The rain came down again before she reached the _Consul_ office; a policeman misinformed her, she had a difficulty in finding it.

She arrived at last, with damp skirts and muddy boots.

It had been a long walk, and the article upon American social ideals was limp and spotted.

A door confronted her, flush with the street.

She opened it.
and found herself at the bottom of a flight of stairs, steep, dark, and silent.