Johnston McCulley

“ Togo was more than a mere valet. He was a gentleman's man, and almost a perfect one, but he also was a sort of comrade in arms to John Warwick, and he took a more personal interest in Warwick and his affairs that was something more than an evident desire to earn his salary and keep his position.
“You are not feeling well, sar?” Togo asked in a respectful manner, looking at John Warwick searchingly again. “Is there something I can get for you, sar?”
Warwick glanced across the room.
“I can't complain, old top,” Warwick replied. “Heart and liver are all right, and all that sort of thing. ”

“ Well, John, you will be leaving the band soon, if this last thing works out all right. I may as well tell you, in strict confidence, that within a short time there will be no band.”
“Sir?” Warwick gasped.
“I am an old man, and a crippled one,” said The Spider. “Now that Silvia knows her uncle for what he is, I am eager to reform. You would not marry her without getting your release, because you feared something might happen to bring sorrow to her. I am going to disband my men and women for the same reason.” ”

“ The Spider had a niece, Silvia Rodney. Warwick had pretended to be interested in her at first because it gave him an excellent excuse to visit frequently the mansion on American Boulevard, where The Spider had his home and headquarters. This interest had developed into love with a speed that was little less than amazing, and John Warwick found himself in a predicament, for Silvia Rodney had not known her uncle's true character. She had believed him to be the agent of a foreign power, and thought that he and the men and women working with him were laboring for the good of humanity. ”