel over this lot. Barker didn’t seem to notice. It was my own fault for hiring myself out to a Scotsman.
    My employer called me up to his eyrie after supper. He was standing in one of the gables, looking out over his garden.
    “Fog’s coming up,” he noted. “Are you prepared for our little chat?”
    “I am, sir.”
    Oral examinations were the dread of most students during my university days. One needed to be thoroughly grounded in the subject and able to think on one’s feet. Luckily for me, Barker questioned in a straightforward and logical way. I found myself answering almost conversationally. He expounded after some of my answers, and it was evident that he was well informed on all of the subjects in the books. Far from the torture I expected, I found I was almost enjoying myself. The gentleman in his own home was far removed from the tyrant in his chambers at 7 Craig’s Court.
    “That’s enough, then,” he said, finally. “You’ve proven to me that you now have a rudimentary grounding in the subjects I desired.”
    “May I ask a question?” I hazarded. “I understand the need for logic and ratiocination, but why all the oriental studies?”
    “The Foreign Office considers me an authority on the subject and frequently calls me in for casework and interpreting. I’m something of an orientalist, though my knowledge was acquired firsthand, rather than out of books.”
    “Firsthand, sir? You’ve lived in the East, then?”
    “I was raised there. Foochow, Shanghai, Canton, Kyoto, Manila. All over, really. That’s enough now, lad. Get some rest. Be ready for your first day tomorrow.”
    I wanted to question him further, but I had been dismissed.
     
    The next thing I knew, Barker was bellowing my name. It was not an ideal way to start one’s first day of employment.
    “Sir!” I answered, sitting up in bed.
    “It is time you were about, lad. It’s nearly seven.” The voice was over my head, vibrating down from his garret.
    Mac had failed to wake me. “Where is Mr. Maccabee?”
    “It is the Shabbat,” he answered. “Mac’s day off.”
    I rubbed a hand over my face vigorously, then just to show it who was in charge, I climbed out of bed and threw some cold water on it. I put on one of my predecessor’s suits and prepared myself for my first day at work. I wanted to make a good impression.
    Barker was all hustle and bustle as he came down the stairs, dressed in a spotless double-breasted black morning coat. He inspected my suit critically, then led me out to the curb. Raising his stick, he brought the first cab to our feet.
    Barker’s residence was just off the circle known as Elephant and Castle. The street was named for the well-known public house, which, if you believe the guidebooks, was corrupted from L’enfant de Castille, after a Spanish noble’s child that stayed in London some time in the city’s obscure past. If one were to look at a map of London, one would note that the E and C is a kind of hub around which lie the spokes of major thoroughfares, leading to all the famous bridges of the city: Lambeth, Westminster, Waterloo, Blackfriars, Southwark, London, and the Tower. All of them could be reached from Barker’s residence in a matter of minutes. It was this fortunate placement, I think, that made Barker choose a home on the unfashionable Lambeth side of London.
    It was Waterloo we were crossing this time,