oll with me in
the Park, and had left Bond Street in order to turn westward, when,
emerging from a shop on the other side of the road, I espied the writer
of one of the most important of the many letters I had found awaiting
me at the studio. He was a member of my own club, and thinking I had
better apologise to him while I had the chance for not having answered
his letter sooner, I hastened after him. He, however, seemed to be in a
hurry, and as soon as it came to a race between us it was evident that
he had the advantage of me on a point of speed. I chased him until I saw
that he was bound for the club, whereupon, knowing I should be certain
to catch him there, I slackened my pace and strolled leisurely along. In
other days I had often been twitted in a jocular fashion by my friends
about my membership of this particular club. The reputation it possessed
was excellent in every way, but it certainly must be confessed that what
it gained in respectability it lacked in liveliness. For the most part
the men who made use of it were middle-aged--in point of fact, I believe
there were but two younger than myself; consequently the atmosphere of
the house, while being always dignified, was sometimes cold almost to
the borders of iciness.

On this particular day there was an additional air of gloom about it
that rather puzzled me. When, however, I had finished my conversation
with the man I had been following, and sought the smoking-room, the
reason of it soon became apparent. That terrible fear which was destined
within a few hours to paralyse all London was already beginning to make
its presence felt, and as a result the room, usually so crowded, now
contained but four men. These greeted me civilly enough, but without any
show of interest. They were gathered round one of their number who was
seated at a table with a pencil in his hand and a map of Europe spread
out before him. From the way in which he was laying down the law, I
gathered that he was demonstrating some theory upon which he pinned
considerable faith.

"I have worked the whole thing out," he was saying as I entered, "and
you can see it here for yourselves. On this sheet of paper I have pasted
every telegram that has reached London from the time the disease first
made its appearance in Constantinople. As each country became affected I
coloured it upon the map in red, while these spots of a darker shade
represent the towns from which the first cases were notified.