"You--Paul Fiske?"
Julian nodded assent.
"You are amazed, of course," he proceeded, "but it is nevertheless
the truth. The fact has just come to light, and I have been
invited to join this new emergency Council, composed of one or two
Socialists and writers, amongst them a very distinguished prelate;
Labour Members of Parliament, and representatives of the various
Trades Unions, a body of men which you doubtless know all about.
I attended a meeting at Westminster an hour ago, and I was
entrusted with this commission to you."
Mr. Stenson sat down suddenly.
"God bless my soul!" he exclaimed. "You--Julian Orden!"
There was a moment's silence. Mr. Stenson, however, was a man of
immense recuperative powers. He assimilated the new situation
without further protest.
"You have given me the surprise of my life, Orden," he confessed.
"That, however, is a personal matter. Hannaway Wells is in the
study. You have no objection, I suppose, to his being present?"
"None whatever."
Mr. Stenson rang the bell, and in a few minutes they were joined
by his colleague. The former wasted no time in explanations.
"You will doubtless be as astonished as I was, Wells," he said,
"to learn that our friend Julian Orden comes here as the
representative of the new Labour Council. His qualifications,
amongst others, are that under the pseudonym of `Paul Fiske' he is
the writer of those wonderful articles which have been the beacon
light and the inspiration of the Labour Party for the last year.
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