"I shall be pleased to help you," he said, still stiffly.
"Can you," I went on, "tell the whereabouts of a man whom I may describe to you?"
"That is very vague," was the reply. "Your description may be incorrect, or a hundred men might answer to it. I would promise nothing under such conditions."
"Perhaps I had better tell my story," I said.
"I think you had," said the little professor, quietly.
"On the 2nd of January of the present year," I said, "a man disappeared in the night from a place in Yorkshire. He is an Egyptian, and easily distinguished. A great deal depends on finding him at once. Ever since May, endeavours have been made to track him, but without success."
"Perhaps he is dead," said the professor.
"Perhaps so; but even then it is important to know. Can you help me to find out his whereabouts?"
"Undoubtedly I can; but I must have a good photograph of him. Have you one?"
"I have not."