The Castaways
W.W. Jacobs
Paperback
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Feb. 14, 2016)
Jacobs was born in Wapping, London; his father was a wharf manager at the South Devon wharf at Lower East Smithfield. He was educated at a private school in London and later at Birkbeck College (then called Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution, now part of the University of London) The Castaway MR. WILLIAM POPE closed his ledger with a slam and, slipping from his stool, locked the drawer of his desk and returned the key to his pocket. It was just one o'clock, and there was an ebb and flow of clerks returning from, and going to, lunch. It had been an everyday scene to Mr. Pope for thirty years; he looked forward to another ten and then a pension, which he fondly hoped to enjoy for thirty more. He walked slowly across the big room and, putting his head round a glass and mahogany screen, eyed with clerkly disapproval the industry of a man working there. “One o'clock, Carstairs,” he said sharply. Mr. Carstairs turned a lean, cleanshaven face on his friend and smiled amiably. “Just coming,” he said, blotting his work. “I had no idea it was so late.” Mr. Pope grunted. “I should know it in the dark,” he declared, “ without a watch. I believe you like work, Carstairs.”