ight be more vigilant
than ever. There is a new hand in the game. He may not suspect us yet
but he will. You understand, Jarvis?"

"Perfectly, sir."

The man withdrew noiselessly. Once more Granet walked to the window.
He looked down for a few minutes at the passers-by but he saw nothing.
Grave thoughts were gathering together in his mind. He was travelling
along the road of horrors and at the further end of it a man stood
waiting. He saw himself draw nearer and nearer to the meeting his name
almost frame itself upon his lips, the name of the man whom he had grown
to hate.

CHAPTER IX

Considering the crowded state of the waiting-room and the number
of highly important people who were there for the same purpose,
Surgeon-Major Thomson seemed to have remarkably little difficulty in
procuring the interview he desired. He was conducted by a boy scout into
a room on the second floor of the War Office, within a few minutes of
his arrival. A tall, grey-haired man in the uniform of a general looked
up and nodded with an air of intimacy as soon as the door had been
closed.

"Sit down, Thomson. We've been expecting you. Any news?"

"I have come to you for that, sir," the other replied.

The General sighed.

"I am afraid you will be disappointed," he said. "I received your report
and I went to a certain official myself--saw him in his own house before
breakfast this morning. I had reports of three other men occupying
responsible positions in the city, Thomson, against whom there was
really tangible and serious evidence. Our friend had the effrontery
almost to laugh at me."

There was a little glitter in Thomson's eyes.

"These damned civilians!" he murmured softly. "They've done their best
to ruin Great Britain by crabbing every sort of national service during
the last ten years. They feed and pamper the vermin who are eating away
the foundations of the country, and, damn it all, when we put a clear
case to them, when we show them men whom we know to be dangerous, they
laugh at us and tell us that it isn't our department! They look upon us
as amateurs and speak of Scotland Yard with bated breath. My God! If I
had a free hand for ten minutes, there'd be two Cabinet Ministers eating
bread and water instead of their dinners to-night."

The General raised his eyebrows. He knew Thomson well enough to be aware
how unusual such an ebullition of feeling on his part was.

"Got you a bit worked up, Major," he remarked.