"'In a week you will receive notice of the meeting called for your initiation as a member of the Camorra.'
"'And then I shall know all?'
"'All—provided that in the meantime you have faithfully performed the duties that I lay upon you.'
"'Your words are plausible,' I said. 'You are an honest man. Let me shake hands with you.'
"We shook hands, and my colleague explained the nature of my appointed task. Outside the café at which I had felled the Camorrista to the ground, I was myself to stand as the representative of the Camorra. I was to collect the Camorra's share—a tenth of every winner's winnings. I was to account to the Camorra for the money—the Camorra would dispose of it.
"'It does not strike me as an occupation of great dignity,' I represented.
"'Indeed! It is a position of trust that I assign to you.'
"There clearly was something in that.
"'If I were quite sure,' I added, 'of the objects of the association, and of the use to which the money would be put——'
"He smiled and nodded, saying—