ng the door carefully. The upper half was of toughened glass and
bore the simple inscription:

"THE GOSSIP'S CORNER.
KNOCK."

Obediently the stranger knocked and the door opened through an invisible
agent, much to the man's surprise, though there was nothing more magical
about the phenomenon than there is about any electrically controlled
office door.

He found himself in a room sparsely furnished with a table, a chair and
a few copies of papers. An old school map of England hung on one wall
and a Landseer engraving on the other. At the farthermost end of the
room was another door, and to this he gravitated and again, after a
moment's hesitation, he knocked.

"Come in," said a voice.

He entered cautiously.

The room was larger and was comfortably furnished. There were shaded
electric lamps on either side of the big carved oak writing-table. One
of the walls was covered with books, and the litter of proofs upon the
table suggested that this was the sanctorum.

But the most remarkable feature of the room was the man who sat at the
desk. He was a man solidly built and, by his voice, of middle age. His
face the new-comer could not see and for excellent reason. It was hidden
behind a veil of fine silk net which had been adjusted over the head
like a loose bag and tightened under the chin.

The man at the table chuckled when he saw the other's surprise.

"Sit down," he said--he spoke in French--"and don't, I beg of you, be
alarmed."

"Monsieur," said the new-comer easily, "be assured that I am not
alarmed. In this world nothing has ever alarmed me except my own
distressing poverty and the prospect of dying poor."

The veiled figure said nothing for a while.

"You have come in answer to my advertisement," he said after a long
pause.

The other bowed.

"You require an assistant, Monsieur," said the new-comer, "discreet,
with a knowledge of foreign languages and poor. I fulfill all those
requirements," he went on calmly; "had you also added, of an adventurous
disposition, with few if any scruples, it would have been equally
descriptive."

The stranger felt that the man at the desk was looking at him, though he
could not see his eyes. It must have been a long and careful scrutiny,
for presently the advertiser said gruffly:

"I think you'll do."

"Exactly," said the new-comer with cool assurance; "and now it is for
you, dear Monsieur, to satisfy me