rather
impulsively. It was a good match from a worldly point of view, but his wife
formed an unfavourable opinion of the colonial climate on hearsay evidence. On
the other hand, she had influential connections. It was an excellent match. But
he did not like the work he had to do now. He felt himself dependent on too many
subordinates and too many masters. The near presence of that strange emotional
phenomenon called public opinion weighed upon his spirits, and alarmed him by
its irrational nature. No doubt that from ignorance he exaggerated to himself
its power for good and evil - especially for evil; and the rough east winds of
the English spring (which agreed with his wife) augmented his general mistrust
of men's motives and of the efficiency of their organization. The futility of
office work especially appalled him on those days so trying to his sensitive
liver.
    He got up, unfolding himself to his full height, and with a heaviness of
step remarkable in so slender a man, moved across the room to the window. The
panes streamed with rain, and the short street he looked down into lay wet and
empty, as if swept clear suddenly by a great flood. It was a very trying day,
choked in raw fog to begin with, and now drowned in cold rain. The flickering,
blurred flames of gas-lamps seemed to be dissolving in a watery atmosphere. And
the lofty pretensions of a mankind oppressed by the miserable indignities of the
weather appeared as a colossal and hopeless vanity deserving of scorn, wonder,
and compassion.
    »Horrible, horrible!« thought the Assistant Commissioner to himself, with
his face near the window-pane. »We have been having this sort of thing now for
ten days; no, a fortnight - a fortnight.« He ceased to think completely for a
time. That utter stillness of his brain lasted about three seconds. Then he
said, perfunctorily: »You have set inquiries on foot for tracing that other man
up and down the line?«
    He had no doubt that everything needful had been done. Chief Inspector Heat
knew, of course, thoroughly the business of man-hunting. And these were the
routine steps, too, that would be taken as a matter of course by the merest
beginner. A few inquiries amongst the ticket collectors and the porters of the
two small railway stations would give additional details as to the appearance of
the two men; the inspection of the collected tickets would show at once where
they came from that morning. It was elementary, and could not have been
neglected. Accordingly, the Chief