In two
minutes he had opened it, abstracted the letter from the young
ordnance officer; and was back, apologizing to the Pavlowa.
"Your pardon, Mademoiselle," he said, handing her the gold
chatelaine." In my haste I picked up this bag by mistake. I suppose
it is yours."
With a slight start she said "yes," took the bag and hurriedly opening
it felt for the letter. To her dismay it was gone. I saw her eyes
narrow a little and then I marveled at time cleverness of the woman.
"No," she suddenly said, "that is not my bag. I never saw it before.
I advise you to find the owner."
Clever Anna! You sacrificed the costly gift, but you went over the
frontier just the same.
The necessary qualifications of an agent vary of course with the class
of work to be done. We can dismiss the waiter and porter class, as
they never receive independent commands and work only under direct
supervision on minor details without knowing why. The trusted agent
handling important matters and documents must needs be a person of
intelligence, tact and address. He must be a linguist and, above all,
a man of resource and a close student of his fellow men. In the woman
agent charm and tact, beauty and manners, _? la grande dame_,
knowledge of the world and men are essential. The pay varies, but is
always good. Expenses are never questioned, the money being no
object. For instance, I spent on a mission through the Riviera 20,000
marks in fourteen days.
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