me back."

"How long do you expect to be there?"

"Two weeks at most; but perhaps I'll come right back."

INDUCTION

On arriving at the train, Caesar bought all the evening papers. In one
of them he found an article entitled: _The Projects of the Minister of
Finance_, and he read it carefully.

The writer said that the Minister of Finance had never been so closely
identified with the Conservative Cabinet as at that moment; that he
had plans for a number of projects for the salvation of the Spanish
Treasury, which he would briefly explain.

"It's a witty joke," thought Caesar.

He was too well acquainted with the market and monetary affairs in
general, too well acquainted with the sterling worth of the famous
financier not to understand the idea of his scheme.

Caesar knew that the Minister not only was not on good terms with his
colleagues in the Government, but was at sword's points with them, and
was moreover disposed to give up his portfolio from one day to the next.

Whence came this haste to launch the plan for the suppression of the
government tax and restoring the value of the currency? Why did he send
him, Caesar, on this errand, and not somebody in the Department?

His haste to launch the plan was easy to comprehend.

The Minister was about to give a decisive impulse to all stocks; the
suppression of the affidavit and the restoring the value of the currency
would shove up domestic paper in Spain and foreign stocks in France to
extraordinary heights. Then a difficulty with the Speaker, a moment of
anger, such as was to be expected in a character like the Minister's,
would oblige him to offer his resignation... prices would take a
terrible drop, and the Minister, having already planned for a big bear
scoop in Paris, would clear some hundreds of thousands of francs and
keep his reputation as a patriot and an excellent financier.

Why was he sending Caesar? No doubt because he suspected his secretary,
whom he had probably given similar missions to previously.

Caesar knew the Minister well. He had described him in his notes in
these words: "He is dark and brachicephalic; a man of tradition and
good common sense; average intellect, astute, a good father and a good
Catholic. He believes himself cleverer than he really is. His two
leading passions are vanity and money."

Caesar knew the Minister, but the Minister did not know Caesar. He
imagined him to be a man of brilliant intellect, but incapable