undercurrents whose flow we can neither trace nor follow. These will
take him to places where we could not get, and show him things that we
could not find."

"Which fine metaphor boiled down signifies that you want to bring the
man into partnership because he is a professional conspirator."

"Put it that way if you like. Also you must not forget that you and I
are at present dead-locked."

"So that we have all to gain and nothing to lose. Precisely; old man,
you've put it in a nutshell. The only other thing is, do you think
Taltavull would play fair?"

"We must risk that. It isn't a matter one could make out a paper
agreement over, and sign our names to across a charter-party stamp. But
I think, from what I saw of him, Taltavull is not the man to do an
unfair thing to any one who treats him well. But, as I say, we must be
prepared to risk it."

"All right then," said Haigh; "so far as I'm concerned, I'm quite
willing. You do the recruiting. We might call ourselves the Raymond
Lully Exploitation Company, Limited."

I went out there and then about the errand, and found Taltavull at his
own house, sitting in a huge stuffed armchair. He was reading
_L'Intransigeant_, and marking in blue pencil the points where he
considered its racy blackguardisms were not sufficiently pungent.

The furniture of a Spanish sitting-room is made up, as a rule, of
whitewash on the walls, and a good supply of eighteenpenny rush-seated
chairs scattered about the tiled floor. This is on account of the
climate, which at times makes all appearances of coolness to be highly
appreciated. But the anarchist was not a Spaniard, nor an Italian, nor
anything else so narrow. He was a man of no nationality, and
cosmopolitan, and sublimely proud of that expansiveness. Consequently,
he had taken his ideas of furniture from a more northern island, and
had his room well crammed with massive mahogany and dark oak, with the
upholstery in dull crimson velvet. To be sure, no style could be more
unsuited to the climate, but then, on the other hand, it was a standing
witness of his emancipation from all restraint. The thing might bring
him discomfort, but that was a secondary matter, and he was prepared to
suffer for his faith's sake. Certain hard and fast principles always
came first with him, and in the heavy mahogany and the hot plush velvet
none of them were violated.

He put down his paper when I was announced, and said he was glad to see
me; and I hon