more than delay the soviet movement were we to set ourselves against it—­we could never hope to stop it.  It would seem, then, self-preservation to set ourselves at the head of it, seize with our own hands—­in the name of the British Soviet—­the symbols of power now held by an antiquated and doddering Government.  So shall we become to England what the Smolny Institute is to Russia.  Otherwise, in the end, we must be crushed.”

“If we adopt the indicated course, there will be an end forever to this hole-and-corner business which so hampers us, we will be able to work in the open, the police will become our tools rather than weapons in the hands of our enemies; our power will be without limits, Soviet Russia itself must bow to our dictation.”

He paused and lifted his head, looking round the circle of intent faces.

“If I am wrong or too sanguine, I am ready to be corrected.”

He heard only a murmur of admiration, never a note of dissent; and a smile of gratification, yet half satiric, curved his thin lips.

“I take it, then, the Council endorses my decision to proceed with the negotiations instituted by Soviet Russia; to accept its proposals and pledge our cooperation in every way?”

This time there was no mistaking the accuracy with which he had gauged the minds of his associates.

“One thing remains to be decided:  a plan of action, something which will demand all that we have of imagination, ingenuity, common sense, and far prevision.  We can afford to waste not a single ounce of strength:  the blow, when we strike, must be sudden, sharp, merciless—­irresistible.  But if Thirteen is not over-confident of the discovery which he says he has to-day perfected, the means to deal just such a blow is ready to our hands....  Thirteen?”

A nod and gracious smile invited that one to speak.  He rose, trembling a little with excitement, bowed to Number One and, delving into capacious pockets, produced a number of small tin canisters together with three sealed bottles of brown glass.  Surveying these, as he arranged them on the teakwood table before him, he smiled a little to himself:  the stars, it seemed to him, were warring in their courses in his behalf; this was to prove his hour of hours.

He began to speak in a quivering voice which soon grew more steady.

“It is true, Excellency—­it is true, comrades—­I have perfected a discovery which I offer as a free gift to the cause, and by means of which, intelligently employed, we can, if we will, make all London a graveyard.  Put the resources of this organization at my command, give me a week to make the essential preparations, select a time of national crisis when the Houses of Parliament are sitting and the Cabinet meets in Downing Street with the King attending or in Buckingham Palace ...”

He paused and held the pause with a keen feeling for dramatic effect, his eyes seeking in turn the faces of his fellow conspirators, an insuppressible grin of malicious exultation twisting his scornful and mutinous mouth.