In this case, the procedure was exactly the same. The signal
knock, the demand for a number, and the reply "Correct."

Two knocks followed in quick succession on the door below. The
first man was quite unknown to Tommy, who put him down as a city
clerk. A quiet, intelligent-looking man, rather shabbily dressed.
The second was of the working classes, and his face was vaguely
familiar to the young man.

Three minutes later came another, a man of commanding appearance,
exquisitely dressed, and evidently well born. His face, again,
was not unknown to the watcher, though he could not for the
moment put a name to it.

After his arrival there was a long wait. In fact Tommy concluded
that the gathering was now complete, and was just cautiously
creeping out from his hiding-place, when another knock sent him
scuttling back to cover.

This last-comer came up the stairs so quietly that he was almost
abreast of Tommy before the young man had realized his presence.

He was a small man, very pale, with a gentle almost womanish air.
The angle of the cheek-bones hinted at his Slavonic ancestry,
otherwise there was nothing to indicate his nationality. As he
passed the recess, he turned his head slowly. The strange light
eyes seemed to burn through the curtain; Tommy could hardly
believe that the man did not know he was there and in spite of
himself he shivered. He was no more fanciful than the majority of