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what the man was saying.
    "... He impressed me with the need to make
his work my own. I have spent time in many countries and usually
find people such as myself, blacks, sometimes Indians, sometimes
those of mixed race, and many times whites, kidnapped from their
homes and families, sold because of crushing need, or deceived and
lured into slavery by promises of paid work, a respectable
marriage, admission to a party thrown by a celebrity, any number of
tricks to secure their trust or their servitude. They are never
paid, married, entertained, or, most importantly, never are they
set free. It was through this quest that I found my wife.
    "These conditions I have given are bad
enough, but I came to London a few months ago on the trail of a new
kind of slavery. I heard of people gathered in the usual way, but
not for field work or mere prostitution. They are groomed to mingle
in society, to operate in cities and towns. They are trained in
vicious methods of theft and of preventing their capture and
identification.
    "If they fail, they disappear. In a few
cases, we have found the bodies of these wretches. Their deaths are
made to excite no unusual suspicion because they are carefully
staged to fit into a local pattern of domestic violence, drunken
brawls, or even reported killings with similar features. I regret
to say that after serving token sentences for withholding
information, every one of the people on the Jade Green Sea have
disappeared. More than half a dozen bodies agreeing with some their
descriptions have been found. Perhaps these tried to gain their
freedom and were made an example of. The others apparently were
gathered up and forced to once again be smuggled to other places as
slaves of this organization."
    Mowgli was not asked to give a report.
Neither was the woman I gathered was Sluefoot Sue.
    She managed to fill the room with her
presence, however. As tall as Mr. Campbell, nearly as tall as
Doctor Mac, she wore an outlandish western costume. Sleek doeskin
cowboy boots peeked out beneath a fringed, divided riding skirt and
vest, a turquoise blouse and a scarlet bandana. Ornate silver and
turquoise chasings and tooling ornamented the leather garments. Her
gloves and hat were also leather, elaborately tooled and silver and
turquoise-decked. She wore her glossy chestnut hair in thick braids
and her eyes were an extraordinary golden shade. Wind and sun had
given her a flushed and very freckled complexion but she was a
handsome woman indeed.
    "All of our researches indicate that the
leader of this organization is in London," Madame Phoebe said. "You
understand that these stories are only examples. Many such
incidents have been documented, and we will show you anything in
our files that you desire to see."
    "Sounds clear enough that these things are
happening as you say," Doctor Mac said when his wife remained
silent and thoughtful. "But not so clear that there's one
organization and one head. How did you arrive at that?"
    Sluefoot Sue rose to her feet with a peculiar
whirring, hissing and clanking sound. The noises were repeated as
she moved in her roving way about the room. Her step was heavy and
uneven. "Ah'd like t' explain that, Miz Phoebe," she said with a
nod to Doctor Mac. "Mah husband and Ah was trackers by profession,
taught by th' First Nations people as well as th' U.S. Cavalry an'
th' Pinkerton Detective Agency. We done stretches with 'em all. Ah
learnt t' read all kind'a' sign, bootprints in th' mud, a thumb
mark on a window, to th' stamp a' one evil personality on a lotta
little things. Ah understand Mr. Mowgli here is also pretty good at
cryin' a trail, an' Ah'll let him correct me if'n Ah go astray."
Mowgli's eyes glowed and he fixed his full attention on Sue.
    "We didn't git these clues in order, y'
understand, but Ah'll put 'em in order fer y' so's y' kin foller.
We got us a lotta cases a' th' pickpocket with th' pig-sticker, so
many thet we reckoned th' whole way a' life was changin' fer
'em.
    "The