However, I departed with the address of a detec
tive who lived in the East End, and took my way to
the American consul-general. And here, at last, I
found a man with whom I could do business.
There was no hemming and hawing, no lifted
brows, open incredulity, or blank amazement. In
one minute I explained myself and my project,
which he accepted as a matter of course. In the
second minute he asked my age, height, and weight,
and looked me over. And in the third minute, as
we shook hands at parting, he said: " All right,
Jack. I ll remember you and keep track."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Having built my
ships behind me, I was now free to plunge into that
human wilderness of which nobody seemed to know
anything. But at once I encountered a new diffi
culty in the shape of my cabby, a gray-whiskered
and eminently decorous personage, w r ho had imper-
turbably driven me for several hours about the City.

"Drive me down to the East End," I ordered,
taking my seat.

"Where, sir ? " he demanded with frank surprise.

"To the East End, anywhere. Go on."

The hansom pursued an aimless way for several
minutes, then came to a puzzled stop. The aper
ture above my head was uncovered, and the cabman
peered down perplexedly at me.

"I say," he said, " wot plyce yer wanter go?"

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