"Tell the gentleman to come in," said the president, and thereupon the
attendant threw open the door.

The owner of the mysterious card fixed every eye as he entered. He was
several inches more than six feet in height. His complexion was very
dark, his eyes were intensely black, bright, and deep-set, his
eyebrows were bushy and up-curled at the ends, his sable hair was
close-trimmed, and his ears were narrow, pointed at the top, and
prominent. He wore black mustaches, covering only half the width of
his lip and drawn into projecting needles on each side, while a spiked
black beard adorned the middle of his chin.

He smiled as he stepped confidently forward, with a courtly bow, but
it was a very disconcerting smile, because it more than half resembled
a sneer. This uncommon person did not wait to be addressed.

"I have come to solve your problem," he said, facing President Boon,
who had swung round on his pivoted chair.

"The metal!" exclaimed everybody in a breath, and with a unanimity and
excitement which would have astonished them if they had been
spectators instead of actors of the scene. The tall stranger bowed and
smiled again:

"Just so," he said. "What do you think of it?"

"It is beautiful!"

Again the reply came from every mouth simultaneously, and again if the
speakers could have been listeners they would have wondered not only