The Firm of Girdlestone

by Arthur Conan Doyle

  CHAPTER XVII.

  THE LAND OF DIAMONDS.

  The anxious father had not very long to wait before he heard tidings ofhis son. Upon the first of June the great vessel weighed her anchor inthe Southampton Water, and steamed past the Needles into the Channel.On the 5th she was reported from Madeira, and the merchant receivedtelegrams both from the agent of the firm and from his son. Then therewas a long interval of silence, for the telegraph did not extend to theCape at that time, but, at last on the 8th of August, a letter announcedEzra's safe arrival. He wrote again from Wellington, which was therailway terminus, and finally there came a long epistle from Kimberley,the capital of the mining district, in which the young man described hiseight hundred miles drive up country and all the adventures whichovertook him on the way.

  "This place, Kimberley," he said in his letter, "has grown into afair-sized town, though a few years ago it was just a camp. Now thereare churches, banks, and a club in it. There are a sprinkling ofwell-dressed people in the streets, but the majority are grimy-lookingchaps from the diggings, with slouched hats and coloured shirts, roughfellows to look at, though quiet enough as a rule. Of course, there areblacks everywhere, of all shades, from pure jet up to the lightestyellow. Some of these niggers have money, and are quite independent.You would be surprised at their impertinence. I kicked one of them inthe hotel yesterday, and he asked me what the devil I was doing, so Iknocked the insolent scoundrel down. He says that he will sue me, but Icannot believe that the law is so servile as to bolster up a black managainst a white one.

  "Though Kimberley is the capital of the dry diggings, it is not therethat all the actual mining is done. It goes on briskly in a lot oflittle camps, which are dotted along the Vaal River for fifty or sixtymiles. The stones are generally bought by licensed agents immediatelyafter they have been found, and are paid for by cheques on banks inKimberley. I have, therefore, transferred our money to the StandardBank here, and have taken my licence. I start to-morrow for Hebron,Klipdrift, and other of the mining centres to see for myself howbusiness is done and to make friends with the miners, so as to getmyself known. As soon as the news comes I shall buy in all that offers.Keep your eyes on that fellow Dimsdale, and let him know nothing of whatis going on."

  He wrote again about a fortnight afterwards, and his letter, as itcrossed the Atlantic, passed the outward mail, which bore the news ofthe wonderful diamond find made by an English geologist among the UralMountains.

  "I am now on a tour among the camps," he said. "I have worked rightthrough from Hebron to Klipdrift, Pniel, Cawood's Hope, Waldeck's Plant,Neukirk's Hope, Winterrush, and Bluejacket. To-morrow I push on toDelparte's Hope and Larkin's Flat. I am well received wherever I go,except by the dealers, who are mostly German Jews. They hear that I ama London capitalist, and fear that I may send up the prices.They little know! I bought stones all the way along, but not veryvaluable ones, for we must husband our resources.

  "The process of mining is very simple. The men dig pits in loose gravellying along the banks of the river, and it is in these pits that thediamonds are found. The black men, or 'boys,' as they call them, do allthe work, and the 'baas,' or master, superintends. Everything thatturns up belongs to the 'baas,' but the boys have a fixed rate of wages,which never varies, whether the work is paying or not. I was standingat Hebron watching one of the gangs working when the white chap gave ashout, and dived his hand into a heap of stuff he had just turned over,pulling out a dirty looking little lump about the size of a marble.At his shout all the other fellows from every claim within hearinggathered round, until there was quite a crowd.

  "'It's a fine stone,' said the man that turned it up.

  "'Fifty carats if it's one,' cried another, weighing it in the palm ofhis hand.

  "I had my scales with me, so I offered to weigh it. It was sixty-fourand a half carats. Then they washed it and examined it. There was alot of whispering among them and then the one who had found it cameforward.

  "'You deal, don't you, Mr. Girdlestone?' he said.

  "'Now and then,' I answered, 'but I'm not very keen about it. I cameout here more for pleasure than business.

  "'Well,' he said, 'you may go far before you see a finer stone thanthis. What will you bid for it?'

  "I looked at it. 'It's off-coloured,' I said.

  "'It's white,' said he and one or two of his chums.

  "'Gentlemen,' I said, 'it is not white. There are two shades of yellowin it. It is worth little or nothing.'

  "'Why, if it is yellow it makes it all the more valuable,' said a bigfellow with a black beard and corduroy trousers. 'A yellow stone's asgood as a white.'

  "'Yes,' I answered, 'a pure yellow stone is. But this is neither onenor the other. It's off-colour, and you know that as well as I.'

  "'Won't you bid for it, then?' said one of them.

  "'I'll bid seventy pounds,' I said, 'but not a penny more.'

  "You should have heard the howl they all set up. 'It's worth fivehundred,' the fellow cried.

  "'All right,' I said, 'keep it and sell it for that; good day,' and Iwent off. The stone was sent after me that evening with a request formy cheque, and I sold it for a hundred two days afterwards.[1] You seeold Van Harmer's training has come in very handy. I just tell you thislittle anecdote to let you see that though I'm new in the work I'm notto be done. Nothing in the papers here from Russia. I am ready, comewhen it may. What would you do if there should be any hitch and theaffair did not come off? Would you cut and run, or would you stand byyour colours and pay a shilling or so in the pound? The more I think ofit the more I curse your insanity in getting us into such a mess.Good-bye."

  "He is right. It was insanity," said the old merchant leaning his headupon his hands. "It seems unkind of the lad to say so when he is so faraway, but he was always plain and blunt. 'If the affair did not comeoff'--he must have some doubts about the matter, else he would not evensuppose such a thing. God knows what I should do then. There are otherways--other ways." He passed his hand over his eyes as he spoke, asthough to shut out some ugly vision. Such a wan, strange expressionplayed over his grim features that he was hardly to be recognized asthe revered elder of the Trinitarian Chapel or the esteemed man ofbusiness of Fenchurch Street.

  He was lost in thought for some little time, and then, rising, hetouched the bell upon the table. Gilray trotted in upon the signal sorapidly and noiselessly, that he might have been one of those convenientgenii in the Eastern fables, only that the little clerk's appearance,from the tips of his ink-stained fingers to the toes of his seedy boots,was so hopelessly prosaic that it was impossible to picture him asanything but what he was.

  "Ah, Gilray!" the merchant began, "is Mr. Dimsdale in the office?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "That's all right. He seems to be very regular in his attendance."

  "Very, sir."

  "And seems to take to the business very well."

  "Uncommonly quick, sir, to be sure," said the head clerk. "What withwork among the ships, and work in the office, he's at it late andearly."

  "That is very right," said the old man, playing with the letter weights."Application in youth, Gilray, leads to leisure in old age. Is the_Maid of Athens_ unloading?"

  "Mr. Dimsdale has been down to her this morning, sir. They're gettingthe things out fast. He wants to call attention to the state of thevessel, Mr. Girdlestone. He says that it's making water even in dock,and that some of the hands say that they won't go back in her."

  "Tut! tut!" John Girdlestone said peevishly. "What are the Governmentinspectors for? There is no use paying them if we are to inspectourselves. If they insist upon any alterations they shall be made."

  "They were there, sir, at the same time as Mr. Dimsdale," said Gilray,diffidently.

  "Well, what then?" asked his employer.

  "He says, sir, that the inspectors went down to the cabin and had somechampagne with Captain Spender. They then professed themselves to b
every well satisfied with the state of the vessel and came away."

  "There you are!" the senior partner cried triumphantly. "Of coursethese men can see at a glance how things stand, and if things had reallybeen wrong they would have called attention to it. Let us have no moreof these false alarms. You must say a few words on the point to Mr.Dimsdale, as coming from yourself, not from me. Tell him to be morecareful before he jumps to conclusions."

  "I will, sir."

  "And bring me ledger No. 33."

  Gilray stretched up his arm and took down a fat little ledger from ahigh shelf, which he laid respectfully before his employer.Then, seeing that he was no longer wanted, he withdrew.

  Ledger No. 33 was secured by a clasp and lock--the latter a patent onewhich defied all tamperers. John Girdlestone took a small key from hispocket and opened it with a quick snap. A precious volume this, for itwas the merchant's private book, which alone contained a true record ofthe financial state of the firm, all others being made merely for show.Without it he would have been unable to keep his son in the dark for somany months until bitter necessity at last compelled him to show hishand.

  He turned the pages over slowly and sadly. Here was a record of thesums sunk in the Lake Tanganyika Gold Company, which was to have paid 33per cent., and which fell to pieces in the second month of itsexistence. Here was the money advanced to Durer, Hallett, & Co., on thestrength of securities which proved to be the flimsiest of insecuritieswhen tested. Further on was the account of the dealings of the firmwith the Levant Petroleum Company, the treasurer of which had levantedwith the greater part of the capital. Here, too, was a memorandum ofthe sums sunk upon the _Evening Star_ and the _Providence_, whoseunfortunate collision had well-nigh proved the death blow of the firm.It was melancholy reading, and perhaps the last page was the mostmelancholy of all. On it the old man had drawn up in a condensed forman exact account of the present condition of the firm's finances.Here it is exactly word for word as he had written it down himself.

  GIRDLESTONE & CO. October 1876 Debit. Credit.

  Pounds Sterling Pounds SterlingDebts incurred previous to | Ezra, in Africa, holdsdisclosure to Ezra 34000 | this money with which15000 pounds raised at six | to speculate. 35000months, and 20000 pounds | Balance in bank,at nine months 35000 | including what remainsInterest on said money at | of Dimsdale's premium. 84005 per cent. 1125 | Profit on the cargo ofWorking expenses of the | _Maid of Athens_, nowfirm during the next six | in port. 2000months, including cost of | Profit on the cargoesships, at 150 pounds per | of _Black Eagle_,_Swan_week 3900 | and _Panther_, calculatedPrivate expenses at | at the same rate. 6000Ecclestone Square, say 1000 | Deficit 26425Expenses of Langworthy |in Russia, and of my dear |son in Africa, say 600 |Insurances 1200 |Total 76825 | Total 76825 |All this money must be found within |The possibility of the sinkingnine months at the outside. |of a ship must not be |overlooked--that would bring in |from 12000 to 20000 pounds.

  "Come, it's not so very bad after all," the merchant muttered, after hehad gone over these figures very slowly and carefully. He leaned backin his chair and looked up at the ceiling with a much more cheerfulexpression upon his face. "At the worst it is less than thirtythousand pounds. Why, many firms would think little of it. The factis, that I have so long been accustomed to big balances on the rightside that it seems to be a very dreadful thing now that it lies theother way. A dozen things may happen to set all right. I must notforget, however," he continued, with a darker look, "that I have dippedinto my credit so freely that I could not borrow any more withoutexciting suspicion and having the whole swarm down on us. After all,our hopes lie in the diamonds. Ezra cannot fail. He must succeed.Who can prevent him?"

  "Major Tobias Clutterbuck," cried the sharp, creaky voice of Gilray asif in answer to the question, and the little clerk, who had knocked onceor twice unnoticed, opened the door and ushered in the old Campaigner.

  [1] It may be well to remark, that this and succeeding incidentsoccurred in the old Crown Colony days, before the diamond legislationwas as strict as it has since become.