“It is characteristic of him that you know so little about him,” replied Mr. Solan, “for although he is one of the most dangerous and intellectually powerful men in the world he gets very little publicity nowadays. Most of the much-advertised Naughty Boys of the Nineties harmed no one but themselves--they merely canonised their own and each other’s dirty linen, but Clinton was in a class by himself. He was--and no doubt still is--an accomplished corrupter, and he took, and no doubt still takes, a jocund delight in his hobby. Eventually he left England--by request--and went out East. He spent some years in a Tibetan Monastery, and then some other years in less reputable places--his career is detailed very fully in a file in my study--and then he applied his truly mighty mind to what I may loosely call magic--for what I loosely call magic, my dear Bellamy, most certainly exists. Clinton is highly psychic, with great natural hypnotic power. He then joined an esoteric and little-known sect--Satanists--of which he eventually became High Priest. And then he returned to what we call civilisation, and has since been ‘moved on’ by the Civil Powers of many countries, for his forte is the extraction of money from credulous and timid individuals--usually female--by methods highly ingenious and peculiarly his own. It is a boast of his that he has never yet missed his revenge. He ought to be stamped out with the brusque ruthlessness meted out to a spreading fire in a Californian forest. “Well, there is a short inadequate sketch of Oscar Clinton, and now about these paper patterns.” * * * * * Two hours later Bellamy got up to leave. “I can lend you a good many of his books,” said Mr. Solan, “and you can get the rest at Lilley’s. Come to me from four till six on Wednesdays and Fridays, and I’ll teach you all I think essential. Meanwhile, I will have a watch kept upon him, but I want you, my dear Bellamy, to do nothing decisive till you are qualified. It would be a pity if the Bar were to be deprived of your great gifts prematurely.” “Many thanks,” said Bellamy. “I have now placed myself in your hands, and I’m in this thing till the end--some end or other.”