of information."

"So I supposed. My colleague, Henry Alder, saw Hazel this afternoon at
the offices of the Board. The good man Hazel is panic-stricken at the
explosion he has caused, and is in a very nervous state of mind, more
especially when he learned that his documents had gone to an unexpected
quarter. Fortunately for him, the offices of the Board are thronged
with journalists who want to get statements from this man or the other
regarding the exposure, and so the visit of Alder to Hazel was not
likely to be noticed or commented upon. Hazel gave a graphic description
of the handsome young woman who had so cleverly wheedled the documents
from him, and who paid him the exact sum agreed upon in the exact way
that it was to have been paid. Alder had not seen you, and has not the
slightest idea how the important news slipped through his fingers; but
when he told me what had happened, I knew at once you were the goddess
of the machine, therefore I have been waiting for you. May I be
permitted to express the opinion that you didn't play your cards at all
well, Miss Baxter?"

"No? I think I played my cards very much better than you played yours,
you know."

"Oh, I am not instituting any comparison, and am not at all setting
myself up as a model of strategy. I admit that, having the right cards
in my hands, I played them exceedingly badly; but then, you understand,
I thought I was sure of an exclusive bit of news."

"No news is exclusive, Mr. Hardwick, until it is printed, and out in the
streets, and the other papers haven't got it."

"That is very true, and has all the conciseness of an adage. I would
like to ask, Miss Baxter, how much the _Graphite_ paid you for that
article over and above the fifty pounds you gave to Hazel?"

"Oh! it wasn't a question of money with me; the subject hasn't even been
discussed. Mr. Stoneham is not a generous paymaster, and that is why I
desire to get on a paper which does not count the cost too closely. What
I wished to do was to convince you that I would be a valuable addition
to the _Bugle_ staff; for you seemed to be of opinion that the staff was
already sufficient and complete."

"Oh, my staff is not to blame in this matter; I alone am to blame in
being too sure of my ground, and not realizing the danger of delay in
such a case. But if you had brought the document to me, you would have
found me by far your best customer. You would have convinced me quite as
effectually as you h