s that could hardly be carried out at all except by complete lunatics. On those occasions our job is to find out in what way a given form of mental derangement can be put to the best use. I tell you, Austin, it’s terribly exciting work. I’m sure you’ll be absolutely fascinated by it.”
He rubbed his hands together with obvious satisfaction. His eyes, which had become intensely expressive, sparkled with delight as he described the rewards of his unusual profession. At that moment, in spite of his affable attitude, in spite of the background of this office, which seemed specially designed to create an atmosphere of confidence and well-being, Austin could not help feeling there was something diabolical about him. He suppressed a momentary shudder, without being able to make up his mind whether this feeling was caused by a certain diffidence regarding the moral aspect of this strange orientation, or by the pleasure of discerning a touch of the unusual in his future duties with Dr. Fog. The latter realized the impression he had created and changed his tone.
“Don’t for a moment imagine that our work is necessarily sinister, Austin. There’s a very pleasant side to it sometimes.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” the young man replied politely.
“As, for instance, when the pundit I told you about applied for an interview himself. ... I put him
through all the tests with my usual punctiliousness and with particular care, you may be sure. Would you like to know what the result was?”
“I’d be very interested to hear.”
“Unemployable in any capacity. Distinct mental instability. A tendency to paranoia. Unresponsive reflexes. The last man in the world to engage as an agent. I should have opposed his being employed on any mission whatsoever. He took it badly to begin with, but he had to come around in the end—the results of the tests leave no room for ambiguity.”
“You actually told him that, sir?”
“He ordered me to tell him.”
“What did he do? Resign?”
“Not at all. I pulled certain strings to have him promoted. He’s now a bigger pundit than ever and merely directs operations at a very high level. His deficiencies warranted a position of this sort; they even indicated his peculiar suitability for it. It was the only solution. Since then there has been noticeable progress in every branch of the service. There you have a singularly fascinating example of ‘professional orientation’, as you call it.”
9
Once again Austin had to suppress a smile at Dr. Fog’s serious demeanor. After a moment’s hesitation, he screwed up his courage and said:
“As far as I can see, sir, my work will be mostly theoretical. I was hoping . . .”
“Wait a moment, I haven't finished yet. I, too, have had a ... a sort of promotion. I still interview certain candidates in this office, but only the most important ones. I no longer deal with the small fry now that my field of activity has been enlarged. This is what I’m leading up to. As you can imagine, this job entails a great deal of specialized work and research on the methods, scope, and types of secret-service missions. I had to have free access to all the files. Close contact with the people at the top was also absolutely essential. At first they wouldn’t hear of it. With their mania for mystery and secrecy, they preferred to regard me as one of their numerous specialists who are not allowed to know a thing about general organization—a cipher expert, for instance. They would only give me the information I needed in dribs and drabs. One day I lost my temper and put it to them point-blank: either they let me have what I wanted or else I resigned. It seems they thought
sufficiently highly of me to agree. Since then we’ve worked together far more closely. I’m no longer restricted to laboratory tests. I’ve been able to follow the agents at every stage of their careers and keep a complete file on them—there’s nothing like observing a man in action. I’ve been kept informed of their successes and also of their failures. I’ve sometimes watched them operate at extremely close range. To cut a long story short, I’ve now become . . .
“A sort of head of personnel?”
"Rather more than that, perhaps,” Dr. Fog replied with a smile, which convinced Austin once and for all of his chief’s importance. “I’m sometimes asked for advice outside my own field of specialization. I’ve been also required to make certain decisions.”
Under Austin’s fascinated gaze, he continued briskly: "But when I have to act on my own initiative, Austin, the personnel is invariably my main consideration, and particularly the intellect of the personnel. Brains are an essential factor in this profession.”
“I’m sure of that, sir.”
"So now you realize why I need assistants like you. I’ve got very few of them. I’m a difficult man to please, but I hope you and I will get along together. You already have some experience with the human brain; that’s clear from your letters. You’re young and eager to get on, I believe . .
“So on the whole, sir,” said Austin, who was fascinated at the prospect of the exciting missions for which he might be made responsible, “on the whole, I can look forward to leading a fairly active life.”
“I’m glad that’s the attitude you take,” the doctor replied, rubbing his hands together again. “I can see we understand each other. By the way, I noticed in your file that you speak French fluently?”
“As well as I do English, sir. My mother was French and I was partly brought up abroad.”
Thereupon, after giving him a few more general particulars. Dr. Fog informed Austin that his job would be to deal with French affairs and, for a start, with one particular case in which he was deeply interested.
“Let’s begin with the essentials. First and foremost, the man in question is an agent. Here’s his file. You’ll have to go through it with great care. It’s a rather tricky case, I think, but I’m relying on your judgment. Tell me what you think of it.”
He had lowered his voice and assumed a somewhat solemn tone. Austin sensed there was something mysterious afoot and waited with growing impatience for the rest of the story.
“He’s a Frenchman,” Dr. Fog continued. “I examined him some time ago. Since then I’ve been given a great deal more information about him.”
He started thumbing through the file, picking out a phrase here and there for Austin’s benefit.