hurriedly as we entered, walked across to the desk, and
resting his hand on it, made us a bow. This was Monsieur Nikitos, the
lieutenant of the mighty enterprise. I must confess that his pose at
that moment was less of the financier than of a world-famous virtuoso at
the piano bowing to a tumult of applause.

"'This is the Chief Engineer,' said Jack. The virtuoso favoured me with
a special bow, and waved his hand to a couple of chairs.

"'Take a seat, Captain. Take a seat, Mister Chief. Mr. Gruenbaum is
engaged at the moment. I take the opportunity of mentioning the little
matter we discussed yesterday, Captain. I have no doubt you will take
shares in our company.'

"Jack looked at me, and I regarded Monsieur Nikitos with fresh interest.
He was a most mysterious creature to look at, now we were close to him.
He was quite young, not more than twenty-five, and the black fuzz on his
face gave him a singularly dirty appearance. As he sat in his swivel
chair with the tails of his dusty frock coat draped over the arms,
tapping his large white teeth with his pen and brushing his black hair
from his blotchy forehead, he suddenly gave me the impression of a poet
trying to think of a rhyme.

"'We have decided,' I said, and he dropped his hands and inclined his
ear, 'to think it over.' He slumped back in his chair, smiled, and shook
his head. Then he straightened up and reaching for a ruler looked
critically at it.

"'We cannot wait. In affairs of finance one must think quickly, then
act--so!' He snapped his thumb and finger. 'If not, the chance is gone.
Now I show you. To-day, Captain Macedoine resigns. Yes! To-morrow, _I_
resign. Like that. To-morrow also, Monsieur Spilliazeza, our invaluable
manager of works, resigns! To-night, the _Osmanli_ calls for the mails.
We go by the _Osmanli_, our vessel, to Saloniki. We arrive. We take
action at once.' He waved his arms. 'Action! Next week it will be too
late. Option taken up, work commenced, contracts awarded, organization
complete. It is all here.' He tapped his forehead. 'I have it complete,
in inauguration, here.' And he regarded us with a gaze of rapt
abstraction in his brilliant black eyes.

"I don't mind telling you that the chief impression this performance
made upon me was that he was a lunatic. Jack was staring solemnly at
him. I imagine he began to have doubts of the wisdom of entrusting this
creature with real money. And then a bell tinkled, one of a pair of high
d