"I only talked to him about it once. You see, I happen to be the only one of us three that understands the manufacturing side. You've never been inside the factory in your life. Diggle hardly ever goes, except to make a fool of himself by some damn silly suggestion. No, he keeps to the financial side. He's got a whole pack of doubtful financial dodges, and he'll get seven years for one of them some day. All I did was to tell Diggle that I was applying for the post of manager in a certain rival firm, having had twenty years' experience here. And I asked him if he would give me a testimonial. He said: 'No, but I will give you a partnership.' You don't seem to get hold of the right way of doing things, Sharper."
"All the same," said Sharper, "I'm going straight off to Diggle's room now, and I'm going to give him hell."
"Oh, I say, you can't do that. If he knew I'd told you, there'd be the very devil of a row."
"Oh, he won't know. I may be a high-minded sufferer, but I'm a very fair liar as well. I'll put it right for you."
He entered Mr. Diggle's room. Mr. Diggle, seated with his back to him, continued the letter he was writing.
"Look here," said Sharper impulsively, "what have you been and done with that partnership of mine?"
"That you, Sharper? Sit down. I shall be a minute or two. I said, sit down. I did not ask you to twist your feet round the legs of the chair. Refrain also from waggling your toes violently. It interrupts my train of thought. Keep the hand still, if you please. Thank you."
There were three minutes of absolute silence during which Diggle, in the most leisurely way possible, finished and blotted his letter.
"And now, Sharper," said Diggle, "I think you wished to say something."
"Well, I mean to say, what have you been and done with my partnership?"
"No, but you promised me. And now you've gone and given it to Dobson."
"I promised you nothing. And that, I think, is what you have got. Dobson is very gravely in error in telling you anything at all about it. If you will kindly send him here, I will speak to him on the subject."
"Dobson never said a single word about it. I'll take my Bible oath he never did. He came into my room and began to speak in rather a dictatorial way, and I said, 'You might be a partner,' and he blushed."