Hubforce

hubforce

Welcome to HackerNoon’s interview series. This section is curated by our Editorial team to spotlight bold and disruptive startups across the globe. If you’ve been nominated, and answer these questions Startups-Of-The-Year create a brand profile here. Hey Hackers, has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startup of the Year awards in London, United Kingdom. Hubforce Please vote for us here: https://startups.hackernoon.com/europe/europe-london-england-uk Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet Hubforce First, let us start with this statement: today, everyone is in the business of sales. Whether you’re a Sales Director at an enterprise company, a Customer Success Manager at a growing business, a technical founder of a startup, a freelance designer, or a candidate looking for a new role, you have to learn to sell your product, services, or skills. how Imagine that what you’re selling wouldn’t fit into a one-paragraph email. And heavy attachments or file transfer links might help, but you have absolutely no visibility into how people on the receiving end view the content you’ve shared with them, who they forward it to, and what materials they might be still missing. Unless they say directly… But how often do they? Silence sucks, right? Luckily, a quiet customer is now a thing of the past. Because that’s where Hubforce comes to the rescue. With Hubforce, you can easily to create a personalized selling experience at any stage of your customer journey. build a dedicated interactive micro-site From outreach to post-demo to onboarding to renewal, you can and spark timely follow-ups and sales-ready conversations. track how your customers engage with your content Our Role Since 2017, Victor and Thomas, co-founders at Hubforce, have worked on an e-learning software product. Having grown their team, they successfully merged design and learning practices, both so integrated into our lives yet so fragmented in most organizations. Five years later, they brought this approach to sales at Hubforce – making the buyer engagement process more personalized, more intuitive, and more convenient. How We're Changing the Digital Sales Room Industry Although quite new, digital sales room platforms can be complex in user design and basic in analytics. Come on, guys, if we want to take on the outdated email practices collectively, we should aim for the opposite. Or, at least, that’s how we at Hubforce do things. Standing Out From the Crowd So, what’s different about Hubforce? It’s intuitively easy: you don’t have to be a designer to design beautiful, compelling sales content hubs. It integrates with your current stack: you don’t need to reinvent your processes but rather bring them under one connected roof. It is both smart and visual: using its dynamic engagement score formula, it adapts over time to your deal size, timeline, and process, whilst offering a clear, visual interpretation of buyer engagement for you to base your decisions on. It takes minimal effort to connect on a personal level: its automatic white-labeling feature allows you to personalize every new hub to each new client. It’s free to use and scalable for growth: Our basic plan is free for all to access and play with, and our pricing model scales together with your business with no unpredicted fees. Our Thoughts on the Digital Sales Room Industry in 2023 We believe that there will be a lot of exciting development and investment for digital sales rooms in 2023. First, we have already seen how the industry players like Trumpet, Workbounce, Valuecase, Dock, and Qwirl all went through their fundraising rounds in the last year – to take their products off the ground beyond just an MVP. Cheers to healthy competition and finding a niche in which each of us would thrive! 🍻 Second, with the rise of generative AI, analytics become a game-changer. The better data visibility our products can offer, the more effective yet personal our customers’ sales processes will become. If previously automation used to cost personalization, now we don’t have to choose – it’s both, in one place, at the right time. Finally, we see a flaw in the name: “digital room.” Going back to our first statement in this post, across business departments (and, frankly, without them, too) has to know how to sell. sales everyone We see a future where . Our industry needs to take a step away from CPQ software and become the best friend of CRM, CSM, and asset management. a digital room can also be a room, an room, a room, or a room sales customer success onboarding renewal partner training What word defines the state of Digital Sales Software in 2023? Intuitive. Why we decided to participate in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards We would love more people to know about digital sales rooms and share our story. And also our marketing manager is obsessed with everything that HackerNoon does. Final Thoughts Thank you for reading about our story. Our fate is in your hands – may Hubforce be with you! ⚡️ Vote for us today! https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-london-england-uk

Startups of the Year 2023: Hubforce - A New Way to Sell

I’ve recently become fascinated by the idea of “winner’s games” and “loser’s games.” There are several great articles which explain the idea in depth, but here’s a quick summary: An observation was made by Simon Ramo in 1973 that there is big difference in how games are won in amateur tennis versus professional tennis. When two amateur opponents are playing, the game is often won not through the winner’s great skill but because of the loser’s mistakes. The loser often commits unforced errors by hitting the ball out of bounds, missing easy shots, or double faulting. In other words, the loser beats himself. Points are “lost” by the loser more than they are “won” by the winner. This is a “loser’s game.” When two professional opponents are playing, the game is won primarily due to the winner’s skill. Neither player commits many unforced errors. The winner places his shots well and outperforms his opponent to defeat him. Points in this kind of game are “won” by the winner more than they are “lost” by the loser. This is a “winner’s game.” So, if you’re playing a loser’s game, a winning strategy is to simply try to avoid making mistakes and let your opponent beat himself. (If you’ve ever played tennis or ping pong before, I hope at this point you’re nodding your head in recognition. As an avid ping pong player, I’ve seen this scenario play out in the office at work on a daily basis.) The application of this observation is that you should attempt to understand whether any given activity you’re involved in is a winner’s game or a loser’s game. Gaining that understanding teaches you how you should play the game. You can read more about these ideas in this and . article by Charles Ellis this article from the FS blog Parallels to Software Engineering Now, what if we consider software engineering to be a loser’s game? That is to say, we often beat ourselves by committing unforced errors and making mistakes. If we are amateurs, so to speak, how can we keep the ball in play rather than hitting it into the net? It’s a simple thing to say, “If you want to be good, just stop making mistakes.” But that’s somewhat unhelpful. That’s like saying to those in poverty, “Why don’t you just stop being poor?” It’s also unhelpful if we take this analogy too far. If avoiding mistakes is the ultimate goal of software engineering, is the best software engineer the one who writes no code or does nothing? Obviously, no. Software engineers are paid to write code to help bring to life some product in order to achieve some vision (make the business money, solve a real-world problem, simplify a task, etc.), so that must be the real ultimate goal. So it appears that we must balance producing valuable output with avoiding mistakes. This leads to an interesting thought experiment: In what ways do we beat ourselves, and how can we avoid making these amateur mistakes? Unforced Errors Here’s a list of possible unforced errors we commit. I’m sure you may be able to add more to this list as well. Not understanding the problem before trying to code a solution Not understanding the tools or programming languages we use Not carefully reviewing our own code before asking for a code review Not manually testing our own code before asking for a code review Not writing unit tests Not following agreed-upon company standards Solving These Unforced Errors Now that we’ve identified some potential unforced errors, how do we avoid making them? For starters, we can put safeguards in place to help us catch and correct our mistakes before they become too costly. All code repos should be configured with code linters, code formatters, and a suite of automated tests. These safeguards can be run as part of a CI pipeline prior to allowing any code to be merged. We can also be more thorough in our own attention to detail when writing code. After creating a merge request, we should always do a self code review before asking others to review our code. We should always manually validate our changes as well. Nothing is more frustrating as a code reviewer than reviewing someone else’s code who clearly didn’t do these checks themselves. It wastes the code reviewer’s time when he has to catch simple mistakes like commented out code, bad formatting, failing unit tests, or broken functionality in the code. All of these mistakes can easily be caught by the code author or by a CI pipeline. When merge requests are frequently full of errors, it turns the code review process into a gatekeeping process in which a handful of more senior engineers serve as the gatekeepers. This is an unfavorable scenario that creates bottlenecks and slows down the team’s velocity. It also detracts from the higher purpose of code reviews, which is knowledge sharing. We can use checklists and merge request templates to serve as reminders to ourselves of things to double check. Have you reviewed your own code? Have you written unit tests? Have you updated any documentation as needed? For frontend code, have you validated your changes in each browser your company supports? Have you ensured that all user-facing text is translated? Have you ensured that the UI meets accessibility standards and guidelines? By performing these checks ourselves, aided by automated tools, we show an added measure of professionalism and respect for our coworkers. Trust will grow and velocity will increase. The key is to be diligent and disciplined. Conclusion Software engineering is a loser’s game. So let’s learn to play the game and stop losing to ourselves.

Solving for Software Engineering's Unforced Errors

ZUG, Switzerland, October 2nd, 2024/Chainwire/--Poland’s second-largest bank, Pekao S.A., used the Aleph Zero L1 blockchain to tokenize and preserve internationally renowned Polish artworks. Bank Pekao, Aleph Zero, and Degen House are proud to announce the launch of Archiv3, a project to tokenize and preserve Polish cultural heritage on the Aleph Zero blockchain, with digital reproductions securely stored in the Arctic World Archive (AWA). This initiative combines blockchain technology with a commitment to cultural preservation, ensuring the safekeeping of Poland’s artistic legacy for future generations. With Archiv3, Bank Pekao becomes the first universal bank to tokenize historical art specifically for preservation purposes. This initiative follows the bank’s earlier “Unique” project, marking its role in integrating blockchain technology with traditional banking. It also highlights the bank's ongoing commitment to modernizing its services and expanding the reach of digital assets. Notably, Archiv3 is the first project to tokenize artworks for long-term storage in the Arctic World Archive, known as the “Doomsday Library.” In its press release, Bank Pekao pointed out that the deciding factor in using the Aleph Zero blockchain has been not only its speed and security but also its attention to optimizing for a low carbon footprint and its carbon offset program. “We have chosen Aleph Zero for their privacy-focused, top-class technology combined with sound experience in cooperation with large institutions,” says Michał Walęczak, Director of the Private Banking Strategy and Development Department at Bank Pekao S.A. “Minimal carbon footprint as well as low storage costs were also important factors in our decision-making process. Tokenization of art requires modern and flexible technology, unforced creativity and some out-of-the-box thinking; these features we were happy to find in co-operation with Aleph Zero.” ARCHIV3 involves the meticulous digitization of masterpieces from iconic Polish artists, such as Jan Matejko, Stanisław Wyspiański, Wojciech Kossak, and others, facilitated by Degen House, the bank’s technological partner, who also managed the Aleph Zero integration. The process began with the creation of high-quality, museum-grade 3D scans using ultra-sensitive cameras, which capture every detail of the original artworks. These digital replicas were then minted as NFTs on the eco-friendly Aleph Zero blockchain, which ensures minimal carbon footprint during the process. The tokenized versions are subsequently archived in the Arctic World Archive, where they are expected to remain secure for at least 1,000 years. The artworks in the Archiv3 collection span a range of historical periods, primarily featuring 19th-century works and select modern pieces, such as those by contemporary artist Lia Kimura. This initiative aims to preserve these treasures not only for their cultural and historical significance but also as a resource for future study, conservation, and potential virtual exhibitions. Preserving Art for Future Generations The Arctic World Archive, located on the remote Svalbard archipelago, serves as a highly secure data vault designed to protect invaluable cultural, historical, and scientific information from natural disasters, cyber threats, and other risks. Established in 2017, the archive uses advanced storage technology to ensure data longevity without the need for electricity or human intervention, making it one of the safest places in the world for preserving irreplaceable records. The AWA already houses manuscripts from the Vatican Library, documentation from UNESCO and UNICEF, the entire GitHub code repository, as well as literary works by Nobel Prize laureates Olga Tokarczuk and Wisława Szymborska. Bank Pekao is the first financial institution to archive culturally significant artworks at the AWA, while doing the same using decentralized storage, setting a precedent for how blockchain technology can be used to bridge traditional art with new digital solutions. For any enquiries about this release, please contact josh@serotonin.co About Aleph Zero Aleph Zero is a privacy-first ecosystem of blockchain solutions that are engineered for speed, data confidentiality, and ease of development. It achieves efficiencies akin to conventional web2 systems, upholds rigorous standards for data protection via zero knowledge proofs, and offers a comprehensive toolset for development across web3 that ranges from WASM-based Rust to EVM-based Solidity environments. Aleph Zero’s versatility is highlighted by over 40 use cases being actively developed, showcasing its adaptability across various sectors and applications. These use cases are part of an engaged community and growing ecosystem of web3 applications that are supported by Aleph Zero ecosystem development programs. For more information, users can visit https://alephzero.org/ About Bank Pekao S.A. Bank Pekao S.A., founded in 1929, is one of the largest financial institutions in the Central and Eastern European region and the second-largest universal bank in Poland with assets of 316 billion PLN. With the second largest branch network, Bank Pekao serves 6.9 million customers. As a leading corporate bank in Poland, it serves every second corporation in Poland. Its status as a universal bank is based on its leading market position in private banking, asset management, and brokerage activities. Bank Pekao's diversified business profile is supported by a leading market balance sheet and risk profile reflected in the lowest risk costs, strong capital ratios, and resilience to macroeconomic conditions (Pekao proved to be the most resilient bank in Europe, ranking first in the stress tests conducted by the EBA in 2023 amongst 70 banks). Since 1998, Bank Pekao has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and participates in several local (including WIG 20 and WIG) and international indices (including MSCI EM, Stoxx Europe 600, and FTSE Developed). Pekao is one of the most dividend-paying listed companies in Poland over the past 10 years, paying out a total of approx. 20 billion PLN over a decade. About Degen House Degen House is a full-stack blockchain solutions provider with a proven track record of collaborations spanning major CEE banks and top global blockchain ecosystems. The company offers comprehensive end-to-end solutions, from strategic consulting and product development to targeted marketing and sales. Contact PR Manager Josh Adams Aleph Zero josh@serotonin.co This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here ZUG, Switzerland, October 2nd, 2024/Chainwire/--Poland’s second-largest bank, Pekao S.A., used the Aleph Zero L1 blockchain to tokenize and preserve internationally renowned Polish artworks. Bank Pekao , Aleph Zero , and Degen House are proud to announce the launch of Archiv3 , a project to tokenize and preserve Polish cultural heritage on the Aleph Zero blockchain, with digital reproductions securely stored in the Arctic World Archive (AWA). Bank Pekao Bank Pekao Aleph Zero Aleph Zero Degen House Degen House Archiv3 Archiv3 Arctic World Archive (AWA). Arctic World Archive (AWA). This initiative combines blockchain technology with a commitment to cultural preservation, ensuring the safekeeping of Poland’s artistic legacy for future generations. With Archiv3, Bank Pekao becomes the first universal bank to tokenize historical art specifically for preservation purposes. This initiative follows the bank’s earlier “Unique” project, marking its role in integrating blockchain technology with traditional banking. “Unique” “Unique” It also highlights the bank's ongoing commitment to modernizing its services and expanding the reach of digital assets. Notably, Archiv3 is the first project to tokenize artworks for long-term storage in the Arctic World Archive, known as the “Doomsday Library.” In its press release , Bank Pekao pointed out that the deciding factor in using the Aleph Zero blockchain has been not only its speed and security but also its attention to optimizing for a low carbon footprint and its carbon offset program. In its press release In its press release “We have chosen Aleph Zero for their privacy-focused, top-class technology combined with sound experience in cooperation with large institutions,” says Michał Walęczak, Director of the Private Banking Strategy and Development Department at Bank Pekao S.A. “Minimal carbon footprint as well as low storage costs were also important factors in our decision-making process. Tokenization of art requires modern and flexible technology, unforced creativity and some out-of-the-box thinking; these features we were happy to find in co-operation with Aleph Zero.” ARCHIV3 involves the meticulous digitization of masterpieces from iconic Polish artists, such as Jan Matejko, Stanisław Wyspiański, Wojciech Kossak, and others, facilitated by Degen House, the bank’s technological partner, who also managed the Aleph Zero integration. The process began with the creation of high-quality, museum-grade 3D scans using ultra-sensitive cameras, which capture every detail of the original artworks. These digital replicas were then minted as NFTs on the eco-friendly Aleph Zero blockchain, which ensures minimal carbon footprint during the process. The tokenized versions are subsequently archived in the Arctic World Archive, where they are expected to remain secure for at least 1,000 years. The artworks in the Archiv3 collection span a range of historical periods, primarily featuring 19th-century works and select modern pieces, such as those by contemporary artist Lia Kimura. This initiative aims to preserve these treasures not only for their cultural and historical significance but also as a resource for future study, conservation, and potential virtual exhibitions. Preserving Art for Future Generations The Arctic World Archive, located on the remote Svalbard archipelago, serves as a highly secure data vault designed to protect invaluable cultural, historical, and scientific information from natural disasters, cyber threats, and other risks. Established in 2017, the archive uses advanced storage technology to ensure data longevity without the need for electricity or human intervention, making it one of the safest places in the world for preserving irreplaceable records. The AWA already houses manuscripts from the Vatican Library, documentation from UNESCO and UNICEF, the entire GitHub code repository, as well as literary works by Nobel Prize laureates Olga Tokarczuk and Wisława Szymborska. Bank Pekao is the first financial institution to archive culturally significant artworks at the AWA, while doing the same using decentralized storage, setting a precedent for how blockchain technology can be used to bridge traditional art with new digital solutions. For any enquiries about this release, please contact josh@serotonin.co josh@serotonin.co josh@serotonin.co About Aleph Zero Aleph Zero is a privacy-first ecosystem of blockchain solutions that are engineered for speed, data confidentiality, and ease of development. It achieves efficiencies akin to conventional web2 systems, upholds rigorous standards for data protection via zero knowledge proofs, and offers a comprehensive toolset for development across web3 that ranges from WASM-based Rust to EVM-based Solidity environments. Aleph Zero Aleph Zero Aleph Zero’s versatility is highlighted by over 40 use cases being actively developed, showcasing its adaptability across various sectors and applications. These use cases are part of an engaged community and growing ecosystem of web3 applications that are supported by Aleph Zero ecosystem development programs. For more information, users can visit https://alephzero.org/ https://alephzero.org/ https://alephzero.org/ About Bank Pekao S.A. Bank Pekao S.A. , founded in 1929, is one of the largest financial institutions in the Central and Eastern European region and the second-largest universal bank in Poland with assets of 316 billion PLN. With the second largest branch network, Bank Pekao serves 6.9 million customers. Bank Pekao S.A. Bank Pekao S.A. As a leading corporate bank in Poland, it serves every second corporation in Poland. Its status as a universal bank is based on its leading market position in private banking, asset management, and brokerage activities. Bank Pekao's diversified business profile is supported by a leading market balance sheet and risk profile reflected in the lowest risk costs, strong capital ratios, and resilience to macroeconomic conditions (Pekao proved to be the most resilient bank in Europe, ranking first in the stress tests conducted by the EBA in 2023 amongst 70 banks). Since 1998, Bank Pekao has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and participates in several local (including WIG 20 and WIG) and international indices (including MSCI EM, Stoxx Europe 600, and FTSE Developed). Pekao is one of the most dividend-paying listed companies in Poland over the past 10 years, paying out a total of approx. 20 billion PLN over a decade. About Degen House Degen House is a full-stack blockchain solutions provider with a proven track record of collaborations spanning major CEE banks and top global blockchain ecosystems. The company offers comprehensive end-to-end solutions, from strategic consulting and product development to targeted marketing and sales. Degen House Degen House Contact PR Manager Josh Adams Aleph Zero josh@serotonin.co This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here This story was distributed as a release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here here here

ARCHIV3: Poland’s Second-Largest Bank Chooses Aleph Zero To Tokenize Historical Art

ARCHIV3: Druhá největší polská banka si vybrala Aleph Zero, aby tokenizoval historické umění

ARCHIV3: El segundo banco más grande de Polonia elige a Aleph Zero para tokenizar arte histórico

ARCHIV3: Poloniako bigarren banku handienak Aleph Zero aukeratzen du arte historikoa tokenizatzeko

ARCHIV3: הבנק השני בגודלו בפולין בוחר באלף אפס כדי לתת אסימונים לאמנות היסטורית

ARCHIV3: Druga najveća banka u Poljskoj izabrala Aleph Zero za tokenizaciju povijesne umjetnosti

ARCHIV3: Dezyèm pi gwo bank Polòy chwazi Aleph Zero pou tokenize atizay istorik

ARCHIV3: ポーランド第2位の銀行が歴史的芸術品のトークン化にAleph Zeroを選択

ARCHIV3: antrasis pagal dydį Lenkijos bankas pasirinko Aleph Zero istorinio meno ženklinimui

ARCHIV3: د پولنډ دوهم لوی بانک د تاریخي هنر نښه کولو لپاره الف صفر غوره کوي

ARCHIV3: Benki ya Pili kwa Ukubwa Polandi Yachagua Aleph Zero Kuashiria Sanaa ya Kihistoria

ARCHIV3: போலந்தின் இரண்டாவது பெரிய வங்கி வரலாற்றுக் கலையை அடையாளப்படுத்த அலெஃப் ஜீரோவைத் தேர்வு செய்தது

ARCHIV3: Bangi Ya Vumbirhi Leyikulu ePoland Yi Hlawule Aleph Zero Ku Va Tokenize Vutshila Bya Matimu

383 Stories To Learn About Career Advice

What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS here WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS Is it true that the sun of a man’s mentality touches noon at forty and then begins to wane toward setting? Doctor Osler is charged with saying so. Maybe he said it, maybe he didn’t; I don’t know which it is. But if he said it, I can point him to a case which proves his rule. Proves it by being an exception to it. To this place I nominate Mr. Howells. I read his about forty years ago. I compare it with his paper on Machiavelli in a late number of , and I cannot find that his English has suffered any impairment. For forty years his English has been to me a continual delight and astonishment. In the sustained exhibition of certain great qualities—clearness, compression, verbal exactness, and unforced and seemingly unconscious felicity of phrasing—he is, in my belief, without his peer in the English-writing world. . I entrench myself behind that protecting word. There are others who exhibit those great qualities as greatly as he does, but only by intervaled distributions of rich moonlight, with stretches of veiled and dimmer landscape between; whereas Howells’s moon sails cloudless skies all night and all the nights. Venetian Days Harper sustained In the matter of verbal exactness Mr. Howells has no superior, I suppose. He seems to be almost always able to find that elusive and shifty grain of gold, the Others have to put up with approximations, more or less frequently; he has better luck. To me, the others are miners working with the gold-pan—of necessity some of the gold washes over and escapes; whereas, in my fancy, he is quicksilver raiding down a riffle—no grain of the metal stands much chance of eluding him. A powerful agent is the right word: it lights the reader’s way and makes it plain; a close approximation to it will answer, and much traveling is done in a well-enough fashion by its help, but we do not welcome it and applaud it and rejoice in it as we do when right one blazes out on us. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt: it tingles exquisitely around through the walls of the mouth and tastes as tart and crisp and good as the autumn-butter that creams the sumac-berry. One has no time to examine the word and vote upon its rank and standing, the automatic recognition of its supremacy is so immediate. There is a plenty of acceptable literature which deals largely in approximations, but it may be likened to a fine landscape seen through the rain; the right word would dismiss the rain, then you would see it better. It doesn’t rain when Howells is at work. right word. the And where does he get the easy and effortless flow of his speech? and its cadenced and undulating rhythm? and its architectural felicities of construction, its graces of expression, its pemmican quality of compression, and all that? Born to him, no doubt. All in shining good order in the beginning, all extraordinary; and all just as shining, just as extraordinary today, after forty years of diligent wear and tear and use. He passed his fortieth year long and long ago; but I think his English of today—his perfect English, I wish to say—can throw down the glove before his English of that antique time and not be afraid. I will go back to the paper on Machiavelli now, and ask the reader to examine this passage from it which I append. I do not mean examine it in a bird’s-eye way; I mean search it, study it. And, of course, read it aloud. I may be wrong, still it is my conviction that one cannot get out of finely wrought literature all that is in it by reading it mutely: Mr. Dyer is rather of the opinion, first luminously suggested by Macaulay, that Machiavelli was in earnest, but must not be judged as a political moralist of our time and race would be judged. He thinks that Machiavelli was in earnest, as none but an idealist can be, and he is the first to imagine him an idealist immersed in realities, who involuntarily transmutes the events under his eye into something like the visionary issues of reverie. The Machiavelli whom he depicts does not cease to be politically a republican and socially a just man because he holds up an atrocious despot like Caesar Borgia as a mirror for rulers. What Machiavelli beheld round him in Italy was a civic disorder in which there was oppression without statecraft, and revolt without patriotism. When a miscreant like Borgia appeared upon the scene and reduced both tyrants and rebels to an apparent quiescence, he might very well seem to such a dreamer the savior of society whom a certain sort of dreamers are always looking for. Machiavelli was no less honest when he honored the diabolical force of Caesar Borgia than Carlyle was when at different times he extolled the strong man who destroys liberty in creating order. But Carlyle has only just ceased to be mistaken for a reformer, while it is still Machiavelli’s hard fate to be so trammeled in his material that his name stands for whatever is most malevolent and perfidious in human nature. You see how easy and flowing it is; how unvexed by ruggednesses, clumsinesses, broken meters; how simple and—so far as you or I can make out—unstudied; how clear, how limpid, how understandable, how unconfused by cross-currents, eddies, undertows; how seemingly unadorned, yet is all adornment, like the lily-of-the-valley; and how compressed, how compact, without a complacency-signal hung out anywhere to call attention to it. There are twenty-three lines in the quoted passage. After reading it several times aloud, one perceives that a good deal of matter is crowded into that small space. I think it is a model of compactness. When I take its materials apart and work them over and put them together in my way, I find I cannot crowd the result back into the same hole, there not being room enough. I find it a case of a woman packing a man’s trunk: he can get the things out, but he can’t ever get them back again. The proffered paragraph is a just and fair sample; the rest of the article is as compact as it is; there are no waste words. The sample is just in other ways: limpid, fluent, graceful, and rhythmical as it is, it holds no superiority in these respects over the rest of the essay. Also, the choice phrasing noticeable in the sample is not lonely; there is a plenty of its kin distributed through the other paragraphs. This is claiming much when that kin must face the challenge of a phrase like the one in the middle sentence: “an idealist immersed in realities who involuntarily transmutes the events under his eye into something like the visionary issues of reverie.” With a hundred words to do it with, the literary artisan could catch that airy thought and tie it down and reduce it to a concrete condition, visible, substantial, understandable and all right, like a cabbage; but the artist does it with twenty, and the result is a flower. The quoted phrase, like a thousand others that have come from the same source, has the quality of certain scraps of verse which take hold of us and stay in our memories, we do not understand why, at first: all the words being the right words, none of them is conspicuous, and so they all seem inconspicuous, therefore we wonder what it is about them that makes their message take hold. The mossy marbles rest On the lips that he has prest In their bloom, And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb. It is like a dreamy strain of moving music, with no sharp notes in it. The words are all “right” words, and all the same size. We do not notice it at first. We get the effect, it goes straight home to us, but we do not know why. It is when the right words are conspicuous that they thunder: The glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome! When I go back from Howells old to Howells young I find him arranging and clustering English words well, but not any better than now. He is not more felicitous in concreting abstractions now than he was in translating, then, the visions of the eyes of flesh into words that reproduced their forms and colors: In Venetian streets they give the fallen snow no rest. It is at once shoveled into the canals by hundreds of half-naked FACCHINI; and now in St. Mark’s Place the music of innumerable shovels smote upon my ear; and I saw the shivering legion of poverty as it engaged the elements in a struggle for the possession of the Piazza. But the snow continued to fall, and through the twilight of the descending flakes all this toil and encounter looked like that weary kind of effort in dreams, when the most determined industry seems only to renew the task. The lofty crest of the bell-tower was hidden in the folds of falling snow, and I could no longer see the golden angel upon its summit. But looked at across the Piazza, the beautiful outline of St. Mark’s Church was perfectly penciled in the air, and the shifting threads of the snowfall were woven into a spell of novel enchantment around the structure that always seemed to me too exquisite in its fantastic loveliness to be anything but the creation of magic. The tender snow had compassionated the beautiful edifice for all the wrongs of time, and so hid the stains and ugliness of decay that it looked as if just from the hand of the builder—or, better said, just from the brain of the architect. There was marvelous freshness in the colors of the mosaics in the great arches of the facade, and all that gracious harmony into which the temple rises, of marble scrolls and leafy exuberance airily supporting the statues of the saints, was a hundred times etherealized by the purity and whiteness of the drifting flakes. The snow lay lightly on the golden globes that tremble like peacocks-crests above the vast domes, and plumed them with softest white; it robed the saints in ermine; and it danced over all its works, as if exulting in its beauty—beauty which filled me with subtle, selfish yearning to keep such evanescent loveliness for the little-while-longer of my whole life, and with despair to think that even the poor lifeless shadow of it could never be fairly reflected in picture or poem. Through the wavering snowfall, the Saint Theodore upon one of the granite pillars of the Piazzetta did not show so grim as his wont is, and the winged lion on the other might have been a winged lamb, so gentle and mild he looked by the tender light of the storm. The towers of the island churches loomed faint and far away in the dimness; the sailors in the rigging of the ships that lay in the Basin wrought like phantoms among the shrouds; the gondolas stole in and out of the opaque distance more noiselessly and dreamily than ever; and a silence, almost palpable, lay upon the mutest city in the world. The spirit of Venice is there: of a city where Age and Decay, fagged with distributing damage and repulsiveness among the other cities of the planet in accordance with the policy and business of their profession, come for rest and play between seasons, and treat themselves to the luxury and relaxation of sinking the shop and inventing and squandering charms all about, instead of abolishing such as they find, as is their habit when not on vacation. In the working season they do business in Boston sometimes, and a character in takes accurate note of pathetic effects wrought by them upon the aspects of a street of once dignified and elegant homes whose occupants have moved away and left them a prey to neglect and gradual ruin and progressive degradation; a descent which reaches bottom at last, when the street becomes a roost for humble professionals of the faith-cure and fortune-telling sort. the undiscovered country What a queer, melancholy house, what a queer, melancholy street! I don’t think I was ever in a street before where quite so many professional ladies, with English surnames, preferred Madam to Mrs. on their door-plates. And the poor old place has such a desperately conscious air of going to the deuce. Every house seems to wince as you go by, and button itself up to the chin for fear you should find out it had no shirt on—so to speak. I don’t know what’s the reason, but these material tokens of a social decay afflict me terribly; a tipsy woman isn’t dreadfuler than a haggard old house, that’s once been a home, in a street like this. Mr. Howells’s pictures are not mere stiff, hard, accurate photographs; they are photographs with feeling in them, and sentiment, photographs taken in a dream, one might say. As concerns his humor, I will not try to say anything, yet I would try, if I had the words that might approximately reach up to its high place. I do not think any one else can play with humorous fancies so gracefully and delicately and deliciously as he does, nor has so many to play with, nor can come so near making them look as if they were doing the playing themselves and he was not aware that they were at it. For they are unobtrusive, and quiet in their ways, and well conducted. His is a humor which flows softly all around about and over and through the mesh of the page, pervasive, refreshing, health-giving, and makes no more show and no more noise than does the circulation of the blood. There is another thing which is contentingly noticeable in Mr. Howells’s books. That is his “stage directions”—those artifices which authors employ to throw a kind of human naturalness around a scene and a conversation, and help the reader to see the one and get at meanings in the other which might not be perceived if entrusted unexplained to the bare words of the talk. Some authors overdo the stage directions, they elaborate them quite beyond necessity; they spend so much time and take up so much room in telling us how a person said a thing and how he looked and acted when he said it that we get tired and vexed and wish he hadn’t said it at all. Other authors’ directions are brief enough, but it is seldom that the brevity contains either wit or information. Writers of this school go in rags, in the matter of stage directions; the majority of them having nothing in stock but a cigar, a laugh, a blush, and a bursting into tears. In their poverty they work these sorry things to the bone. They say: “... replied Alfred, flipping the ash from his cigar.” (This explains nothing; it only wastes space.) “... responded Richard, with a laugh.” (There was nothing to laugh about; there never is. The writer puts it in from habit—automatically; he is paying no attention to his work; or he would see that there is nothing to laugh at; often, when a remark is unusually and poignantly flat and silly, he tries to deceive the reader by enlarging the stage direction and making Richard break into “frenzies of uncontrollable laughter.” This makes the reader sad.) “... murmured Gladys, blushing.” (This poor old shop-worn blush is a tiresome thing. We get so we would rather Gladys would fall out of the book and break her neck than do it again. She is always doing it, and usually irrelevantly. Whenever it is her turn to murmur she hangs out her blush; it is the only thing she’s got. In a little while we hate her, just as we do Richard.) “... repeated Evelyn, bursting into tears.” (This kind keep a book damp all the time. They can’t say a thing without crying. They cry so much about nothing that by and by when they have something to cry ABOUT they have gone dry; they sob, and fetch nothing; we are not moved. We are only glad.) They gravel me, these stale and overworked stage directions, these carbon films that got burnt out long ago and cannot now carry any faintest thread of light. It would be well if they could be relieved from duty and flung out in the literary back yard to rot and disappear along with the discarded and forgotten “steeds” and “halidomes” and similar stage-properties once so dear to our grandfathers. But I am friendly to Mr. Howells’s stage directions; more friendly to them than to any one else’s, I think. They are done with a competent and discriminating art, and are faithful to the requirements of a stage direction’s proper and lawful office, which is to inform. Sometimes they convey a scene and its conditions so well that I believe I could see the scene and get the spirit and meaning of the accompanying dialogue if some one would read merely the stage directions to me and leave out the talk. For instance, a scene like this, from : The Undiscovered Country “... and she laid her arms with a beseeching gesture on her father’s shoulder.” “... she answered, following his gesture with a glance.” “... she said, laughing nervously.” “... she asked, turning swiftly upon him that strange, searching glance.” “... she answered, vaguely.” “... she reluctantly admitted.” “... but her voice died wearily away, and she stood looking into his face with puzzled entreaty.” Mr. Howells does not repeat his forms, and does not need to; he can invent fresh ones without limit. It is mainly the repetition over and over again, by the third-rates, of worn and commonplace and juiceless forms that makes their novels such a weariness and vexation to us, I think. We do not mind one or two deliveries of their wares, but as we turn the pages over and keep on meeting them we presently get tired of them and wish they would do other things for a change. “... replied Alfred, flipping the ash from his cigar.” “... responded Richard, with a laugh.” “... murmured Gladys, blushing.” “... repeated Evelyn, bursting into tears.” “... replied the Earl, flipping the ash from his cigar.” “... responded the undertaker, with a laugh.” “... murmured the chambermaid, blushing.” “... repeated the burglar, bursting into tears.” “... replied the conductor, flipping the ash from his cigar.” “... responded Arkwright, with a laugh.” “... murmured the chief of police, blushing.” “... repeated the house-cat, bursting into tears.” And so on and so on; till at last it ceases to excite. I always notice stage directions, because they fret me and keep me trying to get out of their way, just as the automobiles do. At first; then by and by they become monotonous and I get run over. Mr. Howells has done much work, and the spirit of it is as beautiful as the make of it. I have held him in admiration and affection so many years that I know by the number of those years that he is old now; but his heart isn’t, nor his pen; and years do not count. Let him have plenty of them; there is profit in them for us. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Mark Twain (2004). What Is Man? and Other Essays. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70/pg70-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . The Million Dollar Bond Robbery V. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery “What a number of bond robberies there have been lately!” I observed one morning, laying aside the newspaper. “Poirot, let us forsake the science of detection, and take to crime instead!” “You are on the—how do you say it?—get-rich-quick tack, eh, mon ami?” “Well, look at this last coup, the million dollars’ worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York, and which disappeared in such a remarkable manner on board the Olympia.” “If it were not for the mal de mer, and the difficulty of practising the so excellent method of Laverguier for a longer time than the few hours of crossing the channel, I should delight to voyage myself on one of these big liners,” murmured Poirot dreamily. “Yes, indeed,” I said enthusiastically. “Some of them must be perfect palaces; the swimming-baths, the lounges, the restaurant, the palm courts—really, it must be hard to believe that one is on the sea.” “Me, I always know when I am on the sea,” said Poirot sadly. “And all those bagatelles that you enumerate, they say nothing to me; but, my friend, consider for a moment the geniuses that travel as it were incognito! On board these floating palaces, as you so justly call them, one would meet the élite, the haute noblesse of the criminal world!” I laughed. “So that’s the way your enthusiasm runs! You would have liked to cross swords with the man who sneaked the Liberty Bonds?” The landlady interrupted us. “A young lady as wants to see you, Mr. Poirot. Here’s her card.” The card bore the inscription: Miss Esmée Farquhar, and Poirot, after diving under the table to retrieve a stray crumb, and putting it carefully in the waste-paper-basket, nodded to the landlady to admit her. In another minute one of the most charming girls I have ever seen was ushered into the room. She was perhaps about five-and-twenty, with big brown eyes and a perfect figure. She was well-dressed and perfectly composed in manner. “Sit down, I beg of you, mademoiselle. This is my friend, Captain Hastings, who aids me in my little problems.” “I am afraid it is a big problem I have brought you to-day, Monsieur Poirot,” said the girl, giving me a pleasant bow as she seated herself. “I dare say you have read about it in the papers. I am referring to the theft of Liberty Bonds on the Olympia.” Some astonishment must have shown itself in Poirot’s face, for she continued quickly: “You are doubtless asking yourself what I have to do with a grave institution like the London and Scottish Bank. In one sense nothing, in another sense everything. You see, Monsieur Poirot, I am engaged to Mr. Philip Ridgeway.” “Aha! and Mr. Philip Ridgeway——” “Was in charge of the bonds when they were stolen. Of course no actual blame can attach to him, it was not his fault in any way. Nevertheless, he is half distraught over the matter, and his uncle, I know, insists that he must carelessly have mentioned having them in his possession. It is a terrible set-back in his career.” “Who is his uncle?” “Mr. Vavasour, joint general manager of the London and Scottish Bank.” “Suppose, Miss Farquhar, that you recount to me the whole story?” “Very well. As you know, the Bank wished to extend their credits in America, and for this purpose decided to send over a million dollars in Liberty Bonds. Mr. Vavasour selected his nephew, who had occupied a position of trust in the Bank for many years and who was conversant with all the details of the Bank’s dealings in New York, to make the trip. The Olympia sailed from Liverpool on the 23rd, and the bonds were handed over to Philip on the morning of that day by Mr. Vavasour and Mr. Shaw, the two joint general managers of the London and Scottish Bank. They were counted, enclosed in a package, and sealed in his presence, and he then locked the package at once in his portmanteau.” “A portmanteau with an ordinary lock?” “No, Mr. Shaw insisted on a special lock being fitted to it by Hubbs’s. Philip, as I say, placed the package at the bottom of the trunk. It was stolen just a few hours before reaching New York. A rigorous search of the whole ship was made, but without result. The bonds seemed literally to have vanished into thin air.” Poirot made a grimace. “But they did not vanish absolutely, since I gather that they were sold in small parcels within half an hour of the docking of the Olympia! Well, undoubtedly the next thing is for me to see Mr. Ridgeway.” “I was about to suggest that you should lunch with me at the ‘Cheshire Cheese.’ Philip will be there. He is meeting me, but does not yet know that I have been consulting you on his behalf.” We agreed to this suggestion readily enough, and drove there in a taxi. Mr. Philip Ridgeway was there before us, and looked somewhat surprised to see his fiancée arriving with two complete strangers. He was a nice-looking young fellow, tall and spruce, with a touch of greying hair at the temples, though he could not have been much over thirty. Miss Farquhar went up to him and laid her hand on his arm. “You must forgive my acting without consulting you, Philip,” she said. “Let me introduce you to Monsieur Hercule Poirot, of whom you must often have heard, and his friend, Captain Hastings.” Ridgeway looked very astonished. “Of course I have heard of you, Monsieur Poirot,” he said, as he shook hands. “But I had no idea that Esmée was thinking of consulting you about my—our trouble.” “I was afraid you would not let me do it, Philip,” said Miss Farquhar meekly. “So you took care to be on the safe side,” he observed, with a smile. “I hope Monsieur Poirot will be able to throw some light on this extraordinary puzzle, for I confess frankly that I am nearly out of my mind with worry and anxiety about it.” Indeed, his face looked drawn and haggard and showed only too clearly the strain under which he was labouring. “Well, well,” said Poirot. “Let us lunch, and over lunch we will put our heads together and see what can be done. I want to hear Mr. Ridgeway’s story from his own lips.” Whilst we discussed the excellent steak and kidney pudding of the establishment, Philip Ridgeway narrated the circumstances leading to the disappearance of the bonds. His story agreed with that of Miss Farquhar in every particular. When he had finished, Poirot took up the thread with a question. “What exactly led you to discover that the bonds had been stolen, Mr. Ridgeway?” He laughed rather bitterly. “The thing stared me in the face, Monsieur Poirot. I couldn’t have missed it. My cabin trunk was half out from under the bunk and all scratched and cut about where they’d tried to force the lock.” “But I understood that it had been opened with a key?” “That’s so. They tried to force it, but couldn’t. And, in the end, they must have got it unlocked somehow or other.” “Curious,” said Poirot, his eyes beginning to flicker with the green light I knew so well. “Very curious! They waste much, much time trying to prise it open, and then—sapristi! they find that they have the key all the time—for each of Hubbs’s locks are unique.” “That’s just why they couldn’t have had the key. It never left me day or night.” “You are sure of that?” “I can swear to it, and besides, if they had had the key or a duplicate, why should they waste time trying to force an obviously unforceable lock?” “Ah! there is exactly the question we are asking ourselves! I venture to prophesy that the solution, if we ever find it, will hinge on that curious fact. I beg of you not to assault me if I ask you one more question: Are you perfectly certain you did not leave the trunk unlocked?” Philip Ridgeway merely looked at him, and Poirot gesticulated apologetically. “Ah, but these things can happen, I assure you! Very well, the bonds were stolen from the trunk. What did the thief do with them? How did he manage to get ashore with them?” “Ah!” cried Ridgeway. “That’s just it. How? Word was passed to the Customs authorities, and every soul that left the ship was gone over with a toothcomb!” “And the bonds, I gather, made a bulky package?” “Certainly they did. They could hardly have been hidden on board—and anyway we know they weren’t because they were offered for sale within half an hour of the Olympia’s arrival, long before I got the cables going and the numbers sent out. One broker swears he bought some of them even before the Olympia got in. But you can’t send bonds by wireless.” “Not by wireless, but did any tug come alongside?” “Only the official ones, and that was after the alarm was given when every one was on the look-out. I was watching out myself for their being passed over to some one that way. My God, Monsieur Poirot, this thing will drive me mad! People are beginning to say I stole them myself.” “But you also were searched on landing, weren’t you?” asked Poirot gently. “Yes.” The young man stared at him in a puzzled manner. “You do not catch my meaning, I see,” said Poirot, smiling enigmatically. “Now I should like to make a few inquiries at the Bank.” Ridgeway produced a card and scribbled a few words on it. “Send this in and my uncle will see you at once.” Poirot thanked him, bade farewell to Miss Farquhar, and together we started out for Threadneedle Street and the head office of the London and Scottish Bank. On production of Ridgeway’s card, we were led through the labyrinth of counters and desks, skirting paying-in clerks and paying-out clerks and up to a small office on the first floor where the joint general managers received us. They were two grave gentlemen, who had grown grey in the service of the Bank. Mr. Vavasour had a short white beard, Mr. Shaw was clean shaven. “I understand you are strictly a private inquiry agent?” said Mr. Vavasour. “Quite so, quite so. We have, of course, placed ourselves in the hands of Scotland Yard. Inspector McNeil has charge of the case. A very able officer, I believe.” “I am sure of it,” said Poirot politely. “You will permit a few questions, on your nephew’s behalf? About this lock, who ordered it from Hubbs’s?” “I ordered it myself,” said Mr. Shaw. “I would not trust to any clerk in the matter. As to the keys, Mr. Ridgeway had one, and the other two are held by my colleague and myself.” “And no clerk has had access to them?” Mr. Shaw turned inquiringly to Mr. Vavasour. “I think I am correct in saying that they have remained in the safe where we placed them on the 23rd,” said Mr. Vavasour. “My colleague was unfortunately taken ill a fortnight ago—in fact on the very day that Philip left us. He has only just recovered.” “Severe bronchitis is no joke to a man of my age,” said Mr. Shaw ruefully. “But I am afraid Mr. Vavasour has suffered from the hard work entailed by my absence, especially with this unexpected worry coming on top of everything.” Poirot asked a few more questions. I judged that he was endeavouring to gauge the exact amount of intimacy between uncle and nephew. Mr. Vavasour’s answers were brief and punctilious. His nephew was a trusted official of the Bank, and had no debts or money difficulties that he knew of. He had been entrusted with similar missions in the past. Finally we were politely bowed out. “I am disappointed,” said Poirot, as we emerged into the street. “You hoped to discover more? They are such stodgy old men.” “It is not their stodginess which disappoints me, mon ami. I do not expect to find in a Bank manager a ‘keen financier with an eagle glance’ as your favourite works of fiction put it. No, I am disappointed in the case—it is too easy!” “Easy?” “Yes, do you not find it almost childishly simple?” “You know who stole the bonds?” “I do.” “But then—we must—why——” “Do not confuse and fluster yourself, Hastings. We are not going to do anything at present.” “But why? What are you waiting for?” “For the Olympia. She is due on her return trip from New York on Tuesday.” “But if you know who stole the bonds, why wait? He may escape.” “To a South Sea island where there is no extradition? No, mon ami, he would find life very uncongenial there. As to why I wait—eh bien to the intelligence of Hercule Poirot the case is perfectly clear, but for the benefit of others, not so greatly gifted by the good God—the Inspector McNeil, for instance—it would be as well to make a few inquiries to establish the facts. One must have consideration for those less gifted than oneself.” “Good Lord, Poirot! Do you know, I’d give a considerable sum of money to see you make a thorough ass of yourself—just for once. You’re so confoundedly conceited!” “Do not enrage yourself, Hastings. In verity, I observe that there are times when you almost detest me! Alas, I suffer the penalties of greatness!” The little man puffed out his chest, and sighed so comically that I was forced to laugh. Tuesday saw us speeding to Liverpool in a first-class carriage of the L. & N.W.R. Poirot had obstinately refused to enlighten me as to his suspicions—or certainties. He contented himself with expressing surprise that I, too, was not equally au fait with the situation. I disdained to argue, and entrenched my curiosity behind a rampart of pretended indifference. Once arrived at the quay alongside which lay the big transatlantic liner, Poirot became brisk and alert. Our proceedings consisted in interviewing four successive stewards and inquiring after a friend of Poirot’s who had crossed to New York on the 23rd. “An elderly gentleman, wearing glasses. A great invalid, hardly moved out of his cabin.” The description appeared to tally with one Mr. Ventnor who had occupied the cabin C 24 which was next to that of Philip Ridgeway. Although unable to see how Poirot had deduced Mr. Ventnor’s existence and personal appearance, I was keenly excited. “Tell me,” I cried, “was this gentleman one of the first to land when you got to New York?” The steward shook his head. “No, indeed, sir, he was one of the last off the boat.” I retired crestfallen, and observed Poirot grinning at me. He thanked the steward, a note changed hands, and we took our departure. “It’s all very well,” I remarked heatedly, “but that last answer must have damped your precious theory, grin as you please!” “As usual, you see nothing, Hastings. That last answer is, on the contrary, the coping-stone of my theory.” I flung up my hands in despair. “I give it up.” • • • • • • • When we were in the train, speeding towards London, Poirot wrote busily for a few minutes, sealing up the result in an envelope. “This is for the good Inspector McNeil. We will leave it at Scotland Yard in passing, and then to the Rendezvous Restaurant, where I have asked Miss Esmée Farquhar to do us the honour of dining with us.” “What about Ridgeway?” “What about him?” asked Poirot with a twinkle. “Why, you surely don’t think—you can’t——” “The habit of incoherence is growing upon you, Hastings. As a matter of fact I did think. If Ridgeway had been the thief—which was perfectly possible—the case would have been charming; a piece of neat methodical work.” “But not so charming for Miss Farquhar.” “Possibly you are right. Therefore all is for the best. Now, Hastings, let us review the case. I can see that you are dying to do so. The sealed package is removed from the trunk and vanishes, as Miss Farquhar puts it, into thin air. We will dismiss the thin air theory, which is not practicable at the present stage of science, and consider what is likely to have become of it. Every one asserts the incredibility of its being smuggled ashore——” “Yes, but we know——” “You may know, Hastings. I do not. I take the view that, since it seemed incredible, it was incredible. Two possibilities remain: it was hidden on board—also rather difficult—or it was thrown overboard.” “With a cork on it, do you mean?” “Without a cork.” I stared. “But if the bonds were thrown overboard, they couldn’t have been sold in New York.” “I admire your logical mind, Hastings. The bonds were sold in New York, therefore they were not thrown overboard. You see where that leads us?” “Where we were when we started.” “Jamais de la vie! If the package was thrown overboard, and the bonds were sold in New York, the package could not have contained the bonds. Is there any evidence that the package did contain the bonds? Remember, Mr. Ridgeway never opened it from the time it was placed in his hands in London.” “Yes, but then——” Poirot waved an impatient hand. “Permit me to continue. The last moment that the bonds are seen as bonds is in the office of the London and Scottish Bank on the morning of the 23rd. They reappear in New York half an hour after the Olympia gets in, and according to one man, whom nobody listens to, actually before she gets in. Supposing then, that they have never been on the Olympia at all? Is there any other way they could get to New York? Yes. The Gigantic leaves Southampton on the same day as the Olympia, and she holds the record for the Atlantic. Mailed by the Gigantic, the bonds would be in New York the day before the Olympia arrived. All is clear, the case begins to explain itself. The sealed packet is only a dummy, and the moment of its substitution must be in the office in the Bank. It would be an easy matter for any of the three men present to have prepared a duplicate package which could be substituted for the genuine one. Très bien, the bonds are mailed to a confederate in New York, with instructions to sell as soon as the Olympia is in, but some one must travel on the Olympia to engineer the supposed moment of the robbery.” “But why?” “Because if Ridgeway merely opens the packet and finds it a dummy, suspicion flies at once to London. No, the man on board in the cabin next door does his work, pretends to force the lock in an obvious manner so as to draw immediate attention to the theft, really unlocks the trunk with a duplicate key, throws the package overboard and waits until the last to leave the boat. Naturally he wears glasses to conceal his eyes, and is an invalid since he does not want to run the risk of meeting Ridgeway. He steps ashore in New York and returns by the first boat available.” “But who—which was he?” “The man who had a duplicate key, the man who ordered the lock, the man who has not been severely ill with bronchitis at his home in the country—enfin, that ‘stodgy’ old man, Mr. Shaw! There are criminals in high places sometimes, my friend. Ah, here we are. Mademoiselle, I have succeeded! You permit?” And, beaming, Poirot kissed the astonished girl lightly on either cheek! About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Agatha Christie (2020). Poirot Investigates. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/61262/pg61262-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

104 Stories To Learn About Continuous Integration

The Discovery of Muscovy by Richard Hakluyt is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . ELEGIAC VERSES BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ELEGIAC VERSES BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH In Memory of a Brother Drowned at Sea. TO THE DAISY. Sweet Flower! belike one day to have A place upon thy poet’s grave, I welcome thee once more: But He, who was on land, at sea, My Brother, too, in loving thee, Although he loved more silently, Sleeps by his native shore. Ah! hopeful, hopeful was the day When to that ship he bent his way, To govern and to guide: His wish was gained: a little time Would bring him back in manhood’s prime And free for life, these hills to climb; With all his wants supplied. And full of hope day followed day While that stout Ship at anchor lay Beside the shores of Wight; The May had then made all things green; And, floating there, in pomp serene, That Ship was goodly to be seen, His pride and his delight! Yet then, when called ashore, he sought The tender peace of rural thought: In more than happy mood To your abodes, bright daisy Flowers! He then would steal at leisure hours, And loved you glittering in your bowers, A starry multitude. But hark the word!—the ship is gone;— Returns from her long course:—anon Sets sail:—in season due, Once more on English earth they stand: But, when a third time from the land They parted, sorrow was at hand For Him and for his crew. Ill-fated Vessel?—ghastly shock! —At length delivered from the rock, The deep she hath regained; And through the stormy night they steer; Labouring for life, in hope and fear, To reach a safer shore—how near, Yet not to be attained! “Silence!” the brave Commander cried; To that calm word a shriek replied, It was the last death-shriek. —A few (my soul oft sees that sight) Survive upon the tall mast’s height; But one dear remnant of the night— For Him in vain I seek. Six weeks beneath the moving sea He lay in slumber quietly; Unforced by wind or wave To quit the Ship for which he died, (All claims of duty satisfied); And there they found him at her side; And bore him to the grave. Vain service! yet not vainly done For this, if other end were none, That He, who had been cast Upon a way of life unmeet For such a gentle Soul and sweet, Should find an undisturbed retreat Near what he loved, at last— That neighbourhood of grove and field To Him a resting-place should yield, A meek man and a brave! The birds shall sing and ocean make A mournful murmur for his sake; And Thou, sweet Flower, shalt sleep and wake Upon his senseless grave. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Richard Hakluyt (2003). The Discovery of Muscovy. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4076/pg4076-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

ELEGIAC VERSES BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Trafford Decides to Go

For QA Engineers: How to Use Android Debug Bridge in Mobile Application Testing 

Para ingenieros de control de calidad: cómo utilizar el puente de depuración de Android en las pruebas de aplicaciones móviles

Pour les ingénieurs QA : Comment utiliser Android Debug Bridge dans les tests d'applications mobiles

क्यूए इंजीनियरों के लिए: मोबाइल एप्लिकेशन परीक्षण में एंड्रॉइड डीबग ब्रिज का उपयोग कैसे करें

QA エンジニア向け: モバイル アプリケーションのテストで Android Debug Bridge を使用する方法

Para engenheiros de controle de qualidade: como usar o Android Debug Bridge no teste de aplicativos móveis

Đối với kỹ sư QA: Cách sử dụng Android Debug Bridge trong thử nghiệm ứng dụng dành cho thiết bị di động

对于 QA 工程师：如何在移动应用测试中使用 Android Debug Bridge

Stories, News & Mentions about HUBFORCE

Hubforce’s Stories on HackerNoon