rakish, elderly degenerate. I was remarkable in nothing except height, and even that singularity departed as I learned to stoop. In such guise I returned to London by way of Boulogne and Folkestone, and I took up residence immediately in a tenement-house in Soho, to which I had been recommended by my friend, the costumier. It was a curious place. It was populated by Frenchmen, Italians, and a sprinkling of Swiss, and a number of Russian political refugees. I found them a decent lot of law-abiding miserables. The majority were derelicts of fortune, who lived like parasites on the toil of some few hardworking, foolish artisans among them. And yet, despite their deplorable estate, they always had a cheerful word and a smile to spare for a stranger. They were a picturesque, interesting people, and I should have liked to study them under other circumstances. But placed as I was, I conceived it best to keep my room as much as possible, and I only went abroad to buy a paper and to eat and drink. On the fourth morning the expected summons came to hand. It was the first advertisement in the column. "D. Menchikoff. Fearless. Doorfront. Twelve. Unfailing. Noiseless. Open. Mizpah." And this I interpreted to mean, "Fearlessly approach the front door at midnight this evening! You will find it open. Enter without noise! God be with you till we meet!" Chapter XXIV The Gin Is Sprung I set out wearing rubber shoes and armed with a loaded revolver. This I concealed in my breast pocket. I timed myself so nicely that I arrived at Sir Robert Ottley's mansion on the fifth stroke of twelve. Forthwith I mounted the steps and softly tried the door. It was ajar. I pushed it back and entered, closing it noiselessly behind me. I locked it, too. The hall was unlighted and black as Erebus. I stood for a moment or two listening breathlessly. Then I thought I heard a sigh. "May!" I whispered. I was answered by a sibilant soft "S-Sh!" Then a hand was laid upon my sleeve and I felt myself drawn forward. I gave myself up to be guided the more willingly that I hardly knew the place. We came to a staircase. My guide breathed "S-Sh" again, and muttered "stairs." We climbed them step by step. Heavens, how dark it was! Afterwards I was drawn like a shadow through a maze of thickly carpeted corridors. Finally, we stopped. The hand left my arm and I heard a door creak open. "Come!" whispered my guide. I stepped towards a dim, dim glow, and as I crossed the threshold, the door, shutting on my entrance, grazed my arm. "At last!" the voice whispered. It was a signal. Hardly was it uttered than a blaze of white light stabbed the darkness. I found myself in an immense apartment, blinking foolishly into the muzzle of a revolver presented at my forehead by Dr. Belleville. Our eyes met presently across the sights. His were smiling coldly. "An excellent disguise, Dr. Pinsent; my sincere congratulations," he observed. "It is evident you have obeyed my instructions to the letter."