“Not altogether. He was angry, but he gave me one more chance. I am still ’is dear brother’s child, and he cannot forget it. An acquaintance of his, a man of letters, a M. Paul Sartines, was in need of a secretary. The post was not well paid, but it was permanent. My uncle insist that I take it. What choice? I took it. It is the post which I still ’old.”

He ordered another liqueur brandy and gulped it down.

“The name is familiar to you, monsieur? You ’ave ’eard of M. Sartines?”

“I don’t think I have. Who is he?”

“He is a man of letters, a savant. For five years he has been occupied upon a great work. It is with that that I assist him by collecting facts for ’is use. I ’ave spent this afternoon in the British Museum collecting facts. To-morrow I go again. And the next day. And again after that. The book will occupy yet another ten years before it is completed. It is his great work.”

“It sounds as if it was,” I said. “What’s it about?”

He signalled to the waiter.

“Garçon, one other liqueur brandy. The book, monsieur, is a ‘’Istory of the Cat in Ancient Egypt.’ ”

“It sounds as if it was,” I said. “What’s it about?”

He signalled to the waiter.

“Garçon, one other liqueur brandy. The book, monsieur, is a ‘’Istory of the Cat in Ancient Egypt.’ ”