With Links of Steel OR The Peril of the Unknown by Nicholas Carter Author of the celebrated stories of Nick Carter's adventures, conceded to be among the best detective tales ever written.

"Mr. Venner, sir?" "Mr. Venner-yes, certainly. You will find him in his private office-that way, sir. The door to the right. Venner is in his private office, Joseph, is he not?" "I don't think so, Mr. Garside, unless he has just returned. I saw him go out some time ago." "Is that so? Wait a moment, young man." The young man halted, and then turned back to face Mr. Garside, with an inquiring look in his frank, brown eyes. "Not here, sir, do I understand?" he asked, politely.

There is a well-known French restaurant in the "Tenderloin" district which provides its patrons with small but elegantly appointed private dining-rooms. The restaurant occupies a corner house; and, though its reputation is not strictly first-class in some respects, its cook is an artist, and its wine cellar as good as the best. It has two entrances, and the one on the side street is not well lighted at night.

Four men were seated around a camp fire made of old railroad ties, over which a kettle was boiling merrily, where it hung from an improvised crane above the blaze. Around, on the ground, were scattered a various assortment of tin cans, some of which had been hammered more or less straight to serve for plates, and it was evident from the general appearance of things around the camp that a meal had just been disposed of, and that the four men who had consumed it were now determined to make themselves as comfortable as possible.