one brand of cigarette! It
was the last, least touch of the insatiable artist, and it charmed away
what mortification there still remained in me. Once more I felt the
fascination of a comrade who was forever dazzling one with a fresh and
unsuspected facet of his character.

As we neared Piccadilly I wondered what he would do. Surely he was not
going into the Albany like that? No, he took another omnibus to Sloane
Street, I sitting behind him as before. At Sloane Street we changed
again, and were presently in the long lean artery of the King's Road.
I was now all agog to know our destination, nor was I kept many more
minutes in doubt. Raffles got down. I followed. He crossed the road
and disappeared up a dark turning. I pressed after him, and was in
time to see his coat-tails as he plunged into a still darker flagged
alley to the right. He was holding himself up and stepping out like a
young man once more; also, in some subtle way, he already looked less
disreputable. But I alone was there to see him, the alley was
absolutely deserted, and desperately dark. At the further end he
opened a door with a latch-key, and it was darker yet within.

Instinctively I drew back and heard him chuckle. We could no longer see
each other.

"All right, Bunny! There's no hanky-panky this time. These are
studios, my friend, and I'm one of the lawful tenants."

Indeed, in another minute we were in a lofty room with skylight,
easels, dressing-cupboard, platform, and every other adjunct save the
signs of actual labor. The first thing I saw, as Raffles lit the gas,
was its reflection in his silk hat on the pegs beside the rest of his
normal garments.

"Looking for the works of art?" continued Raffles, lighting a cigarette
and beginning to divest himself of his rags. "I'm afraid you won't
find any, but there's the canvas I'm always going to make a start upon.
I tell them I'm looking high and low for my ideal model. I have the
stove lit on principle twice a week, and look in and leave a newspaper
and a smell of Sullivans--how good they are after shag! Meanwhile I
pay my rent and am a good tenant in every way; and it's a very useful
little pied-a-terre--there's no saying how useful it might be at a
pinch. As it is, the billy-cock comes in and the topper goes out, and
nobody takes the slightest notice of either; at this time of night the
chances are that there's not a soul in the building except ourselves."

"You never tol