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To be a success as a secret agent a wide knowledge of European hotels is an absolute necessity.
You must, indeed, be familiar with the best hotel in every city of any importance, and scarcely less important is the personal acquaintance of the manager; for without his help you will inevitably find in your path a thousand difficulties, small and great, which, with his friendly assistance, melt almost insensibly away. Duty and inclination alike have led me to make a special study of hotel life, and I think I may say, without undue egotism, that there are few _maitres d'hotel_ in Europe with whom I am not on terms of acquaintance, and even in many cases warm friendship.