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iii
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Social Work: A Helping Profession 1

Chapter 2 An Evolving Profession 3

Chapter 3 Social Work and Social Systems 5

Chapter 4 The Social Service Delivery System 7

Chapter 5 Values and Ethics in Social Work 9

Chapter 6 Human Rights and Social Justice 11

Chapter 7 Diversity and Social Work 13

Chapter 8 Empowerment Social Work Practice 15

Chapter 9 Social Work Functions and Roles 17

Chapter 10 Social Work and Social Policy 19

Chapter 11 Social Work and Poverty, Homelessness, Unemployment, and

Criminal Justice 21

Chapter 12 Social Work in Health, Rehabilitation, and Mental Health 23

Chapter 13 Social Work with Families and Youths 25

Chapter 14 Adult and Aging Services 27

Answer Key 29

iv
 Chapter 1
Social Work: A Helping Profession

Multiple Choice

1. Lee is employed by Family and Child Counseling as a generalist social worker. Lee will
be expected to ______.
a. understand problems in context and consider interventions at all system levels
b. work exclusively with individual families and children
c. have a job description which excludes policy concerns
d. leave research concerns to specialists
2. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, identify the correct ascendancy of needs beginning
with the most fundamental.
a. Physiological, esteem, security, self-actualization
b. Security, physiological, self-actualization, esteem
c. Physiological, security, belonging, esteem
d. Self-actualization, esteem, belonging, physiological
3. Which is the first of the internationally binging agreements on human rights?
a. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
b. Convention on the Rights of the Child
c. International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
d. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
4. ______ prevail(s) when all members of a society share equally in the social order, secure
an equitable consideration of resources and opportunities, and enjoy their full benefit of
civil rights and civil liberties.
a. Environmental competence
b. Social justice
c. Cultural competence
d. Universal basic needs
5. Empowerment is best described as ______.
a. a sense of personal competence
b. a sociopolitical influence
c. having personal and sociopolitical dimensions
d. a sense of being in control
6. Which of the following represents the social work view of personal troubles and public
issues?
a. Private troubles translate into public issues.
b. Troubles occur within the character of the individual
c. The solutions for personal troubles and public issues reside in separate realms.
d. Public issues are in the public domain and have no bearing on personal troubles.
7. Which of the following views of the relationship between social work and society
emphasizes the context of social functioning?
a. Social work as an agent of social control on behalf of society.
b. Social work as an intermediary between individuals and society.
c. Social work as a reformer of society.

1
 d. Social work as separate from society.
8. Jim is a social work student who is learning that empowerment refers to ______.
a. a process
b. an outcome
c. both a process and an outcome
d. a radical political position unrelated to current social work practice.
9. Jolene is working on a planning effort to coordinate service delivery for homeless women
and children. Ogden is a counselor with the Homeless Coalition. Sarah, a legislative
advocate, is concerned with social policy development regarding homelessness. Evaluate
their activities in relation to the purpose of social work.
a. Only Ogden reflects the true social work purpose.
b. Jolene and Sarah’s work reflects social work purpose.
c. Sarah’s work, while concerned with social justice, is tangential to social work
purpose.
d. Jolene, Ogden, and Sarah all reflect the purpose of social work in their work
activities.
10. Lien upholds the view that social welfare programs and services should be available to all
persons as a citizen right. Her view of social welfare is classified as a(n) ______.
a. institutional
b. substitutive
c. supportive
d. residual

Short Answer
1. Explain how focusing on competence and strengths rather than on deficits and
pathologies affect social workers’ and clients’ notions about human and social needs and
social functioning.
2. Delineate the goals of generalist social work.
3. Apply the definition of social work as an empowerment-oriented, human rights, and
social justice profession to the guiding principles for social work practice.
4. Analyze the relationship between the principles of social justice, human rights, and the
social welfare institution.
5. Evaluate the interrelationships between the purpose and goals of social work and the
practice of social work from a generalist perspective.

Essay Questions
1. Demonstrate how social workers promote social and economic justice in various fields of
practice.
2. Illustrate ways in which social work is a human rights profession.
3. Analyze how the definition of generalist social work practice informs professional
identity and behaviors.
4. Based on the “Voices from the Field” examples, evaluate the potential needs and sources
of strengths that give direction to practice with social work clients in these practice
examples.
5. Create some examples of social policies that affect services to clients in various fields of
social work practice.

2
 Chapter 2
An Evolving Profession

Multiple Choice

1. The organization founded by S. Humphreys Gurteen to deal with the chaos and
indiscriminate charity of relief practices in Buffalo, New York, was the ______.
a. first U.S. Charity Organization Society
b. the Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor
c. the National Conference of Charities and Correction
d. the New York Society for the Prevention of Pauperism
2. ______ is an early pioneer in the Settlement House Movement.
a. Mary Richmond
b. Harriet Bartlett
c. Florence Hollis
d. Jane Addams
3. The first Black settlement house in the United States was founded by ______.
a. Janie Porter Barrett
b. Lugenia Burns Hop
c. Sarah Fernandis
d. Mary Eliza Church Terrell
4. ______ was a policy maker who was instrumental in drafting the Social Security Act of
1935.
a. Harry Hopkins
b. Whitney Young
c. Grace Coyle
d. Eduard Lindeman
5. NASW stands for the ______.
a. National Association of Social Welfare
b. National Association of Social Workers
c. National Academy of Social Work
d. National Assistance for Social Workers
6. The 1960s was significant for social work because of ______.
a. the War on Poverty
b. the New Deal
c. the Charity Organization Society
d. Freudian psychoanalysis
7. The ecosystems approach ______.
a. considers transactions between people and their physical and social environments
b. is a facet of Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective
c. focuses on individuals, but not their environments
d. focuses solely on the physical and social environment
8. Delivered at the Baltimore Conference on Charities, Flexner’s 1915 speech ______.
a. applauded the professional status of social work
b. characterized social work as having a method common to numerous fields of
practice

3
 c. recognized a specific aim for social work leading to a highly specialized
education
d. generated activities so social work could meet the stated criteria of a profession
9. If you were a “friendly visitor” in a charity organization society, you would most likely
______.
a. access public funds for families in distress
b. believe that charity represented respectful support for families
c. act as a model of moral character
d. not be concerned about investigations and scientific procedures
10. You are writing a report on Bertha Capen Reynolds. Which of the following activities
will you include in your report?
a. her work as Secretary of Labor
b. her emphasis on consumer involvement in directing social services
c. her advocacy for small group interaction as a vehicle for social change
d. her activities in the Charity Organization Society

Short Answer
1. Describe the key factors that influenced social work’s quest for status as a profession.
2. Explain the three general areas of the common base of the social work profession.
3. Apply activities of the Settlement House Movement to further your understanding the
empowerment orientation in social work practice today.
4. Compare and contrast the purposes, roles, and functions of the Charity Organization
Society and Settlement House Movement.
5. Select two tenets for social work practice described in the text. Evaluate each in the
context of the purpose of social work, the social work code of ethics, and empowerment-
based social work practice.

Essay Questions
1. Illustrate how the social work profession through its knowledge base emphasizes human
rights and empowerment of oppressed populations.
2. Apply the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics to identify the personal values that
might interfere with your professional obligation.
3. Analyze how the unique contributions of the Charity Organization and the Settlement
House movements continue to be evident in contemporary social work practice.
4. From an ecosystems perspective, evaluate why it is important for social workers to
engage in practice activities that include both individual treatment and social reform.
5. Speculate about what you can do as an individual practitioner to influence the general
public’s positive regard of social workers and the social work profession.

4
 Chapter 3
Social Work and Social Systems

Multiple Choice
1. Typically, prevention activities target social functioning that is ______.
a. abnormal
b. at risk
c. maladaptive
d. dysfunctional
2. Sarina is a family counselor. Her typical day-to-day activities most likely reflect
______.
a. microlevel intervention
b. mezzolevel intervention
c. macrolevel intervention
d. working with the profession
3. Of the following, which is the best example of a mezzolevel target of change?
a. Family members
b. An organization
c. A community
d. A legislative initiative
4. Social planning to create social change represents ______.
a. microlevel intervention
b. mezzolevel intervention
c. macrolevel intervention
d. working with the social work profession
5. Kelly finds that her associations with professional colleagues help to build her
professional identity, and that her participation in peer review processes have helped
her develop her professional skills. Kelly’s activities represent ______.
a. microlevel intervention
b. mezzolevel intervention
c. macrolevel intervention
d. working with the profession
6. Of the following, which represents the most accurate description of a social system?
a. Families, work groups, play groups, and organizations are social systems,
though neighborhoods and communities are not.
b. A social system is a group of people that gets together every so often for
conversation and a sense of togetherness.
c. A social system is an organized whole made up of interacting component
parts.
d. A social system is unique in its interaction patterns, but not separated from
other systems by boundaries.
7. Marge’s social work class is learning about the theoretical underpinnings of the
ecosystems perspective. Marge now knows that the ecosystems perspective
incorporates ideas from ______.
a. psychoanalytic theories
b. general systems theory and ecology

5
 c. humanistic views
d. psychology and sociology
8. The integrated generalist model means that generalist social workers ______.
a. primarily define their method as casework
b. are Jacks (or Jills) of all trades and masters of none
c. focus on the interactions between people and their environments
d. work on community problem-solving initiatives
9. Which of the following persons is most likely considered “at risk” in social
functioning?
a. Someone who is serving time in prison
b. A family caught up in serious communication conflicts
c. An older woman who is adjusting successfully to the death of her partner
d. A person with a disability who is underemployed
10. Which of the following most accurately applies a social systems view to Alanda
Morrison and her family?
a. Alanda is a subsystem of the Morrison family
b. Alanda is part of the Morrison family’s environment
c. The Morrison family is a subsystem of the school
d. The school is a subsystem of the Morrison family

Short Answer
1. Describe key elements of the ecosystems perspective.
2. Articulate the differences with respect to the focus of change among microlevel,
mezzolevel, and macrolevel client systems.
3. Provide examples of ways generalist social workers apply the person: environment
construct to their practice of social work.
4. Compare and contrast levels of social functioning.
5. Evaluate the differences between traditional social work methods and the integrated
generalist model.

Essay Questions
1. Apply the definition of social functioning to your understanding of personal,
interpersonal, and environmental factors that enhance and/or impede social functioning.
2. Differentiate the specialized skills social workers need for their practice with client
systems at the individual, family, group, organization, neighborhood, and community
levels.
3. Critique how knowing that both problems and solutions can be found in the social
environment informs a generalist approach to assessment and intervention.
4. Evaluate why the social systems perspective is a useful theoretical model for considering
the effects of social and economic issues and human rights concerns on the transactions
between persons and their environments.
5. Hypothesize why the definition or nature of the problem and not the method alone
determines which intervention strategies social workers select.

6
 Chapter 4
The Social Service Delivery System

Multiple Choice
1. The Child Welfare League of America, the Alliance for Children and Families, and the
American Public Human Service Organization are examples of ______.
a. agencies
b. host settings
c. associations
d. public auspices
2. The Jewish Federation, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Service, and Church World
Service are all ______.
a. ecumenical agencies
b. public agencies funded by religious bodies
c. sectarian agencies
d. non-sectarian agencies
3. Imposing rules and regulations to restrict access to services is a form of ______.
a. privatization
b. a request for proposal
c. purchase of service contracting
d. bureaucratic disentitlement
4. The origins of business ventures in the social service delivery network can be traced to
______.
a. the Social Security Act of 1935
b. the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
c. the Medicare and Medicaid Amendments of the 1960s
d. the recent emphasis on privatization
5. Funding resources are extremely limited in the community’s agency for the homeless.
The board of directors had decided that services should be offered only to those who
seem highly motivated and “reachable.” This policy illustrates ______.
a. community-based planning
b. agency turfism
c. purchase of service contracting
d. social triage
6. Liz Meija is employed as a social worker in a host setting. She is most likely employed in
a(n) ______.
a. family service agency
b. school
c. mental health center
d. urban social service planning agency
7. Jerimiah, who recently earned his Associate’s degree, is a client advocate/caseworker aid
with the local agency serving persons with disabilities. He is most likely a ______.
a. paraprofessional
b. licensed social worker
c. specialized professional
d. basic professional

7
 8. The service-user involvement movement ______.
a. is limited to participation in self-help groups
b. has a singular focus on social policies
c. provides a venue for redressing power inequities
d. creates barriers to consumer involvement
9. Dena is an intake worker at a township social service agency. Part of her job involves
screening clients for emergency needs. This face of her job involves ______.
a. privatization of services
b. social triage
c. bureaucratic disentitlement
d. purchase of service contracting
10. Maria, a licensed social worker, is a partner in a private practice, Social Work Associates.
This arrangement is most likely a ______.
a. not-for-profit social service agency
b. sectarian social service agency
c. public social service agency
d. for-profit business venture

Short Answer
1. Describe ways in which agencies can demonstrate respect for diversity.
2. Describe the implications of professional licensure for social work.
3. Provide examples of ways in which workplace burnout could result in social justice
issues.
4. Compare and contrast the following characteristics of social services: private and public
auspices, primary and host settings, sectarian and nonsectarian affiliations, and nonprofit
and for-profit status
5. Evaluate the impact of privatization on social service delivery

Essay Questions
1. Illustrate the ways in which a responsive social service delivery system affords clients the
right to access affordable and comprehensive health and human services that will
contribute to their quality of life and well-being.
2. Chart the benefits of a social service delivery infrastructure that is built on both public
and private services.
3. Analyze the challenges that arise for practitioners with respect to accessibility and
availability of services in urban and rural communities.
4. Evaluate how title protection, licensure, and legal regulation of social work protect clients
and promote ethical practices.
5. Generate proactive steps that social workers can take in the policy practice arena to
address emerging funding issues to ensure that benefits to persons in need are not eroded.

8
 Chapter 5
Values and Ethics in Social Work

Multiple Choice
1. Values ______.
a. define what exists
b. are a legitimate access to societal resources (rights)
c. are the same as needs
d. direct and orient behavior
2. Ethics is what we consider ______.
a. ideal
b. preferable
c. right
d. good
3. Social ideologies are most likely a part of which facet of the values context of social
work?
a. agency values
b. personal values systems of social workers
c. clients’ personal values
d. the context of society
4. To which ethical standard are social workers in the United States held accountable in
courts of law?
a. The NASW Code of Ethics
b. The International Code of Ethics
c. The Radical Code of Ethics
d. No particular ethical standard
5. The principle for action, “Beginning where the client is,” best reflects ______.
a. individualization
b. self-determination
c. accountability
d. controlled emotional response
6. Self-determination ______.
a. means there are no limits placed on decision making
b. provides clients with opportunities to make choices
c. should be encouraged only if there is a good change that the client will make the
“right” decision
d. places responsibility for decision making on the social worker
7. Emphasizing that social work is inherently political and that social workers have a
responsibility for social and political action most accurately reflects which of the ethical
preferences for empowerment social work?
a. The ethic of care
b. The ethic of justice
c. The ethic of praxis
d. The ethic of politicized practice

9
 8. Bill Hanley and Russ O’Donohue both are professional social workers who are guided by
the NASW Code of Ethics. Since professional actions are grounded in the Code of Ethics,
we can expect that given a particular situation ______.
a. their professional decisions will always be very similar
b. their professional decisions may actually be quite different
c. the code is irrelevant to their professional practice
d. the code always dictates a particular response
9. Carrie is beginning her career as a professional social worker. With respect to values,
you’d recommend that she ______.
a. strive to be a value neutral professional
b. identify her own values as ideal
c. enhance her self-awareness by continuously reflecting on her values
d. impose her own values on her clients
10. Chanda wants to interact with her clients in ways that demonstrate controlled emotional
involvement. You recommend that she ______.
a. blame her clients for their circumstances
b. maintain emotional distance so that she can study her clients’ situations
c. talk with her clients about the ways they are similar to her
d. respond in ways that demonstrate empathy

Short Answer
1. Differentiate between values and ethics.
2. Describe the core values of the social work profession.
3. Illustrate the value context of social work with examples from a social work practice
setting of your choice.
4. Compare and contrast the ethical principles for social work practice.
5. Evaluate the ethical issues that might be involved in working with older adults who are
frail.

Essay Questions
1. Provide examples of how the values of human dignity and social justice are reflected in
the social work code of ethics.
2. Illustrate how agency values reflect culturally responsive programming for diverse client
population groups.
3. Analyze how the conservative focus on individual morality influences the development
and implementation of social welfare policies.
4. Evaluate the purposes of professional social work codes of ethics for practitioners,
clients, and the general public.
5. Create a chart that highlights potential ethical dilemmas associated with each social work
practice principle.

10
 Chapter 6
Human Rights and Social Justice

Multiple Choice
1. The rights to housing, medical care, social security, education, and social services are all
______.
a. civil and political rights
b. social and economic rights
c. collective rights
d. “people’s rights”
2. Laws dealing with equal opportunity most likely deal with ______.
a. civil rights
b. human rights
c. second generation rights
d. civil liberties
3. When policies, rules, and regulations are enforced in such a way as to adversely affect
minorities, this discrimination is on the ______.
a. individual level
b. structural level
c. microlevel
d. organizational level
4. Sexism ______.
a. exists only in mid-east countries
b. has never been endorsed by religious tradition
c. justifies the position that men and women are unequal
d. is expressed against individuals and not found in social institutions
5. According to social Darwinism, private acts of charity ______.
a. defeated the law of natural selection
b. were less disruptive to social evolution than public social welfare
c. undermined scientific philanthropy
d. had no impact on the character of the poor
6. Which of the following represents the current focus of the women’s rights movement?
a. Obtaining the right to participate in the political process
b. Attaining educational equity
c. Promoting androgyny
d. Attaining economic equity
7. According to Solomon, policies that create health care disparities, are ______ barriers to
empowerment for minorities.
a. human rights
b. direct
c. unjust
d. indirect
8. When majority groups in society use their positions of power to exploit and
economically, socially, and psychologically dominate members of minority groups, the
outcomes of their actions are best described as ______.
a. just world beliefs

11
 b. prejudiced discrimination
c. oppression
d. blaming the victim behavior
9. Jeremy is limited in his search for gainful employment because of architectural barriers in
workplaces. According to the World Health Organization, this social disadvantage is a(n)
______.
a. physical limitation
b. consequence of impairment that restricts activity
c. environmental disability
d. handicap
10. When clients conclude that they can do nothing to change their situations, their
conclusion reflects a phenomenon called ______.
a. personal victimization
b. learned helplessness
c. blaming the victim
d. attribution theory

Short Answer
1. Articulate differences among first, second, and third generation human rights.
2. Describe the effects of social injustice and social work’s mandate to redress social
injustice.
3. Provide examples of the racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, heterosexism, elitism to
illustrate similarities and differences among the isms.
4. Analyze the role of macrolevel change for advancing social justice.
5. Evaluate the attitudes of the general public to identify remnants of social Darwinism.

Essay Questions
1. Prepare a position statement that supports the notion that a “just social order accords
every societal member the same basic social rights, opportunities, and benefits.”
2. Propose ways that social workers can address the personal, interpersonal, institutional,
and socio-economic outcomes of the isms as manifestations of social injustice for diverse
client populations.
3. Analyze the roles that social workers play in supporting human rights to education, work,
and health in their day-to-day practice and in the public policy arena.
4. Evaluate the remnants of social Darwinism, blaming the victim, and just world beliefs
that persist in contemporary welfare policies and in current attitudes of the general public
about social welfare clients.
5. Hypothesize ways in which oppression, discrimination, dehumanization, and
victimization prevent some groups from achieving social and economic justice.

12
 Chapter 7
Diversity and Social Work

Multiple Choice
1. Ethnic groups ______.
a. are persons bound together by the cultural ties of common origins
b. is a term which conflict sociologists say can be used interchangeably with
minority groups
c. is a category excluding minorities of color
d. is a category primarily emphasizing biological or physiological differences
2. Spirituality is ______.
a. always a reflection of denominational beliefs
b. the same as being affiliated with a religious community
c. the human experience of developing meaning and purpose
d. contingent on attending religious services
3. ______ are now the largest minority group in the United States.
a. Asian Americans
b. Black Americans
c. Hispanic Americans
d. Native Americans
4. Gender is defined as ______.
a. a person’s biological identity as male or female
b. culturally determined characteristics associate with maleness or femaleness
c. a persons’ deeply felt sense of being male or female
d. external characteristics socially defined as masculine or feminine
5. The process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to
people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religious, and other
diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals,
families, and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each refers
specifically to ______.
a. culturally competent social work practice
b. anti-racist social work practice
c. anti-oppressive social work practice
d. generalist social work practice
6. Critical race theory ______.
a. holds that the standpoint of the observer is the primary filter for perceiving and
interpreting racial and cultural identity
b. concludes that identity is only based on race rather than intersections amont
cultural group memberships
c. emphasizes the stress and strain resulting from belonging to two cultures
d. contends that racism is embedded in social interactions and social structures
7. Mechio came to the Unites States with his family about ten years ago. He has made a
conscious effort to “fit in” with the dominant culture. Now no one would even guess he
was an immigrant. His experience best illustrates ______.
a. accommodation
b. marginality

13
 c. assimilation
d. acculturation
8. The process of consciousness raising about the interrelationships among status, privilege,
and oppression is the central component of ______.
a. developing a critical consciousness
b. generalist social work
c. reflective social work practice
d. culturally competent social work
9. Mario is worried that if he publically reveals that he is gay, people will become
irrationally afraid of him and not allow him to continue as a city council leader. His
concern about their fears is really a concern about ______.
a. oppression
b. sexism
c. homophobia
d. a minor issue
10. Sondra feels some stress as a result of a mismatch between her ethnic culture and the
dominant culture. Chau calls this conflict between the cultures ______.
a. incongruence
b. a cultural clash
c. abnormal
d. dissonance

Short Answer
1. Describe the international context of social work practice.
2. Describe cultural competence and analyze its significance for social work practice.
3. Illustrate 5 ways social workers can increase their cultural competence for practice with
diverse populations.
4. Analyze the implications of diversity for social work practice in today’s world.
5. Evaluate what knowledge about human behavior and the social environment social
workers need to work competently with diverse population groups.

Essay Questions
1. Explain how empowerment social work embodies the profession’s value orientation held
about diverse populations.
2. Illustrate how social workers acquire the self-awareness necessary to eliminate personal
bias from their work with diverse population groups.
3. Analyze the skills social workers need in engagement, assessment, intervention, and
evaluation to relate affectively and to practice effectively with diverse populations.
4. Evaluate the role of self-awareness with respect to key aspects of diversity, including
cultural and ethnic, sexual, and religious diversity. Incorporate questions reflective
practitioners might use to enhance their self-awareness into your response.
5. Formulate a rationale as to the importance for social workers to understand the effects of
differential status.

14
 Chapter 8
Empowerment Social Work Practice

Multiple Choice
1. Professional relationships ______.
a. are business ventures
b. are the same as friendships
c. are similar to personal relationships
d. evolve from the purpose of social work
2. Jim and Madge are participating in family counseling because of a court order. They are
most likely ______.
a. voluntary clients
b. hard to reach clients
c. involuntary clients
d. unmotivated clients
3. Assessment ______.
a. evaluates practice effectiveness
b. specifies the nature of the problem
c. involves developing goals and objectives
d. refers to selecting alternative solutions
4. Exploring the effect of the client’s customs and traditions considers the impact of ______
on the client’s functioning.
a. cultural diversity
b. social institutions
c. social injustice
d. interpersonal communication
5. The type of evaluation that evaluates with clients where they stand on achieving the goals
and objectives developed in the action plan is called ______.
a. outcome assessment
b. progress evaluation
c. program evaluation
d. action research
6. According to an empowerment view of social work, the expert professional role ______.
a. creates more problems for clients than for social workers
b. maximizes the roles of clients
c. empowers clients
d. traps clients in a culture of dependence on experts
7. When a social worker’s expertise doesn’t extend to the issue presented by a client, the
social worker should ______.
a. immediately terminate work with this client
b. read a related journal article to prepare for the next session
c. make a referral
d. continue working with the client after disclosing the lack of expertise
8. Social workers’ final activities with client serve to stabilize success and ______.
a. prevent recidivism in clients’ everyday functioning
b. alleviate problems in clients’ everyday functioning

15
 c. generalize outcomes into clients’ everyday functioning
d. restrict options for clients’ everyday functioning
9. In her social work class, Chen Li learns that she needs to respond to clients’ feelings with
sensitivity and understanding. This fundamental skill for developing positive professional
relationships is ______.
a. empathy
b. warmth
c. genuineness
d. cultural competence
10. To extend her understanding of a new resident’s family, Carmen Molina, a social worker
at Pleasant Valley Nursing and Retirement Center, visually illustrates the structure and
interrelationships within the residents’ family. The tool she is using is called a ______.
a. cultural history
b. social history
c. genogram
d. eco-map

Short Answer
1. Describe the roles of the social worker in working collaboratively with clients in the
social work helping relationship.
2. Describe ways in which social workers can promote clients strengths and competence.
3. Examine client rights and responsibilities to determine how these rights and
responsibilities apply to each of the phases of the social work intervention process.
4. Assess the implications of the human rights principles delineated by the International
Federation of Social Workers for generalist social work practice.
5. Critique the implications of social work professionals shifting from the role of expert
professional to one of collaborative partner.

Essay Questions
1. Propose ways that empowerment applies to intervention with individuals, families,
groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities.
2. Illustrate how the integrated view of persons and their social environments guides the
assessment of situations in generalist social work practice.
3. Analyze how research evidence informs practice and how practice informs research.
4. Because generalist social workers seek solutions in both personal and environmental
structures, evaluate what they take into consideration when translating client outcome
goals into intervention strategies.
5. Critique why maximizing clients’ rights throughout all facets of empowerment processes-
engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation- requires social workers to ensure
clients’ full participation in accessing services and decision-making.

16
 Chapter 9
Social Work Functions and Roles

Multiple Choice
1. Maintaining professional standards is a function of the ______ role.
a. broker/advocate
b. researcher/scholar
c. colleague/monitor
d. activist
2. Stella Rosenthal works in an aging services resource and referral program. She links
clients to community based resources for older adults. Her role is that of a ______.
a. facilitator
b. networker
c. broker/advocate
d. teacher
3. Jose Melendez mobilizes the action of community members to address the shortages of
food supplies in area food pantries. Jose’s work reflects the ______ role.
a. broker/advocate
b. convener/mediator
c. activist
d. planner
4. ______ is a social work function intended to bring about a better understanding of
choices, to supply information about options, and to identify problems for subsequent
action.
a. Advice
b. Education
c. Consultancy
d. Assessment
5. Contributing to the professional body of knowledge is one purpose of the ______ role.
a. convener/mediator
b. researcher/scholar
c. broker/advocate
d. colleague/monitor
6. The social work roles of enabler, facilitator, planner, and colleague-monitor are all
associated with the ______ function of social work.
a. consultancy
b. outreach
c. resource management
d. education
7. Prevention activities are primarily ______ in nature.
a. educational
b. medical
c. psychological
d. social
8. Michael Williams applies adult learning principles to the staff development training
modules he designs. His job focuses on the social work function called ______.

17
 a. education
b. consultancy
c. empowerment
d. resource management
9. The local chapter of the NASW has a mentorship program in which seasoned social
workers are paired with new professionals to assist these new social workers in applying
professional values, standards, and ethics in their practice of social work. These mentor-
colleagues are applying strategies of ______.
a. professional liability
b. on-the-job training
c. knowledge development
d. professional acculturation
10. Maria Lopez works with the coalition made up of representatives from local social
service agencies to identify and address gaps and barriers in the social service delivery
network. Which social work role does Maria’s work with the coalition represent?
a. Broker/advocate
b. Activist
c. Coordinator
d. Convener/mediator

Short Answer
1. Describe ways social workers in their roles as activists and advocates could address
human rights issues.
2. Describe ways social workers can extend advocacy initiatives into the international arena.
3. Illustrate ways in which social justice and human rights are integrated into the core
purposes of social work as explicated by the General Assemblies of the IASSW and the
IFSW.
4. Compare and contrast the social work functions of sonultancy, resource management, and
education.
5. Evaluate the significance of integrating practice, policy, and research into day-to-day
social work practice.

Essay Questions
1. Provide examples of how the roles associated with consultancy, resource management,
and education serve as means for addressing social justice issues and human rights
concerns.
2. Generalist social work integrates direct practice, policy analysis and formulation, and
research and evaluation. Illustrate what practice knowledge and skills are needed to carry
out these activities.
3. Analyze the common elements or themes evident in the various roles and strategies
associated with the function of consultancy for problem solving.
4. Evaluate the purpose of information as a central component to empowerment at various
client system levels.
5. Prepare a position statement that compels social workers to achieve the professional
expectation to contribute to the knowledge base of practice through their research and
scholarship role.

18
 Chapter 10
Social Work and Social Policy

Multiple Choice
1. The ______ is a major source of citizen entitlements for the indigent, unemployed, aged,
persons with disabilities, and children and families.
a. Social Security Act of 1935
b. Supplemental Security Income
c. Economic Opportunity Act
d. Omnibus Reconciliation Act
2. Which of the following is a social insurance program?
a. Medicaid
b. SSI
c. Medicare
d. TANF
3. The program established by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 is called ______.
a. ADFC
b. SSI
c. OASDHI
d. TANF
4. In 1974, several state-administered categorical assistance programs (OAA, AB, APTD)
were brought under federal administration as the ______ program.
a. SSI
b. CETA
c. JPTA
d. TANF
5. ______ of the Social Security Act expanded the provision of social services through
block grants to states.
a. Title V
b. Title XVIII
c. Title XIX
d. Title XX
6. The Great Depression ______.
a. caused people to focus entirely on private issues related to poverty
b. caused people to notice the institutional and structural breakdown of the economy
c. precipitated a renewed interest in the psychoanalytic perspective
d. set the direction for government intervention to remain primarily a concern of the
states
7. New Federalism ______.
a. consolidated AFDC, SSI, and SNAP
b. replaced AFDC with the Family Assistance Plan
c. emphasized privatization of social services
d. enhanced the public welfare role of the federal government

19
 8. Tomeka says she is a liberal with respect to social welfare policies. She most likely
believes that ______.
a. personal inadequacies cause social problems
b. government’s role in welfare should be limited
c. partnerships between government and businesses should address issues welfare
d. welfare is a citizen right
9. The Brown family income is less than current poverty guidelines for a family their size.
Although both parents work, neither parent has employment-based health benefits. For
which medical assistance program are they most likely qualified?
a. Medicare
b. Medicaid
c. Medigap
d. Medicheck
10. Joe has no source of income but doesn’t qualify for SSI or TANF. The financial
assistance program designed for people like Joe is called ______.
a. the Economic Opportunity Act
b. Medicaid
c. General Assistance
d. APTD

Short Answer
1. Distinguish between social policy as a process and as a product.
2. Describe social work as policy practice.
3. Generate examples that compare and contrast public assistance and social insurance.
4. Analyze the implications of political ideologies for the development and implementation
of social welfare policies.
5. Assess the shifts in social welfare policy beginning with the New Deal programs.

Essay Questions
1. Explain how social welfare policies expand access to society’s opportunity structures,
heighten the ability of social and economic resources, create conditions favorable to
personal growth and well-being, and ensure the protection of human rights.
2. Illustrate how social workers include the activities of policy analysis and policy advocacy
in their practice repertoire.
3. Contrast how the ideologies of liberalism, conservatism, and radicalism differ in their
definition of social and economic justice.
4. Recommend ways that social workers can collaborate with their clients to advocate
policy reform in the various fields of social work practice.
5. Generate several ethical dilemmas that arise from social workers’ competing obligations
to serve the best interests of clients and their commitment to the employing agency.

20
 Chapter 11
Social Work and Poverty, Homelessness, Unemployment, and Criminal Justice

Multiple Choice
1. A family’s standard of living in comparison to that of other community members is a
measure of ______.
a. absolute poverty
b. relative poverty
c. feminization of poverty
d. persistence of poverty
2. The McKinney-Vento Act deals with ______.
a. victim restitution
b. unemployment compensation
c. homelessness
d. public welfare assistance
3. ______ provides benefit coverage for individuals who suffer work related disease or
injury.
a. Workers compensation
b. Unemployment compensation
c. Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled
d. Temporary Assistance for Needy families
4. The ______ model emphasizes including options for vocational education for prisoners.
a. deterrence
b. control
c. rehabilitation
d. retribution
5. Zeke has just learned that he will be released from prison before he serves his full
sentence; however, he will remain under court supervision for a stipulated period of time.
Zeke has most likely been ______.
a. assigned to community services
b. given probation
c. cleared of all charges
d. granted parole
6. Jennifer works for a social service agency that provides services to women who have
been sexually assaulted. The agency Jennifer works for provides these services through a
______.
a. victim-offender mediation program
b. victim assistance program
c. court services program
d. victim witness program
7. From a structural perspective, Tracy argues that ______ is critical for eradicating poverty.
a. changing the familial culture of poverty
b. creating a work ethic in people who are poor
c. increasing the sense of stigma attached to public welfare
d. supporting social reform

21
 8. Of the following, which offense is most common among youths who are delinquent?
a. crimes against persons
b. public order offenses
c. property crimes
d. drug offenses
9. Cassandra Lewis, a social worker who specializes in legal issues, wants to join an
association of professionals with similar interests. She should explore professional
association related to ______.
a. police social work
b. occupational social work
c. probation and parole
d. forensic social work
10. You are participating in a debate on the causes of poverty. Your team is supposed to
develop arguments based on the structural perspective. Which of the following are you
most likely to research to support your debate points?
a. psychological ramifications of the culture of poverty
b. shortfalls in the institutional fabric of society
c. motivational factors related work ethic differences
d. the relationship between personal character and income levels

Short Answer
1. Describe ways the assumptions about empowerment inform the social worker’s regard
for disenfranchised populations.
2. Discuss social justice and human rights issues related to juvenile justice and hate crimes.
3. Debate whether social work should be the primary profession for working with
disenfranchised populations including persons who are poor, homeless, unemployed, or
involved in the criminal justice system.
4. Refute three commonly held misconceptions about people who are poor.
5. Evaluate the underlying social and economic justice issues related to the root causes of
homelessness.

Essay Questions
1. Illustrate how issues of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, and criminal justice raise
concerns with respect to ensuring social justice and protecting human rights.
2. In addition to unemployment compensation benefits, propose other components that
should be included in a comprehensive economic policy to deal with unemployment
issues.
3. Analyze the potential short-term and long-term biopsychosocial effects of poverty for
persons at various life cycle stages.
4. You have just been hired by a social service agency to create a comprehensive,
multisystem level approach to homelessness. Evaluate the issues you plan to address and
the components of the program you envision taking into consideration direct service,
policy practice, advocacy, and public education.
5. Hypothesize about the unique challenges social workers confront when working in the
context of the criminal justice system.

22
 Chapter 12
Social Work in Health, Rehabilitation, and Mental Health

Multiple Choice
1. The ______ contends that prejudicial attitudes and employment, architectural, and other
environmental barriers rather than the disability are the likely source of limitations for
people with disabilities.
a. environmental mode of disability
b. ADA model of disability
c. social model of disability
d. medical model of disability
2. The central goal of vocational rehabilitation is ______.
a. supplying adaptive devices
b. counseling
c. physical rehabilitation
d. employability
3. The telecommunication device especially designed to assist in communication with
persons who are deaf is called a(n) ______.
a. TTD
b. ADA
c. OASDI
d. Telephone
4. ______ is credited with establishing social work in medical settings and developing a
hospital-based social work department at Massachusetts General Hospital.
a. Mary Jarrett
b. Ida Cannon
c. Mary Richmond
d. Dorthea Dix
5. Of the following drugs, which is a stimulant?
a. Alcohol
b. Barbiturates
c. Heroine
d. Cocaine
6. Mr. Jensen, who is in the end stages of cancer, and his family are consulting with a social
worker about ways to bridge support to ensure a peaceful and pain-free death. They are
most likely working with a social worker affiliated with a(n) ______ agency.
a. home health
b. hospice
c. long-term care
d. public health
7. Providing educational services for children with developmental disabilities that are
“normal and similar” rather than “separate and special” reflects the principle of ______.
a. mainstreaming
b. effectiveness
c. normalization
d. deinstitutionalization

23
 8. Reports indicate that addiction recovery rates are exceptionally high for those individuals
participating in mandatory addictions treatment programs offered through ______.
a. mental health centers
b. family service agencies
c. traditional 12-step programs
d. employee assistance programs
9. One of your assignments in a course called “Social Work and Mental Health” is to
develop a panel presentation focusing on contemporary perspectives on mental illness.
Your paper on the biochemical nature of mental illness reflects ______.
a. cognitive theories of mental illness
b. psychological theories of mental illness
c. organic theories of mental illness
d. sociocultural theories of mental illness
10. As a school social worker, Carl Smith works collaboratively with parents and other
members of the interdisciplinary school team to ensure that students with developmental
disabilities, in so far as possible, enroll in regular classrooms. This type of enrollment is
called ______.
a. standardization
b. normalization
c. mainstreaming
d. deinstitutionalization

Short Answer
1. Describe ways to communicate effectively with persons who are deaf and hard of
hearing.
2. Describe social workers’ roles in primary health care.
3. Defend the statement, “Social work with persons with disabilities is a human rights
initiative.”
4. Analyze ethical and social justice issues related to social work and genetics for their
implications for social work practice.
5. Evaluate the kinds of issues that persons with HIV/AIDS face to develop a rationale for
applying the generalist approach in this field of practice.

Essay Questions
1. Illustrate how “environmental modification” is an empowerment intervention strategy in
services for people with a wide range of disabilities.
2. Propose roles social workers can play in the mental health rights movement.
3. Analyze why social justice and human rights issues revolve around ensuring a standard of
living for the health and well-being of individuals and their families.
4. Evaluate ethical dilemmas that arise for social work practitioners who work with clients
who have been court-ordered to participate in drug or alcohol treatment programs.
5. Predict how changing demographics will affect employment opportunities, service
delivery provisions, and continuing education requirements for social work professionals
in the health care field.

24
 Chapter 13
Social Work with Families and Youths

Multiple Choice
1. Society’s role in representing the interests of children is called ______.
a. local control
b. habeas corpus
c. absolute sovereignty
d. parens patriae
2. ______ laws detail mandatory reporting procedures.
a. Federal
b. State civil
c. State criminal
d. Local
3. The most common form of child maltreatment is ______.
a. sexual abuse
b. child neglect
c. emotional abuse
d. physical abuse
4. The landmark legislation regarding child abuse and neglect is the ______.
a. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
b. Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act
c. Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act
d. Adoption and Safe Families Act
5. Providing services to ensure children’s safety and to prevent out-of-home placement is
most likely an example of ______.
a. primary prevention services
b. family reunification services
c. family support services
d. family preservation services
6. Which of the following characteristics is a macrolevel factor related to the incidence of
child abuse and neglect?
a. the violence that permeates society
b. the low self-esteem of the caregiver
c. social isolation
d. parental unemployment
7. When Carl Rolgoff, a social worker at the child welfare agency, was exploring placement
options for the Johnson children, he was interested to learn that their maternal
grandparents were willing and able to take the children into their home. Placing children
with their grandparents is officially called ______.
a. foster care
b. family preservation
c. family reunification
d. formal kinship care

25
 8. As a school social worker, Sherri most likely emphasizes ______.
a. direct service for children and families
b. clinical casework
c. home-school-community liaisons
d. a non-ecological approach
9. Jenny Norris works at Resources for New Parents, a program that provides information
about infant development, education about parenting, and referrals to community
resources. She most likely works in a ______.
a. family preservation program
b. foster family program
c. primary prevention program
d. homemaker services program
10. Communities that promote resiliency in youths are characterized by all of the following
except ______.
a. a sense of caring and support
b. high expectations for youths
c. personal autonomy
d. social networks that promote social cohesion

Short Answer
1. Explicate the different types of child abuse and neglect, including characteristics and
relative incidence.
2. Describe family violence from an ecological perspective.
3. Prepare an argument for a seamless continuum of family-centered child welfare services.
4. Compare and contrast primary prevention activities and other chld welfare programs and
services.
5. Critique the validity of the statement, “Family group conferencing is a ‘welfare knows
best’ model of the child welfare practice.”

Essay Questions
1. Note factors social workers should consider in resolving the ethical dilemma of
protecting the child versus preserving the family.
2. Propose factors that contribute to resiliency and vulnerability in at-risk youths.
3. Analyze how upholding the primacy of the family, protecting children, and providing
family services are examples of social justice and human rights.
4. Evaluate the strengths and challenges experienced by blended families, single-parent
families, gay and lesbian families, multigenerational families, and grandparent-headed
families.
5. In their policy practice role, recommend advocacy actions social workers could take to
promote a coordinated and comprehensive family policy.

26
 Chapter 14
Adult and Aging Services

Multiple Choice
1. Lobbying for work safety legislation is a ______ intervention.
a. microlevel
b. midlevel
c. mezzolevel
d. macrolevel
2. The purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to alleviate discrimination against
people with disabilities in ______.
a. personal interactions
b. employment and public accommodations
c. public spaces
d. housing
3. ______ is the federal legislation that stipulates taking a comprehensive approach to the
legal issues surrounding domestic violence and sexual assault.
a. Title XX of the Social Security Act
b. CAPTA legislation
c. The ADA
d. The Violence Against Women Act
4. ______ is the federal legislation that first defined elder abuse.
a. The Social Security Act of 1935
b. The Old Age Assistance Act of 1990
c. The 1987 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act
d. The 1998 Regulation of the Prevention and Treatment of Elder Abuse Act
5. Aging in place ______.
a. is unrealistic
b. means living at home until one becomes frail
c. requires comprehensive planning
d. is a vision for living in one’s own home throughout the lifespan
6. In addition to spousal caregivers, ______ are most likely the “kin-keepers” in families.
a. sons and sons-in-law
b. daughters and daughters-in-law
c. granddaughters
d. nieces and nephews
7. Although her mother begs to go to the doctor, Sarina tells her that she is complaining
again for no reason and refuses to make an appointment. This type of purposeful
withholding of medical attention from an elderly person could be considered the type of
elder abuse called ______.
a. physical abuse
b. neglect
c. verbal abuse
d. self-neglect

27
 8. Of the following fields of practice, in which are gerontological social workers most likely
to practice?
a. Victim assistance programs
b. Aging services
c. Genetic counseling services
d. Family services
9. Police social worker Ametra understands that KayCee will need support for follow-
through after she called the police to protect her from her partner’s violent temper.
Ametra talks with KayCee about working with someone who can accompany her as she
goes through various legal proceedings. Ametra is most likely going to refer KayCee to a
______.
a. shelter
b. counseling service
c. domestic violence advocacy program
d. support group
10. Avis needs some relief from the responsibilities of providing care for her husband. The
social workers at Aging Alternatives indicates that she will most likely locate respite care
through ______.
a. services located in nursing homes
b. home health care services
c. multipurpose senior centers
d. adult day care services

Short Answer
1. Describe the issues of discrimination addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act as
well as those social justice issues that continue to impede the full participation in society
be people with disabilities.
2. Discuss the implications of empowerment for working with older adults.
3. Propose ethical issues that arise in working with situations involving elder abuse.
4. In the context of employee assistance programs, compare and contrast potential social
worker involvement at the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels of practice.
5. Assess the issues of intimate partner violence experienced by same-sex and opposite-sex
couples.

Essay Questions
1. Defend the proposition that “human rights applies to all persons regardless of age.”
2. Propose some research questions associated with the field of gerontology.
3. Outline indicators social workers would evaluate in their assessment of elder abuse.
4. Assess the ethical issues associated with identifying the primary client and with balancing
the rights of caregivers and the “cared for” in providing support to family members who
assume caregiving roles for aging parents, life partners, and other dependent adults.
5. Draw conclusions about why intimate partner violence is regarded as an arm of
oppression and a violation of human rights.

28
 Answer Key
Chapter 1
1. A
2. C
3. D
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. B
8. C
9. D
10. A

Chapter 2
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. D
9. C
10. B

Chapter 3
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. C
5. D
6. C
7. B
8. C
9. D
10. A

Chapter 4
1. C
2. C
3. D
4. C
5. D
6. B
7. A
8. C

29
 9. B
10. D

Chapter 5
1. D
2. C
3. D
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. D
8. B
9. C
10. D

Chapter 6
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. C
5. A
6. D
7. B
8. C
9. D
10. B

Chapter 7
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. D
7. C
8. A
9. C
10. D

Chapter 8
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. D

30
 7. C
8. C
9. A
10. C

Chapter 9
1. C
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. D
10. D

Chapter 10
1. A
2. C
3. D
4. A
5. D
6. B
7. C
8. D
9. B
10. C

Chapter 11
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. C
5. B
6. B
7. D
8. C
9. D
10. B

Chapter 12
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. B

31
 5. D
6. B
7. C
8. D
9. C
10. C

Chapter 13
1. D
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. D
6. A
7. D
8. C
9. C
10. C

Chapter 14
1. D
2. B
3. D
4. C
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. C
10. D

32
Another random document with
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 CHAPTER XX.

CONCERNS A RUMOR.
Preston had impatiently awaited the result of La Planta’s cross-
examination, and the verdict disappointed him. For secretly he felt
convinced still that even if the young man had not directly connived
at the money-lender’s death, yet that he could throw light on the
cause of death if he wished to.
“I cannot help thinking,” he said to Yootha while they were
discussing the mystery on the day after La Planta’s acquittal, “that he
knows something too concerning what happened at Henley regatta. I
have felt that all along. And had he been found guilty of conniving at
Schomberg’s death we might have been in a position to escape from
what now threatens us. However, I believe that in the end we shall
be able to snap our fingers at the people who are trying to blackmail
us, so you must try to cheer up, my darling.”
They were sitting out on the heather under the shadow of the
Sugarloaf Mountain in Monmouthshire, where they had been staying
for a fortnight at the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny, and, but for the
development which threatened they would have been completely
happy. As it was, when they succeeded in forgetting what the future
might hold for them, the hours were the happiest they had ever
spent. It was now August, but Monmouthshire is one of the few
counties which holiday makers seem consistently to overlook in spite
of its lovely scenery, with the result that the picturesque moors were
almost deserted.
For some minutes they remained silent. The quietude of the
countryside, the almost oppressive heat, the wonderful landscape
which unfolded itself before them, stretching away to the silvery river
Usk visible some miles down the valley, seemed in harmony with
their mood. And then presently, gently placing his arm about her,
Preston drew Yootha closer to him and pressed his lips to hers.
“My darling,” he murmured, “whatever happens, believe me I shall
love you always—​always. Doesn’t it seem strange that for all these
years we should not have met, and that then we should have
become acquainted by the merest chance? Supposing I had not
happened to wander into Bond Street that morning, just a year ago—​
it was the ninth of August, the date of the opening of our great
offensive on the Western front—​and that I had not been with
George, who knew La Planta, and that La Planta had not invited us
to lunch with him at the Ritz we should probably be strangers still! I
believe I fell in love with you that day, Yootha; certainly you attracted
me in the most extraordinary way directly we were introduced—​you
and your delightful friend, Cora.”
“And yet during the whole lunch you spoke hardly a word, and
Jessica thought you dull and stupid, I remember,” she exclaimed,
laughing. “I know, because I heard her say so to Aloysius Stapleton.”
“I dare say I was dull and stupid. I certainly felt dull, but several
months of hospital life are not calculated to sharpen one’s
intelligence, are they? As for Jessica, from the moment I set eyes on
her something in her personality repelled me, though afterwards, at
her house, when we had that lovely music, I felt for the first time less
antagonistic. But if I knew her twenty years I should never get to like
her, or, indeed, trust her. Doesn’t she affect you in that way?”
“Not in that way, precisely, though I have never liked her, as you
know. I have somehow felt all the time that she and Stapleton and La
Planta were playing some deep game, and I believe they are playing
it still, whatever it may be. How odd she should have invited us to tea
on her house-boat that day at Henley, and been so amiable, and yet
that so soon afterwards—​—”
She checked herself abruptly, and nestled closer to her lover. The
pressure of his strong arm seemed to give her confidence, restore
her courage. After all, she reflected, so long as they were together,
what could anything matter? And then, carried away suddenly by her
emotion, she flung her arms about his neck and kissed him again
and again.
The sun was setting when at last they rose and prepared to go
back to the village, a couple of miles distant, where they had left their
car.
“Why,” Preston said, suddenly producing a letter from his pocket,
“I forgot to tell you, dear, I received this from George just before we
came out. He is staying in town during August, as I think I told you,
and he says he has been again to the house with the bronze face.
While there he was informed that Mrs. Timothy Macmahon, to whom
Lord Froissart left his fortune, is now in London and has a strange
story to tell. Stothert told George that Mrs. Macmahon was greatly
upset on hearing that Froissart had bequeathed everything to her,
and that she is anxious to transfer the greater part of the fortune to
Froissart’s rightful heir, his eldest daughter, Mrs. Ferdinand Westrup,
who lives with her husband in Ceylon. Mrs. Macmahon admits, he
says, that she was on terms of intimacy with Froissart, who used to
visit her in Cashel, her home in Tipperary, but she declares that was
no reason for him to leave his entire fortune to her, especially as she
has a comfortable income of her own.”
He unfolded the letter and read parts of it aloud to Yootha as they
strolled along the heather. The paragraph which interested her most,
ran as follows:
“... Stothert also told me Mrs. Macmahon had told him that
Froissart, for some time before he took his life, had been
threatened with exposure of his private life if he refused to
continue to pay increasingly large sums of money to certain
persons who were persecuting him....”
Yootha put her hand impulsively on her lover’s arm.
“Charlie!” she exclaimed, “that is exactly what Cora told me she
thought might have been the reason of Lord Froissart’s suicide. She
had heard rumors of his intimacy with some woman in Ireland, and
that there was possibility of a big scandal, and she also told me Lord
Froissart possessed such a sensitive nature that she could not
imagine what would happen if the scandal ever came to a head. And
now I have an idea. Don’t you think it possible Vera Froissart may
have discovered her father’s secret, and that the shock of the
discovery may have driven her, for very shame, to end her life?”
For some moments Preston did not answer. Then he said:
“My darling, I don’t think that. What I think far more likely is that
Vera may intentionally have been enlightened concerning her
father’s unfortunate infatuation for Mrs. Macmahon, and herself have
been blackmailed by the very people who afterwards blackmailed
her father, in which case the same scoundrels are indirectly
responsible for the death of both father and daughter. More, I now
suspect the person or persons who threatened Froissart and his
daughter may be the people now threatening us if we refuse to
intimidate Cora in the way they wish us to.”
Yootha stopped in her walk, staring speechless at her companion.
“Good heavens!” she exclaimed at last. “How can such wretches
be allowed to live?”
Then her imagination began to work with extraordinary rapidity.
She thought of Cora’s secret love for Sir Stephen Lethbridge, who
had shot himself a year before; of Lord Hope-Cooper, who had
drowned himself in the lake of his beautiful park at Cowrie Hall, in
Perthshire; of Viscount Molesley, Leonora Vandervelt and others,
whose mysterious suicides had so startled London Society, also of
the well-known men and women who had, quite recently, ended their
lives apparently for no reason. Was it possible all these people had
been driven to desperation by the same means and finally in a fit of
temporary insanity, destroyed themselves?”
Suddenly she caught her breath.
Henry Hartsilver, the husband of her friend, Cora—​her dearest
friend! No breath of scandal concerning him had ever been
whispered, and yet—​—
A sentence she had read in a novel flashed back into her mind:
“The private lives of most men are sealed books to all but their
companion, or companions, in guilt.”
 Had Hartsilver’s private life been a sealed book to Cora, whose
habit it had been, she remembered, to jest about her husband’s
extraordinary respectability?
She clutched her lover’s hand, and stopped again in her walk.
“Charlie!” she exclaimed in an access of emotion, “if ever, after we
are married, you grow tired of me—​I want you—​I want you to—​—”
Something seemed to choke her, and Preston caught her in his
arms.
“Yootha, Yootha, my own darling!” he exclaimed huskily. “What
are you saying? What are you thinking about? How can you imagine
for a single instant I could grow tired of you, the one woman in the
world I have ever loved! Don’t say what you were trying to, whatever
it may have been. I don’t want to hear it. It pains me when you talk
like that, my precious! You don’t—​you can’t suppose I should be
such a monster as to think of any woman but you?”
“Oh, but promise—​you will promise—​if you feel your love for me
fading, no matter how little, to tell me about it? I couldn’t bear to think
you pretended to love me when all the time you knew in your heart
that in spite of yourself you were growing tired of me. So many men
grow tired of their wives. Oh, yes, I have seen it again and again
among my own friends—​they marry, they love each other truly for a
little while, then their love begins to cool, and then—​oh, my darling,
the bare thought of that possibility makes me feel faint and ill,” and
she began to sob bitterly as she lay listless in his arms.
It was now nearly dark, and they were still a long way from the
village. Preston tried to comfort her, assuring her again and again of
the impossibility of his ever growing tired of her, or indeed loving her
less, but for a long time she remained in deep depression.
And while this was happening Doctor Johnson and George
Blenkiron were dining together at the former’s house in Wimpole
Street.
They had become extremely friendly since their first meeting at
the ball at the Albert Hall, owing partly to the fact of their having
interests in common, and it was but natural that during dinner
mention should be made of their common friend, Preston.
“I still feel anxious about Charlie Preston,” Blenkiron happened to
remark. “He has changed greatly of late, yet won’t say what is the
matter. To-day I heard an odd story to the effect that he has got
himself into some sort of trouble. And yet I can’t think what. He is not
a man who runs after women; rather, he is inclined to shun them. On
the other hand he is not in monetary difficulties, that I know for a
fact.”
“Where did you hear the story?” Johnson asked.
“At the club. Several men seemed to have heard it, yet all were
vague as to the nature of the alleged trouble. I do hope, Johnson, he
has not done anything foolish. He is such a good fellow.”
“The last man to do anything foolish, I should say,” the doctor
replied. “I like to trace to their source the origin of vague stories,
because often they do much mischief though quite devoid of
foundation. Couldn’t we, between us, find whence this rumor
emanates?”
“I think it should be possible. I will see what can be done to-
morrow.”
Blenkiron was fortunate next morning in coming face to face with
the member of the club who had first told him the story, or the story
so far as it went.
Briefly, the rumor was that Captain Preston had been talking too
freely about a certain lady—​this was the new version—​that he had
been taken to task by an intimate friend of hers, also a member of
the club, and that an action threatened unless Preston agreed to
apologize in writing for what he had stated, and, in addition, agreed
to pay a considerable sum to the man who brought the charge.
“Who told you all that?” Blenkiron inquired carelessly.
“Told me? I’m sure I don’t remember,” his informant replied
quickly. “It is common talk. You will hear about it everywhere.”
 “Still, one ought to know who started it, because, personally, I
don’t believe a word of it. Preston is not a man to talk indiscreetly,
especially about a woman.”
The other shrugged his shoulders.
“I give it, of course, merely for what it is worth,” he said. “I don’t
vouch for the accuracy of everything I hear.”
“Then why repeat it as if it were solemn truth? I’d be more careful
if I were you, Appleton,” Blenkiron went on. “There’s a thing called
the law of slander.”
Appleton stared.
“If Preston is a friend of yours,” he stammered, “I suppose I ought
to apologize.”
“I think so too,” Blenkiron answered.
But in spite of his endeavor during the day to find who had first
started the story, he failed to get any information. Many of his
acquaintances had heard the rumor, but none could remember
where.
Yet one person could have enlightened him. Jessica, scheming to
destroy the happiness of those she knew to be striving to discover
the secret of her past life, had now no scruple as to what methods
she might employ to achieve her end. And for some weeks events
had been occurring which, she now realized, threatened to
jeopardize her position in Society, and indeed her own safety and
that of her faithful companions.
“Louie,” she said to Stapleton—​they were at déjeuner with La
Planta on the terrace of the Royal Hotel at Dieppe, “don’t you think it
time we put a check to the activities of Cora Hartsilver and her
energetic admirers? I am growing tired of being harassed by their
over-persistency. If our plan fails with Preston and Yootha Hagerston
regarding her, I suggest that more repressive measures be resorted
to at once. And I don’t mind admitting now, that I believe Charles
Preston is going to prove too much for us.”
 CHAPTER XXI.

THE LITTLE HORSES.

The re-opening of the Casino at Dieppe in 1919 was the signal,
as some may remember, for an outbreak of gambling for very high
stakes. This was attributed partly to the natural reaction of public
feeling after the roulette tables and the petits chevaux had been so
long hors concours, and partly to the fact that during the war many
acquired a taste for speculation who previously had looked upon
even a sixpenny lottery as ungodly.
Among the regular frequenters of the Casino during August of
1919 was a very handsome Englishwoman, accompanied almost
always by a tall, undistinguished-looking man of middle-age, and by
a good-looking, well groomed young fellow of twenty-six or so. Night
after night this trio would arrive between eight and nine o’clock, seat
themselves whenever possible at the same petits chevaux table,
until the Casino closed.
What attracted attention to them was the large sum they
invariably staked at every turn of the wheel which set the horses
“running”; the recklessness of their play, and their extraordinary luck.
Time and again they would come out of the Casino many hundreds,
and sometimes many thousands of pounds richer than when they
had gone in, and usually an agent de police would meet them at the
entrance and accompany them across to their hotel to prevent any
possibility of their being robbed.
Dieppe at that time was one of the few French seaport towns
which could be visited by English folk without their being compelled
first of all to comply with endless formalities, so that English people
foregathered there in their thousands. It was not surprising,
therefore, that when Jessica and her friends had been a week or two
in the town they should suddenly come face to face in the Casino
with no other than Captain Preston and his future wife.
Instantly Jessica extended her hand.
“I won’t say it is odd meeting you here,” she exclaimed, as she
shook hands with Yootha, “because one does nothing but run across
friends all day and every day, but I must say I did not expect to meet
you, for I heard you were both in Monmouthshire.”
“We left Abergavenny two days ago,” Yootha answered quickly,
“and arrived here last night. Isn’t this a delightful place? I’ve never
been here before.”
“Is anybody with you?” Jessica asked.
“An aunt of mine had arranged to come, but at the last moment
she was detained through illness.”
Though she felt exceedingly uncomfortable at meeting Jessica
again, after all that had occurred, she deemed it wiser to appear
friendly than to cut the woman—​her secret wish. Jessica, on the
other hand, seemed really glad to meet Yootha Hagerston once
more, and Captain Preston, and when they had conversed for a little
while she inquired where they were staying, and then invited them to
dine, an invitation they naturally felt compelled to accept.
The Royal Hotel was crowded with well-dressed people, many of
whom went across to the Casino after dinner, among them Jessica,
her friends, and her two guests.
“I have been so lucky at petits chevaux lately,” Jessica said as
they all passed in. “I don’t want to influence you in any way, Yootha,
but if you and Captain Preston like to play my game I believe you will
win. During the three weeks I have been playing I have come away a
loser only three times, and not on one occasion a heavy loser. I am
between three thousand and four thousand pounds to the good on
my three weeks’ play, and Louie and Archie won several thousands
each. And yet not one of us has any system. It is just pure luck.”
“I don’t think Yootha will play,” Preston, who had overheard
Jessica’s remark, cut in.
 “Oh, but why not, Charlie?” the girl exclaimed in a tone of
disappointment. “I have been looking forward so much to playing,
though of course I am not going to gamble.”
Jessica laughed, and in the laughter was a note of pity,
approaching disdain.
“Naturally if Captain Preston forbids you to play, you won’t play,”
she said lightly.
“Indeed you are mistaken, Jessica,” Yootha said piqued. Then she
turned to Preston.
“I am going to play, Charlie,” she said, “and you will see that I
shall win!”
“That’s the spirit,” Jessica laughed, only partly in jest. “And yet if
you lose, dear, you won’t blame me, I hope.”
Preston bit his lip, but said nothing more. Directly he had said that
Yootha wouldn’t play, he had realized his want of tact. No woman
likes to be thwarted, least of all before acquaintances, and by the
man she is going to marry. Had he remained silent she would, he felt
sure, have said of her own accord that she preferred not to play.
He lit a cigar and stood watching the game while Jessica found
seats at the table and made Yootha take the vacant one beside her.
Stapleton and La Planta stood just behind.
“Give me your money,” Jessica said in an undertone to the girl. “I
will add it to my own, and then we shall be backing the same horses
and my luck, if I have any, will be yours too.”
With a growing feeling of excitement, Yootha produced from her
handbag a roll of paper money, counted it carefully, and handed it to
her companion.
“That is all I can afford,” she whispered. “You’ll do the best you
can with it, won’t you? I do so want to win.”
“Oh! that is plenty,” Jessica answered, as she picked up the
notes, and after counting them, placed them on top of her own sheaf.
Then, for some minutes, she watched the play closely.
 “Now I am going to start,” she said suddenly, and pushed a heap
of paper on to one of the names of the horses.
The little horses spun around, passing one another, some
gradually dropping back, others overtaking, the leaders. Then came
the monotonous “Rien n’va plus” from the croupier; the horses began
to slacken speed, went slower and slower—​stopped.
Jessica had lost.
“This time we double,” she said under her breath to Yootha, and
pushed more money on to the name from which her former stake
had just been raked.
Again the horses spun round; again the croupier droned; again
they slowed down—​and stopped.
Jessica had lost again.
“Had we better go on?” Yootha asked anxiously. “Or why not try
another horse?”
“Nonsense,” Jessica answered impatiently. “You have lost only a
trifle. I have lost fifty pounds. Now watch.”
She backed the same horse again, and this time the heap of
notes was much bigger. The race started. For more than a minute
the little horses kept changing their positions, then they moved
slower and finally stopped.
Yootha uttered an exclamation of delight. The horse Jessica had
backed had won!
A great pile of money, as it seemed to the girl, was pushed
towards Jessica by the croupier, and at once she passed some of
the pile towards her.
The next time the horses started the sum staked by Jessica was
much bigger, and she won again. Again she staked, and again she
won; and again; and yet again. The crowd gathered about the table
began to murmur. It grew excited when Jessica, backing different
animals, won three times more in succession.
 By that time Yootha was panting with excitement. Jessica, as
soon as she had realized that her luck still prevailed, had gone
practically nap every time with Yootha’s money as well as her own.
Yootha’s breast rose and fell, her lips were parted, her eyes shone
strangely as she watched her companion staking and winning now
on almost every race. If she lost once she won twice. If she lost twice
she won generally three or four times directly afterwards. Yootha,
with her winnings piled in front of her, was about to speak to Jessica,
when her eyes met Preston’s. Her lover, standing facing her on the
opposite side of the table, was calmly smoking his cigar. He made no
movement, nor did his expression betray either approval or
disapproval. He merely looked hard at her without smiling.
“Make Captain Preston come and sit near us,” Yootha heard
Jessica saying. “He looks so sad there alone. Doesn’t he ever play?
Has he no vices at all? Take my advice, Yootha—​think twice before
marrying a man who boasts that he has no vices!”
“But he doesn’t boast anything of the sort—​he doesn’t boast at
all,” Yootha retorted, nettled, for again Jessica’s tone annoyed her.
She caught Preston’s eye once more and made a sign to him; but he
only shook his head and smiled rather coldly.
“You must teach him to play after you are married, dear,” Jessica
said. “I know that he has played,” and she smiled oddly. “Look at the
sum you have amassed to-night through taking my advice. Now I am
going to stake again four times, and, after that, win or lose, we stop.”
She staked heavily, and lost; then staked heavily again, and won
three times in succession.
Then she rose, and Yootha did the same, and at once other
players took their seats.
Yootha was beside herself. Though the sum she had won was
small by comparison with the amount won by Jessica, to her it
seemed a lot, perhaps because she had never played before.
“Let us go back and win some more,” she exclaimed excitedly,
casting a furtive glance backward at the table they had just left. “I do
love it so! Are you always as lucky as that, Jessica?”
 In the excitement of the moment she seemed quite to have
forgotten her aversion for Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson; she had even
forgotten her lover’s presence until he suddenly approached.
“Was I not right not to take your advice?” she said to him gaily.
“You ought to have played, Charlie, you really ought. You have no
idea what fun it is.”
“Haven’t I?” he answered, looking down at her. “I wish I hadn’t—​I
should be a rich man to-day.”
“Yes,” Jessica cut in with a curious laugh. “I have been told that
years ago Captain Preston lost thousands on the turf and at cards.”
Yootha saw her lover make a little gesture of annoyance and at
once she changed the subject.
At supper in the Casino they were joined by Stapleton and La
Planta, who had disappeared while Yootha and Jessica were
playing. When they were half-way through the meal, Yootha’s gaze
became fixed on a man at supper with friends at a table close by.
Presently she turned to Preston:
“I know that man so well by sight,” she said, “but can’t remember
who he is, or where I have seen him before. Haven’t we both met
him somewhere?”
Preston cast a hasty glance in the direction indicated. The person
referred to was a sleek, well-nourished man with black, rather curly
hair, and a carefully waxed moustache. Yes, he too had seen him
before—​but where?
And then all at once he remembered. He had not seen him
before, but he had seen his portrait. It hung, quite a large picture, in
Stothert’s office in the house with the bronze face.
He told Yootha so.
“So it does!” she exclaimed. “That is how I remember the face. I
wonder who he is?”
“You wonder who he is?” Jessica inquired; she had overheard
only the last sentence.
 “That dark man at supper over there,” and she indicated his
whereabouts with her eyes.
“Oh, that is Monsieur Alphonse Michaud,” Jessica replied at once.
“A remarkable character, according to all accounts. He is the
director, and I suppose proprietor of the Metropolitan Secret Agency
in London.”
“That man is? But I thought Mr. Stothert and the woman called
Camille Lenoir were the directors.”
Jessica laughed.
“Have some more lobster, dear,” she said. “No, Stothert and
Lenoir are merely managers, just salaried people like other
managers. But when have you been to the Metropolitan Agency?”
“I went there at the time of that horrible affair at the Albert Hall
ball, when they thought I had stolen Mrs. Stringborg’s necklace. I
can’t bear to think of it, even now. It seems like a nightmare still.”
“Of course—​I had forgotten. By the way, was that mystery ever
cleared up?”
“I believe not. The whole thing was most singular.”
“Didn’t the Metropolitan Agency find out anything? They are
generally so clever.”
“Nothing of importance,” Yootha answered quickly. “Oh, yes, that
is the man,” she said, looking again at the dark-haired stranger who
had just risen from supper with his friends, three flashily-dressed
women. “There is no mistaking him. The portrait is a striking
likeness.”
When Yootha and Preston were alone again, the girl returned to
the subject of her play.
“It is so exciting, Charlie,” she exclaimed. “I must try my luck
again to-morrow, I really must. In some ways Jessica is a wonderful
woman; she tells me she nearly always wins, so that by doing just
what she does—​—”
 “You seem suddenly to have taken a fancy to Jessica,” her lover
interrupted. “I never thought you would do that, dear.”
“Nor did I, Charlie,” she replied at once. “And I haven’t exactly
taken a fancy to her, only I think—​well, I think we have misjudged
her to some extent.”
“After the things you know she said about Cora?”
“I don’t actually know she said them, because I didn’t hear her say
them. After all, we were only told she said those things, and you
know how people exaggerate.”
Preston was silent.
“I wish you wouldn’t play again, darling,” he suddenly exclaimed
earnestly. “You have no idea how the craving to play can get hold of
you. I hoped so much to-night that you would lose.”
“Hoped that I should lose!”
“Yes, so that you wouldn’t want to play again; so that you would
grow disgusted with the game before it had time to get a hold on
you.”
“Ah! I know why that was,” she exclaimed, her brow clearing.
“Jessica said that years ago you lost a lot of money. No wonder you
hate playing now. I understand your being disgruntled. How much
did you lose, Charlie? And why did you never tell me? And who told
Jessica?”
“I lost almost every shilling I had,” Preston answered, lowering his
voice. “Otherwise I should be a rich man to-day, instead of
comparatively a pauper. The gambling fever caught me first when I
was staying in Port Said, with friends, and I was very lucky. It
increased and increased until, though I lost again and again, I
became absolutely reckless. I think the craze for gambling is the
worst form of affliction that can befall any man. But I overcame it in
the end, and because I overcame it when too late I want you to
overcome it before you go further.”
Yootha looked up into his face, and patted his cheek playfully.
 “Charlie,” she said, “I am going to play to-morrow—​just to-morrow.
I promised Jessica I would. And now I promise you that if I lose to-
morrow I will never play again. Will that satisfy you? You know I
always keep my promises.”
“I suppose it will have to satisfy me,” her lover answered, kissing
her. “But I hate your becoming intimate with Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson
—​you don’t know how I hate it. She is not the right companion for
you at all.”
“Oh, don’t be anxious,” Yootha replied, smiling. “I can look after
myself, I assure you.”
 CHAPTER XXII.

ANOTHER MYSTERY MAN.

“You will let me, won’t you?” Jessica said coaxingly.
She was addressing Yootha, begging her to let her take the place
of the aunt who had been detained at the eleventh hour, and act as
her chaperone during Yootha’s stay at Dieppe.
“I know there have been times when you and Cora have not
thought well of me, I never knew quite why,” she went on, “and I
should like you to be able to assure Cora that she formed a wrong
opinion of me. I always think someone must have told her things,
and so prejudiced her against me.”
Thus Yootha, always generously disposed, also impressionable
and ready to forgive an injury, fancied or otherwise, was soon talked
over by the clever woman. Indeed, the girl went so far as to
persuade herself that she and Cora and Preston, and the others who
had tried so hard to discover Jessica’s antecedents, had suspected
her unjustly. And now on the top of it all had come Jessica’s
introduction of Yootha to the Casino with its petits chevaux, Yootha’s
subsequent elation at her success, and Jessica’s extraction of the
promise from her that she would play again with her next day.
“Though I have been lucky all along, I have never been as lucky
as I was to-night,” she said to Yootha as they parted for the night. “I
believe you are my mascot, and to-morrow we will prove if you are or
not!”
Next night Preston excused himself. He said the Casino bored
him; in reality he could not bear Jessica’s company, or the sight of
Yootha gambling. To have opposed Yootha’s wish further than he
had done would, he knew, have been unwise; she might have turned
upon him and said things she would afterwards have regretted
saying. So with a major in the Gunners, whose acquaintance he had
made at the Royal Hotel, and who had been through the war, he
started off for an evening walk up the hill to the back of the town as
soon as Jessica and Yootha had gone across to the Casino, where
they were to meet Stapleton and La Planta.
It was one of those warm, balmy nights, the air perfectly still,
which we enjoy so rarely in this country. By the time Preston and his
companions had reached the summit of the steep ascent the moon,
in its second quarter, was shining down across the streets and
houses, imparting to the city the aspect of a toy town, and
illuminating the sea for many a mile beyond it. As they sat
contemplating the picturesque panorama their gaze became focused
on the lights of the Casino.
“Don’t you play at all?” the major, whose name was Guysburg,
inquired as he lit a fresh cigar and offered one to Preston.
“Not now,” Preston answered dryly. “I played too much in my time;
games of chance and backing horses bit me hard when I was almost
a boy.”
The major laughed.
“Boys will be boys,” he said lightly, as he puffed at his cigar.
“And fools will be fools,” Preston retorted. “I was one of the fools
who ‘made their prayer,’ and have regretted it ever since.”
“Yet you have no objection to your future wife’s playing? That
seems to me strange.”
“Indeed, I have the strongest objection,” Preston answered
quickly, in a strange voice. “I have been through the mill, and I know
what it means when the craving to gamble gets a grip on you which,
try as you will, you can’t shake off. Unfortunately Miss Hagerston
met an acquaintance here yesterday—​that tall, handsome woman—​
you must have noticed her—​who last night induced her to play, and
they won a lot of money. Miss Hagerston became so exultant that
she promised Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson she would play with her again
to-night, and nothing I could say would dissuade her. I can only hope
that to-night their luck will be reversed, and then Miss Hagerston will
see the folly of the whole thing.”
For a minute the major did not reply. Then he said abruptly:
“Who are the two men who are always in Mrs. Mervyn-
Robertson’s company—​I think you said that was her name?”
“Just friends. They are constantly with her in London too, where
she is well-known in Society; some say there is no romance or
scandal associated with their friendship; others say there is.”
For a long while they conversed on various topics, and particularly
about the war. Presently the major said:
“I noticed a person in the hotel to-day who had a curious
reputation before the war—​a man called Michaud, Alphonse
Michaud. Have you ever heard of him?”
“Odd, your asking that,” Preston answered. “He was pointed out
to me last night at supper at the Casino—​a dark man, rather Jewish
looking, with black wavy hair.”
“That’s the fellow. He was mixed up in several shady affairs some
years before the war, and I understand he is now ‘commander-in-
chief’ of a most successful inquiry agency in London, with branches
on the Continent and abroad. I suppose it is the old idea, ‘set a thief
to catch a thief,’” and he laughed.
“What do you know about him?” Preston asked, suddenly
interested. “How the Metropolitan Secret Agency is so successful in
ferreting out secrets in people’s private lives has long puzzled
London Society, also the London police, and I have often heard it
hinted that the Agency in question of which I now understand
Michaud is the moving force, has recourse to questionable methods
to obtain its information.”
“That I can believe,” Major Guysburg answered, “if Michaud has
to do with it. Mind, he is an extraordinarily clever man. One ramp he
was generally supposed eight or ten years ago to have had a hand
in concerned the insurance of some valuable stones owned by a
diamond merchant whose place of business is in the Kalverstraat in
Amsterdam—​I formerly lived near Rotterdam. Within six months after
the insurance had been effected the stones disappeared from the
merchant’s safe, and to this day nobody knows how the robbery was
carried out—​the merchant kept the key of his safe on him day and
night. The opinion in Amsterdam, however, was that Michaud, who
had insured the stones and who was paid the insurance under
protest, was himself the thief. Oh, but there were other queer doings
in which he was said to be mixed up, but they would take too long to
tell. Incidentally he was supposed at one time to have in his
possession a remarkable drug, a sort of perfumed poison, with most
peculiar attributes—​it was said that the drug, properly administered,
rendered people unconscious, and left their minds a blank after they
recovered consciousness, from a period before they inhaled it.”
Preston became greatly interested.
“Tell me, major,” he said, “did you read the report recently of the
exhumation of the body of a Jew who died suddenly, and under
rather mysterious circumstances, at a ball at the Albert Hall?”
“No. I am not a great newspaper reader.”
“Well, naturally I was interested in the affair because I and a friend
of mine found the man dead in one of the boxes during the ball,” and
he went on to give Major Guysburg a brief account of what had
occurred that night. “Why I am interested in what you say about that
peculiar drug is that the man who was believed to know something
about the Jew’s death, or rather what caused it, admitted having
imported from Shanghai, for his own use only, he said, a drug
apparently similar to the one you have just mentioned—​it may,
indeed, have been the identical drug.”
“Shanghai, did you say? Why, I remember now that is the place
where the drug I have told you about was supposed to have come
from.”
“How strange! And there was another affair when apparently
some drug of the sort was used, but on that occasion the victim was
La Planta himself.”