ribbled a note upon a leaf of his pocket-book, and,
ringing the bell, he handed it to the waiter.

"I have asked Mr. Melas to step across," said he. "He lodges on the
floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him, which led
him to come to me in his perplexity. Mr. Melas is a Greek by extraction,
as I understand, and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living
partly as interpreter in the law courts and partly by acting as guide to
any wealthy Orientals who may visit the Northumberland Avenue hotels. I
think I will leave him to tell his very remarkable experience in his own
fashion."

A few minutes later we were joined by a short, stout man whose olive
face and coal-black hair proclaimed his Southern origin, though his
speech was that of an educated Englishman. He shook hands eagerly
with Sherlock Holmes, and his dark eyes sparkled with pleasure when he
understood that the specialist was anxious to hear his story.

"I do not believe that the police credit me--on my word, I do not," said
he in a wailing voice. "Just because they have never heard of it before,
they think that such a thing cannot be. But I know that I shall never
be easy in my mind until I know what has become of my poor man with the
sticking-plaster upon his face."

"I am all attention," said Sherlock Holmes.

"This is Wednesday evening," said Mr. Melas. "Well then, it was Monday
night--only two days ago, you understand--that all this happened. I am
an interpreter, as perhaps my neighbor there has told you. I interpret
all languages--or nearly all--but as I am a Greek by birth and with a
Grecian name, it is with that particular tongue that I am principally
associated. For many years I have been the chief Greek interpreter in
London, and my name is very well known in the hotels.

"It happens not unfrequently that I am sent for at strange hours by
foreigners who get into difficulties, or by travelers who arrive late
and wish my services. I was not surprised, therefore, on Monday night
when a Mr. Latimer, a very fashionably dressed young man, came up to my
rooms and asked me to accompany him in a cab which was waiting at the
door. A Greek friend had come to see him upon business, he said, and
as he could speak nothing but his own tongue, the services of an
interpreter were indispensable. He gave me to understand that his house
was some little distance off, in Kensington, and he seemed to be in a
great hurry, bustling me rapidly into