Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Ill VISITORS "THE affair promises to be quite interesting," he confided to the paper-knife, with which he was spearing tiny holes in the blotter of the pad. "Peacock Alley at five—but there are a few matters that come first." He went straight to the safe, unlocked it, took out the photograph, the cipher message, and the handkerchief, carried these to the table and placed them in a large envelope, which he sealed and addressed to himself. Then with it, and the three American Beauties, he passed quickly into the corridor and to an adjoining apartment. There he rang the bell vigorously and long. He was still ringing when a dishevelled figure, in blue pajamas and a scowl, opened the door. "What the devil do you—" the disturbed one growled. "S-h-h!" said Harleston, his finger on his lips. "Keep these for me until tomorrow, Stuart." And crowding the roses and the envelope in the astonished man's hands, he hurried away. The pajamaed one glared at the flowers and the envelope; then he turned and flung them into a corner of the living-room. '' Hell!" he said in disgust. '' Harleston's either crazy or in love: it's the same thing anyway." He slammed the door and went back to bed. Harleston, chuckling, returned to his quarters; retrieved from the floor a leaf and a petal and tossed them out of the window. Then, being assured by a careful inspection of the room that there were no further traces of the roses remaining, he went to bed. Two minutes after his head touched the pillow, he was asleep. Presently he awoke—listening! Some one was on the fire-escape. The passage leading to it was just at the end of his suite; more than that, one could climb over the railing, and, by a little care, reach the sill of his bedroom window. This sill was wide and offe...