I ordered a Fin Champagne, and put half-a-crown into his hand.
"Tell me," I said, "five minutes ago a Chinaman and another man were here." The man laid the half-crown down on the table.

His manner had undergone a complete change.
"Perhaps so, sir," he answered.

"We have been busy to-night.

I noticed nobody." I called the proprietor to me--a little pale-faced man with a black moustache, who had been hovering in the background.

He hastened to my side, smiling and bowing.