Here, in this narrow lane, stood the proudest synagogue in all England until the year of grace 1291, when the Jews were, by edict, expelled the kingdom; and here came the Brothers of the Sack, a mendicant order of friars, to take possession of the deserted temple, one sunny May afternoon, when the orchards were blooming, and the linnets were singing in Cheapside--now a mart of all the nations of mankind. And then, in the natural order of things, came Sir Robert Fitzwalter on another sunny afternoon, to dispossess the Brothers of the Sack; and this doughty knight, having the ear of the then King, turned the monks out, and they, invoking the displeasure of the Maker of all things upon Knight Fitzwalter, banner-bearer to the city and the Lord Mayor of London, left the convent and dispersed themselves severally and sorrowfully, all over the by-paths and sequestered roads and nooks of merry Old England. The Old Jewry is about two hundred and fifty feet long. Short passages, that cannot be dignified by the title of lanes, jut off this narrow street. High buildings loom up to the sky above the heads of the passers-by, and the dome of mighty St. Paul's is hid away from the vision. In this Old Jewry is a court-yard hidden away. There are jewelers' shops, silk-mercers' shops, and chop-houses of the better class on either side, and a man, in a blue cloth uniform of heavy fabric, walks up and down, day and night, with a pasteboard helmet on his head. His wrists are trimmed with bands of crimson and white flannel, and one row of gilt brass buttons bifurcate his blue, close-fitting coat, and meet to part no more at his throat and waist. The face of the man is homely, and his black eyes burn under his helmet of a hat, and in the glare of the street lamp. Not a soul stirring in the Old Jewry to-night but this silent patrolman, who looks up and down the lane, now to Cheapside, now over the roofs as if he would like to get a glimpse of St. Paul's, whose bell booms with an affrighting suddenness and energy on the air, through the beating rain and blinding fog. "Is this the Central Detectives' Office?" I ask of the helmeted patrol. "Yes, sir. This 'ere is the Central Hoffis of the City of Lunnun; the hother hoffis is down Scotland-yard way in Parliament street, hopposite the Hadmiralty and the 'Oss Gy-a-ads." I find my way past the patrol, and around me I can see a court-yard fifty by a hundred feet in size, and at either side a gas-lamp burns dimly, and the wind whistles down from above, and the rain patters unceasingly. [Sidenote: RELICS OF CRIME.] It is like a play-ground or school-yard, but there is in it the quietness of a deserted church. Turning to the right, I ascend two steps and enter a hall, where another morose-looking patrolman demands my business. "Who do you want to see, sir? Oh, Hinspector Bailey. Well, sir, he is werry busy just now; got a precious 'ard case to desect; but I'll take your card and I'll try wot I can do."