by
them, vowed that Mrs. Hauksbee was the greatest woman on earth. Which I
believe was true, or nearly so.

"The honest course is always the best," said Tarrion after an hour and a
half of study and conversation. "All things considered, the Intelligence
Branch is about my form. Either that or the Foreign Office. I go to lay
siege to the High Gods in their Temples."

He did not seek a little man, or a little big man, or a weak Head of a
strong Department, but he called on the biggest and strongest man that
the Government owned, and explained that he wanted an appointment at
Simla on a good salary. The compound insolence of this amused the Strong
Man, and, as he had nothing to do for the moment, he listened to the
proposals of the audacious Tarrion. "You have, I presume, some special
qualifications, besides the gift of self-assertion, for the claims you
put forwards?" said the Strong Man. "That, Sir," said Tarrion, "is for
you to judge." Then he began, for he had a good memory, quoting a few of
the more important notes in the papers--slowly and one by one as a
man drops chlorodyne into a glass. When he had reached the peremptory
order--and it WAS a peremptory order--the Strong Man was troubled.

Tarrion wound up:--"And I fancy that special knowledge of this kind is
at least as valuable for, let us say, a berth in the Foreign Office, as
the fact of being the nephew of a distinguished officer's wife." That hit
the Strong Man hard, for the last appointment to the Foreign Office had
been by black favor, and he knew it. "I'll see what I can do for you,"
said the Strong Man. "Many thanks," said Tarrion. Then he left, and the
Strong Man departed to see how the appointment was to be blocked.

. . . . . . . . .

Followed a pause of eleven days; with thunders and lightnings and much
telegraphing. The appointment was not a very important one, carrying
only between Rs. 500 and Rs. 700 a month; but, as the Viceroy said, it
was the principle of diplomatic secrecy that had to be maintained,
and it was more than likely that a boy so well supplied with special
information would be worth translating. So they translated him. They
must have suspected him, though he protested that his information was
due to singular talents of his own. Now, much of this story, including
the after-history of the missing envelope, you must fill in for
yourself, because there are reasons why it cannot be written. If you do
not kno