“If I’m to make the exchange, it’s now or never,” I said, snatching up the letter from Mrs. Burgoyne which, after copying, I had put back into its envelope and resealed. In another half-minute I had crossed the road and was ascending the stairs which led to Professor Lawrance’s hair-cutting establishment. CHAPTER XVIII I BECOME A HAIRDRESSER’S ASSISTANT To replace the dummy letter by the original and to pocket the former did not take long, and as no step upon the stair announced the Professor’s return I thought I might as well avail myself of the opportunity of ascertaining anything that was to be learnt about his other correspondents. With this end in view I put out my hand to take down the packet again when a voice behind me said:-- “Wot a hinterest he do take in correspondence to be sure. Be damned if he ain’t at ’em again!” And as I turned round I saw the Professor in the act of closing the door, locking it, and putting the key in his pocket. “Now then, Mr. ’Enery Watson,” he said, with an ugly look upon his face, “you and me ’as got to come to a hunderstanding. You comes here very haffable like a-wanting to back a ’orse, with a hintroduction from Mr. ’Enery Morrison, o’ Doncaster. Tall man, clean-shaved, small heyes, wore a fawn coat and a billycock ’at, did he? Ah! I knows ’im--Valker’s ’is name. ’Orses!”--this with scorn too withering to be expressed by means of pen and ink--“_You_ know hanythink about ’orses! Why, yer sneakin’ goat, there ain’t a knacker in the cats’-meat yard wot wouldn’t put ’is ’eels in yer face if ’e ’eard yer talk about a gee-gee!” He looked me up and down contemptuously for a moment, and then with a sudden accession of fury, and with the sneer in his voice changed to a snarl, said:-- “Yer come ’ere, do yer, a-spying and a-prying, and takes rooms over the way to keep a watch upon me and my customers. And yer want to get yer ’and on them letters there, so as to find some hevidence to lay hinformation agin me, do yer? Think I didn’t know yer was a-watchin’ me through the korfey palis winder? That’s wot I went out for. I knew as yer’d be slippin’ over ’ere direckly my back was turned. But I copped yer, yer slinkin’ toad! and yer ain’t got nothink to lay hinformation on; and I’ll take care yer don’t!”