up by the
horrors of his position that he forgets to offer a temptation in the way
of reward, and speaks of outlandish things as though they must be
understood of all. As witness his allusion to something which he calls
'The Red Crawl,' without attempting to explain the meaningless phrase.
Whatever it is, it is so real to him that it seems as if everybody must
understand."

"You think, then, that the thing is genuine?"

"So genuine that I shall answer its call, Mr. Narkom, and be alone in
the dark on the top floor of No. 7, Rue Toison d'Or to-morrow night as
surely as the clock strikes nine."

And that was how the few persons who happened to be in the quiet upper
reaches of the Rue Bienfaisance at half-past eight o'clock the next
evening came to see a fat, fussy, red-faced Englishman in a gray
frock-coat, white spats, and a shining topper, followed by a liveried
servant with a hat-box in one hand and a portmanteau in the other, so
conspicuous, the pair of them, that they couldn't have any desire to
conceal themselves, cross over the square before the Church of St.
Augustine, fare forth into the darker side passages, and move in the
direction of the street of the Golden Fleece.

They were, of course, Cleek and his devoted henchman Dollops--a youth he
had picked up out of the streets of London and given a home, and whose
especial virtues were a dog-like devotion to his employer, a facility
for eating without ever seeming to get filled, and fighting without ever
seeming to get tired.

"Lumme, guv'ner," whispered he, as they turned at last into the utter
darkness and desertion of the narrow Rue Toison d'Or, "if this is wot
yer calls Gay Paree, this precious black slit between two rows of
houses, I'll take a slice of the Old Kent Road with thanks. Not even so
much as a winkle-stall in sight, and me that empty my shirt-bosom's
a-chafing my blessed shoulder-blades!"

"You'll see plenty of life before the game's over, I warrant you,
Dollops. Now, then, my lad, here's a safe spot. Sit down on the hat-box
and wait. That's No. 7, that empty house with the open door, just across
the way. Keep your eye on it. I don't know how long I'll be, but if
anybody comes out before I do, mind you don't let him get away."

"No fear!" said Dollops sententiously. "I'll be after him as if he was a
ham sandwich, sir. Look out for my patent 'Tickle Tootsies' when you
come out, guv'ner. I'll sneak over and put 'em round the door as soon as