"You can make your apologies and explanations to the management in the
morning," I answered grimly "Pardon me!"

I held out my arm across the threshold, and for the first time looked at
the other man who had been on the point of entering. He was slight and
somewhat sallow, with very high forehead and small deep-set eyes. He was
dressed in ordinary evening clothes, the details of which, however,
betrayed his status. He wore a heavy gold chain, a dinner coat, and a
made-up white tie, with the ends tucked in under a roll collar. He
appeared to be objectionable, but far from dangerous.

"You are still a trifle over-anxious respecting the interior of my room!"
I remarked, pushing him gently back.

He spoke to me for the first time. He spoke slowly and formally, and his
accent struck me as being a little foreign.

"Sir," he said, "you may not be aware that the person of whom we are in
search is a dangerous, an exceedingly dangerous character. If he should
be concealed in your room the consequences to yourself might be most
serious."

"Thank you," I said, "I am quite capable of taking care of myself."

Both men were standing as close to me as I was disposed to permit. I
fancied that they were looking me over, as though to make an estimate of
the possible amount of resistance I might be able to offer should they be
disposed to make a rush. The odds, if any, must have seemed to them
somewhat in my favor, for I was taller by head and shoulders than either
of them, and a life-long devotion to athletics had broadened my