"Why," replied his friend, laughingly, "haven't you heard of the subterranean headquarters?"
"I confess I have not," replied the detective.
"Then come along with me," said Leroy. "I ought to have told you about this before, as it is intimately connected with our business."
He then led the way to the very hotel at which they were stopping, and conducted Curtis to a large and elegantly furnished room on the third floor, and in which were seated a number of gentlemen—some reading, while others were engaged in writing at little tables that were ranged about the room.
"Here," said he, laughing, "are the subterranean headquarters, although they are above the top of the ground instead of beneath it. I need not tell you," he added, "that the name is given as much to mislead as for any other purpose."
They then took seats at one end of the room where they were alone, and he proceeded with his explanation:
"First," he said, "you must know that this is a bureau of intelligence, and is managed partly by the government and partly by wealthy merchants here and at Baltimore; besides being used in getting information concerning the movements of the Federal troops, it is also used by the merchants in getting our goods through from Baltimore. We employ," he continued, "nearly fifty persons, some of whom are constantly in the field carrying dispatches, gaining and bringing in information from the Yankee lines. These persons are all under the control of a chief at their head, and are all known to that man yonder," pointing to a gentleman seated at a desk at the opposite end of the room.
"Strange as it may seem to you," he continued, "right here in this hotel, we have the most exclusive privacy. You noticed that man standing in the hall when we came in, the same one now sitting at the desk?"
Curtis nodded, and he proceeded: "Well, he knew me, and consequently he knew you were all right. Had you come alone, that door would have been closed, and would not have opened, had you tried it. Now," he said, "I will call him here and introduce you."
Touching a small bell that stood on the table, the gentleman, to whom he had alluded, instantly answered its summons and crossed the room to where they were sitting.