We climbed in and found comfortable padded and upholstered benches on each side. The door slammed shut behind us and the truck immediately started up. I started to ask John about all this secrecy, but he cut me off. “Until you are a full-fledged member of The Club, you cannot know where it is. Such knowledge would be potentially too dangerous for the other members, and possibly for you, too. Just trust me and I think you'll find it worthwhile.”

The truck turned and twisted and stopped and curved so I had no idea even as to the general direction we were taking. John kept talking to distract me, and after about twenty minutes, the truck slowed, seemed to drive down a ramp or runway, and came to a stop. I heard muffled voices and then the back door swung open.

We climbed out, into a small room that had sliding doors which closed immediately. Then I realized that we had been delivered directly into an elevator within some large building. After ascending what must have been several floors, the rising car stopped and the sliding door opened again. We stepped out into a pleasant lounge such as might have been the entrance of any smart exclusive club in the city.

A dignified gray-haired man greeted John, but did not call him by name. John only said, “This is the friend I phoned that I was bringing. I'm certain that he will be interested in The Club and the opportunities which it offers for the expression and acting-out of artistic and emotional creativity in all its meanings. We will sit over there on the divan while I show him our catalogue and find out his particular field of interest. I'll let you know our plans later, but you can arrange for us to have dinner here.”

I was led by my friend over to the luxurious leather sofa at one end of the lounge, and on the way he picked up a thick bound portfolio. We sat down and he leafed quickly through this catalogue till he found what he was looking for. My casual glance showed that the album consisted of photographs neatly mounted under plastic protectors, but when John handed me the big book opened to what he had found, I nearly dropped it when I saw the pictures on those pages.