he stones told of a paved
causeway, and at others our smooth, silent course suggested asphalt;
but, save by this variation in sound, there was nothing at all which
could in the remotest way help me to form a guess as to where we were.
The paper over each window was impenetrable to light, and a blue curtain
was drawn across the glass work in front. It was a quarter-past seven
when we left Pall Mall, and my watch showed me that it was ten minutes
to nine when we at last came to a standstill. My companion let down
the window, and I caught a glimpse of a low, arched doorway with a lamp
burning above it. As I was hurried from the carriage it swung open, and
I found myself inside the house, with a vague impression of a lawn
and trees on each side of me as I entered. Whether these were private
grounds, however, or bona-fide country was more than I could possibly
venture to say.

"There was a colored gas-lamp inside which was turned so low that I
could see little save that the hall was of some size and hung with
pictures. In the dim light I could make out that the person who had
opened the door was a small, mean-looking, middle-aged man with rounded
shoulders. As he turned towards us the glint of the light showed me that
he was wearing glasses.

"'Is this Mr. Melas, Harold?' said he.

"'Yes.'

"'Well done, well done! No ill-will, Mr. Melas, I hope, but we could not
get on without you. If you deal fair with us you'll not regret it,
but if you try any tricks, God help you!' He spoke in a nervous, jerky
fashion, and with little giggling laughs in between, but somehow he
impressed me with fear more than the other.

"'What do you want with me?' I asked.

"'Only to ask a few questions of a Greek gentleman who is visiting us,
and to let us have the answers. But say no more than you are told to
say, or--' here came the nervous giggle again--'you had better never
have been born.'

"As he spoke he opened a door and showed the way into a room which
appeared to be very richly furnished, but again the only light was
afforded by a single lamp half-turned down. The chamber was certainly
large, and the way in which my feet sank into the carpet as I stepped
across it told me of its richness. I caught glimpses of velvet chairs, a
high white marble mantel-piece, and what seemed to be a suit of Japanese
armor at one side of it. There was a chair just under the lamp, and the
elderly man motioned that I should sit in it. The younger had lef