4 Whitehall Street, Westminster, London.

Arthur sat in his office, his hands folded and looking at the two imps sitting obediently in front of him, and in front of him, there were two learning feedback reports sent from Greenwich Grammar School to Scotland Yard.

The office was so quiet that even Arthur didn't have to speak, just glanced at it, and the two imps lowered their heads in shame.

Arthur flipped through the feedback report as he read, "Tearing up other people's notebooks, fighting with classmates, and insulting teachers, Adam and Aaron, do you two have anything to say about this feedback report?" ”

"Mr. Hastings, I ......" Adam, who had a panda eye, looked up at Arthur, and then turned his head to look at Pinkerton, who was blue on the left side of his face, with a look of wanting to say something: "I ......"

Pinkerton suddenly jumped out of his chair and threw his hat on the ground unconvinced: "Sir, if you really want to find someone to top the tank, then come at me." I picked the head of this matter, and it has nothing to do with Adam, he is a bad seed, and without my support for him, he doesn't have the courage to go against the teacher. You know, it's like you're supporting Miss Fiona. ”

When Arthur heard this, he only raised his eyebrows: "Aaron, it would be nice if you learned spelling and arithmetic so quickly." ”

The red devil on the side couldn't help laughing when he heard this, he slapped his palm, and a small wind blew up the little yellow hair on Pinkerton's head: "Look, Arthur, this little devil will definitely have a future in the future." ”

Pinkerton spoke, "Sir, you have no idea how fucked up there is in grammar school!" They looked down on me and Adam, thinking that we were some kind of good gentlemen who would just give in! They had to understand that I was from Glasgow, and Adam was from St Giles, and if the teacher hadn't stopped us, we'd have had to screw out the ears of those dogs! ”

When Arthur heard this, the words that came to his lips turned in a circle, and he swallowed them again, he took a sip of tea and asked, "It sounds like there's something going on here?" ”

"Of course!"

Pinkerton said with a look of hatred: "The grammar teacher didn't like me and Adam, maybe because he felt that we didn't listen to him, so he always tried to find fault with us, first because of spelling mistakes, then grammar mistakes, and then because of our sloppy handwriting. After we had all corrected it, he suddenly woke up Adam and me in class that day and asked us to repeat what he had just said.

Adam and I didn't repeat it, so he put me and Adam in a peaked hat that said 'fool' and hung a sign around our necks with all sorts of humiliating words. After class, the doggy guys started chattering next to Adam's ears and singing sarcastic songs about us both. I couldn't hold back for a while, so I tore up all their calligraphy and punched them twice. ”

When Adam heard this, he hurriedly continued: "Mr. Hastings, I would have liked to persuade Aaron to calm down. Because I used to study in a workhouse for a few days, and the conditions there were much worse than in grammar school. The workhouse teachers were two drunken old sailors who taught nothing and would do nothing but keep us quiet. Except for the fact that lunch is often not enough, the grammar school is generally much better. But Aaron was already mad at that time, he couldn't listen to anything, and he only thought about giving those bastards something powerful, so he ......"

Arthur asked, "So...... How did you get involved? ”

Adam replied embarrassedly: "Aaron was riding on the body of a child who was our little teacher. Mr. Hastings, do you know the little teacher? The little teacher was a college student, he was the most learned of us, and when the teacher was not there, he was the one who taught us, and he was paid four pence a week from the school, so he obeyed the teacher's words.

The teacher didn't like me and Aaron, and he followed suit. It was because of this that Aaron caught him and beat him to death. But the little teacher and his group of doglegs, who saw that their heads had been beaten, so they yelled one by one to give Aaron some color.

I was like, "Oh my God! These puppies are going to touch my old fellows who eat and live with me! If I can't take care of Aaron, how will I explain to my parents when I get home? When I go to Scotland Yard later, I will have the face to explain to Mr. Hastings, that I have made him lose a general. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just flipped through the documents in his hand: "Adam." ”

Adam said with an innocent look, "What's the matter, Mr. Hastings?" ”

Arthur looked at him and said, "It seems that Aaron really didn't invite you to eat sugar for nothing, and you kid is really good at something." ”

Adam was blank and said, "Sir, are you complimenting me?" I thought you'd at least have to scold you for calling us both over this time. ”

Arthur leaned back in his chair and said, "If what you both just said is true, then yes, I'm complimenting you." Although it is certainly not right to hit someone, since you have considered appropriate ways to solve the problem, improve your spelling, grammar and handwriting, and you have no better options at the time of the incident, you will be beaten.

But, to prove that you are not lying, I will ask Tom to prepare two notes for you tomorrow, and if you can write all the words on them silently, then I will believe what you have just said, and I will arrange for you to transfer to a better school that is more suitable for you, what do you two think? ”

Pinkerton was happy at first, but when he heard that he was going to change from one school to another, he couldn't help but be a little discouraged: "Sir, can't you just stop going to school?" I think it's pretty good now, I can already spell quite a few words. If it hadn't been for this, by the end of this semester, I would have been able to skip from first grade to third grade. ”

"Oh! Is it? Well, Aaron, you now have the basics to be a clerk or a journalist. ”

Speaking of this, Arthur changed his words again: "But for an employee of the London Police Intelligence Service, or to be a brilliant detective, it is not enough to just spell words. ”

"But ......"

Pinkerton replied, "My old father, who has been buried in the ground, said that if you want to get a job in society, it is probably useless to just study. It's like if a large family wants to find a laundry maid, then most of them are introduced by the maids at home. Another example is to find people in the mines, and most of the people who come are relatives of the current miners. Isn't that the case with priests' sons who continue to be priests, and most of the officers of the Royal Navy have uncles and uncles who are generals? If my dead dad hadn't died, maybe I would have grown up to be a police officer in Glasgow. ”

Arthur smiled, "Aaron, your father is right about this. But you also have to take into account that there is a me standing in front of you. Elder Carter is not the only officer in the Royal Navy, and although there are few captains who climb up from the swineherd, if you are picky, you can still turn out a few. Worst of all, you don't realize what you have until now. You now have an uncle priest and an uncle officer in the Royal Navy floating at sea, and an uncle policeman sitting here, and you and Adam are ......"

As Arthur spoke, there was a knock at the door.

The door was pushed open, and Louis Bonaparte stood outside with a stack of papers, just about to enter but was overwhelmed by the two imps in front of him.

Arthur pointed at the two imps, "See, there's an emperor here." You two just have to study hard now, and I can't promise you that these bad things in school will not happen again, or force you to swallow them, but you can't stop going to school just because you don't like them.

I don't like to talk about my past experiences to others, but Aaron, Adam, for both of you, I feel compelled to talk about it. Isn't it important to read books? If you're aiming to be a big person, reading isn't that important. But if you just want to live better than you are now, then reading books is too important.

Don't think I'm glamorous now, I was a far worse off than you were when I was nine years old. Aaron, you lost your father at the age of nine, and I'm just like you, I don't know what my father looks like since I can remember. According to the neighbors, he may have been dragged away by a recruiter of the Royal Navy, and there has been no news for so many years, so he may have died at sea long ago.

As for my mother, after a few years she remarried like your mother, and ran away with a stranger who didn't know where to go. The reason why I didn't starve to death was because of the kindness of my neighbors and the priest of the local parish, and of course, the most important thing was that I was still strong enough to have never suffered any major illness in my life.

Since I was seven years old, I have been working as a scarecrow on York's ridges. I remember that it was early spring, and I used to sit on the ridges of the fields from the very beginning of the day, and whenever I saw the crows coming to pick up the seeds, I would throw stones at them, and I would sit until the sun went down before I went back to sleep.

Until now, I can occasionally dream of that scene when I have nightmares, sitting there alone, quietly around, the buttocks of the hard ridges in early spring hurt, and I am cold and hungry, and there is no one to talk to, as if the time of the world has frozen. I don't want to do this job, but I can't do it without it, I have to do some work for a little bread.

Besides, those who have fathers and mothers have to do these jobs, let alone me, who has no father and no mother.

When the seeds germinate, I will be treated a little better, and I will be able to herd the sheep for the farmer. When it was time to harvest the barley, I helped the adults harvest the barley together, threw the wheat on the cart one by one, and carried it into the warehouse.

When I was done, I became a little swineherd who fed. In the winter, I began to plow the fields with the hired farmers with my hoe, and then began the cycle of the new year.

Because of this, once I have the opportunity to read, I will grab it like a person in the water grasping at a life-saving straw. I didn't know I could become a Superintendent of Scotland Yard at the time, I just knew that reading more would help me, the man who had fallen into the hell of the York countryside, to get out.

Being a company clerk or a scribe may not sound like a big deal, but for me at the time, it was a luxury. ”

Agareth put his hand on Arthur's shoulder and smiled, "Don't thank me, Arthur, for your effort." But it's also funny, I've been living like this, and the first time I met you, you kid was thinking about stealing a copy of the Bible from a local pastor. Am I one step too late, and you kid will be converted to God? Or do you think life is too boring? ”

Before Arthur could take the Red Devil's words, the two imps jumped out of their chairs and confessed to Arthur.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hastings."

Louis Bonaparte was also amazed and said, "This ...... I thought that most of the cultivated gentlemen like you had received a good family education...... Didn't expect you to be the son of a farmer? ”

Immediately after Alexandre Dumas also popped out of his head, the French fat man laughed at himself: "The son of a peasant? That's still higher than my ancestry. But this world is still quite magical, Arthur, how did you come up with the idea of having someone from the Bonaparte family be your police secretary? The most ridiculous thing is that he actually agreed! ”

Louis Bonaparte, however, did not take Dumas's words to heart, and said, "There is nothing absurd about this, Monsieur Dumas. I think it's better to study at Scotland Yard than to wander the streets of London. ”

When Dumas heard this, he wanted to say something. But when the words come to my mouth, I always feel that it is not a taste.

As a French republican, he, like his friends Hugo and Balzac, was extremely ambivalent about Napoleon and his family.

Although they agreed that Napoleon was a thief, they also highly recognized Napoleon's legacy and glorious past for France.

It is precisely because of this that when he met Louis Bonaparte, he did not speak ill of him, and even had an inexplicable sense of intimacy.

On the one hand, because of his surname Bonaparte, and on the other hand, because this guy participated in the charcoal party uprising in Italy.

But when he saw the Louis Bonaparte article in The Economist, this intimacy suddenly turned into a deep suspicion and confusion.

Because Dumas really couldn't understand what was called a republican monarchy, this kind of innovative form of government was simply unheard of and unseen, and surpassed Alexandre Dumas's own imagination.

Just as Alexandre Dumas pondered what Louis Bonaparte had in mind, the police secretary walked up to Arthur and handed over the papers in his hand.

"Sir, Councillor Bernie Harrison sent a visit to Scotland Yard this morning to meet with Director Rowan. However, Director Rowan does not seem to be feeling well, so he took a leave of absence to go home early this day to rest, and he recommended that Congressman Harrison interview you first. If you think it's okay, I'll send someone to give him an answer, what do you think of the café just outside Whitehall Street? ”

(End of chapter)