e," said Mr. Bruff, looking at the
dark sailor in his turn. "And he may be the man."

Before he could say more, his coat-tail was respectfully pulled by his
attendant sprite with the gooseberry eyes. Mr. Bruff looked where the
boy was looking. "Hush!" he said. "Here is Mr. Luker!"

The money-lender came out from the inner regions of the bank, followed
by his two guardian policemen in plain clothes.

"Keep your eye on him," whispered Mr. Bruff. "If he passes the Diamond
to anybody, he will pass it here."

Without noticing either of us, Mr. Luker slowly made his way to the
door--now in the thickest, now in the thinnest part of the crowd.
I distinctly saw his hand move, as he passed a short, stout man,
respectably dressed in a suit of sober grey. The man started a little,
and looked after him. Mr. Luker moved on slowly through the crowd. At
the door his guard placed themselves on either side of him. They were
all three followed by one of Mr. Bruff's men--and I saw them no more.

I looked round at the lawyer, and then looked significantly towards the
man in the suit of sober grey. "Yes!" whispered Mr. Bruff, "I saw it
too!" He turned about, in search of his second man. The second man
was nowhere to be seen. He looked behind him for his attendant sprite.
Gooseberry had disappeared.

"What the devil does it mean?" said Mr. Bruff angrily. "They have both
left us at the very time when we want them most."

It came to the turn of the man in the grey suit to transact his business
at the counter. He paid in a cheque--received a receipt for it--and
turned to go out.

"What is to be done?" asked Mr. Bruff. "We can't degrade ourselves by
following him."

"I can!" I said. "I wouldn't lose sight of that man for ten thousand
pounds!"

"In that case," rejoined Mr. Bruff, "I wouldn't lose sight of you,
for twice the money. A nice occupation for a man in my position," he
muttered to himself, as we followed the stranger out of the bank. "For
Heaven's sake don't mention it. I should be ruined if it was known."

The man in the grey suit got into an omnibus, going westward. We got in
after him. There were latent reserves of youth still left in Mr.
Bruff. I assert it positively--when he took his seat in the omnibus, he
blushed!

The man in the grey suit stopped the omnibus, and got out in Oxford
Street. We followed him again. He went into a chemist's shop.

Mr. Bruff started. "My chemist!" he exclaimed. "I am afraid we have made