Hugh Johnstone motioned his visitor to be seated, and keenly watched the younger man.
"I am on the inside of the matter," soberly said Alan Hawke.

"It was an open secret when I left London, and I've heard more since.

A brief delay only,--a matter of a few months--no more." "Take a weed! They serve in half an hour!" abruptly said Hugh Johnstone, as if anxious to change the subject.

The old man then strode forward and closed the door.

Then, turning sharply upon his visitor, frankly demanded, "Now, tell me why you are here ?" "That depends partly upon your affairs," said Hawke, meeting his questioner's gaze unflinchingly.