exhilaration is a heady drug; but, like other drugs, it has the disadvantage that its stimulating effects seldom last for very long. for perhaps ten minutes after his uncle had left him, freddie threepwood lay back in his chair in a sort of ecstasy. he felt strong, vigorous, alert. then by degrees, like a chilling wind, doubt began to creep upon him—faintly at first, then more and more insistently, till by the end of a quarter of an hour he was in a state of pronounced self-mistrust. or, to put it with less elegance, he was suffering from an exceedingly severe attack of cold feet.
the more he contemplated the venture which he had undertaken, the less alluring did it appear to him. his was not a keen imagination, but even he could shape with a gruesome clearness a vision of the frightful bust-up that would ensue should he be detected stealing his aunt constance’s diamond necklace. common decency would in such an event seal his lips as regarded his uncle joseph’s share in the matter. and even if—as might conceivably happen—common decency failed at the crisis, reason told him that his uncle joseph would infallibly disclaim any knowledge of or connection with the rash act. and then where would he be? in the soup, undoubtedly. for freddie could not conceal it from himself that there was nothing in his previous record to make it seem inconceivable to his nearest and dearest that he should steal the jewellery of a female relative for purely personal ends. the[p. 34] verdict in the event of detection would be one of uncompromising condemnation.
and yet he hated the idea of meekly allowing that two thousand pounds to escape from his clutch . . .
a young man’s cross-roads.
* * * * *
the agony of spirit into which these meditations cast him had brought him up with a bound from the comfortable depths of his arm-chair and had set him prowling restlessly about the room. his wanderings led him at this point to collide somewhat painfully with the long table on which beach the butler, a tidy soul, was in the habit of arranging in a neat row the daily papers, weekly papers, and magazines which found their way into the castle. the shock had the effect of rousing him from his stupor, and in an absent way he clutched the nearest daily paper, which happened to be the morning globe, and returned to his chair in the hope of quieting his nerves with a perusal of the racing intelligence. for, though far removed now from any practical share in the doings of the racing world, he still took a faint melancholy interest in ascertaining what captain curb, the head lad, little brighteyes, and the rest of the newspaper experts fancied for the day’s big event. he lit a cigarette and unfolded the journal.
the next moment, instead of passing directly, as was his usual practice, to the last page, which was devoted to sport, he was gazing with a strange dry feeling in his throat at a certain advertisement on page one.
it was a well-displayed advertisement, and one that had caught the eye of many other readers of the paper that morning. it was worded to attract attention, and it had achieved its object. but where others who read it had merely smiled and marvelled idly how anybody[p. 35] could spend good money putting nonsense like this in the paper, to freddie its import was wholly serious. it read to him like the real thing. his motion-picture-trained mind accepted this advertisement at its face-value.
it ran as follows:—
leave it to psmith!
psmith will help you
psmith is ready for anything
do you want
someone to manage your affairs?
someone to handle your business?
someone to take the dog for a run?
someone to assassinate your aunt?
psmith will do it
crime not objected to
whatever job you have to offer
(provided it has nothing to do with fish)
leave it to psmith!
address applications to ‘r. psmith, box 365’
leave it to psmith!
freddie laid the paper down with a deep intake of breath. he picked it up again, and read the advertisement a second time. yes, it sounded good.
more, it had something of the quality of a direct answer to prayer. very vividly now freddie realised that what he had been wishing for was a partner to share the perils of this enterprise which he had so rashly undertaken. in fact, not so much to share them as to take them off his shoulders altogether. and such a partner he was now in a position to command. uncle joe was going to give him two thousand if he brought the thing off. this advertisement fellow[p. 36] would probably be charmed to come in for a few hundred . . .
* * * * *
two minutes later, freddie was at the writing-desk, scribbling a letter. from time to time he glanced furtively over his shoulder at the door. but the house was still. no footsteps came to interrupt him at his task.