When Senhor Poritol had disappeared Orme telephoned to the clerk. “Send me up a porter,” 34 he ordered, “and have him stand just outside my door, with orders to enter if he hears any disturbance.” He waited at the door till the porter appeared, then told him to remain in a certain place until he was needed, or until the visitors left. 

34

Senhor Poritol remained downstairs for several minutes. Evidently he was explaining the situation to his friend. But after a time Orme heard the clang of the elevator door, and in response to the knock that quickly followed, he opened his own door. At the side of his former visitor stood a dapper foreigner. He wore a long frock coat and carried a glossy hat, and his eyes were framed by large gold spectacles. 

“This is the Senhor Alcatrante,” explained Senhor Poritol. 

The newcomer bowed with suave dignity. 

“Senhor Alcatrante? The name is familiar,” said Orme, smiling. 

Poritol assumed an air. “He is the minister from my country to these United States.” 

Orme understood. This was the wary South American diplomat whose name had lately been so prominent in the Washington dispatches. What was he doing in Chicago? 35

35

“I am glad to meet you,” said Orme. 

Alcatrante smiled, displaying a prominent row of uneven teeth. 

“My young friend, Poritol,” he began, “tells me that you have in your possession the record of a secret belonging to him. What that secret is, is immaterial to you and me, I take it. He is an honorable young man—excitable, perhaps, but well-meaning. I would suggest that you give him the five-dollar bill he desires, accepting from him another in exchange. Or, if you still doubt him, permit me to offer you a bill from my own pocket.” He drew out a fat wallet. 

The situation appeared to be simplified. And yet Orme was dubious. There was mischief in the bill; so much he felt sure of. Alcatrante’s reputation was that of a fox, and as for Poritol, he was, to say the least, a person of uncertain qualities. Orme could not but admire the subtle manner in which Alcatrante sought delicately to limit his doubts to the mere possibility that Poritol was trying to pass spurious money. He 

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