nalistic reputation at the
cable's mouth.

It happened that I had allowed myself to heed the glib tongue of a
hotel-runner before I left the rice-steamer, and he had commandeered my
bag and taken it to the Oriente Hotel, of which I knew nothing except
that it was in the walled city and across the river from the cable
office. To recapture the bag and my clean linen I would have to take an
instrument of torture known as a _carromatta_ and drive across the Bridge
of Spain.

I could cross the river in a small boat with a Filipino pirate, and go on
a hunt for a conveyance on the other side; but thought it better to risk
being shaken to death than drowned in the dirty Pasig, so I hailed a
_cochero_. The villain demanded a double rate, and, while we were
haggling, a bus of the Oriente drew in sight and I caught it as it was
spinning up Calle San Fernando.

When I crawled into the bus I wished that I had struck a bargain with the
thief of a _cochero_, for I found myself in a seat beside the whining
missionary. He prayed for his bones over the rough places, and for his
life, when the driver took a corner recklessly, and made us all very
weary with his eternal complaining. That was not the worst of it--he
tried to strike up an acquaintance with me.

There was a letter in my coat-pocket which had been given to me in Saigon
to deliver to the Russian consul in Manila. It was an errand for the
cable-operator there, who had done me favours, and I was to leave it at
the Hong-Kong-Shanghai Bank for the consul, who would call for it. That
bank carried an expense account for me, so the delivery of the letter
was of no trouble. The envelope was long and official-looking, and it
fell to the floor of the bus as I clambered in.

Meeker picked it up and handed it to me, but for the instant he held it
he read the address:

Russian Consul,
Care Hong-Kong-Shanghai Bank,
Manila
Courtesy Mr. James A. Trenholm,
Amalgamated Press

"My dear sir," said Meeker, "you have dropped a document--allow me."

"Thank you," I replied, and took the letter, which was quite bulky and
sealed with a splotch of black wax imprinted with a coat of arms or a
crest, or some such insignia. I fear I betrayed my irritation over
Meeker's reading the address.

"No offence, I trust, my dear sir," he said, mild surprise in his tone.

"None whatever," I snapped back; but our companions in the bus smiled and
winked at me openly, as if they appreciated my cold manner