mirror,
and turning to nod his satisfaction to the well-known perruquier whose
services are sometimes requisitioned by the police authorities.

We were ready for our visit to the Cafe de l'Egypte, and Smith having
deemed it inadvisable that we should appear there openly, we had been
transformed, under the adroit manipulation of Foster, into a pair of
Futurists oddly unlike our actual selves. No wigs, no false mustaches
had been employed; a change of costume and a few deft touches of some
water-color paint had rendered us unrecognizable by our most intimate
friends.

It was all very fantastic, very reminiscent of Christmas charades, but
the farce had a grim, murderous undercurrent; the life of one dearer
to me than life itself hung upon our success; the swamping of the White
world by Yellow hordes might well be the price of our failure.

Weymouth left us at the corner of Frith Street. This was no more than
a reconnaissance, but--

"I shall be within hail if I'm wanted," said the burly detective; and
although we stood not in Chinatown but in the heart of Bohemian London,
with popular restaurants about us, I was glad to know that we had so
stanch an ally in reserve.

The shadow of the great Chinaman was upon me. That strange,
subconscious voice, with which I had become familiar in the past,
awoke within me to-night. Not by logic, but by prescience, I knew that
the Yellow doctor was near.

Two minutes walk brought us to the door of the cafe. The upper half
was of glass, neatly curtained, as were the windows on either side of
it; and above the establishment appeared the words: "Cafe de l'Egypte."
Between the second and third word was inserted a gilded device
representing the crescent of Islam.

We entered. On our right was a room furnished with marble-topped
tables, cane-seated chairs and plush-covered lounges set against the
walls. The air was heavy with tobacco smoke; evidently the cafe was
full, although the night was young.

Smith immediately made for the upper end of the room. It was not large,
and at first glance I thought that there was no vacant place. Presently,
however, I espied two unoccupied chairs; and these we took, finding
ourselves facing a pale, bespectacled young man, with long, fair hair
and faded eyes, whose companion, a bold brunette, was smoking one of
the largest cigarettes I had ever seen, in a gold and amber cigar-holder.

A very commonplace Swiss waiter took our orders for coffee, and we