or his secretaryship. The very names both of
"A. L." and his " first-class Joint-stock Company"
were still hidden from me, the writer
merely telling me that the company in want of a
secretary was "one of the very first in London,"
and finishing his very short communication by
asking whether, in the event of my obtaining
the situation, I should "be prepared to lay
down the sum of five hundred pounds sterling?"

To this, I replied that, as far as the money
was concerned, I had friends who were ready to
advance such a sum on my account, provided the
situation I obtained was of such a kind as to
give me an income of not less than three
hundred a year in a respectable public company.
But that I should take no more steps
in the matter, nor would I answer any more
letters, unless I was at once furnished with full
particulars of the proposed secretaryship, and
was at once made acquainted with the real name
of "A. L.," and with the means by which he
proposed to obtain the appointment for me.

In twenty-four hours after despatching my
letter, I received a long official-looking envelope,
which contained a letter signed by "A. L.,"
in what he informed me was his real name—
Alfred Long—and also the printed prospectus
of a new joint-stock company, of which more presently.
Mr. Alfred Long informed me that he
was the "promoter" of this proposed company,
but that "to bring it out" he required the sum
of five hundred pounds for advertising and other
expenses; and that if I or my friends would
advance that amount, he would give me what
he called "a written bond" that I should be
appointed secretary of the company, at a salary
of not four but five hundred a year.  The
printed prospectus was magnificent.  The
company was for the purpose of providing London
with gas on an entirely new plan, which would
so the prospectus said at once and for ever
crush all existing gas companies.  The capital
required was three millions sterling, in sixty
thousand shares of fifty pounds each, one pound
per share to be paid on application; and the interest
the company would pay when at work, could
not by any possible combination of circumstances
be less than fifty per cent per annum, while
there was every chance of its increasing in a few
years to a hundred, and even a hundred and
fifty.  In the body of the prospectus were
several certificates from eminent chemists and
others, all stating that this peculiar gas—I
do not mention its particular name—was two
hundred per cent cheaper, and gave a hundred
per cent stronger light, than any gas now in
use, and that its adoption by any town could
not fail to prove highly remunerative to those
who furnished it.  To this were added several
columns of figures proving—or intending to
prove—that whereas the gas now used in London
cost so many thousands to produce, the proposed
kind costing so much less, the result must be so
many hundreds of thousands of pounds profit
for the company.

In short, nothing could be more magnificent
—on paper—than this scheme; but, as I
remarked when answering Mr. Alfred Long's
letter, I questioned very much whether a company
in which there were as yet neither directors,
solicitors, bankers, brokers, nor shareholders,
was exactly the thing which could properly be
termed "a first-class Joint-stock Company," and
that, although I wished the scheme every success,
I must decline having anything more to do
with it.

Here I thought the whole affair would end,
and that I should hear no more of Mr, Alfred
Long or his gas company.  To my surprise, I
received another letter by return of post from
that gentleman, in which he begged I would
not, for my own sake, be rash and throw aside
the chance of becoming secretary of what
would no doubt some day be one of the very
first public companies in London, if not in the
world; that I was quite mistaken regarding
there being no board of directors formed for the
company, because he had some of the very "first
men in the City" ready to join the direction at
once; but that there were several preliminary
expenses to be incurred before the publication
of the whole prospectus could take place; that
these gentlemen had given him their names in
confidence, but that so soon as ever he could
meet certain necessary expenses, the whole
affair would be brought out, and that then it
would be too late to apply for the secretaryship,
for there would be so many men of wealth and
influence seeking the situation, that it would be
impossible for him to offer it to me.  His own
capital was locked up, but if I would advance the
sum of two hundred pounds at once, he would
take my bond for the balance of three hundred,
to be paid the day the company was in full operation.
The letter was well written, and there was
a cool audacity about the fellow asking me to
advance this amount of coin on a scheme so
visionary, that I determined, if possible, to see
what kind or manner of man it was who could
believe any one, idiot enough to pay money,
with so very remote a chance of ever or rather
with the certainty of never seeing it again.  I
therefore replied to his letter that there was, no
doubt, some truth in what he said about not
throwing away the chance of a good situation,
but that before I could take any steps in the
affair, I must have a personal interview with
him, Mr. Alfred Long; that he had only to
name the hour and place when he would meet
me in the City; and I would be sure to keep
the appointment.

To this proposition I received an answer,
saying that the writer, Mr. Long, was very unwell,
but that his friend, Mr. Adam, would
meet me the following day at noon, at a certain
tavern in Cheapside.  On receipt of this note, I
became more than ever determined to see Mr.
Long himself.  I therefore replied that my
business was with Mr. Long, and not with Mr.
Adam; that if the former were unwell, I could
wait a few days; but that I would cease all
correspondence on the subject, unless within the
next week or ten days I saw and spoke to Mr.
Alfred Long.