Backwell Street, in the City of London, contains one palatial1 building which at one time was the headquarters of the South American Stock Exchange, a superior bucket shop which on its failure had claimed its fifty thousand victims. The ornate gold lettering on its great plate-glass window had long since been removed, and the big brass2 plate which announced to the passerby3 that here sat the spider weaving his golden web for the multitude of flies, had been replaced by a modest, oxidized scroll4 bearing the simple legend:
SAUL ARTHUR MANN
What Mr. Mann's business was few people knew. He kept an army of clerks. He had the largest collection of file cabinets possessed5 by any three business houses in the City, he had an enormous post bag, and both he and his clerks kept regulation business hours. His beginnings, however, were well known.
He had been a stockbroker's clerk, with a passion for collecting clippings mainly dealing6 with political, geographical7, and meteorological conditions obtaining in those areas wherein the great Joint8 Stock Companies of the earth were engaged in operations. He had gradually built up a service of correspondence all over the world.
The first news of labor9 trouble on a gold field came to him, and his brokers10 indicated his view upon the situation in that particular area by "bearing" the stock of the affected11 company.
If his Liverpool agents suddenly descended12 upon the Cotton Exchange and began buying May cotton in enormous quantities, the initiated13 knew that Saul Arthur Mann had been awakened14 from his slumbers15 by a telegram describing storm havoc16 in the cotton belt of the United States of America. When a curious blight17 fell upon the coffee plantations18 of Ceylon, a six-hundred-word cablegram describing the habits and characteristics of the minute insect which caused the blight reached Saul Arthur Mann at two o'clock in the afternoon, and by three o'clock the price of coffee had jumped.
When, on another occasion, Senor Almarez, the President of Cacura, had thrown a glass of wine in the face of his brother-in-law, Captain Vassalaro, Saul Arthur Mann had jumped into the market and beaten down all Cacura stocks, which were fairly high as a result of excellent crops and secure government. He "beared" them because he knew that Vassalaro was a dead shot, and that the inevitable19 duel20 would deprive Cacura of the best president it had had for twenty years, and that the way would be open for the election of Sebastian Romelez, who had behind him a certain group of German financiers who desired to exploit the country in their own peculiar21 fashion.
He probably built up a very considerable fortune, and it is certain that he extended the range of his inquiries22 until the making of money by means of his curious information bureau became only a secondary consideration. He had a marvelous memory, which was supplemented by his system of filing. He would go to work patiently for months, and spend sums of money out of all proportion to the value of the information, to discover, for example, the reason why a district officer in some far-away spot in India had been obliged to return to England before his tour of duty had ended.
His thirst for facts was insatiable; his grasp of the politics of every country in the world, and his extraordinarily23 accurate information concerning the personality of all those who directed those policies, was the basis upon which he was able to build up theories of amazing accuracy.
A man of simple tastes, who lived in a rambling24 old house in Streatham, his work, his hobby, and his very life was his bureau. He had assisted the police times without number, and had been so fascinated by the success of this branch of his investigations25 that he had started a new criminal record, which had been of the greatest help to the police and had piqued26 Scotland Yard to emulation27.
John Minute, descending28 from his cab at the door, looked up at the imposing29 facia with a frown. Entering the broad vestibule, he handed his card to the waiting attendant and took a seat in a well-furnished waiting room. Five minutes later he was ushered30 into the presence of "The Man Who Knew." Mr. Mann, a comical little figure at a very large writing table, jumped up and went halfway31 across the big room to meet his visitor. He beamed through his big spectacles as he waved John Minute to a deep armchair.
"The chief commissioner32 sent you, didn't he?" he said, pointing an accusing finger at the visitor. "I know he did, because he called me up this morning and asked me about three people who, I happen to know, have been bothering you. Now what can I do for you, Mr. Minute?"
John Minute stretched his legs and thrust his hands defiantly33 into his trousers' pockets.
"You can tell me all you know about me," he said.
Saul Arthur Mann trotted34 back to his big table and seated himself.
"I haven't time to tell you as much," he said breezily, "but I'll give you a few outlines."
He pressed a bell at his desk, opened a big index, and ran his finger down.
"Bring me 8874," he said impressively to the clerk who made his appearance.
To John Minute's surprise, it was not a bulky dossier with which the attendant returned, but a neat little book soberly bound in gray.
"Now," said Mr. Mann, wriggling35 himself comfortably back in his chair, "I will read a few things to you."
He held up the book.
"There are no names in this book, my friend; not a single, blessed name. Nobody knows who 8874 is except myself."
He patted the big index affectionately.
"The name is there. When I leave this office it will be behind three depths of steel; when I die it will be burned with me."
He opened the little book again and read. He read steadily36 for a quarter of an hour in a monotonous37, singsong voice, and John Minute slowly sat himself erect38 and listened with tense face and narrow eyelids39 to the record. He did not interrupt until the other had finished.
"Half of your facts are lies," he said harshly. "Some of them are just common gossip; some are purely40 imaginary."
Saul Arthur Mann closed the book and shook his head.
"Everything here," he said, touching41 the book, "is true. It may not be the truth as you want it known, but it is the truth. If I thought there was a single fact in there which was not true my _raison d'etre_ would be lost. That is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, Mr. Minute," he went on, and the good-natured little face was pink with annoyance42.
"Suppose it were the truth," interrupted John Minute, "what price would you ask for that record and such documents as you say you have to prove its truth?"
The other leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands meditatively43.
"How much do you think you are worth, Mr. Minute?"
"You ought to know," said the other with a sneer44.
Saul Arthur Mann inclined his head.
"At the present price of securities, I should say about one million two hundred and seventy thousand pounds," he said, and John Minute opened his eyes in astonishment45.
"Near enough," he reluctantly admitted.
"Well," the little man continued, "if you multiply that by fifty and you bring all that money into my office and place it on that table in ten-thousand-pound notes, you could not buy that little book or the records which support it."
He jumped up.
"I am afraid I am keeping you, Mr. Minute."
"You are not keeping me," said the other roughly. "Before I go I want to know what use you are going to make of your knowledge."
The little man spread out his hands in deprecation.
"What use? You have seen the use to which I have put it. I have told you what no other living soul will know."
"How do you know I am John Minute?" asked the visitor quickly.
"Some twenty-seven photographs of you are included in the folder46 which contains your record, Mr. Minute," said the little investigator47 calmly. "You see, you are quite a prominent personage--one of the two hundred and four really rich men in England. I am not likely to mistake you for anybody else, and, more than this, your history is so interesting a one that naturally I know much more about you than I should if you had lived the dull and placid48 life of a city merchant."
"Tell me one thing before I go," asked Minute. "Where is the person you refer to as 'X'?"
Saul Arthur Mann smiled and inclined his head never so slightly.
"That is a question which you have no right to ask," he said. "It is information which is available to the police or to any authorized49 person who wishes to get into touch with 'X.' I might add," he went on, "that there is much more I could tell you, if it were not that it would involve persons with whom you are acquainted."
John Minute left the bureau looking a little older, a little paler than when he had entered. He drove to his club with one thought in his mind, and that thought revolved50 about the identity and the whereabouts of the person referred to in the little man's record as "X."
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palatial
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| adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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passerby
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| n.过路人，行人 | |
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scroll
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| n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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brokers
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| n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排… | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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piqued
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| v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 )；激起（好奇心） | |
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emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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folder
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| n.纸夹，文件夹 | |
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investigator
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| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
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48
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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