"I suppose you have no conception of our business, no realization of its scope--its network of information bureaus all over the civilized world, its myriad sources of information, the immensity of its delicate machinery, the endless data and the infinitesimal details we have at our command.

You, of course, have no idea of the number of people of every sort and condition who are in our employ, of the ceaseless yet inoffensive surveillance we maintain.

For example, when your letter came last week I called up the person who has charge of the army list.

There you were, Kenneth Harren, Captain Philippine Scouts, with the date of your graduation from West Point.

Then I called up a certain department devoted to personal detail, and in five minutes I knew your entire history.