Ghost, Supernatural & Mystic Tales Vol 3 by Algernon Blackwood

Author:Algernon Blackwood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Man who was Milligan

Milligan looked round the dingy rooms with an appraising air, while the landlady stood behind him, wondering whether he would decide to take them. She stood with her arms crossed; her eye was observant. She, in her turn, was appraising Milligan, of course. He was a clerk in a tourist agency, and in his spare time he wrote stories for the cinema. What attracted him just now in the very ordinary lodgings was the big folding-doors. All he really needed was abed-sitting-room, with breakfast, but he suddenly saw himself sitting in that front room writing his scenarios-successfully at last. It was rather tempting. He would be a literary man-with a study! ‘Your price seems a trifle high, Mrs-er-?’ he opened the bargain.

‘Bostock, sir, Mrs Bostock,’ she informed him, then recited her tale of woe about the high cost of living. It was unnecessary recitation, for Milligan was not listening, having already decided in his mind to take the rooms.

While Mrs Bostock droned monotonously on, his eye fell casually upon a picture that hung above the plush mantelpieces Chinese scene showing a man in a boat upon a little lake. He glanced at it, no more than that. It was better than glancing at Mrs Bostock. The landlady, however, instantly caught that glance and noticed its direction.

‘Me ‘usband’ – she switched off her main theme – ‘brought it ’ome from China. From Hong-Kong, I should say.’ And the way she aspirated the ‘H’ in Hong made Milligan smile. He perceived that she was proud of the picture evidently.

‘It’s wonderful,’ he said. ‘probably it’s worth something, too. These Chinese drawings-some of ‘em-are very rare, I believe.’

The little picture was worth perhaps two shillings, and he knew it; but he had found his way to Mrs Bostock’s heart, and, incidentally, had persuaded her to take a shilling off the rent.

The picture, he felt sure, had been stolen by her late husband, a sea captain. To her it was a kind of nest-egg. If she ever found herself in difficulties, it would fetch money. Milligan, by chance, had stumbled upon what he called a ‘good line’.

Being an honest creature, he had no wish to use his knowledge, but every week thereafter, almost every day, indeed, some remark concerning the Chinese drawing passed between them; with the natural result that, while it bored him a good deal, he cultivated the theme, and in so doing gazed much and often at the Chinaman. That Celestial, sitting in the boat with his back to the room, rowing, rowing eternally across the placid lake without advancing, he came to know in every detail.

Every time Mrs Bostock chatted with him, his eye wandered from her grimy visage to the drawing. He used it to end the chat with.

‘I like your picture so much,’ he observed. ‘It’s nice to live with.’ He put it straight, he flicked dust from the frame with his handkerchief. ‘It’s so much better than these modern things. It’s worth a bit

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.