urgency that nobody should trace you from my house to the station or from the station here. Is that clear?' 'Lucid as Helicon itself,' said Poyning, removing his eyeglass and wiping it with a handkerchief of perfumed silk. 'Then let me hear what you are going to do.' It surprised me a little to hear Philipson make this demand. He had rattled off his string of orders so fast that I expected he would at least give the youth something in writing, however cryptic, to remember them by. But my real surprise came when Poyning recited the whole, not only accurately, but, as far as I could myself remember, in Philipson's own words. The latter sprang to his feet. 'Excellent,' he said. 'You already begin to justify my belief in your capability. Those are your marching orders, then. Carry them out as exactly as you have rehearsed them, and payment awaits you on your return.' 'If I might suggest two amendments--' began Poyning. 'What do you mean?' 'This. My own rooms in Shanghai are still, I regret to say, unsettled for. I propose to utilise part of the day in closing them. For this purpose I should be glad of certain of those thousand dollars in advance. The opportunity of withdrawing from that hub of commerce in strict honour and solvency may not present itself to me again, gentlemen. It must be grasped now.' 'Then you are not going back to Shanghai eventually?' 'I do not regard that as at all probable.' 'What are you going to do here?' 'I was not, to tell the truth, proposing to remain in this picturesque but somewhat unpromising field of labour, either.' 'Indeed. Well, it is no affair of mine, Poyning, but if I could put you in the way of a berth, I would--particularly if you carry out this commission of mine satisfactorily. Have you any idea _what_ you are going to do?' Poyning's small freckled features wrinkled into a grin. 'I think it is more than possible,' he said, 'that I shall accompany you to Chungking and those more distant regions which you will be visiting in the near future.' Philipson set down his glass with a clatter. 'What the devil do you know about our intentions?' he said sharply. 'I pretend to no exact knowledge,' replied Poyning, waving his small hand, 'but I should be dull indeed if I had gathered no inkling from what you have told me. You see, Philipson, I'm no fool, though my classical qualifications may not seem an asset in the pork-packing circles where I have vainly hawked them. You are going to Chungking--your letter of credit betrays as much. But the amount of the cheque which you will give me to change and the length of time you will be away seem to me to indicate that your true objective lies beyond that port: that you have, in fact, some rather considerable expedition in view.' 'Suppose we have. What use do you think you could be to us?'