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?