The visitor seemed known, the door swinging open for him.
[Illustration: They parted, the last speaker hailing a carriage.] "Louis," said he to the attendant, "is Mr .-- -- in ?" He mentioned a name which even then was well known in Washington.
"I think you will find him in the reading-room, Sir," was the answer.
The inquirer passed to the right, entering a wide room with tables, books, heavy chairs, discreetly shaded lamps.

At one table, drawn close to the light and poring over a printed page, sat a gentleman whose personality was not without distinction.

The gray hair brushed back from a heightening forehead might have proclaimed him even beyond middle age, and his stature, of about medium height, acknowledged easy living in its generous habit.

The stock and cravat of an earlier day gave a certain austerity to the shrewd face, lighted by a pair of keen gray eyes, which now turned to greet the new-comer.

He rose, and both bowed formally before they advanced to take each other by the hand.