"His apologies!" echoed the Italian, with a very marked accent and a gesture of ridicule. "The apologies of 'The Golden Face'! Ah! my dear friend, you are his secretary; you are not the principal in this very serious affair." "Serious. How?" I asked in pretense of ignorance, and hoping thereby to learn something. "_Madonna Santa!_ You do not know--you do not realize the depths of that man's villainy! I do! I am the one person who has penetrated the veil of secrecy beneath which he has so long remained hidden. Querot, of the Paris Surete, and Tetani, of the Public Security of Italy, are my friends. I can now go to them, as I shall." "My dear sir!" I exclaimed. "The matter is no affair of mine! I am simply a paid secretary to do Mr. Rayne's correspondence, and sometimes to drive his car. There my engagement ends." "Then be very careful! Be warned by me!" the Italian cried, gazing at me very seriously. "This man, your employer, is the leader of the most wonderfully organized gang of criminals in Europe. I happen to know." "How?" I asked. He looked at me strangely, and his manner changed. His dark eyes seemed to search mine, and then next instant he smiled mysteriously. "I will tell you the truth," he said. "The reason I know is because I have unwittingly--owing to a little lapse from the path of honesty--been made one of the tools of this man whose marvelous brain controls the actions of dozens of the most unscrupulous and dangerous thieves on the Continent. My suspicions were aroused by something a woman told me in Paris, and for many months I have been unceasing in my inquiries. I have at last discovered the well-concealed chief who gives his orders like a general in the field, and those orders are obeyed to the letter without question, and always to the profit of those who execute them. And here," he added, gazing around, "I am in the fine house of the man of mystery for whom the police are ever seeking--'The Golden Face'!" "What you have said certainly surprises me," I replied. "Surely there must be some mistake. Mr. Rayne is not the leader of a criminal gang. He is simply a country landowner here." "Under that guise he poses unsuspected by the police," laughed my visitor. "You can rest assured that I have made every inquiry and that now I know." "And what are your intentions?" I asked. "Surely you will go and see him in London?" The truth was out, and I saw that the Italian meant mischief. "Perhaps I shall go to the police at once," he said. "Perhaps I shall go to London. I shall consider. He made an appointment and he has broken his promise. He fears me! That is quite plain. But, signore, I am here in England to bring him to justice, if only for one very serious crime--a crime that a woman witness I have can prove!" "This is all very distressing to me, especially as Mr. Rayne has a daughter, a young lady who is entirely ignorant of her father's source of income," I said.