"We will take the year before that," said the man with cheerful
alacrity, heaving up another volume. "Here's two Keswicks," he said in a
moment, "one John, and the other Stephen W. Neither of them right?"

"No," said Lawrence, "my man is Junius, and we need not go any farther
back. I am afraid the person I am looking for was only a sojourner in
the city, and that his name did not get into the directory. I know that
he was here year before last."

"All right, sir," said the other, pushing aside the volume he had
been consulting. "We'll find the man for you from the hotel books, and
what is more, we can see those two Keswicks that I found last. Perhaps
they were relations of his, and he was staying with them. If you put the
matter in our hands, we'll give you the address to-morrow night,
provided it's an ordinary case. But if he has gone to Australia or
Japan, of course, it'll take longer. Is it crime or relationship?"

"Neither," replied Lawrence.

"It is generally one of them," said the man, "and if it's crime we carry
it on to a certain point, and then put it into the hands of the
detectives, for we've nothing to do with police business, private or
otherwise. But if it's relationship, we'll go right through with it to
the end. Any kind of information you may want we'll give you here;
scientific, biographical, business, healthfulness of localities,
genuineness of antiquities, age and standing of individuals, purity of
liquors or teas from sample, Bible items localized, china verified; in
fact, anything you want to know we can tell you. Of course we don't
pretend that we know all these things, but we know the people who do
know, or who can find them out. By coming to us, and paying a small sum,