This time it is not a story of my own writing that I am about to read, but a copy of a very curious correspondence which I found among my professional papers." Jessie's countenance fell.

"Is there no story in it ?" she asked, rather discontentedly.
"Certainly there is a story in it," I replied--"a story of a much lighter kind than any we have yet read, and which may, on that account, prove acceptable, by way of contrast and relief, even if it fails to attract you by other means.

I obtained the original correspondence, I must tell you, from the office of the Detective Police of London." Jessie's face brightened.

"That promises something to begin with," she said.
"Some years since," I continued, "there was a desire at headquarters to increase the numbers and efficiency of the Detective Police, and I had the honor of being one of the persons privately consulted on that occasion.

The chief obstacle to the plan proposed lay in the difficulty of finding new recruits.