drew beneath the seat and pressed her chin to the ground, savouring
the sensation of a new motion.

"Yes," he thought, "those eyes have an almost superhuman force and
cunning. They are the eyes of a spider in the centre of a great web.
They seem to draw me."

"You are undoubtedly the Unseen Power, sir," he said suddenly, "and I
have reached the heart of the mystery. From your own lips I shall soon
know whether I am a puppet or a public man."

The Personage, who by his movements was clearly under the impression that
he had to do with a lunatic, sat forward with his hands on his knees
ready to rise at a moment's notice; he kept his cigar in his mouth,
however, and an enforced smile on the folds of his face.

"What can I do for you, sir?" he said.

"Will you have a cigar?"

"No, thank you," replied Mr. Lavender, "I must keep the eyes of my spirit
clear, and come to the point. Do you rule this country or do you not?
For it is largely on the answer to this that my future depends. In
telling others what to do am I speaking as my conscience or as your
conscience dictates; and, further, if indeed I am speaking as your
conscience dictates, have you a conscience?"

The Personage, who had evidently made up his mind to humour the intruder,
flipped the ash off his cigar.

Well, sir, he said, I don't know who the devil you may be, but my
conscience is certainly as good as yours."

"That," returned Mr: Lavender with a sigh, is a great relief, for whether
you rule the country or not, you are undoubtedly the source from which I,
together with the majority of my countrymen, derive our inspirations. You
are the fountainhead at which we draw and drink. And to know that your
waters are pure, unstained by taint of personal prejudice and the love of
power, will fortify us considerably. Am I to assume, then, that above
all passion and pettiness, you are an impersonal force whose innumerable
daily editions reflect nothing but abstract truth, and are in no way the
servants of a preconceived and personal view of the situation?"

"You want to know too much, don't you think?" said the Personage with a
smile.

"How can that be, sir?" asked Mr. Lavender: If you are indeed the
invisible king swaying the currents of national life, and turning its
tides at will, it is essential that we should believe in you; and before
we can believe in you must we not know all about you?"

"By Jove, sir," replied the Personage, "that strikes me as being c