Caruth caught and closed the swinging door, and sat back to await events. Evidently the men he was to see took good precautions to keep their meeting place secure. The drive did not last long. It ended in a street of cheap looking houses, over the door of one of which Caruth descried the number 351. Promptly he dismounted and walked up the steps, noting that his cab drove away the moment he left it. The next instant he had opened the door and stepped into a dimly lighted hall. A man seated on the foot of a flight of stairs that led upward rose as Caruth entered and glanced at him sharply, then made way for him to pass, jerking his thumb over his shoulder as a direction. He added something, probably a word of instruction, but as it was in Russian the American could not profit by it. At the head of the stairs Caruth hesitated for a moment, then tapped at a doorway whence came the low sound of voices. Some one answered, presumably in invitation to enter, and Caruth opened the door and went in. Half a dozen men seated around a table looked up as he entered, and the one at the head addressed him in fair English. “Mr. Caruth?” he questioned. “Yes? I am Sergius Lermantoff. Take a seat, please, Mr. Caruth.” Caruth sat down with a strong feeling of disappointment. Could these be the members of the famous Inner Circle, before which the mighty Czar quailed, and under whose menace the atrocities formerly perpetrated on helpless prisoners had recently come to an end? Certainly they did not look it! Four of them appeared to be stolid peasants, and the other two, including the leader, while more intelligent-looking, did not look at all above the grade of the average immigrant whom Caruth had often seen trailing up town from Castle Garden. Could it be that such men as this held the destinies of a girl like Marie in their hands? Lermantoff addressed him again. “The Brotherhood wishes to thank you, Mr. Caruth, for your kindness in placing your yacht at its disposal in the endeavor to regain the treasure of the _Orkney_. It would be glad if you would answer it some questions about the circumstance at Burndo. I am the only one here who speaks English, so I must act as interpreter.” Caruth nodded, glad enough to give any information that might dispose the Circle favorably toward him later in the proceedings. “I’ll answer them with pleasure,” he responded. Then followed a series of questions regarding the trip of the _Sea Spume_, and the details of her stay at Burndo, all tending to elucidate every phase of the proceedings. Taken together, they amounted to a cross-examination as keen and searching as any he had ever known in a New York court-room. Under their spur, Caruth felt his respect for the other rising and began to understand why he had attained his present power. At last the examination ended. Lermantoff translated the last answer to his companions; then turned back to Caruth. “Now, Mr. Caruth----” he said.