open; the door of the cabinet was ajar; and there, in a small but

very high apartment, the young man left them once more.

"He will be here immediately," he said, with a nod, as he

disappeared.

Voices were audible in the cabinet through the folding doors which

formed one end; and now and then the noise of a champagne cork,

followed by a burst of laughter, intervened among the sounds of

conversation. A single tall window looked out upon the river and

the embankment; and by the disposition of the lights they judged

themselves not far from Charing Cross station. The furniture was

scanty, and the coverings worn to the thread; and there was nothing

movable except a hand-bell in the centre of a round table, and the

hats and coats of a considerable party hung round the wall on pegs.

"What sort of a den is this?" said Geraldine.

"That is what I have come to see," replied the Prince. "If they

keep live devils on the premises, the thing may grow amusing."

Just then the folding door was opened no more than was necessary

for the passage of a human body; and there entered at the same

moment a louder buzz of talk, and the redoubtable President of the

Suicide Club. The President was a man of fifty or upwards; large

and rambling in his gait, with shaggy side whiskers, a bald top to

his head, and a veiled grey eye, which now and then emitted a

twinkle. His mouth, which embraced a large cigar, he kept

continually screwing round and round and from side to side, as he

looked sagaciously and coldly at the strangers. He was dressed in

light tweeds, with his neck very open in a striped shirt collar;

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