I never thought of that." A Swiss guard flung back the door of the lift, saluted and went before them along the plain flagged passage to where his comrade stood.

Then he saluted again and went back.

A Pontifical chamberlain, in all the sombre glory of purple, black, and a Spanish ruff, peeped from the door, and made haste to open it.

It really seemed almost incredible that such things still existed.
"In a moment, your Eminence," he said in Latin.

"Will your Eminence wait here ?" It was a little square room, with half-a-dozen doors, plainly contrived out of one of the huge old halls, for it was immensely high, and the tarnished gilt cornice vanished directly in two places into the white walls.