\"Wasn’titarag？\"hesaid。\"Suchasimpleidea——notmyown。I
haven’tgotthebrains。Yousee，Iwantedtogointothedetectiveservice，especiallytheanti—dynamitebusiness。Butforthatpurposetheywantedsomeonetodressupasadynamiter;andtheyallsworebyblazesthatIcouldneverlooklikeadynamiter。Theysaidmyverywalkwasrespectable，andthatseenfrombehindI
lookedliketheBritishConstitution。TheysaidIlookedtoohealthyandtoooptimistic，andtooreliableandbenevolent;theycalledmeallsortsofnamesatScotlandYard。TheysaidthatifI
hadbeenacriminal，Imighthavemademyfortunebylookingsolikeanhonestman;butasIhadthemisfortunetobeanhonestman，therewasnoteventheremotestchanceofmyassistingthembyeverlookinglikeacriminal。ButaslastIwasbroughtbeforesomeoldjosserwhowashighupintheforce，andwhoseemedtohavenoendofaheadonhisshoulders。Andtheretheothersalltalkedhopelessly。Oneaskedwhetherabushybeardwouldhidemynicesmile;anothersaidthatiftheyblackedmyfaceImightlooklikeanegroanarchist;butthisoldchapchippedinwithamostextraordinaryremark。’Apairofsmokedspectacleswilldoit，’hesaidpositively。’Lookathimnow;helookslikeanangelicofficeboy。Puthimonapairofsmokedspectacles，andchildrenwillscreamatthesightofhim。’Andsoitwas，byGeorge！Whenoncemyeyeswerecovered，alltherest，smileandbigshouldersandshorthair，mademelookaperfectlittledevil。AsIsay，itwassimpleenoughwhenitwasdone，likemiracles;butthatwasn’tthereallymiraculouspartofit。Therewasonereallystaggeringthingaboutthebusiness，andmyheadstillturnsatit。\"
\"Whatwasthat？\"askedSyme。