‘Fact, I assure you,’ said Michael.  ’You now see for yourself, sir, that if this unhappy person is to be saved, some devilish sharp practice will be needed.  There’s money, and no desire to spare it.  Mr Thomas could write a cheque tomorrow for a hundred thousand.  And, Mr Forsyth, there’s better than money.  The foreign count—­Count Tarnow, he calls himself—­was formerly a tobacconist in Bayswater, and passed under the humble but expressive name of Schmidt; his daughter—­if she is his daughter—­there’s another point—­make a note of that, Mr Forsyth—­his daughter at that time actually served in the shop—­and she now proposes to marry a man of the eminence of Mr Thomas!  Now do you see our game?  We know they contemplate a move; and we wish to forestall ’em.  Down you go to Hampton Court, where they live, and threaten, or bribe, or both, until you get the letters; if you can’t, God help us, we must go to court and Thomas must be exposed.  I’ll be done with him for one,’ added the unchivalrous friend.

‘There seem some elements of success,’ said Gideon.  ’Was Schmidt at all known to the police?’

‘We hope so,’ said Michael.  ’We have every ground to think so.  Mark the neighbourhood—­Bayswater!  Doesn’t Bayswater occur to you as very suggestive?’

For perhaps the sixth time during this remarkable interview, Gideon wondered if he were not becoming light-headed.  ’I suppose it’s just because he has been lunching,’ he thought; and then added aloud, ’To what figure may I go?’

‘Perhaps five thousand would be enough for today,’ said Michael.  ’And now, sir, do not let me detain you any longer; the afternoon wears on; there are plenty of trains to Hampton Court; and I needn’t try to describe to you the impatience of my friend.  Here is a five-pound note for current expenses; and here is the address.’  And Michael began to write, paused, tore up the paper, and put the pieces in his pocket.  ’I will dictate,’ he said, ‘my writing is so uncertain.’

Gideon took down the address, ’Count Tarnow, Kurnaul Villa, Hampton Court.’  Then he wrote something else on a sheet of paper.  ’You said you had not chosen a solicitor,’ he said.  ’For a case of this sort, here is the best man in London.’  And he handed the paper to Michael.

‘God bless me!’ ejaculated Michael, as he read his own address.

’O, I daresay you have seen his name connected with some rather painful cases,’ said Gideon.  ’But he is himself a perfectly honest man, and his capacity is recognized.  And now, gentlemen, it only remains for me to ask where I shall communicate with you.’

‘The Langham, of course,’ returned Michael.  ‘Till tonight.’

‘Till tonight,’ replied Gideon, smiling.  ’I suppose I may knock you up at a late hour?’

‘Any hour, any hour,’ cried the vanishing solicitor.

‘Now there’s a young fellow with a head upon his shoulders,’ he said to Pitman, as soon as they were in the street.