with me particulars of everything. That is where we Germans are so
thorough. See, I place them now all in my bag."

He did so and locked it with great care.

"We go to dinner, is it not so?" he suggested.

"I suppose we may as well," Norgate assented indifferently.

They found places in the crowded restaurant car. The manufacturer of
crockery made a highly satisfactory and important meal. Norgate, on the
other hand, ate little. Herr Selingman shook his head.

"My young English friend," he declared, "all is not well with you that
you turn away from good food. Come. Afterwards, over a cigar, you shall
tell me what troubles you have, and I will give you sound advice. I have
a very wide knowledge of life. I have a way of seeing the truth, and I
like to help people."

Norgate shook his head. "I am afraid," he said, "that my case is
hopeless."

"Presently we will see," Herr Selingman continued, rubbing the window
with his cuff. "We are arrived, I think, at Lesel. Here will board the
train one of my agents. He will travel with us to the next station. It is
my way of doing business, this. It is better than alighting and wasting a
day in a small town. You will not mind, perhaps," he added, "if I bring
him into the carriage and talk? You do not understand German, so it will
not weary you."