Following a brief delay:—­

“Yes,” came a nasal voice, “who is it?”

“Soames!  I want to speak to Mr. King!”

The words apparently surprised the man at the other end of the wire, for he hesitated ere inquiring:—­

“What did you say your name was?”

“Soames—­Luke Soames.”

“Hold on!”

Soames, with closed eyes, and holding the receiver to his ear, silently rehearsed again the exact wording of his speech.  Then:—­

“Hullo!” came another voice—­“is that Mr. Soames?”

“Yes!  Is that Mr. Gianapolis speaking?”

“It is, my dear Soames!” replied the sing-song voice; and Soames, closing his eyes again, had before him a mental picture of the radiantly smiling Greek.

“Yes, my dear Soames,” continued Gianapolis; “here I am.  I hope you are quite well—­perfectly well?”

“I am perfectly well, thank you; but as a man of business, it has occurred to me that failing a proper agreement—­which in this case I know would be impossible—­a trifling advance on the first quarter’s"...

“On your salary, my dear Soames!  On your salary?  Payment for the first quarter shall be made to you to-morrow, my dear Soames!  Why ever did you not express the wish before?  Certainly, certainly!"...

“Will it be sent to me?”

“My dear fellow!  How absurd you are!  Can you get out to-morrow evening about nine o’clock?”

“Yes, easily.”

“Then I will meet you at the corner of Victoria Street, by the hotel, and hand you your first quarter’s salary.  Will that be satisfactory?”

“Perfectly,” said Soames, his small eyes sparkling with avarice.  “Most decidedly, Mr. Gianapolis.  Many thanks."...

“And by the way,” continued the other, “it is rather fortunate that you rang me up this evening, because it has saved me the trouble of ringing you up.”

“What?”—­Soames’ eyes half closed, from the bottom lids upwards:—­“there is something"...

“There is a trifling service which I require of you—­yes, my dear Soames.”

“Is it?"...

“We will discuss the matter to-morrow evening.  Oh! it is a mere trifle.  So good-by for the present.”

Soames, with the fingers of his two hands interlocked before him, and his thumbs twirling rapidly around one another, stood in the lobby, gazing reflectively at the rug-strewn floor.  He was working out in his mind how handsomely this first payment would show up on the welcome side of his passbook.  Truly, he was fortunate in having met the generous Gianapolis....

He thought of a trifling indiscretion committed at the expense of one Mr. Mapleson, and of the wine-bill of Colonel Hewett; and he thought of the apparently clairvoyant knowledge of the Greek.  A cloud momentarily came between his perceptive and the rosy horizon.

But nearer to the foreground of the mental picture, uprose a left-hand page of his pass book; and its tidings of great joy, written in clerkly hand, served to dispel the cloud.