"Yes, it is," Irving admitted.
"I bet you thought all that was necessary was to peel off a piece of skin and lay it on the raw place after this cubist art picture had been removed. Isn't that true?"
"Maybe--something of the kind. I hadn't thought it out in detail," Irving replied.
"Of course, you hadn't. You'd have been too scientific for a secret service operative, wouldn't you?"
"Can't secret service people be scientific?" Irving inquired.
"What do you think about it?" asked the surgeon. "You ought to know more about it than I do. But I'll tell you what my frank and unscientific opinion in the matter is."
"What is it?"
"That government secret service is 1 per cent information and 99 per cent bluff."
"That's a little strong on the side of the bluff," said the spy, smiling.
"But there's something to it?"