MR. JOSEPH HEATHCOTE lived in grand style in one of the mansions in the Bayswater Road. That was his town house, and everything about it suggested affluence and luxury, a plethora, in fact, of this world’s gear. But Mr. Joseph Heathcote also had a very snug little box down in Wales not far from Llandudno. It was called Menai Castle, and was not only replete with every comfort but was luxuriously appointed, and to this quiet retreat Mr. Heathcote occasionally retired when he could spare a few days, and give himself a rest from his multifarious duties.
At the period at which I am dealing with the gentleman’s career he was a director of numerous companies, amongst many other things. He had been termed in the polite language of the financial papers a “professional guinea pig,” and the term wa
