I know who is advertising for the valet," he added gratuitously; "he is a Mr. T. Burton, who is a rubber factor from Penang. Mr. T. Burton married the daughter of the Reverend George Smith, of Scarborough, in 1889, and has four children, one of whom is at Winchester. Hum!"

    He pursed his lips and looked down again at the body; then suddenly he turned to Frank Merrill.

    "Do you know this man?" he demanded.

    Frank looked at him in astonishment.

    "No. Why do you ask?"

    "You were looking at him as though you did," said the little man. "That is to say, you were not looking at his face. People who do not look at other people's faces under these circumstances know them."

    "Curiously enough," said Frank, with a little smile, "there is some one here I know," and he caught the eye of Constable Wiseman.

    That ornament of the Sussex constabulary touched his cap.

    "I thought I recognized you, sir. I have often seen you at Weald Lodge," he said.

    Further conversation was cut short as they lifted the body on to a stretcher and put it into the interior of the ambulance. The little group watched the white car disappear, and the crowd of idlers began to melt away.

    Constable Wiseman took a professional leave of his comrade, and came back to Frank a little shyly.

    "You are Mr. Minute's nephew, aren't you, sir?" he asked.

    "Quite right," said Frank.

    "I used to see you at your uncle's place."

    "Uncle's name?"

    It was the little man's pert but wholly inoffensive inquiry. He seemed to ask it as a matter of course and as one who had the right to be answered without equivocation.

    Frank Merrill laughed.

    "My uncle is Mr. John Minute," he said, and added, with a faint touch of sarcasm: "You probably know him."

    "Oh, yes," said the other readily. "One of the original Rhodesian pioneers who received a concession from Lo Bengula and amassed a large fortune by the sale of gold-mining properties which proved to be of no especial value. He was tried at Salisbury in 1897 with the murder of two Mashona chiefs, and was acquitted. He amassed another fortune in Johannesburg in the boom of '97, and came to this country in 1901, settling on a small estate between Polegate and Eastbourne. He has one nephew, his heir, Frank Merrill, the son of the late Doctor Henry Merrill, who is an accountant in the London and Western Counties Bank. He—"

    Frank looked at him in undisguised amazement.

    "You know my uncle?"

    "Never met him in my life," said the little man brusquely. He took off his silk hat with a sweep.

    "I wish you good afternoon," he said, and strode rapidly away.

    The uniformed policeman turned a solemn face upon the group.

    "Do you know that gentleman?" asked Frank.

    The constable smiled.

    "Oh, yes, sir; that is Mr. Mann. At the yard we call him 'The Man Who Knows!'"

    "Is he a detective?"

    The constable shook his head.

    "From what I understand, sir, he does a lot of work for the commissioner and for the government. We have orders never to interfere with him or refuse him any information that we can give."

    "The Man Who Knows?" repeated Frank, with a puzzled frown. "What an extraordinary person! What does he know?" he asked suddenly.

    "Everything," said the constable comprehensively.

    A few minutes later Frank was walking slowly toward Holborn.

    "You seem to be rather depressed," smiled the girl.

    "Confound that fellow!" said Frank, breaking his silence. "I wonder how he comes to know all about uncle?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, dear, this is not a very cheery evening for you. I did not bring you out to see accidents."

    "Frank," the girl said suddenly, "I seem to know that man's face—the man who was on the pavement, I mean—"

    She stopped with a shudder.

    "It seemed a little familiar to me," said Frank thoughtfully.

    "Didn't he pass us about twenty minutes ago?"

    "He may have done," said Frank, "but I have no particular recollection of it. My impression of him goes much farther back than this evening. Now where could I have seen him?"

    "Let's talk about something else," she said quickly.