member. But his face was
certainly familiar.

When we left him and continued along the busy thoroughfare of cheap
shops and itinerant vendors I asked my friend who he was, to which he
merely replied:

"Well, he's a man who knows something of the affair. I'll explain
later. In the meantime come with me to Gray's Inn Road. I have to
make a call there," and he hailed a hansom, into which we mounted.

Twenty minutes later we alighted before a dingy-looking barber's shop
and inquired for Mr. Harding--an assistant who was at that moment
shaving a customer of the working class. It was a house where one
could be shaved for a penny, but where the toilet accessories were
somewhat primitive.

While I stood on the threshold Ambler Jevons asked the barber's
assistant if he had ever worked at Curtis's, and if, while there, he
knew a man whose photograph he showed him.

"Yes, sir," answered the barber, without a moment's hesitation.
"That's Mr. Slade. He was a very good customer, and Mr. Curtis used
always to attend on him himself."

"Slade, you say, is his name?" repeated my friend.

"Yes, sir."

Then, thanking him, we re-entered the cab and drove to an address in a
street off Shaftesbury Avenue.

"Slade! Slade!" repeated Ambler Jevons to himself as we drove along.
"That's the name I've been in search of for weeks. If I am successful
I believe the Seven Secrets will resolve themselves into one of the
most remarkable conspiracies of modern times. I must, however,
make this call alone, Ralph. The presence of a second person may
possibly prevent the man I'm going to see from making a full and
straightforward statement. We must not risk failure in this inquiry,
for I anticipate that it may give us the key to the whole situation.
There's a bar opposite the Palace Theatre. I'll set you down there,
and you can wait for me. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all, if you'll promise to explain the result of your
investigations afterwards."

"You shall know everything later," he assured me, and a few minutes
afterwards I alighted at the saloon bar he had indicated, a long
lounge patronised a good deal by theatrical people.

He was absent nearly half-an-hour, and when he returned I saw from his
face that he had obtained some information that was eminently
satisfactory.

"I hope to learn something further this afternoon," he said before we
parted. "If I do I shall be with you at four." Then he jumped into a
hansom and disappeare