dont you know that good situations are rarer than diamonds and more valuable? have you ever read pickwick? yep.then you can guess what i mean.situations dont occur in real life, they have to be dug for in the diamond fields of the mind and situations dont occur in real life! said jones.dont theynow, see here, ive had supper with you and in return for your hospitality ill tell you every thing thats happened to me if youll hear it.i guess ill shatter your illusions.ill give you a sample: i belong to the london senior conservative club and yet i dont.i have the swellest house in london yet it doesnt belong to me.im worth one million and eight thousand pounds, yet the other day i had to steal a few sovereigns, but the law could not touch me for stealing them.i have an uncle who is a duke yet i am no relation to him.sounds crazy, doesnt it, all the same its fact.i dont mind telling you the whole thing if you care to hear it.i wont give you the right names because theres a woman in the case, but i bet ill lift your hair.kellerman did not seem elated.i dont mind listening to your story, said he, on one condition.whats that? that you will not be offended if i switch you off if the thing palls and hand you your hat, for i must tell you that though i came down here to get sleep, i do most of my sleeping between two in the morning and noon.i work at night and i had intended working tonight.oh, you can switch me off when you like, said jones.supper being finished, kellerman fastened the window, and, carrying the lamp, led the way to a comfortably furnished study.here he produced cigars and put a little kettle on a spirit stove to make tea.then, sitting opposite to his host, in a comfortable armchair, jones began his story.he had told his infernal story so often that one might have fancied it a painful effort, even to begin.it was not.he had now an audience in touch with him.he suppressed names, or rather altered them, substituting manchester for rochester and birdwood for birdbrook.the audience did not care, it recked nothing of titles, it wanted storyand it got it.at about one oclock the recital was interrupted whilst tea was made, at two oclock or a little after the tale finished.well? said jones.kellerman was leaning back in his chair with eyes half closed, he seemed calculating something in his head.d you believe me? kellerman opened his eyes.of course i believe you.if you had invented all that you would be clever enough to know what your invention is worth and not hand it out to a stranger.but i doubt whether anyone else will believe youhowever, that is your affairyou have given me five reels of the finest stuff, or at least the material for it, and if i ever care to use it i will fix you up a contract giving you twentyfive per cent royalties.but theres one thing you havent given methe dénouement.im more than interested in that.im not thinking of money, im a film actor at heart and i want to help in the play.say, may i help? how? come along with you to the end, give all the assistance in my poweror even without that just watch the show.i want to see the last act for im blessed if i can imagine it.id rather not, said jones.you might get to know the real names of the people im dealing with, and as there is a woman in the business i dont feel i ought to give her name away even to you.no.i reckon ill pull through alone, but if youd give me a sofa to sleep on tonight id be grateful.then i can get away in the morning.kellerman did not press the point.ill give you better than a sofa, he said.theres a spare bed, and youd better not start in the morning; give them time to cool down.then towards evening you can make a dash.the servants here are all right, theyll think you are a friend run down from town to see me.ill arrange all that.chapter xxviii pebblemarsh at five oclock next day, jones, redressed by kellerman in a morning coat rather the worse for weara coat that had been left behind at the bungalow by one of kellermans friendsand a dark cloth cap, took his departure from the bungalow.his appearance was frankly abominable, but quite distinct from the appearance of a man dressed in a grey flannel tennis coat and wearing a panamaand that was the main point