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diff --git a/old/wtmol10.txt b/old/wtmol10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e20b52 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wtmol10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9755 @@ + +Project Gutenberg Etext of The White Moll, by Frank L. Packard +#2 in our series by Frank L. Packard + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +The White Moll + +by Frank L. 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FELLOW THIEVES + +VIII. THE CODE MESSAGE + +IX. ROOM NUMBER ELEVEN + +X. ON THE BRINK + +XI. SOME OF THE LESSER BREED + +XII. CROOKS vs. CROOKS + +XIII. THE DOOR ACROSS THE HALL + +XIV. THE LAME MAN + +XV. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER + +XVI. THE SECRET PANEL + +XVII. THE SILVER SPHINX + +XVIII. THE OLD SHED + +XIX. BREAD UPON THE WATERS + +XX. A LONE HAND + +XXI. THE RECKONING + + + +I. NIGHT IN THE UNDERWORLD + +It was like some shadowy pantomime: The dark mouth of an alleyway +thrown into murky relief by the rays of a distant street lamp...the +swift, forward leap of a skulking figure...a girl's form swaying +and struggling in the man's embrace. Then, a pantomime no longer, +there came a half threatening, half triumphant oath; and then the +girl's voice, quiet, strangely contained, almost imperious: + +"Now, give me back that purse, please. Instantly!" The man, +already retreating into the alleyway, paused to fling back a +jeering laugh. + +"Say, youse've got yer nerve, ain't youse!" + +The girl turned her head so that the rays of the street lamp, faint +as they were, fell full upon her, disclosing a sweet, oval face, +out of which the dark eyes gazed steadily at the man. + +And suddenly the man leaned forward, staring for an instant, and +then his hand went awkwardly to touch his cap. + +"De White Moll!" he mumbled deferentially. He pulled the peak of +his cap down over his eyes in a sort of shame-faced way, as though +to avoid recognition, and, stepping nearer, returned the purse. + +"'Scuse me, miss," he said uneasily. "I didn't know it was youse +- honest to Gawd, I didn't! 'Scuse me, miss. Good-night!" + +For a moment the girl stood there motionless, looking down the +alleyway after the retreating figure. From somewhere in the +distance came the rumble of an elevated train. It drowned out the +pound of the man's speeding footsteps; it died away itself - and +now there was no other sound. A pucker, strangely wistful, +curiously perturbed, came and furrowed her forehead into little +wrinkles, and then she turned and walked slowly on along the +deserted street. + +The White Moll! She shook her head a little. The attack had not +unnerved her. Why should it? It was simply that the man had not +recognized her at first in the darkness. The White Moll here at +night in one of the loneliest, as well as one of the most vicious +and abandoned, quarters of New York, was as safe and inviolate +as - as - She shook her head again. Her mind did not instantly +suggest a comparison that seemed wholly adequate. The pucker +deepened, but the sensitive, delicately chiseled lips parted now +in a smile. Well, she was safer here than anywhere else in the +world, that was all. + +It was the first time that anything like this had happened, and, +for the very reason that it was unprecedented, it seemed to stir +her memory now, and awaken a dormant train of thought. The White +Moll! She remembered the first time she had ever been called by +that name. It took her back almost three years, and since that +time, here in this sordid realm of crime and misery, the name of +Rhoda Gray, her own name, her actual identity, seemed to have +become lost, obliterated in that of the White Moll. A "dip" +had given it to her, and the underworld, quick and trenchant in its +"monikers," had instantly ratified it. There was not a crook or +denizen of crimeland, probably, who did not know the White Moll; +there was, probably, not one to-day who knew, or cared, that she +was Rhoda Gray! + +She went on, traversing block after block, entering a less deserted, +though no less unsavory, neighborhood. Here, a saloon flung a +sudden glow of yellow light athwart the sidewalk as its swinging +doors jerked apart; and a form lurched out into the night; there, +from a dance-hall came the rattle of a tinny piano, the squeak of +a raspy violin, a high-pitched, hectic burst of laughter; while, +flanking the street on each side, like interjected inanimate +blotches, rows of squalid tenements and cheap, tumble-down frame +houses silhouetted themselves in broken, jagged points against +the sky-line. And now and then a man spoke to her - his untrained +fingers fumbling in clumsy homage at the brim of his hat. + +How strange a thing memory was! How strange, too, the coincidences +that sometimes roused it into activity! It was a man, a thief, just +like the man to-night, who had first brought her here into this +shadowland of crime. That was just before her father had died. Her +father had been a mining engineer, and, though an American, had been +for many years resident in South America as the representative of a +large English concern. He had been in ill health for a year down +there, when, acting on his physician's advice, he had come to New +York for consultation, and she had accompanied him. They had taken +a little flat, the engineer had placed himself in the hands of a +famous specialist, and an operation had been decided upon. And +then, a few days prior to the date set for the operation and before +her father, who was still able to be about, had entered the hospital, +the flat had been broken into during the early morning hours. The +thief, obviously not counting on the engineer's wakefulness, had +been caught red-handed. At first defiant, the man had finally +broken down, and had told a miserable story. It was hackneyed +possibly, the same story told by a thousand others as a last defense +in the hope of inducing leniency through an appeal to pity, but +somehow to her that night the story had rung true. Pete McGee, +alias the Bussard, the man had said his name was. He couldn't get +any work; there was the shadow of a long abode in Sing Sing that +lay upon him as a curse - a job here to-day, his record discovered +to-morrow, and the next day out on the street again. It was very +old, very threadbare, that story; there were even the sick wife, +the hungry, unclothed children; but to her it had rung true. Her +father had not placed the slightest faith in it, and but for her +intervention the Bussard would have been incontinently consigned +to the mercies of the police. + +Her face softened suddenly now as she walked along. She remembered +well that scene, when, at the end, she had written down the address +the man had given her. + +"Father is going to let you go, McGee, because I ask him to," she +had said. "And to-morrow morning I will go to this address, and if +I find your story is true, as I believe it is, I will see what I +can do for you." + +"It's true, miss, so help me God!" the man had answered brokenly. +"Youse come an' see. I'll be dere-an'-an'-God bless youse, miss!" + +And so they had let the man go free, and her father, with a +whimsical, tolerant smile, had shaken his head at her. "You'll +never find that address, Rhoda-or our friend the Bussard, either!" + +But she had found both the Bussard and the address, and destitution +and a squalor unspeakable. Pathetic still, but the vernacular of +the underworld where men called their women by no more gracious +names than "molls" and "skirts" no longer strange to her ears, there +came to her again now the Bussard's words in which he had paid her +tribute on that morning long ago, and with which he had introduced +her to a shrunken form that lay upon a dirty cot in the barefloored +room: + +"Meet de moll I was tellin' youse about, Mag. She's white - all de +way up. She's white, Mag; she's a white moll - take it from me." + +The White Moll! + +The firm little chin came suddenly upward; but into the dark eyes +unbidden came a sudden film and mist. Her father's health had been +too far undermined, and he bad been unable to withstand the shock +of the operation, and he had died in the hospital. There weren't +any relatives, except distant ones on her mother's side, somewhere +out in California, whom she had never seen. She and her father +had been all in all to each other, chums, pals, comrades, since her +mother's death many years ago. She had gone everywhere with him +save when the demands of her education had necessarily kept them +apart; she had hunted with him in South America, ridden with him +in sections where civilization was still in the making, shared the +crude, rough life of mining camps with him - and it had seemed as +though her life, too, had gone out with his. + +She brushed her hand hastily across her eyes. There hadn't been +any friends either, apart from a few of her father's casual +business acquaintances; no one else - except the Bussard. It was +very strange! Her reward for that one friendly act had come in a +manner little expected, and it had come very quickly. She had +sought and found a genuine relief from her own sorrow in doing +what she could to alleviate the misery in that squalid, one-room +home. And then the sphere of her activities had broadened, slowly +at first, not through any preconceived intention on her part, but +naturally, and as almost an inevitable corollary consequent upon +her relations with the Bussard and his ill-fortuned family. + +The Bussard's circle of intimates was amongst those who lay outside +the law, those who gambled for their livelihood by staking their +wits, to win against the toils of the police; and so, more and more, +she had come into close and intimate contact with the criminal +element of New York, until to-day, throughout its length and breadth, +she was known, and, she had reason to believe, was loved and trusted +by every crook in the underworld. It was a strange eulogy, +self-pronounced! But it was none the less true. Then, she had +been Rhoda Gray; now, even the Bussard, doubtless, had forgotten +her name in the one with which he himself, at that queer baptismal +font of crimeland, had christened her - the White Moll. It even +went further than that. It embraced what might be called the +entourage of the underworld, the police and the social workers with +whom she inevitably came in contact. These, too, had long known +her as the White Moll, and had come, since she had volunteered no +further information, tacitly to accept her as such, and nothing more. + +Again she shook her head. It wasn't altogether a normal life. She +was only a woman, with all the aspirations of a woman, with all the +yearning of youth for its measure of gayety and pleasure. True, she +had not made a recluse of herself outside her work; but, equally, +on the other hand, she had not made any intimate friends in her own +station in life. She had never purposed continuing indefinitely the +work she was doing, nor did she now; but, little by little, it had +forced its claims upon her until those claims were not easy to +ignore. Even though the circumstances in which her father had left +her were barely more than sufficient for a modest little flat uptown, +there was still always a little surplus, and that surplus counted +in certain quarters for very much indeed. But it wasn't only that. +The small amount of money that she was able to spend in that way +had little to do with it. The bonds which linked her to the sordid +surroundings that she had come to know so well were stronger far +than that. There wasn't any money involved in this visit, for +instance, that she was going now to make to Gypsy Nan. Gypsy Nan +was... + +Rhoda Gray had halted before the doorway of a small, hovel-like, +two-story building that was jammed in between two tenements, which, +relatively, in their own class, were even more disreputable than +was the little frame house itself. A secondhand-clothes store +occupied a portion of the ground floor, and housed the proprietor +and his family as well, permitting the rooms on the second floor +to be "rented out"; the garret above was the abode of Gypsy Nan. + +There was a separate entrance, apart from that into the +secondhand-clothes store, and she pushed this door open and stepped +forward into an absolutely black and musty-smelling hallway. By +feeling with her hands along the wall she reached the stairs and +began to make her way upward. She had found Gypsy Nan last night +huddled in the lower doorway, and apparently in a condition that +was very much the worse for wear. She had stopped and helped the +woman upstairs to her garret, whereupon Gypsy Nan, in language far +more fervent than elegant, had ordered her to begone, and had +slammed the door in her face. + +Rhoda Gray smiled a little wearily, as, on the second floor now, +she groped her way to the rear, and began to mount a short, +ladder-like flight of steps to the attic. Gypsy Nan's lack of +cordiality did not absolve her, Rhoda Gray, from coming back +to-night to see how the woman was - to crowd one more visit on her +already over-expanded list. She had never had any personal +knowledge of Gypsy Nan before, but, in a sense, the woman was no +stranger to her. Gypsy Nan was a character known far and wide +in the under-world as one possessing an insatiable and unquenchable +thirst. As to who she was, or what she was, or where she got her +money for the gin she bought, it was not in the ethics of the Bad +Lands to inquire. She was just Gypsy Nan. So that she did not +obtrude herself too obviously upon their notice, the police +suffered her; so that she gave the underworld no reason for +complaint, the underworld accepted her at face value as one of its +own! + +There was no hallway here at the head of the ladder-like stairs, +just a sort of narrow platform in front of the attic door. Rhoda +Gray, groping out with her hands again, felt for the door, and +knocked softly upon it. There was no answer. She knocked again. +Still receiving no reply, she tried the door, found it unlocked, +and, opening it, stood for an instant on the threshold. A lamp, +almost empty, ill-trimmed and smoking badly, stood on a chair +beside a cheap iron bed; it threw a dull, yellow glow about its +immediate vicinity, and threw the remainder of the garret into +deep, impenetrable shadows; but also it disclosed the motionless +form of a woman on the bed. + +Rhoda Gray's eyes darkened, as she closed the door behind her, +and stepped quickly forward to the bedside. For a moment she +stood looking down at the recumbent figure; at the matted tangle +of gray-streaked brown hair that straggled across a pillow which +was none too clean; at the heavy-lensed, old-fashioned, steel-bowed +spectacles, awry now, that were still grotesquely perched on the +woman's nose; at the sallow face, streaked with grime and dirt, as +though it had not been washed for months; at a hand, as ill-cared +for, which lay exposed on the torn blanket that did duty for a +counterpane; at the dirty shawl that enveloped the woman's shoulders, +and which was tightly fastened around Gypsy Nan's neck-and from the +woman her eyes shifted to an empty bottle on the floor that +protruded from under the bed. + +"Nan!" she called sharply; and, stooping over, shook the woman's +shoulder. "Nan!" she repeated. There was something about the +woman's breathing that she did not like, something in the queer, +pinched condition of the other's face that suddenly frightened +her. "Nan!" she called again. + +Gypsy Nan opened her eyes, stared for a moment dully, then, in a +curiously quick, desperate way, jerked herself up on her elbow. + +"Youse get t'hell outer here!" she croaked. "Get out!" + +"I am going to," said Rhoda Gray evenly. "And I'm going at once." +She turned abruptly and walked toward the door. "I'm going to +get a doctor. You've gone too far this time, Nan, and -" + +"No, youse don't!" Gypsy Nan s voice rose in a sudden scream. She +sat bolt upright in bed, and pulled a revolver out from under the +coverings. "Youse don't bring no doctor here! See! Youse put +a finger on dat door, an' it won't be de door youse'1l go out by!" + +Rhoda Gray did not move. + +"Nan, put that revolver down!" she ordered quietly. "You don't +know what you are doing." + +"Don't!?" leered Gypsy Nan. The revolver held, swaying a little +unsteadily, on Rhoda Gray. There was silence for a moment; then +Gypsy Nan spoke again, evidently through dry lips, for she wet them +again and again with her tongue: "Say, youse are de White Moll, +ain't youse?" + +"Yes," said Rhoda Gray. + +Gypsy Nan appeared to ponder this for an instant. + +"Well den, come back here an' sit down on de foot of de bed," +she commanded finally. + +Rhoda Gray obeyed without hesitation. There was nothing to do +but humor the woman in her present state, a state that seemed one +bordering on delirium and complete collapse. + +"Nan," she said, "you -" + +"De White Moll!" mumbled Gypsy Nan. "I wonder if de dope dey hands +out about youse is all on de level? My Gawd, I wonder if wot dey +says is true?" + +"What do they say?" asked Rhoda Gray gently. + +Gypsy Nan lay back on her pillow as though her strength, over-taxed, +had failed her; her hand, though it still clutched the revolver, +seemed to have been dragged down by the weapon's weight, and now +rested upon the blanket. + +"Dey say," said Gypsy Nan slowly, "dat youse knows more on de +inside here dan anybody else - t'ings youse got from de spacers' +molls, an' from de dips demselves when youse was lendin' dem a +hand; dey say dere ain't many youse couldn't send up de river just +by liftin' yer finger, but dat youse're straight, an' dat youse've +kept yer map closed, an' dat youse' re safe." + +Rhoda Gray's dark eyes softened, as she leaned forward and laid a +hand gently over the one of Gypsy Nan that held the revolver. + +"It couldn't be any other way, could it, Nan?" she said simply. + +"Wot yer after?" demanded Gypsy Nan, with sudden mockery. "De gun? +Well, take it!" She let go her hold of the weapon. "But don't kid +yerself dat youse're kiddin' me into givin' it to youse because +youse have got a pretty smile an' a sweet voice! Savvy? I" - she +choked suddenly, and caught at her throat - "I guess youse're de +only chance I got-dat's all." + +"That's better," said Rhoda Gray encouragingly. "And now you'll +let me go and get a doctor, won't you, Nan?" + +"Wait!" said Gypsy Nan hoarsely. "Youse're de only chance I got. +Will youse swear youse won't t'row me down if I tells youse +somet'ing? I ain't got no other way. Will youse swear youse'll +see me through?" + +"Of course, Nan," said Rhoda Gray soothingly. "Of course, I will, +Nan. I promise. + +Gypsy Nan came up on her elbow. + +"Dat ain't good enough!" she cried out. "A promise ain't good +enough! For Gawd's sake, come across all de way! Swear youse'll +keep mum an' see me through!" + +"Yes, Nan" - Rhoda Gray's eyes smiled reassurance -"I swear it. +But you will be all right again in the morning." + +"Will I? You think so, do you? Well, I can only say that I wish +I did!" + +Rhoda Gray leaned sharply forward, staring in amazement at the +figure on the bed. The woman's voice was the same, it was still +hoarse, still heavy, and the words came with painful effort; but +the English was suddenly perfect now. + +"Nan, what is it? I don't understand!" she said tensely. "What +do you mean?" + +"You think you know what's the matter with me." There was a +curious mockery in the weak voice. "You think I've drunk myself +into this state. You think I'm on the verge of the D.T.'s now. +That empty bottle under the bed proves it, doesn't it? And anybody +around here will tell you that Gypsy Nan has thrown enough empties +out of the window there to stock a bottle factory for years, some +of them on the flat roof just outside the window, some of them on +the roof of the shed below, and some of them down into the yard, +just depending on how drunk she was and how far she could throw. +And that proves it, too, doesn't it? Well, maybe it does, that's +what I did it for; but I never touched the stuff, not a drop of it, +from the day I came here. I didn't dare touch it. I had to keep +my wits. Last night you thought I was drunk when you found me in +the doorway downstairs. I wasn't. I was too sick and weak to get +up here. I almost told you then, only I was afraid, and - and I +thought that perhaps I'd be all right to-day." + +"Oh, I didn't know!" Rhoda Gray was on her knees beside the bed. +There was no room to question the truth of the woman's words, it +was in Gypsy Nan's eyes, in the struggling, labored voice. + +"Yes." Gypsy Nan clutched at the shawl around her neck, and +shivered. "I thought I might be all right to-day, and that I'd +get better. But I didn't. And now I've got about a chance in a +hundred. I know. It's my heart." + +"You mean you've been alone here, sick, since last night?" There +was anxiety, perplexity, in Rhoda Gray's face. "Why didn't you +call some one? Why did you even hold me back a few minutes ago, +when you admit yourself that you need immediate medical assistance +so badly?" + +"Because," said Gypsy Nan, "if I've got a chance at all, I'd finish +it for keeps if a doctor came here. I - I'd rather go out this way +than in that horrible thing they call the 'chair.' Oh, my God, +don't you understand that! I've seen pictures of it! It's a +horrible thing - a horrible thing - horrible!" + +"Nan" - Rhoda Gray steadied her voice - you re delirious. You do +not know what you are saying. There isn't any horrible thing to +frighten you. Now you just lie quietly here. I'll only be a few +minutes, and -" She stopped abruptly as her wrists were suddenly +imprisoned in a frantic grip. + +"You swore it!" Gypsy Nan was whispering feverishly. "You swore +it! They say the White Moll never snitched. That's the one chance +I've got, and I'm going to take it. I'm not delirious - not yet. +I wish to God it was nothing more than that! Look!" + +With a low, startled cry, Rhoda Gray was on her feet. Gypsy Nan +was gone. A sweep of the woman's hand, and the spectacles were off, +the gray-streaked hair a tangled wig upon the pillow - and Rhoda Gray +found herself staring in a numbed sort of way at a dark-haired woman +who could not have been more than thirty, but whose face, with its +streaks of grime and dirt, looked grotesquely and incongruously old. + + +II. SEVEN--THREE--NINE + +For a moment neither spoke, then Gypsy Nan broke the silence with +a bitter laugh. She threw back the bedclothes, and, gripping at +the edge of the bed, sat up. + +"The White Moll! The words rattled in her throat. A fleck of blood +showed on her lips. "Well, you know now! You're going to help me, +aren't you? I - I've got to get out of here - get to a hospital." + +Rhoda Gray laid her hands firmly on the other's shoulders. + +"Get back into bed," she said steadily. "Do you want to make +yourself worse? You'll kill yourself!" + +Gypsy Nan pushed her away. + +"Don't make me use up what little strength I've got left in talking," +she cried out piteously, and suddenly wrung her hands together. +"I'm wanted by the police. If I'm caught, it's - it's that 'chair.' +I couldn't have a doctor brought here, could I? How long would +it be before he saw that Gypsy Nan was a fake? I can't let you go +and have an ambulance, say, come and get me, can I, even with the +disguise hidden away? They'd say this is where Gypsy Nan lives. +There's something queer here. Where is Gypsy Nan? I've got to get +away from here - away from Gypsy Nan - don't you understand? It's +death one way; maybe it is the other, maybe it'll finish me to get +out of here, but it's the only thing left to do. I thought some +one, some one that I could trust, never mind who, would have come +to-day, but-but no one came, and - and maybe now it s too late, but +there's just the one chance, and I've got to take it." Gypsy Nan +tore at the shawl around her throat as though it choked her, and +flung it from her shoulders. Her eyes were gleaming with an +unhealthy, feverish light. "Don't you see? We get out on the +street. I collapse there. You find me. I tell you my name is +Charlotte Green. That's all you know. There isn't much chance +that anybody at the hospital would recognize me. I've got money. +I take a private room. Don't you understand?" + +Rhoda Gray's face had gone a little white. There was no doubt about +the woman's serious condition, and yet - and yet - She stood there +hesitant. There must be some other way! It was not likely even +that the woman had strength enough to walk down the stairs to begin +with. Strange things had come to her in this world of shadow, but +none before like this. If the law got the woman it would cost the +woman her life; if the woman did not receive immediate and adequate +medical assistance it would cost the woman her life. Over and over +in her brain, like a jangling refrain, that thought repeated itself. +It was not like her to stand hesitant before any emergency, no +matter what that emergency might be. She had never done it before, +but now... + +"For God's sake," Gypsy Nan implored, "don't stand there looking at +me! Can't you understand? If I'm caught, I go out. Do you think +I'd have lived in this filthy hole if there had been any other way +to save my life? Are you going to let me die here like a dog? Get +me my clothes; oh, for God's sake, get them, and give me the one +chance that's left!" + +A queer little smile came to Rhoda Gray's lips, and her shoulders +straightened back. + +"Where are your clothes?" she asked. + +"God bless you!" The tears were suddenly streaming down the grimy +face. "God bless the White Moll! It's true! It's true - all they +said about her!" The woman had lost control of herself. + +"Nan, keep your nerve!" ordered Rhoda Gray almost brutally. It was +the White Moll in another light now, cool, calm, collected, +efficient. Her eyes swept Gypsy Nan. The woman, who had obviously +flung herself down on the bed fully dressed the night before, was +garbed in coarse, heavy boots, the cheapest of stockings which were +also sadly in need of repair, a tattered and crumpled skirt of some +rough material, and, previously hidden by the shawl, a soiled, +greasy and spotted black blouse. Rhoda Gray's forehead puckered +into a frown. "What about your hands and face-they go with the +clothes, don't they?" + +"It'll wash off," whispered Gypsy Nan. "It's just some stuff I keep +in a box-over there - the ceiling-" Her voice trailed off weakly, +then with a desperate effort strengthened again. "The door! I +forgot the door! It isn't locked! Lock the door first! Lock the +door! Then you take the candle over there on the washstand, and +- and I'll show you. You - you get the things while I'm undressing. +I - I can help myself that much." + +Rhoda Gray crossed quickly to the door, turned the key in the lock, +and retraced her steps to the washstand that stood in the shadows +against the wall on the opposite side from the bed, and near the far +end of the garret. Here she found the short stub of a candle that +was stuck in the mouth of a gin bottle, and matches lying beside it. +She lighted the candle, and turned inquiringly to Gypsy Nan. + +The woman pointed to the end of the garret where the roof sloped +sharply down until, at the wall itself, it was scarcely four feet +above the floor. + +"Go down there. Right to the wall - in the center," instructed +Gypsy Nan weakly. And then, as Rhoda Gray obeyed: "Now push up on +that wide board in the ceiling." + +Rhoda Gray. already in a stooped position, reached up, and pushed +at a rough, unplaned board. It swung back without a sound, like a +narrow trap-door, until it rested in an upright position against the +outer frame of the house, disclosing an aperture through which, by +standing erect, Rhoda Gray easily thrust her head and shoulders. + +She raised the candle then through the opening - and suddenly her +dark eyes widened in amazement. It was a hiding place, not only +ingenious, but exceedingly generous in expanse. As far as one +could reach the ceiling metamorphosed itself into a most convenient +shelf. And it had been well utilized! It held a most astounding +collection of things. There was a cashbox, but the cashbox was +apparently wholly inadequate - there must have been thousands of +dollars in those piles of banknotes that were stacked beside it! +There was a large tin box, the cover off, containing some black, +pastelike substance - the "stuff," presumably, that Gypsy Nan used +on her face and hands. There was a bunch of curiously formed keys, +several boxes of revolver cartridges, an electric flashlight, and +a great quantity of the choicest brands of tinned and bottled +fruits and provisions - and a little to one side, evidently kept +ready for instant use, a suit of excellent material, underclothing, +silk stockings shoes and hat were neatly piled together. + +Rhoda Gray took the clothing, and went back to the bedside. Gypsy +Nan had made little progress in disrobing. It seemed about all the +woman could do to cling to the edge of the cot and sit upright. + +"What does all this mean, Nan," she asked tensely; "all those things +up there - that money?" + +Gypsy Nan forced a twisted smile. + +"It means I know how bad I am, or I wouldn't have let you see what +you have," she answered heavily. "It means that there isn't any +other way. Hurry! Get these things off! Get me dressed!" + +But it took a long time. Gypsy Nan seemed with every moment to +grow weaker. The lamp on the chair went out for want of oil. There +was only the guttering candle in the gin bottle to give light. It +threw weird, flickering shadows around the garret; it seemed to +enhance the already deathlike pallor of the woman, as, using the +pitcher of water and the basin from the washstand now, Rhoda Gray +removed the grime from Gypsy Nan's face and hands. + +It was done at last - and where there had once been Gypsy Nan, +haglike and repulsive, there was now a stylishly, even elegantly, +dressed woman of well under middle age. The transformation seemed +to have acted as a stimulant upon Gypsy Nan. She laughed with +nervous hilarity she even tried valiantly to put on a pair of new +black kid gloves, but, failing in this, pushed them unsteadily into +the pocket of her coat. + +"I'm - I'm all right," she asserted fiercely, as Rhoda Gray, +pausing in the act of gathering up the discarded garments, regarded +her anxiously. "Bring me a package of that money after you've put +those things away - yes, and you'll find a flashlight there. We'll +need it going down the stairs." + +Rhoda Gray made no answer. There was no hesitation now in her +actions, as, to the pile of clothing in her arms, she added the +revolver that lay on the blanket, and, returning to the little +trap-door in the ceiling, hid them away; but her brain was whirling +again in a turmoil of doubt. This was madness, utter, stark, blind +madness, this thing that she was doing! It was suicide, literally +that, nothing less than suicide for one in Gypsy Nan's condition to +attempt this thing. But the woman would certainly die here, too, +with out medical assistance - only there was the police! Rhoda +Gray's face, as she stood upright in the little aperture again, +throwing the wavering candle-rays around her, seemed suddenly to +have grown pinched and wan. The police! The police! It was her +conscience, then, that was gnawing at her - because of the police! +Was that it? Well, there was also, then, another side. Could she +turn informer, traitor, become a female Judas to a dying woman, who +had sobbed and thanked her Maker because she had found some one whom +she believed she could trust? That was a hideous and an abominable +thing to do! "You swore it! You swore you'd see me through!" - the +words came and rang insistently in her ears. The sweet, piquant +little face set in hard, determined lines. Mechanically she picked +up the flashlight and a package of the banknotes, lowered the board +in the ceiling into place, and returned to Gypsy Nan. + +"I'm ready, if there is no other way," she said soberly, as she +watched the other tuck the money away inside her waist. "I said I +would see you through, and I will. But I doubt if you are strong +enough, even with what help I can give you, to get down the stairs, +and even if you can, I am afraid with all my soul of the consequences +to you, and -" + +Gypsy Nan blew out the candle, and staggered to her feet. + +"There isn't any other way." She leaned heavily on Rhoda Gray's +arm. "Can't you see that? Don't you think I know? Haven't you +seen enough here to convince you of that? I - I'm just spilling +the dice for - for perhaps the last time - but it's the only chance +- the only chance. Go on!" she urged tremulously. "Shoot the glim, +and get me to the door. And - and for the love of God, don't make +a sound! It's all up if we're seen going out!" + +The flashlight's ray danced in crazy gyrations as the two figures +swayed and crept across the garret. Rhoda Gray unlocked the door, +and, as they passed out, locked it again on the outside. + +"Hide the key!" whispered Gypsy Nan. "See - that crack in the floor +under the partition! Slip it in there!" + +The flashlight guiding her, Rhoda Gray stooped down to where, +between the rough attic flooring and the equally rough boarding of +the garret partition, there was a narrow space. She pushed the key +in out of sight; and then, with her arm around Gypsy Nan's waist, +and with the flashlight at cautious intervals winking ahead of her +through the darkness, she began to descend the stairs. + +It was slow work, desperately slow, both because they dared not +make the slightest noise, and because, too, as far as strength was +concerned, Gypsy Nan was close to the end of her endurance. Down +one flight, and then the other, they went, resting at every few +steps, leaning back against the wall, black shadows that merged +with the blackness around them, the flashlight used only when +necessity compelled it, lest its gleam might attract the attention +of some other occupant of the house. And at times Gypsy Nan's head +lay cheek to Rhoda Gray's, and the other's body grew limp and +became a great weight, so heavy that it seemed she could no longer +support it. + +They gained the street door, hung there tensely for a moment to +make sure they were not observed by any chance passer-by, then +stepped out on the sidewalk. Gypsy Nan spoke then: + +"I - I can't go much farther," she faltered. "But - but it doesn't +matter now we're out of the house - it doesn't matter where you +find me - only let's try a few steps more." + +Rhoda Gray had slipped the flashlight inside her blouse. + +"Yes," she said. Her breath was coming heavily. "It's all right, +Nan. I understand." + +They walked on a little way up the block, and then Gypsy Nan's grasp +suddenly tightened on Rhoda Gray's arm. + +"Play the game!" Gypsy Nan's voice was scarcely audible. "You'll +play the game, won't you? You'll - you'll see me through. That's +a good name - as good as any - Charlotte Green - that's all you know +- but - but don't leave me alone with them - you - you'll come to +the hospital with me, won't you - I -" + +Gypsy Nan had collapsed in a heap on the sidewalk. + +Rhoda Gray glanced swiftly around her. In the squalid tenement +before which she stood there would be no help of the kind that was +needed. There would be no telephone in there by means of which she +could summon an ambulance. And then her glance rested on a figure +far up the block under a street lamp - a policeman. She bent +hurriedly over the prostrate woman, whispered a word of +encouragement, and ran in the officer's direction. + +As she drew closer to the policeman, she called out to him. He +turned and came running toward, and, as he reached her, after a +sharp glance into her face, touched his helmet respectfully. + +"What's wrong with the White Moll to-night?" he asked pleasantly. + +"There's - there's a woman down there" - Rhoda Gray was breathless +from her run - "on the sidewalk. She needs help at once." + +"Drunk?" inquired the officer laconically. + +"No, I'm sure it's anything but that," Rhoda Gray answered quickly. +"She appears to be very sick. I think you had better summon an +ambulance without delay." + +"All right!" agreed the officer. "There's a patrol box down there +in the direction you came from. We'll have a look at her on the +way." He started briskly forward with Rhoda Gray beside him. "Who +is she d'ye know?" he asked. + +"She said her name was Charlotte Green," Rhoda Gray replied. +"That's all she could, or would, say about herself." + +"Then she ain't a regular around here, or I guess you'd know her!" +grunted the policeman. + +Rhoda Gray made no answer. + +They reached Gypsy Nan. The officer bent over her, then picked her +up and carried her to the tenement doorway. + +"I guess you're right, all right! She's bad! I'll send in a call," +he said, and started on the run down the street. + +Gypsy Nan had lost consciousness. Rhoda Gray settled herself on +the doorstep, supporting the woman's head in her lap. Her face had +set again in grim, hard, perplexed lines. There seemed something +unnatural, something menacingly weird, something even uncanny about +it all. Perhaps it was because it seemed as though she could so +surely foresee the end. Gypsy Nan would not live through the night. +Something told her that. The woman's masquerade, for whatever +purpose it had been assumed, was over. "You'll play the game, +won't you? You'll see me through?" There seemed something +pitifully futile in those words now! + +The officer returned. + +"It's all right," he said. "How's she seem?" + +Rhoda Gray shook her head. + +A passer-by stopped, asked what was the matter - and lingered +curiously. Another, and another, did the same. A little crowd +collected. The officer kept them back. Came then the strident +clang of a gong and the rapid beat of horses' hoofs. A +white-coated figure jumped from the ambulance, pushed his way +forward, and bent over the form in Rhoda Gray's lap. A moment more, +and they were carrying Gypsy Nan to the ambulance. + +Rhoda Gray spoke to the officer: + +"I think perhaps I had better go with her." + +"Sure!" said the officer. + +She caught snatches of the officer's words, as he made a report to +the doctor: + +Found her here in the street...Charlotte Green...nothing else...the +White Moll, straight as God makes 'em...she'll see the woman through." +He turned to Rhoda Gray. "You can get in there with them, miss." + +It took possibly ten minutes to reach the hospital, but, before that +time, Gypsy Nan, responding in a measure to stimulants, had regained +consciousness. She insisted on clinging to Rhoda Gray's hand as they +carried in the stretcher. + +"Don't leave me!" she pleaded. And then, for the first time, Gypsy +Nan's nerve seemed to fail her. "I - oh, my God - I - I don't want +to die!" she cried out. + +But a moment later, inside the hospital, as the admitting officer +began to ask questions of Rhoda Gray, Gypsy Nan had apparently +recovered her grip upon herself. + +"Ah, let her alone!" she broke in. "She doesn't know me any more +than you do. She found me on the street. But she was good to me, +God bless her!" + +"Your name's Charlotte Green? Yes?" The man nodded. "Where do +you live?" + +"Wherever I like!" Gypsy Nan was snarling truculently now. "What's +it matter where I live? Don't you ever have any one come here +without a letter from the pastor of her church!" She pulled out the +package of banknotes. "You aren't going to get stuck. This'll see +you through whatever happens. Give me a - a private room, and" - her +voice was weakening rapidly - "and" - there came a bitter, facetious +laugh -" the best you've got." Her voice was weakening rapidly. + +They carried her upstairs. She still insisted on clinging to Rhoda +Gray's hand. + +"Don't leave me!" she pleaded again, as they reached the door of a +private room, and Rhoda Gray disengaged her hand gently. + +"I'll stay outside here," Rhoda Gray promised. "I won't go away +without seeing you again. + +Rhoda Gray sat down on a settee in the hall. She glanced at her +wrist watch. It was five minutes of eleven. Doctors and nurses +came and went from the room. Then a great quiet seemed to settle +down around her. A half hour passed. A doctor went into the room, +and presently came out again. She intercepted him as he came along +the corridor. + +He shook his head. + +She did not understand his technical explanation. There was +something about a clot and blood stoppage. But as she resumed her +seat, she understood very fully that the end was near. The woman +was resting quietly now, the doctor had said, but if she, Rhoda Gray, +cared to wait, she could see the other before leaving the hospital. + +And so she waited. She had promised Gypsy Nan she would. + +The minutes dragged along. A quarter of an hour passed. Still +another. Midnight came. Fifteen minutes more went by, and then a +nurse came out of the room, and, standing by the door, beckoned to +Rhoda Gray. + +"She is asking for you," the nurse said. "Please do not stay more +than a few minutes. I shall be outside here, and if you notice the +slightest change, call me instantly." + +Rhoda Gray nodded. + +"I understand," she said. + +The door closed softly behind her. She was smiling cheerily as she +crossed the room and bent over Gypsy Nan. + +The woman stretched out her hand. + +"The White Moll!" she whispered. "He told the truth, that bull did +- straight as they make 'em, and + +"Don't try to talk," Rhoda Gray interrupted gently. "Wait until you +are a little stronger." + +"Stronger!" Gypsy Nan shook her head. "Don't try to kid me! I +know. They told me. I'd have known it anyway. I'm going out." + +Rhoda Gray found no answer for a moment. A great lump had risen +in her throat. Neither would she have needed to be told; she, too, +would have known it anyway - it was stamped in the gray pallor of +the woman's face. She pressed Gypsy Nan's hand. + +And then Gypsy Nan spoke again, a queer, yearning hesitancy in her +voice: + +"Do - do you believe in God?" + +"Yes," said Rhoda Gray simply. + +Gypsy Nan closed her eyes. + +"Do - do you think there is a chance - even at the last - if - if, +without throwing down one's pals, one tries to make good?" + +"Yes," said Rhoda Gray again. + +"Is the door closed?" Gypsy Nan attempted to raise herself on her +elbow, as though to see for herself. + +Rhoda Gray forced the other gently back upon the pillows. + +"It is closed," she said. "You need not be afraid." + +"What time is it?" demanded Gypsy Nan. + +Rhoda Gray looked at her watch. + +"Twenty-five minutes after twelve," she answered. + +"There's time yet, then," whispered Gypsy Nan. "There's time yet." +She lay silent for a moment, then her hand closed tightly around +Rhoda Gray's. "Listen!" she said. "There's more about - about +why I lived like that than I told you. And - and I can't tell you +now - I can't go out like a yellow cur - I'm not going to snitch +on anybody else just because I'm through myself. But - but there's +something on to-night that I'd - I'd like to stop. Only the police, +or anybody else, aren't to know anything about it, because then +they'd nip my friends. See? But you can do it - easy. You can +do it alone without anybody knowing. There's time yet. They +weren't going to pull it until halfpast one - and there won't be +any danger for you. All you've got to do is get the money before +they do, and then see that it goes back where it belongs to-morrow. +Will you? You don't want to see a crime committed to-night if - if +you can stop it, do you?" + +Rhoda Gray's face was grave. She hesitated for a moment. + +"I'll have to know more than that before I can answer you, Nan," +she said. + +"It's the only way to stop it!" Gypsy Nan whispered feverishly. +"I won't split on my pals - I won't - I won't! But I trust you. +Will you promise not to snitch if I tell you how to stop it, even +if you don't go there yourself? I'm offering you a chance to stop +a twenty-thousand-dollar haul. If you don't promise it's got to +go through, because I've got to stand by the ones that were in it +with me. I - I'd like to make good - just - once. But I can't do +it any other way. For God's sake, you see that, don't you?" + +"Yes," said Rhoda Gray in a low voice; "but the promise you ask for +is the same as though I promised to try to get the money you speak +of. If I knew what was going on, and did nothing, I would be an +accomplice to the crime, and guilty myself." + +"But I can't do anything else!" Gypsy Nan was speaking with great +difficulty. "I won't get those that were with me in wrong - I won't! +You can prevent a crime to-night, if you will - you - you can help +me to - to make good." + +Rhoda Gray's lips tightened, "Will you give me your word that I can +do what you suggest - that it is feasible, possible?" + +"Yes," said Gypsy Nan. "You can do it easily, and - and it's safe. +It - it only wants a little nerve, and - and you've got that." + +"I promise, then," said Rhoda Gray. + +"Thank God!" Gypsy Nan pulled fiercely at Rhoda Gray's wrist. +"Come nearer-nearer! You know Skarbolov, old Skarbolov, who keeps +the antique store - on the street - around the corner from my place?" +Rhoda Gray nodded. + +"He's rich!" whispered Gypsy Nan. "Think of it! Him - rich! But +he gets the best of the Fifth Avenue crowd just because he keeps +his joint in that rotten hole. They think they're getting the real +thing in antiques! He's a queer old fool. Afraid people would know +he had money if he kept it in the bank - afraid of a bank, too. +Understand? We found out that every once in a while he'd change a +lot of small bills for a big one - five-hundred-dollar bills +- thousand-dollar bills. That put us wise. We began to watch him. +It took months to find where he hid it. We've spent night after +night searching through his shop. You can get in easily. There's +no one there - upstairs is just a storage place for his extra stock. +There's a big padlock on the back door, but there's a false link in +the chain - count three links to the right from the padlock - we +put it there, and -" + +Gypsy Nan's voice had become almost inaudible. She pulled at Rhoda +Gray's wrist again, urging her closer. + +"Listen - quick! I - my strength! she panted. "An antique he +never sells - old escritoire against rear wall - secret drawer +- take out wide middle drawer - reach in and rub your hand along +the top - you'll feel the spring. We waited to - to get - get +counterfeits - put counterfeits there - understand? Then he'd +never know he'd been robbed - not for a long time anyway +- discovered perhaps when he was dead - old wife - suffer then +- I - got to make good - make good - I -" She came up suddenly +on both her elbows, the dark eyes staring wildly. "Yes, yes!" +she whispered. "Seven-three-nine! Look out!" Her voice rang +with sudden terror, rising almost to a scream. "Look out! Can't +you understand, you fool! I've told you! Seven-three-nine! +Seven-three... + +Rhoda Gray's arms had gone around the other's shoulders. She heard +the door open-and then a quick, light step. There wasn't any other +sound now. She made way mechanically for the nurse. And then, +after a moment, she rose from her knees. The nurse answered her +unspoken question. + +"Yes; it's over." + + +III. ALIAS GYPSY NAN + +Rhoda Gray went slowly from the room. In a curiously stunned sort +of way she reached the street, and for a few blocks walked along +scarcely conscious of the direction she was taking. Her mind was +in turmoil. The night seemed to have been one of harrowing +hallucination; it seemed as though it were utterly unreal, like one +dreaming that one is dreaming. And then, suddenly, she looked at +her watch, and the straight little shoulders squared resolutely back. +The hallucination, if she chose to call it that, was not yet over! +It was twenty minutes of one, and there was still Skarbolov's - and +her promise. + +She quickened her pace. She did not like this promise that she had +made; but, on the other hand, she had not made it either lightly or +impulsively. She had no regrets on that score. She would make it +again under the same conditions. How could she have done otherwise? +It would have been to stand aside and permit a crime to be committed +which she was assured was easily within her power to prevent. What +excuse could she have had for that? Fear wasn't an excuse. She +did not like the thought of entering the back door of a store in +the middle of the night like a thief, and, like a thief, taking away +that hidden money. She knew she was going to be afraid, horribly +afraid - it frightened her now - but she could not let that fear +make a moral coward of her. + +Her hands clenched at her sides. She would not allow herself to +dwell upon that phase of it! She was going to Skarbolov's, and +that was all there was to it. The only thing she really had to +fear was that she should lose even a single unnecessary moment in +getting there. Halfpast one, Gypsy Nan had said. That should give +her ample time; but the quicker she went, the wider the, margin of +safety. + +Her thoughts reverted to Gypsy Nan. What had the woman meant +by her last few wandering words? They had nothing to do with +Skarbolov's, that was certain; but the words came back now +insistently. "Seven-three-nine." What did "seven-three-nine" +mean? She shook her head helplessly. Well, what did it matter? +She dismissed further consideration of it. She repeated to herself +Gypsy Nan's directions for finding the spring of the secret drawer. +She forced herself to think of anything that would bar the entry +of that fear which stood lurking at the threshold of her mind. + +From time to time she consulted her watch - and each time hurried +the faster. + +It was five minutes past one when, stealing silently along a black +lane, and counting against the skyline the same number of buildings +she had previously counted on the street from the corner, she +entered an equally black yard, and reached the back door of +Skarbolov's little store. She felt out with her hands and found +the padlock, and her fingers pressed on the link in the chain that +Gypsy Nan had described. It gave readily. She slipped it free, +and opened the door. There was faint, almost inaudible, protesting +creak from the hinges. She caught her breath quickly. Had anybody +heard it? It - it had seemed like a cannon shot. And then her lips +curled in sudden self-contempt. Who was there to hear it? + +She stepped forward, closed the door silently behind her, and drew +out her flashlight. The ray cut through the blackness. She was +in what seemed like a small, outer storeroom, that was littered +with an untidy collection of boxes, broken furniture, and odds and +ends of all sorts. Ahead of her was an open door, and, through +this, the flashlight disclosed the shop itself. She switched off +the light now as she moved forward-there were the front windows, +and, used too freely, the light might by some unlucky chance be +noticed from the street. + +And now, in the darkness again, she reached the doorway of the +shop. She had not made any noise. She assured herself of that. +She had never known that she could move so silently before - and +- and - Yes, she would fight down this panic that was seizing her! +She would! It would only take a minute now - just another minute +- if - if she would only keep her head and her nerve. That was +what Gypsy Nan had said. She only needed to keep her nerve. She +had never lost it in the face of many a really serious danger when +with her father - why should she now, when there was nothing but +the silence and the darkness to be afraid of! + +The flashlight went on again, its ray creeping inquisitively now +along the rear wall of the shop. It held finally on an escritoire +over in the far corner at her right. + +Once more the light went out. She moved swiftly across the floor, +and in a moment more was bending over the escritoire. And now, +with her body hiding the flashlight's rays from the front windows, +she examined the desk. It was an old-fashioned, spindle-legged +affair, with a nest of pigeonholes and multifarious little drawers. +One of the drawers, wider than any of the others, and in the center, +was obviously the one to which Gypsy Nan referred. She pulled out +the drawer, and in the act of reaching inside, suddenly drew back +her hand. What was that? Instinctively she switched off the +flashlight, and stood tense and rigid in the darkness. + +A minute passed-another. Still she listened. +There was no sound - unless - unless she could actually hear the +beating of her heart. Fancy! Imagination! The darkness played +strange tricks! It - it wasn't so easy to keep one' s nerve. She +could have sworn that she had heard some sort of movement back +there down the shop. + +Angry with herself, she thrust her hand into the opening now and +felt hurriedly around. Yes, there it was! Her fingers touched +what was evidently a little knob or button. She pressed upon it. +There was a faint, answering click. She turned on the flashlight +again. What had before appeared to be nothing but one of the wide, +pearl inlaid partitions between two of the smaller drawers, was +protruding invitingly outward now by the matter of an inch or so. +Rhoda Gray pulled it open. It was very shallow, scarcely +three-quarters of an inch in depth, but it was quite long enough, +and quite wide enough for its purpose! Inside, there lay a little +pile of banknotes, banknotes of very large denomination - the one +on top was a thousand-dollar bill. + +She reached in and took out the money-and then from Rhoda Gray's +lips there came a little cry, the flashlight dropped from her hand +and smashed to the floor, and she was clinging desperately to the +edge of the escritoire for support. The shop was flooded with light. +Over by the side wall, one hand still on the electric-light switch, +the other holding a leveled revolver, stood a man. + +And then the man spoke - with an oath - with curious amazement: + +"My God - a woman!" + +She did not speak, or stir. It seemed as though not fear, but +horror now, held her powerless to move her limbs. Her first swift +brain-flash had been that it was one of Gypsy Nan's accomplices +here ahead of the appointed time. That would have given her cause, +all too much of cause, for fear; but it was not one of Gypsy Nan's +accomplices, and, far worse than the fear of any physical attack +upon her, was the sense of ruin and disaster that the realization +of a quite different and more desperate situation brought her now. +She knew the man. She had seen those square, heavy, clamped jaws +scores of times. Those sharp, restless black eyes under +over-hanging, shaggy eyebrows were familiar to the whole East Side. +It was Rorke - "Rough" Rorke, of headquarters. + +He came toward her, and halfway across the room another exclamation +burst from his lips; but this time it held a jeer, and in the jeer +a sort of cynical and savage triumph. + +"The White Moll!" + +He was close beside her now, and now he snatched from her hand the +banknotes that, all unconsciously, she had still been clutching +tightly. + +"So this is what all the sweet charity's been about, eh?" he +snapped. "The White Moll, the Little Saint of the East Side, that +lends a helping hand to the crooks to get 'em back on the straight +and narrow again! The White Moll-hell! You crooked little devil!" + +Again she did not answer. Her mind was clear now, brutally clear, +brutally keen, brutally virile. What was there for her to say? +She was caught here at one o'clock in the morning after breaking +into the place, caught red-handed in the very act of taking the +money. What story could she tell that would clear her of that! +That she had taken it so that it wouldn't be stolen, and that she +was going to give it back in the morning? Was there anybody in the +world credulous enough to believe anything like that! Tell Gypsy +Nan's story, all that had happened to-night? Yes, she might have +told that to-morrow, after she had returned the money, and been +believed. But now-no! It would even make her appear in a still +worse light. They would credit her with being a member of this +very gang to which Gypsy Nan belonged, one in the secrets of an +organized band of criminals, who was trying to clear her own skirts +at the expense of her confederates. Everything, every act of hers +to-night, pointed to that construction being placed upon her story, +pointed to duplicity. Why had she hidden the identity of Gypsy Nan? +Why had she not told the police that a crime was to be committed, +and left it to the police to frustrate it? It would fit in with the +story, of course - but the story was the result of having been +caught in the act of stealing twenty thousand dollars in cash! What +was there to say - and, above all, to this man, whose reputation +for callous brutality in the handling of those who fell into his +hands had earned him the sobriquet of "Rough" Rorke? Sick at heart, +desperate, but with her hands clenched now, she stood there, while +the man felt unceremoniously over her clothing for a concealed +weapon. + +Finding none, he stooped, picked up the flashlight, tested it, and +found it broken from its fall. + +"Too bad you bust this, we'll have to go out in the dark after I +switch off the light," he said with unpleasant facetiousness. "I +didn't have one with me, or time to get one, when I got tipped off +there was something doing here to-night." He caught her ungently +by the arm. "Well, come along, my pretty lady! This'll make a +stir, this will! The White Moll!" He led her to the electric-light +switch, turned off the light, and, with his grasp tight upon her, +made for the front door. He chuckled in a sinister manner. "Say, +you're a prize, you are! And pretty clever, too, aren't you? I +wasn't looking for a woman to pull this. The White Moll! Some +saint!" + +Rhoda Gray shivered. Disgrace, ruin, stared her in the face. A +sea of faces in a courtroom, morbid faces, hideous faces, leered at +her. Gray walls rose before her, walls that shut out sunshine and +hope, pitiless, cold things that seemed to freeze the blood in her +veins. And to-night, in just a few minutes more - a cell! + +From the street outside came the sound of some one making a cheery, +but evidently a somewhat inebriated, attempt to whistle some ragtime +air. It seemed to enhance her misery, to enhance by contrast in its +care-free cheeriness the despair and misery that were eating into +her soul. Her hands clenched and unclenched. If there were only a +chance - somewhere - somehow! If only she were not a woman! If she +could only fight this hulking form that gripped so brutally at her +arm! + +Rough Rorke opened the door, and pulled her out to the street. She +shrank back instinctively. It was quite light here from a nearby +street lamp, and the owner of the whistle, a young man, fashionably +dressed, decidedly unsteady on his legs, and just opposite the door +as they came out, had stopped both his whistle and his progress +along the street to stare at them owlishly. + +"'Ullo!" said the young man thickly. "What'sh all this about - eh? +What'sh you two doing in that place this time of night - eh?" + +"Beat it!" ordered Rough Rorke curtly. + +"That'sh all right." The young man came nearer. He balanced himself +with difficulty, but upon him there appeared to have descended +suddenly a vast dignity. "I'm - hic - law - 'biding citizen. Gotta +know. Gotta show me. Damn funny - coming out of there this time +of night! Eh - what'sh the idea?" + +Rough Rorke, with his free hand, grabbed the young man by the +shoulder angrily. + +"Mind your own business, or you'll get into trouble!" he rasped out. +"I'm an officer, and this woman is under arrest. Beat it! D'ye +hear? Beat it - or I'll run you in, too!" + +"Is that'sh so!" The young man's tones expressed a fuddled defiance. +He rocked on his feet and stared from one to the other. "Shay, is +that'sh so! You will - eh? Gotta show me. How do I know you're +- hic - officer? Eh? More likely damned thief yourself! I -" + +The young man lurched suddenly and violently forward, breaking Rough +Rorke's grip on Rhoda Gray - and, as his arms swept out to grasp at +the detective in an apparently wild effort to preserve his balance, +Rhoda Gray felt a quick, significant push upon her shoulder. + +For the space of time it takes a watch to tick she stood startled +and amazed, and then, like a flash, she was speeding down the street. +A roar of rage, a burst of unbridled profanity went up from Rough +Rorke behind her; it was mingled with equally angry vituperation in +the young man's voice. She looked behind her. The two men were +swaying around crazily in each other's arms. She ran on - faster +than she had ever run in her life. The corner was not far ahead. +Her brain was working with lightning speed. Gypsy Nan's house was +just around the corner. If she could get out of sight - hide - it +would... + +She glanced behind her again, as her ears caught the pound of racing +feet. The young man was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, +shaking his fist; Rough Rorke, perhaps a bare fifty yards away, was +chasing her at top speed. + +Her face set hard. She could not out-run a man! There was only +one hope for her - just one - to gain Gypsy Nan's doorway before +Rorke got around the corner. + +A yard - another - still another! She swerved around the corner. +And, as she turned, she caught a glimpse of the detective. The man +was nearer - much nearer. But it was only a little way, just a +little way, to Gypsy Nan's - not so far as the distance between +her and Rorke - and - and if the man didn't gain too fast, then +- then - A little cry of dismay came with a new and terrifying +thought. Quite apart from Rorke, some one else might see her enter +Gypsy Nan's! She strained her eyes in all directions as she ran. +There wasn't any one - she didn't see any one - only Rorke, around +the corner there, was bawling out at the top of his voice, and +- and... + +She flung herself against Gypsy Nan's door, stumbled in, and, +closing it, heard Rorke just swinging around the corner. Had he +seen her? She didn't know. She was panting, gasping for her +breath. It seemed as though her lungs would burst. She held +her hand tightly to her bosom as she made for the stairs - she +mustn't make any noise - they mustn't hear her breathing like that +- they - they mustn't hear her going up the stairs. + +How dark it was! If she could only see - so that she would be sure +not to stumble! She couldn't go fast now - she would make a noise +if she did. Stair after stair she climbed stealthily. Perhaps she +was safe now - it had taken her a long time to get up here to the +second floor, and there wasn't any sound yet from the street below. + +And now she mounted the short, ladder-like steps to the attic, and, +feeling with her hand for the crack in the flooring under the +partition, reached in for the key. As her fingers closed upon it, +she choked back a cry. Some one had been here! A piece of paper +was wrapped around the key. What did it mean? What did all these +strange, yes, sinister, things that had happened to-night mean? +How had Rorke known that a robbery was to be committed at Skarbolov's? +Who was that man who had effected her escape, and who, she knew now, +was no more drunk than she was? Fast, quick, piling one upon the +other, the questions raced through her mind. + +She fought them back. There was no time for speculation now! There +was only one question that mattered: Was she safe? + +She stood up, thrust the paper for safe-keeping into her bosom, and +unlocked the door. If - if Rorke did not know that she had entered +this house here, she could remain hidden for a few hours; it would +give her time to think, and... + +It came this time, no strength of will would hold it back, a little +moan. The front door below had opened, a heavy footstep sounded in +the lower hall. She couldn't see, of course. But she knew. It was +Rorke! She heard him coming up the stairs. + +And then, in a flash, it seemed, her brain responded to her +despairing cry. There was still a way - a desperate one - but still +a way - if there was time! She darted inside the garret, locked the +door, found the matches and candle, and, running silently to the rear +wall, pushed up the board in the ceiling. In frantic haste she tore +off her outer garments, her stockings and shoes, pulled on the rough +stockings and coarse boots that Gypsy Nan had worn, slipped the other's +greasy, threadbare skirt over her head, and pinned the shawl tight +about her shoulders. There was a big, voluminous pocket in the skirt, +and into this she dropped Gypsy Nan's revolver, and the paper she had +found wrapped around the key. + +She could hear a commotion from below now. It was the one thing she +had counted upon. Rough Rorke might know she had entered the house, +but he could not know whereabouts in the house she was, and he would +naturally search each room as he came to it on the way up. She fitted +the gray-streaked wig of tangled, matted hair upon her head, plunged +her hand into the box that Gypsy Nan used for her make-up and daubed +some of the grime upon both hands and face, adjusted the spectacles +upon her nose, hid her own clothing, closed the narrow trap-door in +the ceiling, and ran back, carrying the candle, to the washstand. + +Here, there was a small and battered mirror, and more coolly, more +leisurely now, for the commotion still continued from the floor below, +she spread and rubbed in, as craftily as she could, the grime streaks +on her face and hands. It was neither artistic nor perfect, but in +the meager, flickering light now the face of Gypsy Nan seemed to +stare reassuringly back at her. It might not deceive any one in +daylight - she did not know, and it did not matter now - but with only +this candle to light the garret, since the lamp was empty, she could +fairly count on her identity not being questioned. + +She blew out the candle, left it on the washstand, because, if she +could help it, she did not want to risk having it lighted near the +bed or door, and, tiptoeing now, went to the door, unlocked it, then +threw herself down upon the bed. + +Possibly a minute went by, possibly two, and then there was a quick +step on the ladder-like stairs, the door handle was rattled violently, +and the door was flung open and slammed shut again. + +Rhoda Gray sat upright on the bed. It was her wits now, her wits +against Rough Rorke's; nothing else could save her. She could not +even make out the man's form, it was so dark; but, as he had not +moved, she was quite well aware that he was standing with his back +to the door, evidently trying to place his surroundings. + +It was Gypsy Nan, not Rhoda Gray, who spoke. + +"Who's dere?" she screeched. "D'ye hear, blast youse, who's dere?" + +Rough Rorke laughed gratingly. + +"That you, Nan, my dear?" + +"Who d'youse t'ink it is-me gran'mother?" demanded Rhoda Gray +caustically. "Who are youse?" + +"Rorke," said Rorke shortly. "I guess you know, don't you?" + +"Is dat so?" snorted Rhoda Gray. "Well den, youse can beat it - hop +it - on de jump! Wot t'hell right have youse got bustin' into me +room at dis time of night - eh? I ain't done nothin'!" + +Rough Rorke, his feet scuffling to feel the way, came forward. + +"Cut it out!" he snarled. "I ain't the only visitor you've got! +It's not you I want; it's the White Moll." + +"Wot's dat got to do wid me?" Rhoda Gray flung back hotly. "She +ain't here, is she?" + +"Yes, she's here!" Rough Rorke's voice held an ugly menace. "I lost +her around the corner, but a woman from a window across the street, +who heard the row, saw her run into this house. She ain't downstairs +- so you can figure the rest out the same way I do." + +"De woman was kiddin' youse!" Rhoda Gray, alias Gypsy Nan, cackled +derisively. "Dere ain't nobody here but me." + +"We'll see about that!" said Rough Rorke shortly. "Strike a light!" + +"Aw, strike it yerself!" retorted Rhoda Gray. "I ain't yer servant! +Dere's a candle over dere on de washstand against de wall, if youse +wants it." + +A match crackled and spurted into flame; its light fell upon the +lamp standing on the chair beside the bed. Rough Rorke stepped +toward it. + +"Dere ain't any oil in dat," croaked Rhoda Gray. "Didn't I tell +youse de candle was over dere on de washstand, an' -" + +The words seemed to freeze in her throat, the chair, the lamp, the +shadowy figure of the man in the match flame to swirl before her +eyes, and a sick nausea to come upon her soul itself. With a short, +triumphant oath, Rough Rorke had stopped suddenly and reached in +under the chair. And now he was dangling a new, black kid glove in +front of her. Caught! Yes, she was caught! She remembered Gypsy +Nan's attempt to put on her gloves - one must have fallen to the floor +unnoticed by either of them when Gypsy Nan had thought to put them +in her pocket! The man's voice came to her as from some great +distance: + +"So, she ain't here - ain't she! I'll teach you to lie to me! +I'll -" The match was dying out. Rorke raised it higher, and with +the last flicker located the washstand, and made toward it, obviously +for the candle. + +Her wits against Rough Rorke's! Nothing else could save her! +Failing to find any one here but herself, certain now that the White +Moll was here, only a fool could have failed in his deduction - and +Rough Rorke was not a fool. Her wits against Rough Rorke's! There +was the time left her while the garret was still in darkness, just +that, no more! + +With a quick spring she leaped from the bed, seized the chair, +sending the lamp to the floor, and, dragging the chair after her to +make as much noise and confusion as she could, she rushed for the +door, screeching at the top of her voice: + +"Run, dearie, run! Run!" She was scuffling with her feet, +clattering the chair, as she wrenched the door open. And then, in +her own voice: "Nan, I won't! I won't let you stand for this, I -" + +Then as Gypsy Nan again: "Run, dearie! Don't youse mind old Nan!" +She banged the door shut, locked it, and whipped out the key. It had +taken scarcely a second. She was still screeching at the top of her +voice to cover the absence of flying footers on the stairs. "Run, +dearie, run! Run!" + +And then, in the darkness, the candle still unlighted, Rough Rorke +was on her like a madman. With a sweep of his arm he sent her +crashing to the floor, and wrenched at the door. The next instant +he was on her again. + +"The key! Give me that key!" he roared. + +For answer she flung it from her. It fell with a tinkle on the +floor at the far end of the garret. The man was beside himself +with rage. + +"Damn you, if I had time, I'd wring your neck for this, you +she-devil!" he bawled-and raced back, evidently for the candle +on the washstand. + +Rhoda Gray, sprawled on the floor where he had thrown her, did not +move-except to take the revolver from the pocket of her dress. She +was crooning queerly to herself, as she watched Rough Rorke light +the candle and grope around on the floor: + +"She was good to me, de White Moll was. Jellies an' t'ings she +brought me, she did. An' Gypsy Nan don't ferret. Gypsy Nan don't -" + +She sat up suddenly, snarling. Rorke had found the key, left the +bottle with the short stub of guttering candle standing on the floor, +and was back again. + +"By God!" he gritted through his teeth, as he jabbed the key with +frantic haste into the lock. "I'll fix you for this!" He made a +clutch at her throat, as he swung the door open. + +She jerked herself backward, eluding him, her revolver leveled. + +"Youse keep yer dirty paws off me!" she screamed. "Yah, wot can +youse do! Wot do I care! She was good to me, she was, an -" + +Rough Rorke was gone-taking the stairs three and four at a time. +Then she heard the street door slam. + +She rose slowly to her feet - and suddenly reached out, grasping at +the door to steady herself. It seemed as though every muscle had +gone limp, as though her limbs had not strength to support her. +And for a moment she hung there, then she locked the door, staggered +back, sank down on the edge of the bed, and, with her chin in her +hands, stared at the guttering stub of candle. And presently, in +an almost aimless, mechanical way, she felt in her pocket for the +piece of paper that she had found wrapped around the key, and drew +it out. There were three figures scrawled upon it - nothing else. + + 7 3 9 + +She dropped her chin in her hands again, and stared again at the +candle. And after a while the candle went out. + + +IV. THE ADVENTURER + +Twenty-Four hours had passed. Twenty four hours! Was it no more +than that since - Rhoda Gray, in the guise of Gypsy Nan, as she sat +on the edge of the disreputable, poverty-stricken cot, grew suddenly +tense, holding her breath as she listened. The sound reached the +attic so faintly that it might be but the product solely of the +imagination. No - it came again! And it even defined itself now +- a stealthy footstep on the lower stairs. + +A small, leather-bound notebook, in which she had been engrossed, +was tucked instantly away under the soiled blanket, and she glanced +sharply around the garret. A new candle, which she had bought in +the single excursion she had ventured to make from the house during +the day, was stuck in the neck of the gin bottle, and burned now on +the chair beside her. She had not bought a new lamp - it gave too +much light! The old one, the pieces of it, lay over there, brushed +into a heap in the corner on the floor. + +The footstep became more audible. Her lips tightened a little. The +hour was late. It must be already after eleven o'clock. Her eyes +grew perturbed. Perhaps it was only one of the unknown tenants of +the floor below going to his or her room; but, on the other hand, no +one had come near the garret since last night, when that strange and, +yes, sinister trick of fate had thrust upon her the personality of +Gypsy Nan, and it was hoping for too much to expect such seclusion +to obtain much longer. There were too many who must be interested, +vitally interested, in Gypsy Nan! There was Rough Rorke, of +headquarters; he had given no sign, but that did not mean he had +lost interest in Gypsy Nan. There was the death of the real Gypsy +Nan, which was pregnant with possibilities; and though the +newspapers, that she, Rhoda Gray, had bought and scanned with such +tragic eagerness, had said nothing about the death of one Charlotte +Green in the hospital, much less had given any hint that the +identity Gypsy Nan had risked so much to hide had been discovered, +it did not mean that the police, with their own ends in view, might +not be fully informed, and were but keeping their own counsel while +they baited a trap. + +Also, and even more to be feared, there were those of this criminal +organization to which Gypsy Nan had belonged, and to which she, +Rhoda Gray, through a sort of hideous proxy, now belonged herself! +Sooner or later, they must show their hands, and the test of her +identity would come. And here her danger was the greater because +she did not know who any of them were, unless the man who had +stepped in between Rough Rorke and herself last night was one of +them - which was a question that had harassed her all day. The man +had been no more drunk than she had been, and he had obviously only +played the part to get her out of the clutches of Rough Rorke; but, +against this, he had seen her simply as herself then, the White Moll, +and what could the criminal associates of Gypsy Nan have cared as +to what became of the White Moll? + +A newspaper, to procure which had been the prime motive that had +lured her out of her retreat that afternoon, caught her eye now, +and she shivered a little as, from where it lay on the floor, the +headlines seemed to leer up at her, and mock, and menace her. +"The White Moll....The Saint of the East Side Exposed....Vicious +Hypocrisy....Lowly Charity for Years Cloaks a Consummate Thief..." +They had not spared her! + +Her lips firmed suddenly, as she listened. The stealthy footfall +had not paused in the hall below. It was on the short, ladder-like +steps now, leading up here to the garret - and now it had halted +outside her door, and there came a low, insistent knocking on the +panels. + +"Who's dere?" demanded Rhoda Gray, alias Gypsy Nan, in a grumbling +tone, as, getting up from the bed, she moved the chair noiselessly +a few feet farther away, so that the bed would be beyond the +immediate radius of the candle light. Then she shuffled across the +floor to the door. "Who's dere?" she demanded again, and her hand, +deep in the voluminous pocket of Gypsy Nan's greasy skirt, closed +tightly around the stock of Gypsy Nan's revolver. + +The voice that answered her expostulated in a plaintive whisper: + +"My dear lady! And after all the trouble I have taken to reach +here without being either seen or heard!" + +For an instant Rhoda Gray hesitated - there seemed something +familiar about the voice - then she unlocked the door, and +retreated toward the bed. + +The door opened and closed softly. Rhoda Gray, reaching the edge +of the bed, sat down. It was the fashionably-attired, immaculate +young man, who had saved her from Rough Rorke last night. She +stared at him in the faint light without a word. Her mind was +racing in a mad turmoil of doubt, uncertainty, fear. Was he one +of the gang, or not? Was she, in the role of Gypsy Nan, supposed +to know him, or not? Did he know that the real Gypsy Nan, too, +had but played a part, and, therefore, when she spoke must it be +in the vernacular of the East Side - or not? And then sudden +enlightenment, with its incident relief, came to her. + +"My dear lady" - the young man's soft felt hat was under his arm, +and he was plucking daintily at the fingers of his yellow gloves as +he removed them - "I beg you to pardon the intrusion of a perfect +stranger. I offer you my very genuine apologies. My excuse is +that I come from a - I hope I am not overstepping the bounds in +using the term - mutual friend." Rhoda Gray snorted disdainfully. + +"Aw, cut out de boudoir talk, an' get down to cases!" she croaked. +"Who are youse, anyway?" + +The young man had gray eyes - and they lighted up now humorously. + +"Boudoir? Ah - yes! Of course! Awfully neat!" His eyes, from +the chair that held the candle, strayed around the scantily +furnished, murky garret as though in search of a seat, and finally +rested inquiringly on Rhoda Gray. + +"Youse can put de candle on de floor, if youse like," she said +grudgingly. "Dat's de only chair dere is." + +"Thank you!" he said. + +Rhoda Gray watched him with puckered brow, as he placed the gin +bottle with its candle on the floor, and appropriated the chair. +He might, from his tone, have been thanking her for some priceless +boon. He wore a boutonniere. His clothes fitted him like gloves. +He exuded a certain studied, almost languid fastidiousness - that +was wholly out of keeping with the quick, daring, agile wit that +he had exhibited the night before. She found her hand toying +unconsciously with the weapon in her pocket. She was aware that +she was fencing with unbuttoned foils. How much did he know +- about last night? + +"Well, why don't youse spill it?" she invited curtly. "Who are +youse?" + +"Who am I?" He lifted the lapel of his coat, carrying the +boutonniere to his nose. "My dear lady, I am an adventurer." + +"Youse don't say!" observed Rhoda Gray, alias Gypsy Nan. "An' wot's +dat w' en it's at home?" + +"In my case, first of all a gentleman, I trust," he said pleasantly; +"after that, I do not quarrel with the accepted definition of the +term - though it is not altogether complimentary." + +Rhoda Gray scowled. As Rhoda Gray, she might have answered him; as +Gypsy Nan, it was too subtle, and she was beyond her depth. + +"Youse look to me like a slick crook!" she said bluntly. + +"I will admit," he said, "that I have at times, perhaps, taken +liberties with the law." + +"Well, den," she snapped, "cut out de high-brow stuff, an' come +across wid wot brought youse here. I ain't holdin' no reception. +Who's de friend youse was talkin' about?" + +The Adventurer looked around him, and lowered his voice. + +"The White Moll," he said. + +Rhoda Gray eyed the man for a long minute; then she shook her head. + +"I take back wot I said about youse bein' a slick crook," she +announced coolly. "I guess youse're a dick from headquarters. +Well, youse have got de wrong number - see? Me fingers are crossed. +Try next door!" + +The Adventurer's eyes were fixed on the newspaper headlines on the +floor. He raised them now significantly to hers. + +"You helped her to get away from Rough Rorke last night," he said +gently. "Well, so did I. I am very anxious to find the White Moll, +and, as I know of no other way except through you, I have got to +make you believe in me, if I can. Listen, my dear lady - and don't +look at me so suspiciously. I have already admitted that I have +taken liberties with the law. Let me add now that last night there +was a little fortune of quite a few thousand dollars that I had +already made up my mind was as good as in my pocket. I was on my +way to get it - the newspaper will already have given you the +details - when I found that I had been forestalled by the young +lady, who, the papers say, is known as the White Moll." He smiled +whimsically. "Even though one might be a slick crook as you +suggest, it is no reason why he should fail in his duty to himself +- as a gentleman. What other course was open to me? I discovered +a very charming young lady in the grip of a hulking police brute. +She also, apparently, took liberties with the law. There was a +bond between us. I - er - took it upon myself to do what I could. +And, besides, I was not insensible to the fact that I was under a +certain obligation to her, quixotic as it may sound, in view of +the fact that we were evidently competitors after the same game. +You see, if she had not forestalled me and been caught herself, +I should most certainly have walked into the trap that our friend +of headquarters had prepared. I - er - as I say, did what I could. +She got away; but somehow Rough Rorke later discovered her here in +this room, I understand that he was not happy over the result; that, +thanks to you, she escaped again, and has not been heard of since. + +Rhoda Gray dropped her chin in her grime-smeared hand, staring +speculatively at the other. The man sat there, apparently a +self-confessed crook and criminal, but, also, he sat there as the +man to whom she owed the fact that at the present moment she was +not behind prison bars. He proclaimed himself in the same breath +both a thief and a gentleman, as far as she could make out. They +were characteristics which, until now, she had never associated +together; but now, curiously enough, they did not seem so utterly +at variance. Of course they were at variance, must of necessity +be so; but in the personality of this man the incongruity seemed +somehow lost. Perhaps it was a sense of gratitude toward him that +modified her views. He looked a gentleman. There was something +about him that appealed. The gray eyes seemed full of cool, +confident, self-possession; and, quiet as his manner was, she +sensed a latent dynamic something lurking near the surface all the +time - that she was conscious she would much prefer to have enlisted +on her behalf than against her. The strong, firm chin bore this out. +He was not handsome, but - with a sort of mental jerk, she forced +her mind back to the stark realities of her surroundings. She could +not thank him for what he had done last night. She could not tell +him that she was the White Moll. She could only play out the role +of Gypsy Nan until - until - Her hand tightened with a fierce, +involuntary pressure upon her chin until it brought a physical hurt. +Until what? God alone knew what the end of this miserable, +impossible horror, in which she found herself engulfed, would be! + +Her eyes sought his face again. The Adventurer was tactfully +engaged in carefully smoothing out the fingers of his yellow gloves. +Thief and gentleman, whatever he might be, whatever he might choose +to call himself, what, exactly, was it that had brought him here +to-night? The White Moll, he had said; but what did he want with +the White Moll? + +He answered her unspoken question now, almost as though he had read +her thoughts. + +"She is very clever," he said quietly. "She must be exceedingly +clever to have beaten the police the way she has for the last few +years; and - er - I worship at the shrine of cleverness - especially +if it be a woman's. The idea struck me last night that if she and +I should - er - pool our resources, we should not have to complain +of the reward." + +"Oh, so youse wants to work wid her, eh?" sniffed Rhoda Gray. "So +dat's it, is it?" + +"Partially," he said. "But, quite apart from that, the reason I +want to find her is because she is in very great danger. Clever +as she is, it is a very different matter to-day now that the police +have found her out. She has been forced into hiding, and, if alone +and without any friend to help her, her situation, to put it mildly, +must be desperate in the extreme. You befriended her last night, +and I honor you for the unselfishness with which you laid yourself +open to the future attentions of that animal Rorke, but that very +fact has deprived her of what might otherwise have been a refuge and +a quite secure retreat here with you. I do not wish to intrude, or +force myself upon her, but I believe I could be of very material +help, and so I have come to you, as I have said, because you are the +only source through which I can hope to find her, and because, +through your act of last night, I know you to be a trustworthy, and, +perhaps, even an intimate, friend of hers." + +"Aw, go on!" said Rhoda Gray, alias Gypsy Nan, deprecatingly. "Dat +don't prove nothin'! I'd have done as much for a stray cat if de +bulls was chasm' her. See? I told youse once youse had de wrong +number. She didn't leave no address. Dat's flat, an' dat's de end +of it." + +"I'm sorry," said the Adventurer gravely. "Perhaps I haven't made +out a good enough case. Or perhaps, even believing me, you consider +that the White Moll, and not yourself, should be the judge as to +whether my services are acceptable or not?" + +"Youse can dope it out any way youse likes," said Rhoda Gray +indifferently. "Me t'roat's gettin' hoarse tellin' youse dere's +nothin' doin'!" + +"I'm sorry," said the Adventurer again. He smiled suddenly, and +tucking his gloves into his pocket, leaned forward and tore off a +small piece from the margin of the newspaper on the floor - but his +head the while was now cocked in a curious listening attitude in the +direction of the door. "You will pardon me, my dear lady, if I +confess that, in spite of what you say, I still harbor the belief +that you know where to reach the White Moll; and so -" He stopped +abruptly, and she found his glance, sharp and critical, upon her. +"You are expecting a visitor, perhaps?" he inquired softly. + +Rhoda Gray stared in genuine perplexity. + +"Wot's de answer?" she demanded. + +"There is some one on the stairs," replied the Adventurer. + +Rhoda Gray listened - and her perplexity deepened. She could hear +nothing. + +"Youse must have good ears!" she scoffed. + +"I have," returned the Adventurer coolly. "My hearing is one of +the resources that I wanted to pool with the White Moll." + +"Well, den, mabbe it's Rough Rorke." Her tone still held its +scoffing note; but her words voiced the genuine enough, that had +come flashing upon her. "An' if it is, after last night, an' he +finds youse an' me together, dere'll be -" + +"My dear lady," interposed the Adventurer calmly, "if there were +the remotest possibility that it could be Rough Rorke, I would not +be here." + +"Wot do youse mean?" She had unconsciously towered her voice. + +The Adventurer shrugged his shoulders whimsically. He had laid the +piece of paper on his knee, and, with a small gold pencil which he +had taken from his pocket, was writing something upon it. + +"The fact that I can assure you that, whoever else it may be, the +person outside there cannot be Rough Rorke, is simply a proof that, +if I had the opportunity, I could be of real assistance to the White +Moll," he said imperturbably. "Well" - a grim little smile flickered +suddenly across his lips - "do you hear any one now?" + +Quite low, but quite unmistakably, the short, ladder-like steps just +outside the door were voicing a creaky protest now as some one +mounted them. Rhoda Gray did not move. It seemed as though she +could hear the sudden thumping of her own heart. Who was it this +time? How was she to act? What was she to say? It was so easy to +make the single little slip of word or manner that would spell ruin +and disaster. + +"Rubber heels and rubber soles," murmured the Adventurer. "But, at +that, it is extremely well done." He held out the torn piece of +paper to Rhoda Gray. + +"If" - he smiled significantly - "if, by any good fortune, you see +the White Moll again, please give her this and let her decide for +herself. It is a telephone number. She can always reach me there +by asking for - the Adventurer." He was still extending the piece +of paper. "Quick!" he whispered, as the door knob rattled. + + +V. A SECOND VISITOR + +Mechanically Rhoda Gray thrust the paper into the pocket of her +skirt. The door swung open. A tall man, well dressed, as far as +could be seen in the uncertain light, a slouch hat pulled far down +over his eyes, stood on the threshold, surveying the interior of +the garret. + +The Adventurer rose composedly to his feet - and moved slightly +back out of the direct radius of the candlelight. + +There was silence for a moment, and then the man in the doorway +laughed unpleasantly. + +"Hello!" he flung out harshly. "Who's the dude, Nan?" + +Rhoda Gray, on the edge of the bed, shrugged her shoulders. The +Adventurer was standing quite at his ease, his soft hat tucked +under his right arm, his hand thrust into the side pocket of his +coat. She could no longer see his face distinctly. + +"Well?" There was a snarl in the man's voice as he advanced from +the doorway. "You heard me, didn't you? Who is he?" + +"Why don't youse ask him yerself?" inquired Rhoda Gray truculently. +"I dunno." + +"You don't, eh?" The man had halted close to where the candle +stood on the floor between himself and the Adventurer. "Well, then, +I guess we'll find out!" He was peering in the Adventurer's +direction, and now there came a sudden savage scowl to his face. +"It seems to me I've seen those clothes somewhere before, and I +guess now we'll take a look at your face so that there won't be any +question about recognition the next time we meet." + +The Adventurer laughed softly. + +"There will be none on my part," he said calmly. "It's Danglar, +isn't it? I am surely not mistaken. Parson Danglar, alias - ah! +Please don't do that!" + +It seemed to Rhoda Gray that it happened in the space of time it +might take a watch to tick: The newcomer stooping to the floor, +and lifting the candle with the obvious intention of thrusting it +into the Adventurer's face - a glint of metal, as the Adventurer +whipped a revolver from the side pocket of his coat -and then, +how they got there she could not tell, it was done so adroitly and +swiftly, the thumb and forefinger of the Adventurer's left hand +had closed on the candle wick and snuffed it out, and the garret +was in darkness. + +There was a savage oath, a snarl of rage from the man whom the +Adventurer had addressed as Danglar; then an instant s silence; and +then the Adventurer's voice - from the doorway: + +"I beg of you not to vent your disappointment on the lady - Danglar. +I assure you that she is in no way responsible for my visit here, +and, as far as that goes, never saw me before in her life. Also, +it is only fair to tell you, in case you should consider leaving +here too hurriedly, that I am really not at all a bad shot - even +in the dark. I bid you good-night, Danglar - and you my dear lady!" + +Danglar's voice rose again in a flood of profane rage. He stumbled +and moved around in the dark. + +"Damn it!" he shouted. "Where are the matches? Where's the lamp? +This cursed candle's put enough to the bad already! Do you hear? +Where's the lamp?" + +"It's over dere on de floor, bust to pieces," mumbled Rhoda Gray. +"Youse'll find the matches on de washstand, an -" + +"What's the idea?" There was a sudden, steel-like note dominating +the angry tones. "What are you handing me that hog-wash language +for? Eh? It's damned queer! There's been damned queer doings +around here ever since last night! See? What's the idea?" + +Rhoda Gray felt her face whiten in the darkness. It was the slip +she had feared; the slip that she had had to take the chance of +making, and which, if it were not retrieved, and instantly retrieved, +now that it was made, meant discovery, and after that - She shivered +a little. + +"You needn't lose your head, just because you've lost your temper!" +she said tartly, in a guarded whisper. "The door into the hall is +still wide open, isn't it?" + +"Oh, all right!" he said, his tones a sort of sullen admission that +her retort was justified. "But even now your voice sounds off color." + +Rhoda Gray bridled. + +"Does it?" she snapped at him. "I've got a cold. Maybe you'd get +one too, and maybe your voice would be off color, if you had to live +in a dump like this, and -" + +"Oh, all right, all right!" he broke in hurriedly. "For Heaven's +sake don't start a row! Forget it! See? Forget it!" He walked +over to the door, peered out, swore savagely to himself, shut the +door, held the candle up to circle the garret, and scowled as its +rays fell upon the shattered pieces of the lamp in the corner then, +returning, he set the candle down upon the chair and began to pace +restlessly, three or four steps each way, up and down in front of +the bed. + +Rhoda Gray, from the edge of the bed, shifted back until her +shoulders rested against the wall. Danglar, too, was dressed like +a gentleman - but Danglar's face was not appealing. The little +round black eyes were shifty, they seemed to possess no pupils +whatever, and they roved constantly; there was a hard, unyielding +thinness about the lips, and the face itself was thin, almost gaunt, +as though the skin had had to accommodate itself to more than was +expected of it, and was elastically stretched over the cheek-bones. + +"Well, I'm listening!" jerked out the man abruptly. "You knew our +game at Skarbolov's was queered. You got the 'seven-three-nine,' +didn't you?" + +"Yes, of course, I got it," answered Rhoda Gray. "What about it?" + +"For two weeks now, yes, more than two weeks" - the man's voice +rasped angrily - "things have been going wrong, and some one has +been butting in and getting away with the goods under our noses. +We know now, from last night, that it must have been the White Moll, +for one, though it's not likely she worked all alone. Skeeny dropped +to the fact that the police were wise about Skarbolov's, and that's +why we called it off, and the 'seven-three-nine' went out. They +must have got wise through shadowing the White Moll. See? Then +they pinch her, but she makes her get-away, and comes here, and, if +the dope I've got is right, you hand Rough Rorke one, and help her +to beat it again. It looks blamed funny - doesn't it? - when you +come to consider that there's a leak somewhere!" + +"Is that so!" Rhoda Gray flashed back. "And did you know before +last night that it was the White Moll who was queering our game?" + +"If I had," the man gritted between his teeth, "I'd -" + +"Well, then, how did you expect me to know it?" demanded Rhoda Gray +heatedly. "And if the White Moll happens to know Gypsy Nan, as she +knows everybody else through her jellies and custards and fake +charity, and happens to be near here when she gets into trouble, +and beats it for here with the police on her heels, and asks for +help, what do you expect Gypsy Nan's going to do if she wants to +stand any chance of sticking around these parts - as Gypsy Nan?" + +The man paused in his walk, and, jerking back his hat, drew his +hand nervously across his forehead. + +"You make me tired!" said Rhoda Gray wearily. "Do you think you +could find the door without too much trouble?" + +Danglar resumed his pacing back and forth, but more slowly now. + +"Oh, I know! I know, Bertha!" he burst out heavily. "I'm talking +through my hat. You've got the roughest job of any of us, old girl. +Don't mind what I'm saying. Something's badly wrong, and I'm half +crazy. It's certain now that the White Moll's the one that's been +doing us, and what I really came down here for to-night was to tell +you that your job from now on was to get the White Moll. You helped +her last night. She doesn't know you are anybody but Gypsy Nan, and +so you're the one person in New York she'll dare try to communicate +with sooner or later. Understand? That's what I came for, not to +talk like a fool - but that fellow I found here started me off. +Who is he? What did he want?" + +"He wanted the White Moll, too," said Rhoda Gray, with a short laugh. + +"Oh, he did, eh!" Danglar's lips twisted into a sudden, merciless +smile. "Well, go on! Who is he?" + +"I don't know who he is," Rhoda Gray answered a little impatiently. +"He said he was an adventurer - if you can make anything out of that. +He said he got the White Moll away from Rough Rorke last night, after +Rorke had arrested her; and then he doped the rest out the same as +you have - that he could find the White Moll again through Gypsy Nan. +I don't know what he wanted her for." + +"That's better!" snarled Danglar, the merciless smile still on his +lips. "I thought she must have had a pal, and we know now who her +pal is. It's open and shut that she's sitting so tight she hasn't +been able to get into touch with him, and that's what's worrying +Mr. Adventurer." + +Rhoda Gray, save for a nod of her head, made no answer. + +Danglar laughed suddenly, as though in relief; then, coming closer +to the bed, plunged his hand into his coat pocket, and tossed +handful of jewelry carelessly into Rhoda Gray's lap. + +"I feel better than I did!" he said, and laughed again. "It's a +cinch now that we'll get them both through you, and it s a cinch +that the White Moll won't cut in to-night. Put those sparklers +away with the rest until we get ready to 'fence' them." + +Rhoda Gray did not speak. Mechanically, as though she were living +through some hideous nightmare, she began to scoop up the gems from +her lap and allow them to trickle back through her fingers. They +flashed and scintillated brilliantly, even in the meager light. +They seemed alive with some premonitory, baleful fire. + +"Yes, there's some pretty slick stuff there," said Danglar, with +an appraising chuckle; "but there'll be something to-night that'll +make all that bunch look like chicken-feed. The boys are at work +now, and we'll have old Hayden-Bond's necklace in another hour. +Skeeny's got the Sparrow tied up in the old room behind Shluker's +place, and once we're sure there's no back-fire anywhere, the +Sparrow will chirp his last chirp." He laughed out suddenly, and, +leaning forward, clapped Rhoda Gray exultantly on the shoulder. "It +was like taking candy from a kid! The Sparrow and the old man fell +for the sick-mother-needing-her-son-all-night stuff without batting +a lid; but the Sparrow hasn't been holding the old lady's hand at +the bedside yet. We took care of that." + +Again Rhoda Gray made no comment. She wondered, as she gripped at +the rings and brooches in hand, so fiercely that the settings +pricked into the flesh, if her face mirrored in any way the cold, +sick misery that had suddenly taken possession of her soul. The +Sparrow! She knew the Sparrow; she knew the Sparrow's sick mother. +That part of it was true. The Sparrow did have an old mother who +was sick. A fine old lady - finer than the son - Finch, her name +was. Indirectly, she knew old Hayden-Bond, the millionaire, and +- Almost subconsciously she was aware that Danglar was speaking +again. + +"I guess luck's breaking our way again," he grinned. "The old boy +paid a hundred thousand cold for that necklace. You know how long +we've been waiting to get our hooks on it, and we've never had our +eyes off his house for two months. Well, it pays to wait, and it +pays to do things right. It broke our way at last to-night, all +right, all right! To-day's Saturday - and the safety deposit vaults +aren't open on Sunday. Mrs. Hayden-Bond's been away all week +visiting, but she comes back to-morrow, and there's some swell +society fuss fixed for to-morrow night, and she wants her necklace +to make a splurge, so she writes Mr. H-hyphen-B, and out it comes +from the safety deposit vault, and into the library safe. The old +man isn't long on social stunts, and he's got pretty well set in +his habits; one of those must-have-nine-hours'-sleep bugs, and he's +always in bed by ten - when his wife'll let him. She being away +to-night, the boys were able to get to work early. They ought to +be able to crack that box without making any noise about it in an +hour and a half at the outside." He pulled out his watch-and +whistled low under his breath. "It's a quarter after eleven now," +he said hurriedly, and moved abruptly toward the door. "I can't +stick around here any longer. I've got to be on deck where they +can slip me the 'white ones,' and then there's Skeeny waiting for +the word to bump off the Sparrow." He jerked his hand suddenly +toward the jewels in her lap. "Salt those away before any +more adventurers blow in!" he said, half sharply, half jocularly. +"And don't let the White Moll slip you - at any cost. Remember! +She's bound to come to you again. Play her - and send out the +call. You understand, don't you? There's never been a yip out +of the police. Our methods are too good for that. Look at the +Sparrow to-night. Where there's no chance taken of suspicion +going anywhere except where we lead it, there's no chance of any +trouble - for us! But this cursed she-fiend's another story. +We're not planting plum trees for her to pick any more of the fruit. +Understand?" + +She answered him mechanically. + +"Yes," she said. + +"All right, then; that end of it is up to you," he said significantly. +"You're clever, clever as the devil, Bertha. Use your brains now +- we need 'em. Good-night, old girl. See you later." + +"Good-night," said Rhoda Gray dully. + +The door closed. The short, ladder-like steps to the hallway below +creaked once, and then all was still. Danglar did have on +rubber-soled shoes. She sat upright, her hands, clenched now, +pressed hard against her throbbing temples. It wasn't true! None +of this was true - this hovel of a place, those jewels glinting +like evil eyes in her lap; her existence itself wasn't true; it was +only her brain now, sick like her soul, that conjured up these ugly +phantoms with horrible, plausible ingenuity. And then an inner +voice seemed to answer her with a calmness that was hideous in its +finality. It was true. All of it was true. Those words of Danglar, +and their bald meaning, were true. Men did such things; men made in +the image of their Maker did such things. They were going to kill +a man to-night - an innocent man whom they had made their pawn. + +She swept the jewels from her lap to the blanket, and rising, seized +the candle, went to the door, looked out, and, holding the candle +high above her head, peered down the stairs. Yes, he was gone. +There was no one there. + +She locked the door again, returned to the bed, set the candle down +upon the chair, and stood there, her face white and drawn, staring +with wide, tormented eyes about her. Murder. Danglar had spoken +of it with inhuman callousness - and had laughed at it. They were +going to take a man's life. And there was only herself, already +driven to extremity, already with her own back against the wall in +an effort to save herself, only herself to carry the burden of the +responsibility of doing something-to save a man's life. + +It seemed to plumb the depths of irony and mockery. She could not +make a move as Gypsy Nan. It would only result in their turning +upon her, of the discovery that she was not Gypsy Nan at all, of +the almost certainty that it would cost her her own life without +saving the Sparrow's. That way was closed to her from the start. +As the White Moll, then? Outside there in the great city, every +plain-clothes man, every policeman on every beat, was staring into +every woman's face he met - searching for the White Moll. + +She wrung her hands in cruel desperation. Even to her own problem +she had found no solution, though she had wrestled with it all last +night, and all through the day; no solution save the negative one +of clinging to this one refuge that remained to her, such as it +was, temporarily. She had found no solution to that; what solution +was there to this! She had thought of leaving the city as Gypsy Nan, +and then somewhere far away, of sloughing off the character of Gypsy +Nan, and of resuming her own personality again under an assumed name. +But that would have meant the loss of everything she had in life, +her little patrimony, the irredeemable stamp of shame upon the name +she once had owned; and also the constant fear and dread that at +any moment the police net, wide as the continent was wide, would +close around her, as, sooner or later, it was almost inevitable that +it would close around her. It had seemed that her only chance was +to keep on striving to play the role of Gypsy Nan, because it was +these associates of Gypsy Nan who were at the bottom of the crime +of which she, Rhoda Gray, was held guilty, and because there was +always the hope that in this way, through confidences to a supposed +confederate, she could find the evidence that would convict those +actually guilty, and so prove her own innocence. But in holding to +the role of Gypsy Nan for the purpose of receiving those criminal +confidences, she had not thought of this - that upon her would rest +the moral responsibility of other crimes of which she would have +knowledge, and, least of all, that she should be faced with what +lay before her now, to-night, at the first contact with those who +had been Gypsy Nan's confederates. + +What was she to do? Upon her, and upon her alone, depended a man's +life, and, adding to her distraction, she knew the man - the Sparrow, +who had already done time; that was the vile ingenuity of it all. +And there would le corroborative evidence, of course; they would +have seen to that. If the Sparrow disappeared and was never heard +of again, even a child would deduce the assumption that the proceeds +of the robbery had disappeared with him. + +Her brain seemed to grow panicky. She was standing here helplessly. +And time, the one precious ally that she possessed, was slipping +away from her. She could not go to the police as Gypsy Nan - and, +much less, as the White Moll! She could not go to the police in any +case, for the "corroborative" evidence, that obviously must exist, +unless Danglar and those with him were fools, would indubitably damn +the Sparrow to another prison term, even supposing that through the +intervention of the police his life were saved. What was she to do? + +And then, for a moment, her eyes lighted in relief. The Adventurer! +She thrust her hand into the pocket of her skirt, and drew out the +torn piece of paper, and studied the telephone number upon it - and +slowly the hurt and misery came back into her eyes again. Who was +he? He had told her. An adventurer. He had given her to understand +that he, if she had not been just a few minutes ahead of him, would +have taken that money from Skarbolov's escritoire last night. +Therefore he was a crook. Danglar had said that some one had been +getting in ahead of them lately and snatching the plunder from under +their noses; and Danglar now believed that it had been the White +Moll. A wan smile came to her lips. Instead of the White Moll, it +appeared to be quite obvious that it was the Adventurer. It +therefore appeared to be quite as obvious that the man was a +professional thief, and an extremely clever one, at that. She dared +not trust him. To enlist his aid she would have to explain the +gang's plot; and while the Adventurer might go to the Sparrow's +assistance, he might also be very much more interested in the +diamond necklace that was involved, and not be entirely averse to +Danglar's plan of using the Sparrow as a pawn, who, in that case, +would make a very convenient scapegoat for the Adventurer - instead +of Danglar! She dared not trust the man. She could not absolve +her conscience by staking another's life on a hazard, on the +supposition that the Adventurer might do this or that. It was not +good enough. + +She was quick in her movements now. Subconsciously her decision +had been made. There was only one way - only one. She gathered up +the jewels from the bed and thrust them, with the Adventurer's torn +piece of paper, into her pocket. And now she reached for the +little notebook that she had hidden under the blanket. It contained +the gang's secret code, and she had found it in the cash box in +Gypsy Nan's strange hiding place that evening. Half running now, +carrying the candle, she started toward the lower end of the attic, +where the roof sloped down to little more than shoulder high. +"Seven-Three-Nine!" Danglar had almost decoded the message word for +word in the course of his conversation. In the little notebook, set +against the figures, were the words: "Danger. The game is off. +Make no further move." It was only one of many, that arbitrary +arrangement of figures, each combination having its own special +significance; but, besides these, there was the key to a complete +cipher into which any message might be coded, and - But why was her +brain swerving off at inconsequential tangents? What did a coder or +code book, matter at the present moment? + +She was standing under the narrow trap-door in the low ceiling now, +and now she pushed it up, and lifting the candle through the +opening, set it down on the inner surface of the ceiling, which, +like some vast shelf, Gypsy Nan had metamorphosed into that +exhaustive storehouse of edibles, of plunder - a curious and sinister +collection that was eloquent of a gauntlet long flung down against +the law. She emptied the pocket of her skirt, retaining only the +revolver, and substituted the articles she had removed with the tin +box that contained the dark compound Gypsy Nan, and she herself, as +Gypsy Nan, had used to rob her face of youthfulness, and give it the +grimy, dissolute and haggard aspect which was so simple and yet so +efficient a disguise. + +She worked rapidly now, changing her clothes. She could not go, or +act, as Gypsy Nan; and so she must go in her own character, go as +the White Moll - because that was the lesser danger, the one that +held the only promise of success. There wasn't any other way. She +could not very well refuse to risk her capture by the police, could +she, when by so doing she might save another's life? She could not +balance in cowardly selfishness the possibility of a prison term for +herself, hideous as that might be, against the penalty of death +that the Sparrow would pay if she remained inactive. But she could +not leave here as the White Moll. Somewhere, somewhere out in the +night, somewhere away from this garret where all connection with it +was severed, she must complete the transformation from Gypsy Nan to +the White Moll. She could only prepare for that now as best she +could. + +And there was not a moment to lose. The thought made her frantic. +Over her own clothes she put on again Gypsy Nan's greasy skirt, and +drew on again, over her own silk ones, Gypsy Nan's coarse stockings. +She put on Gypsy Nan's heavy and disreputable boots, and threw the +old shawl again over her head and shoulders. And then, with her +hat - for the small shape of which she breathed a prayer of +thankfulness! - and her own shoes under her arm and covered by the +shawl, she took the candle again, closed the trap-door, and stepped +over to the washstand. Here, she dampened a rag, that did duty as +a facecloth, and thrust it into her pocket; then, blowing out the +candle, she groped her way to the door, locked it behind her, and +without any attempt at secrecy made her way downstairs. + + +VI. THE RENDEZVOUS + +Rhoda Gray's movements were a little unsteady as she stepped out +on the sidewalk. Gypsy Nan's accepted inebriety was not without +its compensation. It enabled her, as she swayed for a moment, to +scrutinize the street in all directions. Were any of Rough Rorke's +men watching the house? She did not know; she only knew that as +far as she had been able to discover, she had not been followed +when she had gone out that afternoon. Up the street, to her right, +there were a few pedestrians; to her left, as far as the corner, +the block was clear. She turned in the latter direction. She +had noticed that afternoon that there was a lane between Gypsy Nan's +house and the corner; she gained this and slipped into it unobserved. + +And now, in the comparative darkness, she hurried her steps. +Somewhere here in the lane she would make the transformation from +Gypsy Nan to the White Moll complete; it required only some place +in which she could with safety leave the garments that she discarded, +and - Yes, this would do! A tumble-down old shed, its battered door +half open, ample proof that the place was in disuse, intersected +the line of high board fence on her right. + +She stole inside. It was utterly dark, but she had no need for +light. It was a matter of perhaps three minutes; and then, the +revolver transferred to the pocket of her jacket, the stains removed +from her face by the aid of the damp cloth, her hands neatly gloved +in black kid, the skirt, boots, stockings, shawl, spectacles and +wig of Gypsy Nan carefully piled together and hidden in a hole under +the rotting boards of the floor, behind the door, she emerged as the +White Moll, and went on again. + +But at the end of the lane, where it met a cross street, and the +street lamp flung out an ominous challenge, and, dim though it was, +seemed to glare with the brightness of daylight, she faltered for +a moment and drew back. She knew where Shluker's place was, because +she knew, as few knew it, every nook and cranny in the East Side, +and it was a long way to that old junk shop, almost over to the East +River, and - and there would be lights like this one here that barred +her exit from the lane, thousands of them, lights all the way, and +- and out there they were searching everywhere, pitilessly, for the +White Moll. + +And then, with her lips tightened, the straight little shoulders +thrown resolutely back, she slipped from the lane to the sidewalk, +and, hugging the shadows of the buildings, started forward. + +She was alert now in mind and body, every faculty strained and in +tension. It was a long way, and it would take a great while - by +wide detours, by lanes and alleyways, for only on those streets that +were relatively deserted and poorly lighted would she dare trust +herself to the open. And as she went along, now skirting the side +of a street, now through some black courtyard, now forced to take +a fence, and taking it with the agility born of the open, athletic +life she had led with her father in the mining camps of South +America, now hiding at the mouth of a lane waiting her chance to +cross an intersecting street when some receding footstep should have +died away, the terror of delay came gripping at her heart with an +icy clutch, submerging the fear of personal peril in the agony of +dread that, with her progress so slow, she would, after all, be too +late. And at times she almost cried out in her vexation and despair, +as once, when crouched behind a door-stoop, a policeman, not two +yards from her, stood and twirled his night stick under the street +lamp while the minutes sped and raced themselves away. + +When she could run, she ran until it seemed her lungs must burst, +but it was slow progress at best, and always the terror grew upon +her. Had Danglar met the men yet who had looted the millionaire's +safe? Had he already joined Skeeny in that old room behind Shluker's +place? Had the Sparrow - She would not let her mind frame that +question in concrete words. The Sparrow! His real name was Martin, +Martin Finch - Marty, for short. Times without number she had +visited the sick and widowed mother - while the Sparrow had served +a two-years' sentence for his first conviction in safe-breaking. +The Sparrow, from a first-class chauffeur mechanic, had showed signs +of becoming a first-class cracksman, it was true; but the Sparrow +was young, and she had never believed that he was inherently bad. +Her opinion had been confirmed when, some six months ago, on his +release, listening both to her own pleadings and to those of his +mother, the Sparrow had sworn that he would stick to the "straight +and narrow." And Hayden-Bond, the millionaire, referred to by a +good many people as eccentric, had further proved his claims to +eccentricity in the eyes of a good many people by giving a prison +bird a chance to make an honest living, and had engaged the Sparrow +as his chauffeur. It was a vile and an abominable thing that they +were doing, even if they had not planned to culminate it with murder. +What chance would the Sparrow have had! + +It had taken a long time. She did not know how long, as, at last, +she stole unnoticed into a black and narrow driveway that led in, +between two blocks of down-at-the-heels tenements, to a courtyard +in the rear. Shluker had his junk shop here. Her lips pursed up +as though defiant of a tinge of perplexity that had suddenly taken +possession of her. She did not know Shluker, or anything about +Shluker's place except its locality; but surely "the old room behind +Shluker's" was direction enough, and - She had just emerged from the +end of the driveway now, and now, startled, she turned her head +quickly, as she heard a brisk step turning in from the street behind +her. But in the darkness she could see no one, and satisfied, +therefore, that she in turn had not been seen, she moved swiftly +to one side, and crouched down against the rear wall of one of the +tenements. A long moment, that seemed an eternity, passed, and +then a man's form came out from the driveway, and started across +the courtyard. + +She drew in her breath sharply, a curious mingling of relief and a +sudden panic fear upon her. It was not so dark in the courtyard +as it had been in the driveway, and, unless she were strangely +mistaken that form out there was Danglar's. She watched him as he +headed toward a small building that loomed up like a black, +irregular shadow across the courtyard, and which was Shluker's shop +- watched him in a tense, fascinated way. She was in time, then +- only - only somehow now her limbs seemed to have become weak and +powerless. It seemed suddenly as though she craved with all her +soul the protecting shadows of the tenement, and that every impulse +bade her cling there, flattened against the wall, until she could +make her escape. She was afraid now; she shrank from the next step. +It wasn't illogical. She had set out with a purpose in view, and +she had not been blind to the danger that she ran, but the +prospective and mental encounter with danger did not hold the terror +that the tangible, concrete and actual presence of that peril did +- and that was Danglar there. + +She felt her face whiten, and she felt the tremor of her lips, +tightly as they were drawn together. Yes, she was afraid, afraid +in every fiber of her being, but there was a difference, wasn't +there, between being afraid and being a coward? Her small, gloved +hands clenched, her lips parted slightly. She laughed a little +now, low, without mirth. Upon what she did or did not do, upon the +margin between fear and cowardice as applied to herself, there hung +a man's life. Danglar was disappearing around the side of Shluker's +shop. She moved out from the wall, and swiftly, silently, crossed +the courtyard, gained the side of the junk shop in turn, skirted it, +and halted, listening, peering around her, as she reached the rear +corner of the building. A door closed somewhere ahead of her; from +above, upstairs, faint streaks of light showed through the +interstices of a shuttered window. + +She crept forward now, hugging the rear wall, reached a door-the +one, obviously, through which Danglar had disappeared, and which +she had heard as it was closed - tried the door, found it unlocked, +and, noiselessly, inch by inch, pushed it open; and a moment later, +stepping over the threshold, she closed it softly behind her. A +dull glow of light, emanating evidently from an open door above, +disclosed the upper portion of a stairway over on her left, but +apart from that the place was in blackness, and save that she knew, +of course, she was in the rear of Shluker's junk shop, she could +form no idea of her surroundings. But she could, at last, hear. +Voices, one of which she recognized as Danglar's, though she could +not distinguish the words, reached her from upstairs. + +Slowly, with infinite care, she crossed to the stairs, and on hands +and knees now, lest she should make a sound, began to crawl upward. +And a little way up, panic fear seized upon her again, and her heart +stood still, and she turned a miserable face in the darkness back +toward the door below, and fought against the impulse to retreat +again. + +And then she heard Danglar speak, and from her new vantage point +his words came to her distinctly this time: + +"Good work, Skeeny! You've got the Sparrow nicely trussed up, I +see. Well, he'll do as he is for a while there. I told the boys +to hold off a bit. It's safer to wait an hour or two yet, before +moving him away from here and bumping him off." + +"Two jobs instead of one!" a surly voice answered. "We might just +as well have finished him and slipped him away for keeps when we +first got our hooks on him." + +"Got a little sick of your wood-carving, while you stuck around by +your lonesome and watched him - eh?" Danglar's tones were jocularly +facetious. "Don't grouch, Skeeny! We're not killing for fun - it +doesn't pay. Supposing anything had broken wrong up the Avenue - eh? +We wouldn't have had our friend the Sparrow there for the next time +we tried it!" + +There was something abhorrently callous in the laugh that followed. +It seemed to fan into flame a smoldering fire of passionate anger +in Rhoda Gray's soul. And before it panic fled. Her hand felt +upward for the next stair-tread, and she crept on again, as a face +seemed to rise before her - not the Sparrow's face - a woman's face. +It was a face that was crowned with very thin white hair, and its +eyes were the saddest she had ever seen, and yet they were brave, +steady old eyes that had not lost their faith; nor had the old, +care-lined face itself, in spite of suffering, lost its gentleness +and sweetness. And then suddenly it seemed to change, that face, +and become wreathed in smiles, and happy tears to run coursing down +the wrinkled cheeks. Yes, she remembered! It had brought the tears +to her own eyes. It was the night that the wayward Sparrow, home +from the penitentiary, on his knees, his head buried in his mother's +lap, had sworn that he would go straight. + +Fear! It seemed as though she never had known, never could know +fear - that only a merciless, tigerish, unbridled fury had her in +its thrall. And she went on up, step after step, as Danglar spoke +again: + +"There's nothing to it! The Sparrow there fell for the telephone +when Stevie played the doctor. And old Hayden-Bond of course grants +his prison-bird chauffeur's request to spend the night with his +mother, who the doctor says is taken worse, because the old guy +knows there is a mother who really is sick. Only Mr. Hayden-Bond, +and the police with him, will maybe figure it a little differently +in the morning when they find the safe looted, and that the Sparrow, +instead of ever going near the poor old dame, has flown the coop +and can't be found. And in case there's any lingering doubt in +their minds, that piece of paper with the grease-smudges and the +Sparrow's greasy finger-prints on it, that you remember we copped +a few days ago in the garage, will set them straight. The Cricket +slipped it in among the papers he pulled out of the safe and tossed +around on the floor. It looks as though a tool had been wiped with +it while the safe was being cracked, and that it got covered over +by the stuff that was emptied out, and had been forgotten. I guess +they won't be long in comparing the finger-prints with the ones the +Sparrow kindly left with them when they measured him for his striped +suit the time they sent him up the river - eh?" + +Rhoda Gray could see now. Her eyes were on a level with the landing, +and diagonally across from the head of the stairs was the open +doorway of a lighted room. She could not see all of the interior, +but she could see quite enough. Two men sat, side face to her, +one at each end of a rough, deal table - Danglar, and an ugly, +pock-marked, unshaven man, in a peaked cap that was drawn down over +his eyes, who whittled at a stick with a huge jack-knife. The +latter was Skeeny, obviously; and the jack-knife and the stick, +quite as obviously, explained Danglar's facetious reference to +wood-carving. And then her eyes shifted, and widened as they rested +on a huddled form that she could see by looking under and beyond the +table, and that lay sprawled out against the far wall of the room. + +Skeeny pushed the peak of his cap back with the point of his +knife-blade. + +"What's the haul size up at?" he demanded. "Anything in the safe +besides the shiners?" + +"A few hundred dollars," Danglar replied. "I don't know exactly +how much. I told the Cricket to divide it up among the boys who +did the rough work. That's good enough, isn't it, Skeeny? It +gives you a little extra. You'll get yours." + +Skeeny grunted compliance. + +"Well, let's have a look at the white ones, then," he said. + +Rhoda Gray was standing upright in the little hallway now, and now, +pressed close against the wall, she edged toward the door-jamb. +And a queer, grim little smile came and twisted the sensitive lips, +as she drew her revolver from her pocket. The merciless, pitiless +way in which the newspapers had flayed the White Moll was not, after +all, to be wholly regretted! The cool, clever resourcefulness, the +years of reckless daring attributed to the White Moll, would stand +her in good stead now. Everybody on the East Side knew her by sight. +These men knew her. It was not merely a woman ambitiously attempting +to beard two men who, perhaps, holding her sex in contempt in an +adventure of this kind, might throw discretion to the winds and give +scant respect to her revolver, for behind the muzzle of that revolver +was the reputation of the White Moll. They would take her at face +value - as one who not only knew how to use that revolver, but as +one who would not hesitate an instant to do so. + +From the room she heard Skeeny whistle low under his breath, as +though in sudden and amazed delight - and then she was standing full +in the open doorway, and her revolver in her outflung, gloved hand +covered the two men at the table. + +There was a startled cry from Skeeny, a scintillating flash of light +as a magnificent string of diamonds fell from his hand to the table. +But Danglar did not move or speak; only his lips twitched, and a +queer whiteness came and spread itself over his face. + +"Put up your hands-both of you!" she ordered, in a low, tense voice. + +It was Skeeny who spoke, as both men obeyed her. "The White Moll, +so help me!" he mumbled, and swallowed hard. + +Danglar's eyes never seemed to leave her face, and they narrowed +now, full of hatred and a fury that lie made no attempt to conceal. +She smiled at him coldly. She quite understood! He had already +complained that evening that the White Moll for the last few weeks +had been robbing them of the fruits of their laboriously planned +schemes. And now-again! Well, she would not dispel his illusion! +He had given the White Moll that role - and it was the safest role +to play. + +She stepped forward now, and with her free hand suddenly pulled the +table toward her out of their reach; and then, as she picked up the +necklace, she appeared for the first time to become aware of the +presence of the huddled form on the floor near the wall. She could +see that the Sparrow was bound and gagged, and as he squirmed now +he turned his face toward her. + +"Why, it's the Sparrow, isn't it?" she exclaimed sharply; then, +evenly, to the two men: "I had no idea you were so hospitable! +Push your chairs closer together - with your feet, not your hands! +You are easier to watch if you are not too far apart." + +Dangler complied sullenly. Skeeny, over the scraping of his chair +legs, cursed in a sort of unnerved abandon, as he obeyed her. + +"Thank you!" said Rhoda Gray pleasantly - and calmly tucked the +necklace into her bodice. + +The act seemed to rouse Danglar to the last pitch of fury. The +blood rushed in an angry tide to his face, and, suffusing, purpled +his cheeks. + +"This isn't the first crack you've made!" he flung out hoarsely. +"You've been getting wise to a whole lot lately somehow, you and +that dude pal of yours, but you'll pay for it, you female devil! +Understand? By God, you'll pay for it! I promise you that you'll +pray yet on your bended knees for the chance to take your own life! +Do you hear?" + +"I hear," said Rhoda Gray coldly. + +She picked up the jack-knife from the table, and keeping both men +covered, stepped backward to the wall. Here, kneeling, she reached +behind her with her left hand, and felt for, and cut the heavy cord +that bound the Sparrow's arms; then, pushing the knife into the +Sparrow's hands that he might free himself from the rest of his +bonds, she stood up again. + +A moment more, and the Sparrow, rubbing the circulation back into +his wrists, stood beside her. There was a look on the young, white +face that was not good to see. He circled dry lips with the tip of +his tongue and then his thumb began to feel over the blade of the +big jack-knife in a sort of horribly supercritical appraisal of its +edge. He spoke thickly for the gag that had been in his mouth. + +"You dirty skates!" he whispered. "You were going to bump me off, +were you? You planted me cold, did you? Oh, hell!" His laugh, +like the laugh of one insane, jangling, discordant, rang through +the room. "Well, it's my turn now, and" - his body was coiling +itself in a slow, curious, almost snake-like fashion - "and you'll -" + +Rhoda Gray laid her hand on the Sparrow's arm. + +"Not that way, Marty," she said quietly. She smiled thinly at +Danglar, who, with genuinely frightened eyes now, seemed fascinated +by the Sparrow's movements. "I wouldn't care to have anything +happen to Mr. Danglar - yet. He has been invaluable to me, and I +am sure he will be again." + +The Sparrow brushed his hands across his eyes, and stared at her. +He licked his lips again. He appeared to be obsessed with the +knife-blade in his hand - dazed in a strange way to all else. + +"There's enough cord there for both of them," said Rhoda Gray +crisply. "Tie them in their chairs, Marty." + +For a moment the Sparrow hesitated; and then, with a sort of queer +reluctancy, he dropped the knife on the table, and went and picked +up the strands of cord from the floor. + +No one spoke. The Sparrow, with twitching lips as he worked, and +worked not gently, bound first Danglar and then Skeeny to their +respective chairs. Skeeny for the most part kept his eyes on the +floor, casting only furtive glances at Rhoda Gray's revolver muzzle. +But Danglar was smiling now. He had very white teeth. There was +something of primal, insensate fury in the hard-drawn, parted lips. +Somehow he seemed to remind Rhoda Gray of a beast, stung to madness, +but impotent behind the bars of its cage, as it showed its fangs. + +"We'll go now, Marty," she said softly, as the Sparrow finished. + +She motioned the Sparrow with an imperious little nod of her head +to the door. And then, following the other, she backed to the door +herself, and halted an instant on the threshold. + +"It has been a very profitable evening, Mr. Danglar," she said +coolly. "I have you to thank for it. When your friends come, which +I think I heard you say would be in another hour or so, I hope you +will not fail to convey to them my -" + +"You she-fiend!" Danglar had found his voice again. You'll crawl +for this! Do you understand? and I'll show you inside of +twenty-four hours what you're up against, you - you -" His voice +broke in its fury. The veins were standing out on the side of his +neck like whipcords. He could just move his forearms a little, and +his hands reached out toward her, curved like claws. "I'll -" + +But Rhoda Gray had closed the door behind her, and, with the Sparrow, +was retreating down the stairs. + + +VII. FELLOW THIEVES + +Reaching the courtyard, Rhoda Gray led the way without a word +through the driveway, and finding the street clear, hurried on +rapidly. Her mind, strangely stimulated, was working in quick, +incisive flashes. Her work was not yet done. The Sparrow was safe, +as far as his life was concerned; but her possession of even the +necklace would not save the Sparrow from the law. There was the +money that was gone from the safe. She could not recover that, but +- yes, dimly, she began to see a way. She swerved suddenly from +the sidewalk as she came to an alleyway - which had been her +objective - and drew the Sparrow in with her out of sight of the +street. + +The Sparrow gripped at her hand. + +"The White Moll!" he whispered brokenly. "God bless the White +Moll! I ain't had a chance to say it before. You saved my life, +and I - I -" + +In the semi-darkness she leaned forward and laid her fingers gently +over the Sparrow's lips. + +"And there's no time to say it now, Marty," she said quickly. "You +are not out of this yet." + +He swept his hand across his eyes. + +"I know it," he said. "I got to get those shiners back up there +somehow, and I got to get that paper they planted on me." + +She shook her head. + +"Even that wouldn't clear you," she said. "The safe has been looted +of money, as well; and you can't replace that. Even with only the +money gone, who would they first naturally suspect? You are known as +a safe-breaker; you have served a term for it. You asked for a night +off to stay with your mother who is sick. You left Mr. Hayden-Bond's, +we'll say, at seven or eight o'clock. It's after midnight now. How +long would it take them to find out that between eight and midnight +you had not only never been near your mother, but could not prove an +alibi of any sort? If you told the truth it would sound absurd. No +one in their sober senses would believe you." + +The Sparrow looked at her miserably. + +"My God!" he faltered. He wet his lips. "That's true." + +"Marty," she said quietly, "did you read in the papers that I had +been arrested last night for theft, caught with the goods on me, +but had escaped?" + +The Sparrow hesitated. + +"Yes, I did," he said. And then, earnestly: "But I don't believe +it!" + +"It was true, though, Marty - all except that I wasn't a thief," +she said as quietly as before. "What I want to know is, in spite +of that, would you trust me with what is left to be done to-night, +if I tell you that I believe I can get you out of this?" + +"Sure, I would!" he said simply. "I don't know how you got wise +about all this, or how you got to know about that necklace, but +any of our crowd would trust you to the limit. Sure, I'd trust +you! You bet your life!" + +"Thank you, Marty," she said. "Well, then, how do you get into Mr. +Hayden-Bond's house when, for instance, you are out late at night?" + +"I've got a key to the garage," he answered. "The garage is +attached to the house, though it opens on the side street." + +She held Out her hand. + +The Sparrow fished in his pocket, and extended the key without +hesitation. + +"It's for the small door, of course," he explained. + +"You haven't got a flashlight, I suppose?" she smiled. + +"Sure! There's plenty of 'em! Each car's got one with its tools +under the back seat." + +She nodded. + +"And now, the library," she said. "What part of the house is it +in? How is it situated?" + +"It's on the ground floor at the back," he told her. "The little +short passage from the garage opens on the kitchen, then the pantry, +and then there's a little cross hallway, and the dining-room is on +the left, and the library on the right. But ain't I going with you?" + +She shook her head again. + +"You're going home, Marty - after you've sent me a taxicab. If you +were seen in that neighborhood now, let alone by any chance seen in +the house, nothing could save you. You understand that, don't you? +Now, listen! Find a taxi, and send it here. Tell the chauffeur to +pick me up, and drive me to the corner of the cross street, one block +in the rear of Mr. Hayden-Bond's residence. Don't mention Hayden-Bond's +name. Give the chauffeur simply street directions. Be careful that +he is some one who doesn't know you. Tell him he will be well paid +- and give him this to begin with." She thrust a banknote into the +Sparrow's hand. "You're sure to find one at some all-night cabaret +around here. And remember, when you go home afterward, not a word +to your mother! And not a word to-morrow, or ever-to any one! +You've simply done as you told your employer you were going to do +- spent the night at home." + +"But you," he burst out, and his words choked a little. "I - I +can't let you go, and -" + +"You said you would trust me, Marty," she said. "And if you want +to help me, as well, don't waste another moment. I shall need every +second I have got. Quick! Hurry!" + +"But -" + +She pushed him toward the street. + +"Run!" she said tensely. "Hurry, Marty, hurry!" + +She drew back into the shadows. She was alone now. The Sparrow's +racing footsteps died away on the pavement. Her mind reverted to +the plan that she had dimly conceived. It became detailed, concrete +now, as the minutes passed. And then she heard a car coming along +the previously deserted street, and she stepped out on the sidewalk. +It was the taxi. + +"You know where to go, don't you?" she said to the chauffeur, as +the cab drew up at the curb, and the man leaned out and opened the +door. + +"Yes'm," he said. + +"Please drive fast, then," she said, as she stepped in. + +The taxi shot out from the curb, and rattled forward at a rapid +pace. Rhoda Gray settled back on the cushions. A half whimsical, +half weary little smile touched her lips. It was much easier, and +infinitely safer, this mode of travel, than that of her earlier +experience that evening; but, earlier that evening, she had had no +one to go to a cab rank for her, and she had not dared to appear +in the open and hail one for herself. The smile vanished, and the +lips became, pursed and grim. Her mind was back on that daring, +and perhaps a little dangerous, plan, that she meant to put into +execution. Block after block was traversed. It was a long way +uptown, but the chauffeur's initial and generous tip was bearing +fruit. The man was losing no time. + +Rhoda Gray calculated that they had been a little under half an +hour in making the trip, when the taxi finally drew up and stopped +at a corner, and the chauffeur, again leaning out, opened the door. + +"Wait for me," she instructed, and handed the man another tip - and, +with a glance about her to get her location, she hurried around the +corner, and headed up the cross street. + +She had only a block now to go to reach the Hayden-Bond mansion on +the corner of Fifth Avenue ahead - less than that to reach the +garage, which opened on the cross street here. She had little fear +of personal identification now. Here in this residential section +and at this hour of night, it was like a silent and deserted city; +even Fifth Avenue, just ahead, for all its lights, was one of the +loneliest places at this hour in all New York. True, now and then, +a car might race up or down the great thoroughfare, or a belated +pedestrian's footsteps ring and echo hollow on the pavement, where +but a few hours before the traffic-squad struggled valiantly, and +sometimes vainly, with the congestion - but that was all. + +She could make out the Hayden-Bond mansion on the corner ahead of +her now, and now she was abreast of the rather ornate and attached +little building, that was obviously the garage. She drew the key +from her pocket, and glanced around her. There was no one in sight. +She stepped swiftly to the small door that flanked the big double +ones where the cars went in and out, opened it, closed it behind +her, and locked it. + +For a moment, her eyes unaccustomed to the darkness, she could see +nothing; and then a car, taking the form of a grotesque, looming +shadow, showed in front of her. She moved toward it, felt her way +into the tonneau, lifted up the back seat, and, groping around, +found a flashlight. She meant to hurry now. She did not mean to +let that nervous dread, that fear, that was quickening her pulse +now, have time to get the better of her. She located the door that +led to the house, and in another moment, the short passage behind +her, she was in the kitchen, the flashlight winking cautiously +around her. She paused to listen here. There was not a sound. + +She went on again - through a swinging pantry door with extreme +care, and into a small hall. "On the right," the Sparrow had said. +Yes, here it was; a door that opened on the rear of the library, +evidently. She listened again. There was no sound - save the +silence, that seemed to grow loud now, and palpitate, and make great +noises. And now, in spite of herself, her breath was coming in +quick, hard little catches, and the flashlight's ray, that she sent +around her, wavered and was not steady. She bit her lips, as she +switched off the light. Why should she be afraid of this, when in +another five minutes she meant to invite attention! + +She pushed the door in front of her open, found it hung with a heavy +portiere inside, brushed the portiere aside, stepped through into +the room, stood still and motionless to listen once more, and then +the flashlight circled inquisitively about her. + +It was the library. Her eyes widened a little. At her left, over +against the wall, the mangled door of a safe stood wide open, and +the floor for a radius of yards around was littered with papers and +documents. The flashlight's ray lifted, and she followed it with +her eyes as it made the circuit of the walls. Opposite the safe, +and quite near the doorway in which she stood, was a window recess, +portiered; diagonally across from her was another door that led, +presumably, into the main hall of the house; the walls were +tapestried, and hung here and there with clusters of ancient +trophies, great metal shields, and swords, and curious arms, that +gave a sort of barbaric splendor to the luxurious furnishings of +the apartment. + +She worked quickly now. In a moment she was at the window portieres, +and, drawing these aside, she quietly raised the window, and looked +out. The window was on the side of the house away from the cross +street, and she nodded her head reassuringly to herself as she noted +that it gave on a narrow strip of grass, it could not be called lawn, +that separated the Hayden-Bond mansion from the house next door; that +the window was little more than shoulder-high from the ground; and +that the Avenue was within easy and inviting reach along that little +strip of grass between the two houses. + +She left the window open, and retraced her steps across the room, +going now to the littered mass of papers on the floor near the safe. +She began to search carefully amongst them. She smiled a little +curiously as she came across the plush-lined jeweler's case that +had contained the necklace, and which had evidently been +contemptuously discarded by the Cricket and his confederates; but +it took her longer to find the paper for which she was searching. +And then she came upon it - a grease-smeared advertisement for some +automobile appliances, a well-defined greasy finger-print at one +edge - and thrust the paper into her pocket. + +And now suddenly her heartbeat began to quicken again until its +thumping became tumultuous. She was ready now. She looked around +her, using the flashlight, and her eyes rested appraisingly on one +of the great clusters of shields and arms that hung low down on the +wall between the window and the door by which she had entered. Yes, +that would do. Her lips tightened. It would have been so easy if +there had not been that cash to account for! She could replace +the necklace, but she could not replace the cash - and one, as far +as the Sparrow was concerned, was as bad as the other. But there +was a way, and it was simple enough. She whispered to herself that +it was not, after all, very dangerous, that the cards were all in +her own hands. She had only to pull down those shields with a +clatter to the floor, which would arouse some one of the household, +and as that some one reached the library door and opened it, she +would be disappearing through the window, and the necklace, as +though it had slipped from her pocket or grasp in her wild effort +to escape, would be lying behind her on the floor. They would see +that it was not the Sparrow; and there would be no question as to +where the money was gone, since the money had not been dropped. +There was the interval, of course, that must elapse between the +accident that knocked the shields from the wall and the time it +would take any of the inmates to reach the library, an interval +in which a thief might reasonably be expected to have had time +enough to get away without being seen; but the possibility that +she had not fully accomplished her ends when the accident occurred, +and that she had stayed to make frantic and desperate efforts to +do so right up to the last moment, would account for that. + +She moved now to an electric-light switch, and turned on the light. +They must be able to see beyond any question of doubt that the +person escaping through the window was not the Sparrow. What was +she afraid of now, just at the last! There was an actual physical +discomfort in the furious thumping of that cowardly little heart of +hers. It was the only way. And it was worth it. And it was not +so very dangerous. People, aroused out of bed, could not follow +her in their night clothes; and in a matter of but a few minutes, +before the police notified by telephone could become a factor in +the affair, she would have run the block down the Avenue, and then +the other block down the cross street, then back to the taxi, and +be whirling safely downtown. + +Yes, she was ready! She nodded her head sharply, as though in +imperative self-command, and running back, her footfalls soundless +on the rich, heavy rug, she picked up the plush-lined necklace case. +She dropped this again, open, on the floor, halfway between the +safe and the window. With the case apparently burst open as it +fell, and the necklace also on the floor, the stage would be set! +She felt inside her bodice, drew out the necklace - and as she stood +there holding it, and as it caught the light and flashed back its +fire and life from a thousand facets, a numbness seemed to come +stealing over her, and a horror, and a great fear, and a dismay +that robbed her of power of movement until it seemed that she was +rooted to the spot, and a low, gasping cry came from her lips. Her +eyes, wide with their alarm, were fixed on the window. There was +a man's face there, just above the sill - and now a man's form +swung through the window, and dropped lightly to the floor inside +the room. And she stared in horrified fascination, and could not +move. It was the Adventurer. + +"It's Miss Gray, isn't it? The White Moll?" he murmured amiably. +"I've been trying to find you all night. What corking luck! You +remember me, don't you? Last night, you know." + +She did not answer. His eyes had shifted from her face to the +glittering river of gems in her hand. + +"I see," he smiled, "that you are ahead of me again. Well, it is +the fortune of war, Miss Gray. I do not complain." + +She found her voice at last; and, quick as a flash, as he advanced +a step, she dropped the necklace into her pocket, and her revolver +was in her hand. + +"W - what are you doing here?" she whispered. + +He shrugged his shoulders expressively. + +"I take it that we are both in the same boat," he said pleasantly. + +"In the same boat?" she echoed dully. She remembered his +conversation with her a few hours ago, when he had believed he was +talking to Gypsy Nan. And now he stood before her for the second +time a self-confessed thief. In the same boat-fellow-thieves! +A certain cold composure came to her. "You mean you came to steal +this necklace? Well, you shall not have it! And, furthermore, you +have no right to class me with yourself as a thief." + +He had a whimsical and very engaging smile. His eyebrows lifted. + +"Miss Gray perhaps forgets last night," he suggested. + +"No, I do not forget last night," she said slowly, "And I do not +forget that I owe you very much for what you did. And that is +one reason why I warn you at once that, as far as the necklace is +concerned, it will do you no good to build any hopes on the +supposition that we are fellow-thieves, and that I am likely either +to part with it, or, through gratitude, share it. In spite of +appearances last night, I was not a thief." + +"And to-night, Miss Gray - in spite of appearances?" he challenged. + +He was regarding her with eyes that, while they appraised shrewdly, +held a lurking hint of irony in their depths. And somehow, suddenly, +self-proclaimed crook though she held him to be, she found herself +seized with an absurd, unreasonable, but nevertheless passionate, +desire to make good her words. + +"Yes, and to-night, too!" she asserted. "I did not steal this +necklace. I - never mind how - I - I got it. It was planned to +put the theft on an innocent man's shoulders. I was trying to +thwart that plan. Whether you believe me or not, I did not come +here to steal the necklace; I came here to return it." + +"Quite so! Of course!" acknowledged the Adventurer softly. "I +am afraid I interrupted you, then, in the act of returning it. +Might I suggest, therefore, Miss Gray, that as it's a bit dangerous +to linger around here unnecessarily, you carry out your intentions +with all possible haste, and get away." + +"And you?" she queried evenly. + +"Myself, of course, as well." He shrugged his shoulders +philosophically. "Under the circumstances, as a gentleman - will +you let me say I prefer that word to the one I know you are +substituting for it - what else can I do?" + +She bit her lips. Was he mocking her? The gray eyes were +inscrutable now. + +"Then please do not let me detain you!" she said sharply. "And in +my turn, let me advise you to go at once. I intend to knock one of +those shields down from the wall before I go, in order to arouse the +household. I will, however, in part payment for last night, allow +you three full minutes from the time you climb out of that window, +so that you may have ample time to get away. + +He stared at her in frank bewilderment. + +"Good Lord!" he gasped. "You - you're joking, Miss Gray." + +"No, I am not," she replied coolly. "Far from it! There was money +stolen that I cannot replace, and the theft of the money would be +put upon the same innocent shoulders. I see no other way than the +one I have mentioned. If whoever runs into this room is permitted +to get a glimpse of me, and is given the impression that the +necklace, which I shall leave on the floor, was dropped in my haste, +the supposition remains that, at least, I got away with the money. +I am certainly not the innocent man who has been used as the pawn; +and if I am recognized as the White Moll, what does it matter - after +last night?" + +He took a step toward her impetuously - and stopped quite as +impetuously. Her revolver had swung to a level with his head. + +"Pardon me!" he said. + +"Not at all!" she said caustically. + +For the first time, as she watched him warily, the Adventurer +appeared to lose some of his self-assurance. He shifted a little +uneasily on his feet, and the corners of his eyes puckered into a +nest of perturbed wrinkles. + +"I say, Miss Gray, you can't mean this!" be protested. "You're +not serious!" + +"I have told you that I am," she answered steadily. "Those three +minutes that I gave you are going fast." + +"Then look here!" he exclaimed earnestly. "I'll tell you something. +I said I had been trying to find you to-night. It was the truth. +I went to Gypsy Nan's - and might have been spared my pains. I +told her about last night, and that I knew you were in danger, and +that I wanted to help you. I mention this so that you will +understand that I am not just speaking on the spur of the moment, +now that I have an opportunity of repeating that offer in person." + +She looked at him impassively for a moment. He had neglected to +state that he had also told Gypsy Nan he desired to enter into a +partnership with her - in +crime. + +"It is very kind of you," she said sweetly. "I presume, then, that +you have some suggestion to make?" + +"Only what any - may I say it? - gentleman would suggest under the +circumstances. It is far too dangerous a thing for a woman to +attempt; it would be much less dangerous for me. I realize that +you are in earnest now, and I will agree to carry out your plan in +every detail once I am satisfied that you are safely away." + +"The idea being," she observed monotonously, "that, being safely +away, and the necklace being left safely on the floor, you are left +safely in possession of - the necklace. Well, my answer is - no!" + +His face hardened a little. + +"I'm sorry, then," he said. "For in that case, in so far as your +project is concerned, I, too, must say - no!" + +It was an impasse. She studied his face, the strong jaw set a +little now, the lips molded in sterner lines, and for all her +outward show of composure, she knew a sick dismay. And for a moment +she neither moved nor spoke. What he would do next, she did not +know; but she knew quite well that he had not the slightest +intention of leaving her here undisturbed to carry out her plan, +unless - unless, somehow, she could outwit him. She bit her lips +again. And then inspiration came. She turned, and with a sudden +leap gained the wall, and the next instant, holding him back with +her revolver as she reached up with her left hand, she caught at +the great metal shield with its encircling cluster of small arms, +and wrenched it from its fastenings. It crashed to the floor with +a din infernal that, in the night silence, went racketing through +the house like the reverberations of an explosion. + +"My God, what have you done!" he cried out hoarsely. + +"What I said I'd do!" she answered. She was white-faced, frightened +at her own act, fighting to maintain her nerve. "You'll go now, I +imagine!" she flung at him passionately. "You haven't much time." + +"No!" he said. His composure was instantly at command again. "No," +he repeated steadily; "not until after you have gone. I refuse +- positively - to let you run any such risk as that. It is far too +dangerous." + +"Yes, you will!" she burst out wildly. "You will! You must! You +shall! I - I -" The house itself seemed suddenly to have awakened. +From above doors opened and closed. Indistinctly there came the +sound of a voice. She clenched her hand in anguished desperation. +"Go, you - you coward!" she whispered frantically. + +"Miss Gray, for God's sake, do as I tell you!" he said between his +teeth. "You don't realize the danger. It's not the pursuit. They +are not coming down here unarmed after that racket. I know that +you came in by that door there. Go out that way. I will play the +game for you. I swear it!" + +There were footsteps, plainly audible now, out in the main hall. + +"Quick!" he urged. "Are we both to be caught? See!" He backed +suddenly toward the window. + +"See! I am too far away now to touch that necklace before they get +here. Throw it down, and get behind the portiere of the rear door!" + +Mechanically she was retreating. They were almost at the other door +now, those footsteps outside in the main hall. With a backward +spring she reached the portiere. The door handle across the room +rattled. She glanced at the Adventurer. He was close to the window. +It was true, he could not get the necklace and at the same time hope +to escape. She whipped it from her pocket, tossed it from her to +the floor near the plush-lined case - and slipped behind the portiere. + +The door opposite to her was wrenched violently open. She could +see through the corner of the portiere. There was a sharp, excited +exclamation, as a gray-haired man, in pajamas, evidently Mr. +Hayden-Bond himself, sprang into the room. He was followed by +another man in equal dishabille. + +And the Adventurer was leaping for the window. + +There was a blinding flash, the roar of a report, as the +millionaire flung up a revolver and fired; it was echoed by the +splatter and tinkle of falling glass. The Adventurer was astride +the window sill now, his face deliberately and unmistakably in view. + +"A foot too high, and a bit to the right!" said the Adventurer +debonairly - and the window sill was empty. + +Rhoda Gray stole silently through the doorway behind her. She could +hear the millionaire and his companion, the butler, probably, rush +across the library to the window. As she gained the pantry, she +heard another shot. Tight-lipped, using her flashlight, she ran +through the kitchen. In a moment more, she was standing at the +garage door, listening, peering furtively outside. The street +itself was empty; there were shouts, though, from the direction of +the Avenue. She stepped out on the side street, and walking +composedly that she might not attract attention, though very impulse +urged her to run with frantic haste, she reached the corner and the +waiting taxicab. She gave the chauffeur an address that would bring +her to the street in the rear of Gypsy Nan's and within reach of the +lane where she had left her clothes, and, with an injunction to +hurry, sprang into the cab. + +And then for a long time she sat there with her hands tightly +clasped in her lap. Her mind, her brain, her very soul itself +seemed in chaos and turmoil. There was the Sparrow, who was safe; +and Danglar, who would move heaven and hell to get her now; and +the Adventurer, who - Her mind seemed to grope around in cycles; +it seemed to moil on and on and arrive at nothing. The Adventurer +had played the game - perhaps because he had had to; but he had +not risked that revolver shot in her stead because he had had to. +Who was he? How had he come there? How had he found her there? +How had he known that she had entered by that rear door behind +the portiere? She remembered how that he had offered not a single +explanation. + +Almost mechanically she dismissed the taxi when at last it stopped; +and almost mechanically, as Gypsy Nan, some ten minutes later, she +let herself into the garret, and lighted the candle. She was +conscious, as she hid the White Moll's clothes away, that she was +thankful she had regained in safety even the questionable sanctuary +of this wretched place; but, strangely, thoughts of her own peril +seemed somehow to be temporarily relegated to the background. + +She flung herself down on the bed - it was not Gypsy Nan's habit to +undress - and blew out the light. But she could not sleep. And +hour after hour in the darkness she tossed unrestfully. It was very +strange! It was not as it had been last night. It was not the +impotent, frantic rebellion against the horrors of her own situation, +nor the fear and terror of it, that obsessed her to-night. It was +the Adventurer who plagued her. + + +VIII. THE CODE MESSAGE + +It was strange! Most strange! Three days had passed, and to Gypsy +Nan's lodging no one had come. The small crack under the partition +that had been impressed into service as a letter-box had remained +empty. There had been no messages - nothing - only a sinister, +brooding isolation. Since the night Rhoda Gray had left Danglar, +balked, almost a madman in his fury, in the little room over +Shluker's junk shop, Danglar had not been seen - nor the Adventurer +- nor even Rough Rorke. Her only visitant since then had been an +ugly premonition of impending peril, which came and stalked like a +hideous ghost about the bare and miserable garret, and which woke +her at night with its whispering voice - which was the voice of +intuition. + +Rhoda Gray drew her shawl closer around her shoulders and shivered, +as now, from shuffling down the block in the guise of Gypsy Nan, +she halted before the street door of what fate, for the moment, had +thrust upon her as a home; and shivered again, as, with abhorrence, +she pushed the door open and stepped forward into the black, +unlighted hallway. Soul, mind and body were in revolt to-night. +Even faith, the simple faith in God that she had known since +childhood, was wavering. There seemed nothing but horror around +her, a mental horror, a physical horror; and the sole means of even +momentary relief and surcease from it had been a pitiful prowling +around the streets, where even the fresh air seemed to be denied to +her, for it was tainted with the smells of squalor that ruled, +rampant, in that neighborhood. + +And to-night, stronger than ever, intuition and premonition of +approaching danger lay heavy upon her, and oppressed her with a +sense of nearness. She was not a coward; but she was afraid. +Danglar would leave no stone unturned to get the White Moll. He +had said so. She remembered the threat he had made - it had lived +in her woman's soul ever since that night. Better anything than +to fall into Danglar's hands! She caught her breath a little, and +shivered again as she groped her way up the dark stairs. But, +then, she never would fall into Danglar's power. There was always +an alternative. Yes, it was quite as bad as that - death at her +own hands was preferable. Balked, outwitted, the plans of the +criminal coterie, of which Danglar appeared to be the head, rendered +again and again abortive, and believing it all due to the White Moll, +all of Danglar's shrewd, unscrupulous cunning would be centered on +the task of running her down; and if, added to this, he discovered +that she was masquerading as Gypsy Nan, one of their own inner +circle, it mean that - She closed her lips in a hard, tight line. +She did not want to think of it. She had fought all day, and the +days before, against thinking about it, but premonition had crept +upon her stronger and stronger, until to-night, now, it seemed as +though her mind could dwell on nothing else. + +On the landing, she paused suddenly and listened. The street door +had opened and closed, and now a footstep sounded on the stairs +behind her. She went on again along the hall, feeling her way; and +reaching the short, ladder-like steps to the garret, she began to +mount them. Who was it there behind her? One of the unknown +lodgers on the lower floor, or -? She could not see, of course. +It was pitch black. But she could hear. And as she knelt now on +the narrow landing, and felt with her fingers along the floor for +the aperture, where, imitating the custom of Gypsy Nan, she had left +her key when she went out, she heard the footsteps coming steadily +on, passing the doors below her, and making toward the garret ladder. +And then, stifling a startled little cry, her hand closed on the key, +and closed, as it had closed on that first night when she had +returned here in the role of Gypsy Nan, on a piece of paper wrapped +around the key. The days of isolation were ended with climacteric +effect; the pendulum had swung full the other way - to-night there +was both a visitor and a message! + +The paper detached from the key and thrust into her bodice, she +stood up quickly. A form, looming up even in the darkness, showed +on the garret stairs. "Who's dere?" she croaked. + +"It's all right," a voice answered in low tones. "You were just +ahead of me on the street. I saw you come in. It's Pierre." + +Pierre! So that was his name! It was only the voice she recognized. +Pierre - Danglar! She fumbled for the keyhole, found it, and +inserted the key. "Well, how's Bertha to-night?" + +There seemed to be a strange exhilaration in the man's voice. He +was standing beside her now, close beside her, and now his hand +played with a curiously caressing motion on her shoulder. The touch +seemed to scorch and burn her. Who was this Danglar, who was Pierre +to her, and to whom she was Bertha? Her breath came quickly in +spite of herself; there came, too, a frenzy of aversion, and +impulsively she flung his hand away, and with the door unlocked now, +stepped from him into the garret. + +"Feeling a bit off color, eh?" he said with a short laugh, as he +followed her, and shut the door behind him. "Well, I don't know +as I blame you. But, look here, old girl, have a heart! It's not +my fault. I know what you're grouching about - it's because I +haven't been around much lately. But you ought to know well enough +that I couldn't help it. Our game has been crimped lately at every +turn by that she-devil, the White Moll, and that dude pal of hers." +He laughed out again - in savage menace now. "I've been busy. +Understand, Bertha? It was either ourselves, or them. We've got +to go under - or they have. And we won't! I promise you that! +Things'll break a little better before long, and I'll make it up to +you." + +She could not see him in the blackness of the garret. She breathed +a prayer of gratitude that he could not see her. Her face, in spite +of Gipsy Nan's disguising grime, must be white, white as death +itself. It seemed to plumb some infamous depth from which her soul +recoiled, this apology of his for his neglect of her. And then her +hands at her sides curled into tight-clenched little fists as she +strove to control herself. His words, at least, supplied her with +her cue. + +"Of course!" she said tartly, but in perfect English - the vernacular +of Gypsy Nan was not for Danglar, for she remembered only too well +how once before it had nearly tripped her up. "But you didn't come +here to apologize! What is it you want?" + +"Ah, I say, Bertha!" he said appeasingly. "Cut that out! I couldn't +help being away, I tell you. Of course, I didn't come here to +apologize - I thought you'd understand well enough without that. +The gang's out of cash, and I came to tap the reserves. Let me have +a package of the long green, Bertha." + +It was a moment before she spoke. Her woman's instinct prompted +her to let down the bars between them in no single degree, that her +protection lay in playing up to the full what Danglar, jumping at +conclusions, had assumed was a grouch at his neglect. Also, her +mind worked quickly. Her own clothes were no longer in the secret +hiding place here in the garret; they were out there in that old +shed in the lane. It was perfectly safe, then, to let Danglar go +to the hiding place himself, assuming that he knew where it was +- which, almost of necessity, he must. + +"Oh!" she said ungraciously. "Well, you know where it is, don't +you? Suppose you go and get it yourself!" + +"All right!" returned Danglar, a sullenness creeping into his voice. +"Have it your own way, Bertha! I haven't got time to-night to coax +you out of your tantrums. That's what you want, but I haven't got +time - to-night." + +She did not answer. + +A match crackled in Danglar's hand; the flames spurted up through +the darkness. Danglar made his way over to the rickety washstand, +found the candle that was stuck in the neck of the gin bottle, +lighted it, held the candle above his head, and stared around +the garret. + +"Why the devil don't you get another lamp?" he grumbled - and +started toward the rear of the garret. + +Rhoda Gray watched him silently. She did not care to explain that +she had not replaced the lamp for the very simple reason that it +gave far too much light here in the garret to be safe - for her! +She watched him, with her hand in the pocket of her greasy skirt +clutched around another legacy of Gypsy Nan - her revolver. And +now she became conscious that from the moment she had entered the +garret, her fingers, hidden in that pocket, had sought and clung +to the weapon. The man filled her with detestation and fear; and +somehow she feared him more now in what he was trying to make an +ingratiating mood, than she had feared him in the full flood of +his rage and anger that other night at Shluker's place. + +She drew back a little toward the cot bed against the wall, drew +back to give him free passage to the door when he should return +again, her eyes still holding on the far end of the garret, where, +with the slope of the roof, the ceiling was no more than shoulder +high. There seemed something horribly weird and grotesque in the +scene before her. He had pushed the narrow trap-door in the ceiling +upward, and had thrust candle and head through the opening, and the +faint yellow light, seeping back and downward in flickering, +uncertain rays, suggested the impression of a gruesome, headless +figure standing there hazily outlined in the surrounding murk. It +chilled her; she clutched at her shawl, drew it more closely about +her, and edged still nearer to the wall. + +And then Danglar closed the trap-door again, and came back with the +candle in one hand, and one of the bulky packages of banknotes from +the hiding place in the other. He set the candle down on the +washstand, and began to distribute the money through his various +pockets. + +He was smiling with curious complacency. + +"It was your job to play the spider to the White Moll if she ever +showed up again here in your parlor," he said. "Maybe somebody +tipped her off to keep away, maybe she was too wily; but, anyway, +since you have not sent out any word, it is evident that our little +plans along that line didn't work, since she has failed to come back +to pay a call of gratitude to you. I don't suppose there's anything +to add to that, eh, Bertha? No report to make?" + +"No," said Rhoda Gray shortly. "I haven't any report to make." + +"Well, no matter!" said Danglar. He laughed out shortly. "There +are other ways! She's had her fling at our expense; it's her turn +to pay now." He laughed again - and in the laugh now there was +something both brutal in its menace, and sinister in its suggestion +of gloating triumph. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Rhoda Gray quickly. "What are you +going to do?" + +"Get her!" said Danglar. The man's passion flamed up suddenly; he +spoke through his closed teeth. "Get her! I made her a little +promise. I'm going to keep it! Understand?" + +"You've been saying that for quite a long time," retorted Rhoda +Gray coolly. "But the 'getting' has been all the other way so far. +How are you going to get her?" + +Danglar's little black eyes narrowed, and he thrust his head forward +and out from his shoulders savagely. In the flickering candle +light, with contorted face and snarling lips, he looked again the +beast to which she had once likened him. + +"Never mind how I'm going to get her!" he flung out, with an oath. +"I told you I'd been busy. That's enough! You'll see + +Rhoda Gray, in the semi-darkness, shrugged her shoulders. Was the +man, prompted by rage and fury, simply making wild threats, or had +he at last some definite and perhaps infallible plan that he +purposed putting into operation? She did not know; and, much as it +meant to her, she did not dare take the risk of arousing suspicion +by pressing the question. Failing, then, to obtain any intimation +of what he meant to do, the next thing most to be desired was to +get rid of him. + +"You've got the money. That's what you came for, wasn't it?" she +suggested coldly. + +He stared at her for a moment, and then his face gradually lost its +scowl. + +"You're a rare one, Bertha!" he exclaimed admiringly. "Yes; I've +got the money - and I'm going. In fact, I'm in a hurry, so don't +worry! You got the dope, like everybody else, for to-night, didn't +you? It was sent out two hours ago." + +The dope! It puzzled her for the fraction of a second - and then +she remembered the paper she had thrust into the bodice of her +dress. She had not read it. She lunged a little in the dark. + +"Yes," she said curtly. + +"All right!" he said-and moved toward the door. "That explains why +I'm in a hurry - and why I can't stop to oil that grouch out of you. +But I'll keep my promise to you, too, old girl. I'll make up the +last few days to you. Have a heart, eh, Bertha! 'Night!" + +She did not answer him. It seemed as though an unutterable dread +had suddenly been lifted from her, as he passed out of the door +and began to descend the steps to the hall below. Her "grouch," +he had called it. Well, it had served its purpose! It was just +as well that he should think so! She followed to the door, and +deliberately slammed it with a bang. And from below, his laugh, +more an amused chuckle, echoed back and answered her. + +And then, for a long time she stood there by the door, a little +weak with the revulsion of relief upon her, her hands pressed hard +against her temples, staring unseeingly about the garret. He was +gone. He filled her with terror. Every instinct she possessed, +every fiber of her being revolted against him. He was gone. Yes, +he was gone - for the time being. But - but what was the end of +all this to be?" + +She shook her head after a moment, shook it helplessly and wearily, +as, finally, she walked over to the washstand, took the piece of +paper from the bodice of her dress, and spread it out under the +candle light. A glance showed her that it was in cipher. There +was the stub of a pencil, she remembered, in the washstand drawer, +and, armed with this, and a piece of wrapping paper that had once +enveloped one of Gypsy Nan's gin bottles, she took up the candle, +crossed the garret, and sat down on the edge of the cot, placing +the candle on the chair in front of her. + +If the last three days had been productive of nothing else, they +had at least furnished her with the opportunity of studying the +notebook she had found in the secret hiding place, and of making +herself conversant with the gang's cipher; and she now set to +work upon it. It was a numerical cipher. Each letter of the +alphabet in regular rotation was represented by its corresponding +numeral; a zero was employed to set off one letter from another, +and the addition of the numerals between the zeros indicated the +number of the letter involved. Also, there being but twenty-six +letters in the alphabet, it was obvious that the addition of three +nines, which was twenty-seven, could not represent any letter, and +the combination of 999 was therefore used to precede any of the +arbitrary groups of numerals which were employed to express phrases +and sentences, such as the 739 that she had found scrawled on the +piece of paper around her key on the first night she had come here, +and which, had it been embodied in a message and not preceded by +the 999, would have meant simply the addition of seven, three and +nine, that is, nineteen - and therefore would indicate the +nineteenth letter of the alphabet, S. + +Rhoda Gray copied the first line of the message on the piece of +wrapping paper: + + 321010333203202306663103330111102210444202101112052110761 + + +Adding the numerals between the zeros, and giving to each its +corresponding letter, she set down the result: + + 6010110505022090405014030509014 + f a k e e v i d e n c e i n + +It was then but a matter of grouping the letters into words; and, +decoded, the first line read: + + Fake evidence in...... + +She worked steadily on. It was a lengthy message, and it took her +a long time. It was an hour, perhaps more, after Danglar had gone, +before she had completed her task; and then, after that, she sat +for still a long time staring, not at the paper on the chair before +her, but at the flickering shadows thrown by the candle on the +opposite wall. + +Queer and strange were the undercurrents and the cross-sections of +life that were to be found, amazingly contradictory, amazingly +incomprehensible, once one scratched beneath the surface of the +poverty and the squalor, and, yes, the crime, amongst the hiving +thousands of New York's East Side! In the days - not so very long +ago - when, as the White Moll, she had worked amongst these classes, +she had on one occasion, when he was sick, even kept old Viner in +food. She had not, at the time, failed to realize that the man +was grasping, rapacious, even unthankful, but she had little dreamed +that he was a miser worth fifty thousand dollars! + +Her mind swerved off suddenly at a tangent. The tentacles of this +crime octopus, of which Danglar seemed to be the head, reached far +and into most curious places to fasten and hold and feed on the +progeny of human foibles! She could not help wondering where the +lair was from which emanated the efficiency and system that, as +witness this code message to-night, kept its members, perhaps widely +scattered, fully informed of its every movement. + +She shook her head. That was something she had not yet learned; +but it was something she must learn if ever she hoped to obtain the +evidence that would clear her of the crime that circumstances had +fastened upon her. And yet she had made no move in that direction, +because - well, because, so far, it had seemed all she could do to +protect and safeguard herself in her present miserable existence +and surroundings, which, abhorrent as they were, alone stood between +her and a prison cell. + +Her forehead gathered into little furrows; and, reverting to the +code message, her thoughts harked back to a well-known crime, the +authorship of which still remained a mystery, and which had stirred +the East Side some two years ago. A man - in the vernacular of the +underworld a "stage hand" - by the name of Kroner, credited with +having a large amount of cash, the proceeds of some nefarious +transaction, in his possession on the night in question, was found +murdered in his room in an old and tumble-down tenement of unsavory +reputation. The police net had gathered in some of the co-tenants +on suspicion; Nicky Viner, referred to in the code message, amongst +them. But nothing had come of the investigation. There had been +no charge of collusion between the suspects; but Perlmer, a shyster +lawyer, had acted for them all collectively, and, one and all, they +had been discharged. In what degree Perlmer's services had been of +actual value had never been ascertained, for the police, through +lack of evidence, had been obliged to drop the case; but the +underworld had whispered to itself. There was such a thing as +suppressing evidence, and Perlmer was known to have the cunning of +a fox, and a code of morals that never stood in the way, or +restricted him in any manner. + +The code message threw a new light on all this. Perlmer must have +known that old Nicky Viner had money, for, according to the code +message, Perlmer prepared a fake set of affidavits and forged a +chain of fake evidence with which he had blackmailed Nicky Viner +ever since; and Nicky Viner, known as a dissolute, shady character, +innocent enough of the crime, but afraid because his possession of +money if made public would tell against him, and frightened because +he had already been arrested once on suspicion for that very crime, +had whimpered - and paid. And then, somehow, Danglar and the gang +had discovered that the old, seedy, stoop-shouldered, bearded, +down-at-the-heels Nicky Viner was not all that he seemed; that he +was a miser, and had a hoard of fifty thousand dollars - and Danglar +and the gang had set out to find that hoard and appropriate it. +Only they had not succeeded. But in their search they had stumbled +upon Perlmer's trail, and that was the key to the plan they had +afoot to-night. If Perlmer's fake and manufactured affidavits were +clever enough and convincing enough to wring money out of Viner for +Perlmer, they were more than enough to enable Danglar, employed as +Danglar would employ them, to wring from Nicky Viner the secret of +where the old miser hid his wealth; for Viner would understand that +Danglar was not hampered by having to safeguard himself on account +of having been originally connected with the case in a legal +capacity, or any capacity, and therefore in demanding all or nothing, +would have no cause for hesitation, failing to get what he wanted, +in turning the evidence over to the police. In other words, where +Perlmer had to play his man cautiously and get what he could, +Danglar could go the limit and get all. As it stood, then, Danglar +and the gang had not found out the location of that hoard; but they +had found out where Perlmer kept his spurious papers - stuffed in +at the back of the bottom drawer of his desk in his office, +practically forgotten, practically useless to Perlmer any more, for, +having once shown them to Viner, there was no occasion to call them +into service again unless Viner showed signs of getting a little +out of hand and it became necessary to apply the screws once more. + +For the rest, it was a very simple matter. Perlmer had an office +in a small building on lower Sixth Avenue, and it was his custom +to go to his office in the evenings and remain there until ten +o'clock or so. The plan then, according to the code message, was +to loot Perlmer's desk some time after the man had gone home for +the night, and then, at midnight, armed with the false documents, +to beard old Nicky Viner in his miserable quarters over on the East +Side, and extort from the old miser the neat little sum that Danglar +estimated would amount to some fifty thousand dollars in cash. + +Rhoda Gray's face was troubled and serious. She found herself +wishing for a moment that she had never decoded the message. But +she shook her head in sharp self-protest the next instant. True, +she would have evaded the responsibility that the criminal knowledge +now in her possession had brought her; but she would have done so, +in that case, deliberately at the expense of her own self-respect. +It would not have excused her in her own soul to have sat staring +at a cipher message that she was satisfied was some criminal plot, +and have refused to decode it simply because she was afraid a sense +of duty would involve her in an effort to frustrate it. To have +sat idly by under those circumstances would have been as +reprehensible - and even more cowardly - than it would be to sit +idly by now that she knew what was to take place. And on that +latter score to-night there was no argument with herself. She +found herself accepting the fact that she would act, and act +promptly, as the only natural corollary to the fact that she was +in a position to do so. Perhaps it was that way to-night, not only +because she had on a previous occasion already fought this principle +of duty out with herself, but because to-night, unlike that other +night, the way and the means seemed to present no insurmountable +difficulties, and because she was now far better prepared, and free +from all the perplexing, though enormously vital, little details +that had on the former occasion reared themselves up in mountainous +aspect before her. The purchase of a heavy veil, for instance, the +day after the Hayden-Bond affair, would enable her now to move about +the city in the clothes of the White Moll practically at will and +without fear of detection. And, further, the facilities for making +that change, the change from Gypsy Nan to the White Moll, were now +already at hand - in the little old shed down the lane. + +And as far as any actual danger that she might incur to-night was +concerned, it was not great. She was not interested in the fifty +thousand dollars in an intrinsic sense; she was interested only in +seeing that old Nicky Viner, unappealing, yes, and almost repulsive +both in personality and habits as the man was, was not blackmailed +out of it; that Danglar, yes, and hereafter, Perlmer too, should +not prey like vultures on the man, and rob him of what was +rightfully his. If, therefore, she secured those papers from +Perlmer's desk, it automatically put an end to Danglar's scheme +to-night; and if, later, she saw to it that those papers came into +Viner's possession, that, too, automatically ended Perlmer's +persecutions. Indeed, there seemed little likelihood of any danger +or risk at all. It could not be quite ten o clock yet; and it was +not likely that whoever was delegated by Danglar to rob Perlmer's +office would go there much before eleven anyway, since they would +naturally allow for the possibility that Perlmer might stay later +in his office than usual, a contingency that doubtless accounted +for midnight being set as the hour at which they proposed to lay +old Nicky Viner by the heels. Therefore, it seemed almost a +certainty that she would reach there, not only first, but with +ample time at her disposal to secure the papers and get away again +without interruption. She might even, perhaps, reach the office +before Perlmer himself had left - it was still quite early enough +for that - but in that case she need only remain on watch until +the lawyer had locked up and gone away. Nor need even the fact +that the office would be locked dismay her. In the secret +hiding-place here in the garret, among those many other evidences +of criminal activity, was the collection of skeleton keys, and - she +was moving swiftly around the attic now, physically as active as her +thoughts. + +It was not like that other night. There were few preparations to +make. She had only to secure the keys and a flashlight, and to +take with her the damp cloth that would remove the grime streaks +from her face, and the box of composition that would enable her to +replace them when she came back - and five minutes later she was +on the street, making her way toward the lane, and, specifically, +toward the deserted shed where she had hidden away her own clothing. + + +IX. ROOM NUMBER ELEVEN + +Another five minutes, and in her own personality now, a slim, trim +figure, neatly gloved, the heavy veil affording ample protection to +her features, Rhoda Gray emerged from the shed and the lane, and +started rapidly toward lower Sixth Avenue. And as she walked, her +mind, released for the moment from the consideration of her +immediate venture, began again, as it had so many times in the last +three days, its striving and its searching after some loophole of +escape from her own desperate situation. But only, as it ever did, +confusion came - a chaos of things, contributory things and +circumstances, and the personalities of those with whom this +impossible existence had thrown her into contact. Little by little +she was becoming acquainted with the personnel of the gang - in an +impersonal way, mostly. Apart from Danglar, there was Shluker, who +must of necessity be one of them; and Skeeny, the man who had been +with Danglar in Shluker's room; and the Cricket, whom she had never +seen; and besides these, there were those who were mentioned in the +cipher message to-night, and detailed to the performance of the +various acts and scenes that were to lead up to the final climax +- which, she supposed, was the object and reason for the cipher +message, in order that even those not actually employed might be +thoroughly conversant with the entire plan, and ready to act +intelligently if called upon. For there were others, of course, as +witness herself, or, rather, Gypsy Nan, whose personality she had +so unwillingly usurped. + +It was vital, necessary, that she should know them all, and more +than in that impersonal way, if she counted upon ever freeing +herself of the guilt attributed to her. For she could see no other +way but one - that of exposing and proving the guilt of this vile +clique who now surrounded her, and who had actually instigated and +planned the crime of which she was accused. And it was not an easy +task! + +And then there were those outside this unholy circle who kept +forcing their existence upon her consciousness, because they, too, +played an intimate part in the sordid drama which revolved around +her, and whose end she could not foresee. There was, for instance +- the Adventurer. She drew in her breath quickly. She felt the +color creep slowly upward, and tinge her throat and cheeks - and +then the little chin, strong and firm, was lifted in a sort of +self-defiant challenge. True, the man had been a great deal in +her thoughts, but that was only because her curiosity was piqued, +and because on two occasions now she had had very real cause for +gratitude to him. If it had not been for the Adventurer, she +would even now be behind prison bars. Why shouldn't she think of +him? She was not an ingrate! Why shouldn't she be interested? +There was something piquantly mysterious about the man - who called +himself an adventurer. She would even have given a good deal to +know who he really was, and how he, too, came to be so conversant +with Danglar's plans as fast as they were matured, and why, on +those two particular occasions, he had not only gone out of his +way to be of service to her, but had done so at very grave risk to +himself. Of course, she was interested in him - in that way. How +could she help it? But in any other way - the little chin was +still tilted defiantly upward - even the suggestion was absurd. +The man might be chivalrous, courageous, yes, outwardly, even a +gentleman in both manner and appearance; he might be all those +things, and, indeed, was - but he was a thief, a professional +thief and crook. It seemed very strange, of course; but she was +judging him, not alone from the circumstances under which they had +met and been together, but from what he had given her to understand +about himself. + +The defiance went suddenly from her face; and, for a moment, her +lips quivered a little helplessly. It was all so very strange, and +so forbidding, and - and, perhaps she hadn't the stout heart that +a man would have - but she did not understand, and she could not +see her way through the darkness that was like a pall wrapped about +her - and it was hard just to grope out amidst surroundings that +revolted her and made her soul sick. It was hard to do this and +- and still keep her courage and her faith. + +She shook her head presently as she went along, shook it +reprovingly at herself, and the little shoulders squared resolutely +back. There must be, and there would be, a way out of it all, and +meanwhile her position, bad as it was, was not without, at least, +a certain compensation. There had been the Sparrow the other night +whom she had been able to save, and to-night there was Nicky Viner. +She could not be blind to that. Who knew! It might be for just +such very purposes that her life had been turned into these new +channels! + +She looked around her sharply now. She had reached the lower +section of Sixth Avenue. Perlmer's office, according to the address +given, was still a little farther on. She walked briskly. It was +very different to-night, thanks to her veil! It had been horrible +that other night, when she had ventured out as the White Moll and +had been forced to keep to the dark alleyways and lanes, and the +unfrequented streets! + +And now, through a jeweler's window, she noted the time, and knew +a further sense of relief. It was even earlier than she had +imagined. It was not quite ten o'clock; she would, at least, be +close on the heels of Perlmer's departure from his office, if not +actually ahead of time, and therefore she would be first on the +scene, and - yes, this was the place; here was Perlmer's name +amongst those on the name-plate at the street entrance of a small +three-story building. + +She entered the hallway, and found it deserted. It was a rather +dirty and unkempt place, and very poorly lighted - a single +incandescent alone burned in the hall. Perlmer's room, so the +name-plate indicated, was Number Eleven, and on the next floor. + +She mounted the stairs, and paused on the landing to look around +her again. Here, too, the hallway was lighted by but a single +lamp; and here, too, an air of desertion was in evidence. The +office tenants, it was fairly obvious, were not habitual night +workers, for not a ray of light came from any of the glass-paneled +doors that flanked both sides of the passage. She nodded her head +sharply in satisfaction. It was equally obvious that Perlmer had +already gone. It would take her but a moment, then, unless the +skeleton keys gave her trouble. She had never used a key of that +sort, but - She moved quietly down the hallway, and, looking quickly +about her to assure herself again that she was not observed, stopped +before the door of Room Number Eleven. + +A moment she hung there, listening; then she slipped the skeleton +keys from her pocket, and, in the act of inserting one of them +tentatively into the keyhole, she tried the door - and with a little +gasp of surprise returned the keys hurriedly to her pocket. The +door was unlocked; it had even opened an inch already under her hand. + +Again she looked around her, a little startled now; and instinctively +her hand in her pocket exchanged the keys for her revolver. But she +saw nothing, heard nothing; and it was certainly dark inside there, +and therefore only logical to conclude that the room was unoccupied. + +Reassured, she pushed the door cautiously and noiselessly open, and +stepped inside, and closed the door behind her. She stood still for +an instant, and then the round, white ray of her flashlight went +dancing inquisitively around the office. It was a medium-sized room, +far from ornate in its appointments, bare floored, the furniture of +the cheapest - Perlmer's clientele did not insist on oriental rugs +and mahogany! + +Her appraisal of the room, however, was but cursory. She was +interested only in the flat-topped desk in front of her. She +stepped quickly around it - and stopped-and a low cry of dismay came +from her as she stared at the floor. The lower drawer had been +completely removed, and now lay upturned beside the swivel chair, +its contents strewn around in all directions. + +And for a moment she stared at the scene, nonplused, discomfited. +She had been so sure that she would be first - and she had not been +first. There was no need to search amongst those papers on the +floor. They told their own story. The ones she wanted were already +gone. + +In a numbed way, mechanically, she retreated to the door; and, with +the flashlight playing upon it, she noticed for the first time that +the lock had been roughly forced. It was but corroborative of the +despoiled drawer; and, at the same time, the obvious reason why the +door had not been relocked when whoever had come here had gone out +again. + +Whoever had come here! She could have laughed out hysterically. +Was there any doubt as to who it was? One of Danglar's emissaries; +the Cricket, perhaps-or perhaps even Danglar himself! They had +seen to it that lack of prompt action, at least, would not be the +cause of marring their plans. + +A little dazed, overwrought, confused at the ground being cut from +under her where she had been so confident of a sure footing, she +made her way out of the building, and to the street - and for a +block walked almost aimlessly along. And then suddenly she turned +hurriedly into a cross street, and headed over toward the East Side. +The experience had not been a pleasant one, and it had upset most +thoroughly all her calculations; but it was very far, after all, +from being disastrous. It meant simply that she must now find +Nicky Viner himself and warn the man, and there was ample time in +which to do that. The code message specifically stated midnight +as the hour at which they proposed to favor old Viner with their +unhallowed attentions, and as it was but a little after ten now, +she had nearly a full two hours in which to accomplish what should +not take her more than a few minutes. + +Rhoda Gray's lips tightened a little, as she hurried along. Old +Nicky Viner still lived in the same disreputable tenement in which +he had lived on the night of that murder two years ago, and she +could not ward off the thought that it had been - yes, and was - an +ideal place for a murder, from the murderer's standpoint! The +neighborhood was one of the toughest in New York, and the tenement +itself was frankly nothing more than a den of crooks. True, she +had visited there more than once, had visited Nicky Viner there; +but she had gone there then as the White Moll, to whom even the +most abandoned would have touched his cap. To-night it was very +different - she went there as a woman. And yet, after all - she +amended her own thoughts, smiling a little seriously - surely she +could disclose herself as the White Moll there again to-night if +the actual necessity arose, for surely crooks, pokegetters, +shillabers and lags though they were, and though the place teemed +with the dregs of the underworld, no one of them, even for the +reward that might be offered, would inform against her to the police! +And yet - again the mental pendulum swung the other way - she was +not so confident of that as she would like to be. In a general way +there could be no question but that she could count on the loyalty +of those who lived there; but there were always those upon whom one +could never count, those who were dead to all sense of loyalty, and +alive only to selfish gain and interest - a human trait that, all +too unfortunately, was not confined to those alone who lived in that +shadowland outside the law. Her face, beneath the thick veil, +relaxed a little. Well, she certainly did not intend to make a test +case of it and disclose herself there as the White Moll, if she +could help it! She would enter the tenement unnoticed if she could, +and make her way to Nicky Viner's two miserable rooms on the second +floor as secretively as she could. And, knowing the place as she +did, she was quite satisfied that, if she were careful enough and +cautious enough, she could both enter and leave without being +seen by any one except, of course, Nicky Viner. + +She walked on quickly. Five minutes, ten minutes passed; and now, +in a narrow street, lighted mostly by the dull, yellow glow that +seeped up from the sidewalk through basement entrances, queer and +forbidding portals to sinister interiors, or filtered through the +dirty windows of uninviting little shops that ran the gamut from +Chinese laundries to oyster dens, she halted, drawn back in the +shadows of a doorway, and studied a tenement building that was +just ahead of her. That was where old Nicky Viner lived. A smile +of grim whimsicality touched her lips. Not a light showed in the +place from top to bottom. From its exterior it might have been +uninhabited, even long deserted. But to one who knew, it was quite +the normal condition, quite what one would expect. Those who lived +there confined their activities mostly to the night; and their +exodus to their labors began when the labors of the world at large +ended - with the fall of darkness. + +For a little while she watched the place, and kept glancing up and +down the street; and then, seizing her opportunity when for half a +block or more the street was free of pedestrians, she stole forward +and reached the tenement door. It was half open, and she slipped +quickly inside into the hall. + +She stood here for a moment motionless; listening, striving to +accommodate her eyes to the darkness, and instinctively her hand +went to her pocket for the reassuring touch of her revolver. It +was black back there in the hallway of Gypsy Nan's lodging; she had +not thought that any greater degree of blackness could exist; but +it was blacker here. Only the sense of touch promised to be of any +avail. If one could have moved as noiselessly as a shadow moves, +one could have passed another within arm's-length unseen. And so +she listened, listened intently. And there was very little sound. +Once she detected a footstep from the interior of some room as it +moved across a bare floor; once she heard a door creak somewhere +upstairs; and once, from some indeterminate direction, she thought +she heard voices whispering together for a moment. + +She moved suddenly then, abruptly, almost impulsively, but careful +not to make the slightest noise. She dared not remain another +instant inactive. It was what she had expected, what she had +counted upon as an ally, this darkness, but she was not one who +laughed, even in daylight, at its psychology. It was beginning +to attack her now; her imagination to magnify even the actual +dangers that she knew to be around her. And she must fight it off +before it got a hold upon her, and before panic voices out of the +blackness began to shriek and clamor in her ears, as she knew they +would do with pitifully little provocation, urging her to turn and +flee incontinently. + +The staircase, she remembered, was at her right; and feeling out +before her with her hands, she reached the stairs, and began to +mount them. She went slowly, very slowly. They were bare, the +stairs, and unless one were extremely careful they would creak out +through the silence with a noise that could be heard from top to +bottom of the tenement. But she was not making any noise; she +dared not make any noise. + +Halfway up she halted and pressed her body close against the wall. +Was that somebody coming? She held her breath in expectation. +There wasn't a sound now, but she could have sworn she had heard +a footstep on the hallway above, or on the upper stairs. She bit +her lips in vexation. Panic noises! That's what they were! That, +and the thumping of her heart! Why was it that alarms and +exaggerated fancies came and tried to unnerve her? What, after all, +was there really to be afraid of? She had almost a clear two hours +before she need even anticipate any actual danger here, and, if +Nicky Viner were in, she would be away from the tenement again in +another fifteen minutes at the latest. + +Rhoda Gray went on again, and gaining the landing, halted once more. +And here she smiled at herself with the tolerant chiding she would +have accorded a child that was frightened without warrant. She +could account for those whisperings and that footstep now. The door +to the left, the one next to Nicky Viner's squalid, two-room +apartment, was evidently partially open, and occasionally some one +moved within; and the voices came from there too, and, low-toned to +begin with, were naturally muffled into whispers by the time they +reached her. + +She had only, then, to step the five or six feet across the narrow +hall in order to reach Nicky Viner's door, and unless by some +unfortunate chance whoever was in that room happened to come out +into the hall at the same moment, she would - Yes, it was all right! +She was trying Nicky Viner's door now. It was unlocked, and as she +opened it for the space of a crack, there showed a tiny chink of +light, so faint and meager that it seemed to shrink timorously back +again as though put to rout by the massed blackness - but it was +enough to evidence the fact that Nicky Viner was at home. It was +all simple enough now. Old Viner would undoubtedly make some +exclamation at her sudden and stealthy entrance, but once she was +inside without those in the next room either having heard or seen +her, it would not matter. + +Another inch she pushed the door open, another - and then another. +And then quickly, silently, she tip-toed over the threshold and +closed the door softly behind her. The light came from the inner +room and shone through the connecting door, which was open, and +there was movement from within, and a low, growling voice, petulant, +whining, as though an old man were mumbling complainingly to himself. +She smiled coldly. It was very like Nicky Viner - it was a habit +of his to talk to himself, she remembered. And, also, she had never +heard Nicky Viner do anything else but grumble and complain. + +But she could not see fully into the other room, only into a corner +of it, for the two doors were located diagonally across from one +another, and her hand, in a startled way, went suddenly to her lips, +as though mechanically to help choke back and stifle the almost +overpowering impulse to cry out that arose within her. Nicky Viner +was not alone in there! A figure had come into her line of vision +in that other room, not Nicky Viner, not any of the gang - and she +stared now in incredulous amazement, scarcely able to believe her +eyes. And then, suddenly cool and self-possessed again, relieved +in a curious way because the element of personal danger was as a +consequence eliminated, she began to understand why she had been +forestalled in her efforts at Perlmer's office when she had been so +sure that she would be first upon the scene. It was not Danglar, +or the Cricket, or Skeeny, or any of the band who had forestalled +her - it was the Adventurer. That was the Adventurer standing in +there now, side face to her, in Nicky Viner's inner room! + + +X. ON THE BRINK + +Rhoda Gray moved quietly, inch by inch, along the side of the wall +to gain a point of vantage more nearly opposite the lighted doorway. +And then she stopped again. She could see quite clearly now - that +is, there was nothing now to obstruct her view; but the light was +miserable and poor, and the single gas-jet that wheezed and flickered +did little more than disperse the shadows from its immediate +neighborhood in that inner room. But she could see enough - she +could see the bent and ill-clad figure of Nicky Viner, as she +remembered him, an old, gray-bearded man, wringing his hands in +groveling misery, while the mumbling voice, now whining and pleading, +now servile, now plucking up courage to indulge in abuse, kept on +without even, it seemed, a pause for breath. And she could see the +Adventurer, quite unmoved, quite debonair, a curiously patient smile +on his face, standing there, much nearer to her, his right hand in +the side pocket of his coat, a somewhat significant habit of his, +his left hand holding a sheaf of folded, legal-looking documents. + +And then she heard the Adventurer speak. + +"What a flow of words!" said the Adventurer, in a bored voice. +"You will forgive me, my dear Mr. Viner, if I appear to be facetious, +which I am not - but money talks." + +"You are a thief, a robber!" The old gray-bearded figure rocked on +its feet and kept wringing its hands. "Get out of here! Get out! +Do you hear? Get out! You come to steal from a poor old man, and -" + +"Must we go all over that again?" interrupted the Adventurer wearily. +"I have not come to steal anything; I have simply come to sell you +these papers, which I am quite sure, once you control yourself and +give the matter a little calm consideration, you are really most +anxious to buy - at any price. + +"It's a lie!" the other croaked hoarsely. "Those papers are a lie! +I am innocent. And I haven't got any money. None! I haven't any. +I am poor - an old man - and poor." + +Rhoda Gray felt the blood flush hotly to her cheeks. Somehow she +could feel no sympathy for that cringing figure in there; but she +felt a hot resentment toward that dapper, immaculately dressed and +self-possessed young man, who stood there, silently now, tapping the +papers with provoking coolness against the edge of the plain deal +table in front of him. And somehow the resentment seemed to take a +most peculiar phase. She resented the fact that she should feel +resentment, no matter what the man did or said. It was as though, +instead of anger, impersonal anger, at this low, miserable act of +his, she felt ashamed of him. Her hand clenched fiercely as she +crouched there against the wall. It wasn't true! She felt nothing +of the sort! Why should she be ashamed of him? What was he to her? +He was frankly a thief, wasn't he? And he was at his pitiful +calling now - down to the lowest dregs of it. What else did she +expect? Because he had the appearance of a gentleman, was it that +her sense of gratitude for what she owed him had made her, deep +down in her soul, actually cherish the belief that he really was +one - made her hope it, and nourish that hope into belief? Tighter +her hand clenched. Her lips parted, and her breath came in short, +hard inhalations. Was it true? Was it all only an added misery, +where it had seemed there could be none to add to her life in these +last few days? Was it true that there was no price she would not +have paid to have found him in any role but this abased one that +he was playing now? + +The Adventurer broke the silence. + +"Quite so, my dear Mr. Viner!" he agreed smoothly. "It would appear, +then, from what you say that I have been mistaken - even stupidly so, +I am afraid. And in that case, I can only apologize for my intrusion, +and, as you so delicately put it, get out." He slipped the papers, +with a philosophic shrug of his shoulders, into his inside coat +pocket, and took a backward step toward the door. "I bid you +good-night, then, Mr. Viner. The papers, as you state, are doubtless +of no value to you, so you can, of course, have no objection to my +handing them over to the police, who -" + +"No, no! Wait! Wait!" the other whispered wildly. "Wait!" + +"Ah!" murmured the Adventurer. + +"I - I'll" - the bent old figure was clawing at his beard - "I'll -" + +"Buy them?" suggested the Adventurer pleasantly. + +"Yes, I'll - I'll buy them. I - I've got a little money, only a +little, all I've been able to save in years, a - a hundred dollars. + +"How much did you say?" inquired the Adventurer coldly. + +"Two hundred." The voice was a maudlin whine. + +The Adventurer took another backward step toward the door. + +"Three hundred!" + +Another step. + +"Five - a thousand!" + +The Adventurer laughed suddenly. + +"That's better!" he said. "Where you keep a thousand, you keep the +rest. Where is the thousand, Mr. Viner?" + +The bent figure hesitated a moment; and then, with what sounded like +a despairing cry, pointed to the table. + +"It's there," he whimpered. "God's curses on you, for the thief +you are." + +Rhoda Gray found her eyes fixed in sudden, strained fascination on +the table - as, she imagined, the Adventurer's were too. It was +bare of any covering, nor were there any articles on its surface, +nor, as far as she could see, was there any drawer. And now the +Adventurer, his right hand still in his coat pocket, and bulging +there where she knew quite well it grasped his revolver, stepped +abruptly to the table, facing the other with the table between them. + +The bent old figure still hesitated, and then, with the despairing +cry again, grasped at the top of the table, and jerked it toward +him. The surface seemed to slide sideways a little way, a matter +of two or three inches, and then stick there; but the Adventurer, +in an instant, had thrust the fingers of his left hand into the +crevice. He drew out a number of loose banknotes, and thrust +his fingers in again for a further supply. + +"Open it wider!" he commanded curtly. + +"I - I'm trying to," the other mumbled, and bent down to peer under +the table. "It's stuck. The catch is underneath, and -" + +It seemed to Rhoda Gray, gazing into that dimly lighted room, as +though she were suddenly held spellbound as in some horrible and +amazing trance. Like a hideous jack-in-the-box the gray head popped +above the level of the table again, and quick as a flash, a revolver +was thrust into the Adventurer's face; and the Adventurer, caught at +a disadvantage,, since his hand in his coat pocket was below the +intervening table top, stood there as though instantaneously +transformed into some motionless, inanimate thing, his fingers still +gripping at another sheaf of banknotes that he had been in the act +of scooping out from the narrow aperture. + +And then again Rhoda Gray stared, and stared now as though bereft +of her senses; and upon her crept, cold and deadly, a fear and a +terror that seemed to engulf her very soul itself. That head that +looked like a jack-in-the-box was gone; the gray beard seemed +suddenly to be shorn away, and the gray hair too, and to fall and +flutter to the table, and the bent shoulders were not bent any more, +and it wasn't Nicky Viner at all - only a clever, a wonderfully +clever, impersonation that had been helped out by the poor and +meager light. And terror gripped at her again, for it wasn't Nicky +Viner. Those narrowed eyes, that leering, gloating face, those +working lips were Danglar's. + +And, as from some far distance, dulled because her consciousness +was dulled, she heard Danglar speak. + +"Perhaps you'll take your hand out of that right-hand coat pocket +of yours now!" sneered Danglar. "And take it out - empty!" + +The Adventurer's face, as nearly as Rhoda Gray could see, had not +moved a muscle. He obeyed now, coolly, with a shrug of his +shoulders. + +Danglar appeared to experience no further trouble with the surface +of the table now. He suddenly jerked it almost off, displaying +what Rhoda Gray now knew to be the remainder of the large package +of banknotes he had taken from the garret earlier in the evening. + +"Help yourself to the rest!" he invited caustically. "There isn't +fifty thousand there, but you are quite welcome to all there is - in +return for those papers. + +The Adventurer was apparently obsessed with an inspection of his +finger nails; he began to polish those of one hand with the palm +of the other. + +"Quite so, Danglar!" he said coolly. "I admit it - I am ashamed +of myself. I hate to think that I could be caught by you; but I +suppose I can find some self-extenuating circumstances. You seem +o have risen to an amazingly higher order of intelligence. In fact, +for you, Danglar, it is not at all bad!" He went on polishing his +nails. "Would you mind taking that thing out of my face? Even you +ought to be able to handle it effectively a few inches farther away." + +Under the studied insult Danglar's face had grown a mottled red. + +"Damn you!" he snarled. "I'll take it away when I get good and +ready; and by that time I'll have you talking out of the other side +of your mouth! See? Do you know what you're up against, you slick +dude?" + +"I have a fairly good imagination," replied the Adventurer smoothly. + +"You have, eh?" mimicked Danglar wickedly. "Well, you don't need +to imagine anything! I'll give you the straight goods so's there +won't be any chance of a mistake. And never mind about the higher +order of intelligence! It was high enough, and a little to spare, +to make you walk into the trap! I hoped I'd get you both, you and +your she-pal, the White Moll; that you'd come here together - but +I'm not kicking. It's a pretty good start to get you!" + +"Is it necessary to make a speech?" complained the Adventurer +monotonously. "I can't help listening, of course." + +"You can make up your mind for yourself when I'm through - whether +it's necessary or not!" retorted Danglar viciously. "I've got a +little proposition to put up to you, and maybe it'll help you to +add two and two together if I let you see all the cards. Understand? +You've had your run of luck lately, quite a bit of it, haven't you, +you and the White Moll? Well, it's my turn now! You've been +queering our game to the limit, curse you!" Danglar thrust his +working face a little farther over the table, and nearer to the +Adventurer. "Well, what was the answer? Where did you get the dope +you made your plays with? It was a cinch, wasn't it, that there was +a leak somewhere in our own crowd?" He laughed out suddenly. "You +poor fool! Did you think you could pull that sort of stuff forever? +Did you? Well, then, how do you like the 'leak' to-night? You get +the idea, don't you? Everybody, every last soul that is in with us, +got the details of what they thought was a straight play to-night +- and it leaked to you, as I knew it would; and you walked into the +trap, as I knew you would, because the bait was good and juicy, and +looked the easiest thing to annex that ever happened. Fifty thousand +dollars! Fifty thousand - nothing! All you had to do was to get a +few papers that it wouldn't bother any crook to get, even a near +- crook like you, and then come here and screw the money out of a +helpless old man, who was supposed to have been discovered to be a +miser. Easy, wasn't it? Only Nicky Viner wasn't a miser! We chose +Nicky because of what happened two years ago. It made things look +pretty near right, didn't it? Looked straight, that part about +Perlmer, too, didn't it? That was the come-on. Perlmer never saw +those papers you've got there in your pocket. I doped them out, +and we planted them nice and handy where you could get them without +much trouble in the drawer of Perlmer's desk, and -" + +"It's a long story," interrupted the Adventurer, with quiet +insolence. + +"It's got a short ending," said Danglar, with an ugly leer. "We +could have bumped you off when you went for those papers, but if +you went that far you'd come farther, and that wasn't the place to +do it, and we couldn't cover ourselves there the way we could here. +This is the place. We brought that trick table here a while ago, +as soon as we had got rid of Nicky Viner. That was the only bit of +stage setting we had to do to make the story ring true right up to +the curtain, in case it was necessary. It wouldn't have been +necessary if you and the White Moll had both come together, for +then you would neither of you have got any further than that other +room. It would have ended there. But we weren't taking any chances. +I'll pay you the compliment of admitting that we weren't counting on +getting you off your guard any too easily if, as it happened, you +came alone, for, being alone, or if either of you were alone, there +was that little proposition that had to be settled, instead of just +knocking you on the head out there in the dark in that other room; +and so, as I say, we weren't overlooking any bets on account of the +little trouble it took to plant that table and the money. We tried +to think of everything!" Danglar paused for a moment to mock the +Adventurer with narrowed eyes. "That's the story; here's the end. +I hoped I'd get you both together, you and the White Moll. I didn't. +But I've got you. I didn't get you both - and that's what gives you +a chance for your life, because she's worth more to us than you are. +If you'd been together, you would have gone out-together. As it is, +I'll see that you don't do any more harm anyway, but you get one +chance. Where is she? If you answer that, you will, of course, +answer a minor question and locate that 'leak', for me, that I was +speaking about a moment ago. But we'll take the main thing first. +And you can take your choice between a bullet and a straight answer. +Where is the White Moll?" + +Rhoda Gray's hand felt Out along the wall for support. Was this a +dream, some ghastly, soul-terrifying nightmare! Danglar! Those +working lips! That callous viciousness, that leer in the degenerate +face. It seemed to bring a weakness to her limbs, and seek to rob +her of the strength to stand. She could not even hope against hope; +she knew that Danglar was in deadly earnest. Danglar would not have +the slightest compunction, let alone hesitation, in carrying out his +threat. Terrified now, her eyes sought the Adventurer. Didn't the +Adventurer know Danglar as she knew him, didn't he realize that +there was deadly earnestness behind Danglar's words? Was the man +mad, that he stood there utterly unmoved, as though he had no +consideration on earth other than those carefully manicured finger +nails of his! + +And then Danglar spoke again. + +"Do you notice anything special about this gun I'm holding on you?" +he demanded, in low menace. + +The Adventurer did not even look up. + +"Oh, yes," he said indifferently. "I fancy you got it out of a dime +novel, didn't you? One of those silencer things." + +"Yes," said Danglar grimly; "one of those silencer things. Where is +she?" + +The Adventurer made no answer. + +The color in Danglar's face deepened. + +"I'll make things even a little plainer to you," he said with brutal +coolness. "There are two men in our organization from whom it is +absolutely impossible that that leak could have come. Those two +men followed you from Perlmer's office to this place. They are in +the next room now waiting for me to get through with you, and ready +for anything if they are needed. But they won't be needed. That's +not the way it works out. This gun won't make much noise, and it +isn't likely to arouse the inmates of this dive, but even if it +does, it doesn't matter very much - we aren't going out by the front +door. The two of them, the minute they hear the shot, slip in here, +and lock the door - you see it's got a good, husky bolt on it - and +then we beat it by the fire escape that runs past that window there. +Get the idea? And don't kid yourself into thinking that I am taking +any risk with the consequences on account of the coroner having got +busy because a man was found here dead on the floor. Nicky Viner +stands for that. It isn't the first time he's been suspected of +murder. See? Nicky was easy. He'd crawl on his hands and knees +from the Battery to Harlem any time if you held a little money in +front of his nose. He's been fooled up to the eyes with a faked-up +message that he's to deliver secretly to some faked-up crooks out +West. He's just about starting away on the train now. And that's +where the police nab him - running away from the murder he's pulled +in his room here to-night. Looks kind of bad for Nicky Viner - eh? +We should worry! It cost a hundred dollars and his ticket. Cheap, +wasn't it? I guess you're worth that much to us." + +A dull horror seized upon Rhoda Gray. It seemed to clog and confuse +her mind. She fought it frantically, striving to think, and to +think clearly. Every detail seemed to have been planned with Satanic +foresight and ingenuity, and yet - and yet - Yes, in one little +thing, Danglar had made a mistake. That was why she was here now; +that was why those men in that next room had not been out in the hall +on guard, or even out in the street on watch for her. Danglar had +naturally gone upon the supposition that the Adventurer and herself +worked hand in glove; whereas they were as much in the dark +concerning each other's movements as Danglar himself was. Therefore +Danglar, and logically enough from his viewpoint, had jumped to the +conclusion that, since they had not come together, only one of them, +the Adventurer, was acting in the affair to-night, and - Danglar's +voice was rasping in her ears. + +"I'm not going to stay here all night!" he snarled. "You've got +one chance. I've told you what it is. You're lucky to have it. +We'd sooner have you out of the way for keeps. I'd rather drop you +in your tracks than let you live. Where is the White Moll?" + +The Adventurer was side face to the doorway again, and Rhoda Gray +saw him smile contemptuously at Danglar now. + +"Really," he said blandly, "I haven't the slightest idea in the +world." + +Danglar laughed ironically. + +"You lie!" he flung out hoarsely. "Do you think you can get away +with that? Well, think again! Sooner or later, it will be all the +same whether you talk or not. We caught you to-night in a trap; +we'll catch her in another. Our hand doesn't show here. She'll +think that Nicky Viner was a little too much for you, that's all. +Come on, now - quick! Are you fool enough to misunderstand? The +'don't know' stuff won't get you by!" + +"The misunderstanding seems to be on your side." There was a cold, +irritating deliberation in the Adventurer's voice. "I repeat that +I do not know where the young lady you refer to could be found; but +I did not make that statement with any idea that you would believe +it. To a cur, I suppose it is necessary to add that, even if I did +know, I should take pleasure in seeing you damned before I told you." + +Danglar's face was like a devil's. His revolver held a steady bead +on the Adventurer's head. + +"I'll give you a last chance." He spoke through closed teeth. +"I'll fire when I count three. One!" + +A horrible fascination held Rhoda Gray. If she cried out, it was +more likely than not to cause Danglar to fire on the instant. It +would not save the Adventurer in any case. It would be but the +signal, too, for those two men in the next room to rush in here. + +"Two!" + +It seemed as though, not in the hope that it would do any good, but +because she was going mad with horror, that she would scream out +until the place rang and rang again with her outcries. Even her +soul was in frantic panic. Quick! Quick! She must act! She +must! But how? Was there only one way? She was conscious that she +had drawn her revolver as though by instinct. Danglar's life, or +the Adventurer's! But she shrank from taking life. Her lips were +breathing a prayer. They had called her a crack shot back there +in South America, when she had hunted and ridden with her father. +It was easy enough to hit Danglar, but that might mean Danglar's +life; it was not so easy to hit Danglar's arm, or Danglar's hand, +or the revolver Danglar held, and if she risked that and missed, +she... + + +"Thr -" + +There was the roar of a report that went racketing through the +silence like a cannon shot, and the short, vicious tongue-flame +from Rhoda Gray's revolver muzzle stabbed through the black. There +was a scream of mingled surprise and fury, and the revolver in +Danglar's hand clattered to the floor. She saw the Adventurer +spring, quick as a panther, at the other, and saw him whip blow +after blow with terrific force full into Danglar's face; she heard +a rush of feet coming from the corridor behind her; and she flung +herself forward into the inner room, and, panting, snatched at the +door and slammed it shut, and groping for the bolt, found it, and +shot it home in its grooves. + +And she stood there, weak for the moment, and drew her hand across +her eyes - and behind her they pounded on the door, and there came +a burst of oaths; and in front of her the Adventurer was smiling +gravely as he covered Danglar with Danglar's own revolver; and +Danglar, as though dazed and half stunned from the blows he had +received, rocked unsteadily upon his feet. And then her eyes +widened a little. The pounding on the door, the shouts, the noise, +was beginning to arouse what inmates there were in the tenement, and +there wasn't an instant to lose - but the Adventurer now was calmly +gathering up, to the last one, and pocketing them, the banknotes +with which Danglar had baited his trap. And as he crammed the money +into his pockets, he spoke to her, with a curious softness, a great, +strange gentleness in his voice: + +"I owe you my life, Miss Gray. That was a wonderful shot. You +knocked the revolver from his hand without even grazing his fingers. +A very wonderful shot, and - will you let me say it? - you are a +very wonderful woman." + +"Oh, quick!" she whispered wildly. "I am afraid this door will not +hold." + +"There is the window, and the fire escape, so our friend here was +good enough to inform me," said the Adventurer, as he composedly +pocketed the last dollar. "Will you open the window, Miss Gray, if +you please? I am afraid I hit Mr. Danglar a little ungently, and +as he is still somewhat groggy, I fancy he will need a little +assistance. I imagine" - he caught Danglar suddenly by the collar +of his coat as Rhoda Gray ran to the window and flung it up, and +rushed the man unceremoniously across the room -" I imagine it would +be a mistake to leave him behind. He might open the door, or even +be unpleasant enough to throw something down on us from above; also +he should serve us very well as a hostage. Will you go first, +please, Miss Gray?" + +She climbed quickly over the sill to the iron platform. Danglar +was dragged through by the Adventurer, mumbling, and evidently still +in a half-dazed condition. Windows were opening here and there. +>From back inside the room, the blows rained more heavily upon the +door - and now there came the rip and rend of wood, as though a +panel had crashed in. + +"Hurry, please, Miss Gray!" prompted the Adventurer. + +It was dark, almost too dark to see her footing. She felt her way +down. It was only one story above the ground, and it did not take +long; but it seemed hours since she had fired that shot, though she +knew the time had been measured by scarcely more than a minute. And +now, on the lower platform, waiting for that queer, double, twisting +shadow of the two men to join her, she heard the Adventurers s voice +ring out sharply: + +"This is your chance, Danglar! I didn't waste the time to bring +you along because it afforded me any amusement. They've found their +heads at last, and gone to the next window, instead of wasting time +on that door. They can't reach the fire escape there, but if they +fire a single shot - you go out! You'd better tell them so - and +tell them quick!" + +And then Danglar's voice shrieked out in sudden, for God's sake, +don't fire!" + +They were all on the lower platform together now. The Adventurer +was pressing the muzzle of his revolver into the small of Danglar's +back, and was still supporting the man by the collar of his coat. + +"I think," said the Adventurer abruptly, "that we can now dispense +with Mr. Danglar's services, and I am sure a little cool night air +out here on the fire escape will do him good. Miss Gray - would you +mind? - there's a pair of handcuffs in my left-hand coat pocket." + +Handcuffs! She could have laughed out idiotically. Handcuffs! +They seemed the most incongruous things in the world for the +Adventurer to have, and - She felt mechanically in his pocket, and +handed them to him. + +There was a click as a cuff was snapped over Danglar's wrist, +another as the other cuff was snapped shut around the iron +hand-railing of the fire escape. The act seemed to arouse Danglar, +both mentally and physically. He tore and wrenched at the steel +links now, and burst suddenly, raving, into oaths. + +"Hold your tongue, Danglar!" ordered the Adventurer in cold menace; +and as the other, cowed, obeyed, the Adventurer swung himself over +the platform and dropped to the ground. "Come, Miss Gray. Drop! +I'll catch you!" he called in a low voice. "One step takes us +around the corner of the tenement into the lane, and Mr. Danglar +won't let them fire at us before we can make that - when we could +still fire at him!" + +She obeyed him, swinging at arm's-length. She felt his hands fold +about her in a firm grasp as she let go her hold, and she caught her +breath suddenly, she did not know why, and felt the hot blood sweep +her face - and then she was standing on the ground. + +"Now!" he whispered. "Together!" + +They sped around the corner of the tenement. A yell from Danglar +followed them. An echoing yell from above answered - and then a +fusillade of abortive shots, and the sound as of boot heels +clattering on the iron rungs of the fire escape; and then, more +faintly, for they were putting distance behind them as fast as they +could run, an excited outburst of profanity and exclamations. + +"They won't follow!" panted the Adventurer. "Those shots of theirs +outdoors will have alarmed the police, and they'll try and get +Danglar free first. It's lucky your shot inside wasn't heard by +the patrolman on the beat. I was afraid of that. But we're safe +now - from Danglar's crowd, at least." + +But still they ran. They crossed an intersecting street, and +continued on along the lane; then swerving into the next intersecting +street, moderated their pace to a rapid walk - and stopped finally +only as Rhoda Gray drew suddenly into the shadows of another +alley-way, and held out her hand. They were both safe now, as he +had said. And there were so many reasons why, though her resolution +faltered a little, she should go the rest of the way alone. She +was not sure that she trusted this strange "gentleman," who was a +thief with his pockets crammed even now with the money that had +lured him almost to his death; but, too, she was not altogether sure +that she distrusted him. But all that was secondary. She must, as +soon as she could, get back to Gypsy Nan's garret. Like that other +night, she dared not take the risk that Danglar, by any chance, might +return there - and find her gone after what had just happened. The +man would be beside himself with fury, suspicious of everything +-and suspicion would be fatal in its consequences for her. And so +she must go. And she could not become Gypsy Nan again with the +Adventurer looking on! + +"We part here," she said a little unsteadily. "Good-night!" + +"Oh, I say, Miss Gray!" he protested quickly. "You don't mean that! +Why, look here, I haven't had a chance to tell you what I think, or +what I feel, about what you've done to-night - for me." + +She shook her head. + +"There is nothing you need say," she answered quietly. "We are only +quits. You have done quite as much for me." + +"But, see here, Miss Gray!" he pleaded. "Can't we come to some +understanding? We seem to have a jolly lot in common. Is it quite +necessary, really necessary, that you should keep me off at +arm's-length? Couldn't you let down the bars just a little? +Couldn't you tell me, for instance, where I could find you in case +of - real necessity?" + +She shook her head again. + +"No," she said. "It is impossible." + +He drew a little closer. A sudden earnestness deepened his voice, +made it rasp a little, as though it were not wholly within control. + +"And suppose, Miss Gray, that I refuse to leave you, or to let you +go, now that I have you here, unless you give me more of your +confidence? What then?" + +"The other night," she said slowly, "you informed me, among other +things, that you were a gentleman. I believed the other things." + +He did not answer for a moment - and then he smiled whimsically. + +"You score, Miss Gray," he murmured. + +"Good night, then!" she said again. "I will go by the alley here; +you by the street." + +"No! Wait!" he said gravely. "If nothing will change your mind +- and I shall not be importunate, for, as we have met three times +now through the same peculiar chain of circumstances, I know we +shall meet again - I have something to tell you, before you go. +As you already know, I went to Gypsy Nan's the night after I first +saw you, because I felt you needed help. I went there in the hope +that she would know where to find you, and, failing in that, I left +a message for you in the hope that, since she had tricked Rorke in +your behalf, you would find means of communicating with her again. +But all that is entirely changed now. Your participation in that +Hayden-Bond affair the other night makes Gypsy Nan's place the last +in all New York to which you should go." + +Rhoda Gray stared through the semi-darkness, suddenly startled, +searching the Adventurer's face. + +"What do you mean?" she demanded quickly. + +"Just this," he answered. "That where before I hoped you would go +there, I have spent nearly all the time since then in haunting the +vicinity of Gypsy Nan's house to warn you away in case you should +try to reach her." + +"I - I don't understand," she said a little uncertainly. + +"It is simple enough," he said. "Gypsy Nan is now one of those you +have most to fear. Gypsy Nan is merely a disguise. She is no more +Gypsy Nan than you are." + +Rhoda Gray caught her breath. + +"Not Gypsy Nan!" she repeated - and fought to keep her voice in +control. "Who is she, then?" + +The Adventurer laughed shortly. + +"She is quite closely connected with that gentleman we left airing +himself on the fire escape," he said grimly. "Gypsy Nan is Danglar's +wife." + +It was very strange, very curious - the alleyway seemed suddenly to +be revolving around and around, and it seemed to bring her a +giddiness and a faintness. The Adventurer was standing there before +her, but she did not see him any more; she could only see, as from +a brink upon which she tottered, a gulf, abysmal in its horror, that +yawned before her. + +"Thank you - thank you for the warning." Was that her voice +speaking so calmly and dispassionately? "I will remember it. But +I must go now. Good-night again!" + +He said something. She did not know what. She only knew that she +was hurrying along the alleyway now, and that he had made no effort +to stop her, and that she was grateful to him for that, and that her +composure, strained to the breaking point, would have given away if +she had remained with him another instant. Danglar's wife! It was +dark here in the alley-way, and she did not know where it led to. +But did it matter? And she stumbled as she went along. But it was +not the physical inability to see that made her stumble - it was a +brain-blindness that fogged her soul itself. His wife! Gypsy Nan +was Danglar's wife. + + +XI. SOME OF THE LESSER BREED + +Danglar's wife! It had been a night of horror; a night without +sleep; a night, after the guttering candle had gone out, when the +blackness of the garret possessed added terrors created by an +imagination which ran riot, and which she could not control. She +could have fled from it, screaming in panic-stricken hysteria - but +there had been no other place as safe as that was. Safe! The +word seemed to reach the uttermost depths of irony. Safe! Well, +it was true, wasn't it? + +She had not wanted to return there; her soul itself had revolted +against it; but she had dared to do nothing else. And all through +that night, huddled on the edge of the cot bed, her fingers clinging +tenaciously to her revolver as though afraid for even an instant +to relinquish it from her grasp, listening, listening, always +listening for a footstep that might come up from that dark hall +below, the footstep that would climax all the terrors that had +surged upon her, her mind had kept on reiterating, always reiterating +those words of the Adventurer - "Gypsy Nan is Danglar's wife." + +And they were still with her, those words. Daylight had come again, +and passed again, and it was evening once more; but those words +remained, insensible to change, immutable in their foreboding. And +Rhoda Gray, as Gypsy Nan, shuddered now as she scuffled along a +shabby street deep in the heart of the East Side. She was Danglar's +wife - by proxy. At dawn that morning when the gray had come +creeping into the miserable attic through the small and dirty window +panes, she had fallen on her knees and thanked God she had been +spared that footstep. It was strange! She had poured out her soul +in passionate thankfulness then that Danglar had not come - and now +she was deliberately on her way to seek Danglar himself! But the +daylight had done more than disperse the actual, physical darkness +of the past night; it had brought, if not a measure of relief, at +least a sense of guidance, and the final decision, perilous though +it was, which she meant now to put into execution. + +There was no other way - unless she were willing to admit defeat, +to give up everything, her own good name, her father's name, to run +from it all and live henceforth in hiding in some obscure place far +away, branded in the life she would have left behind her as a +despicable criminal and thief. And she could not, would not, do +this while her intuition, at least, inspired her with the faith to +believe that there was still a chance of clearing herself. It was +the throw of the dice, perhaps - but there was no other way. +Danglar, and those with him, were at the bottom of the crime of +which she was held guilty. She could not go on as she had been +doing, merely in the hope of stumbling upon some clew that would +serve to exonerate her. There was not time enough for that. +Danglar's trap set for herself and the Adventurer last night in old +Nicky Viner's room proved that. And the fact that the woman who +had originally masqueraded as Gypsy Nan - as she, Rhoda Gray, was +masquerading now - was Danglar's wife, proved it a thousandfold +more. She could no longer remain passive, arguing with herself +that it took all her wits and all her efforts to maintain herself +in the role of Gypsy Nan, which temporarily was all that stood +between her and prison bars. To do so meant the certainty of +disaster sooner or later, and if it meant that, the need for +immediate action of an offensive sort was imperative. + +And so her mind was made up. Her only chance was to find her way +into the full intimacy of the criminal band of which Danglar was +apparently the head; to search out its lair and its personnel; to +reach to the heart of it; to know Danglar's private movements, and +to discover where he lived so that she might watch him. It surely +was not such a hopeless task! True, she knew by name and sight +scarcely more than three of this crime clique, but at least she had +a starting point from which to work. There was Shluker's junk shop +where she had turned the tables on Danglar and Skeeny on the night +they had planned to make the Sparrow their pawn. It was obvious, +therefore, that Shluker himself, the proprietor of the junk shop, +was one of the organization. She was going to Shluker's now. + +Rhoda Gray halted suddenly, and stared wonderingly a little way up +the block ahead of her. As though by magic a crowd was collecting +around the doorway of a poverty-stricken, tumble-down frame house +that made the corner of an alleyway. And where but an instant +before the street's jostling humanity had been immersed in its +wrangling with the push-cart men who lined the curb, the carts were +now deserted by every one save their owners, whose caution exceeded +their curiosity - and the crowd grew momentarily larger in front of +the house. + +She drew Gypsy Nan's black, greasy shawl a little more closely +around her shoulders, and moved forward again. And now, on the +outskirts of the crowd, she could see quite plainly. There were +two or three low steps that led up to the doorway, and a man and +woman were standing there. The woman was wretchedly dressed, but +with most strange incongruity she held in her hand, obviously +subconsciously, obviously quite oblivious of it, a huge basket full +to overflowing with, as nearly as Rhoda Gray could judge, all sorts +of purchases, as though out of the midst of abject poverty a golden +shower had suddenly descended upon her. And she was gray, and well +beyond middle age, and crying bitterly; and her free hand, whether +to support herself or with the instinctive idea of supporting her +companion, was clutched tightly around the man's shoulders. And +the man rocked unsteadily upon his feet. He was tall and angular, +and older than the woman, and cadaverous of feature, and miserably +thin of shoulder, and blood trickled over his forehead and down one +ashen, hollow cheek - and above the excited exclamations of the +crowd Rhoda Gray heard him cough. + +Rhoda Gray glanced around her. Where scarcely a second before she +had been on the outer fringe of the crowd, she now appeared to be +in the very center of it. Women were pushing up behind her, women +who wore shawls as she did, only the shawls were mostly of gaudy +colors; and men pushed up behind her, mostly men of swarthy +countenance, who wore circlets of gold in their ears; and, brushing +her skirts, seeking vantage points, ragged, ill-clad children +wriggled and wormed their way deeper into the press. It was a crowd +composed almost entirely of the foreign element which inhabited that +quarter - and the crowd chattered and gesticulated with +ever-increasing violence. She did not understand. And she could not +see so well now. That pitiful tableau in the doorway was being shut +out from her by a man, directly in front of her, who had hoisted a +half-naked tot of three or four to a reserved seat upon his head. + +And then a young man, one whom, from her years in the Bad Lands as +the White Moll, she recognized as a hanger-on at a gambling hell in +the Chatham Square district, came toward her, plowing his way, +contemptuous of obstructions, out of the crowd. + +Rhoda Gray, as Gypsy Nan, hailed him out of the corner of her mouth. + +"Say, wot's de row?" she demanded. + +The young man grinned. + +"Somebody pinched a million from de old guy!" He shifted his +cigarette with a deft movement of his tongue from one side of his +mouth to the other, and grinned again. "Can youse beat it! +Accordin' to him, he had enough coin to annex de whole of Noo Yoik! +De moll's his wife. He went out to hell-an'-gone somewhere for a +few years huntin' gold while de old girl starved. Den back he comes +an' blows in to-day wid his pockets full, an' de old girl grabs a +handful, an' goes out to buy up all de grub in sight 'cause she +ain't had none for so long. An' w'en she comes back she finds de +old geezer gagged an' tied in a chair, an' some guy's hit him a +crack on de bean an' flown de coop wid de mazuma. But youse had +better get out of here before youse gets run over! Dis ain't no +place for an old skirt like youse. De bulls'11 be down here on de +hop in a minute, an' w'en dis mob starts sprinklin' de street wid +deir fleetin' footsteps, youse are likely to get hurt. See?" The +young man started to force his way through the crowd again. "Youse +had better cut loose, mother!" he warned over his shoulder. + +It was good advice. Rhoda Gray took it. She had scarcely reached +the next block when the crowd behind her was being scattered +pell-mell and without ceremony in all directions by the police, as +the young man had predicted. She went on. There was nothing that +she could do. The man's face and the woman's face haunted her. +They had seemed stamped with such abject misery and despair. But +there was nothing that she could do. It was one of those sore and +grievous cross-sections out of the lives of the swarming thousands +down here in this quarter which she knew so intimately and so well. +And there were so many, many of those cross-sections! Once, in a +small, pitifully meager and restricted way, she had been able to +help some of these hurt lives, but now - Her lips tightened a +little. She was going to Shluker's junk shop. + +Her forehead gathered in little furrows as she walked along. She +had weighed the pros and cons of this visit a hundred times already +during the day; but even so, instinctively to reassure herself lest +some apparently minor, but nevertheless fatally vital, point might +have been overlooked, her mind reverted to it again. From Shluker's +viewpoint, whether Gypsy Nan was in the habit of mingling with or +visiting the other members of the gang or not - a matter upon which +she could not even hazard a guess - her visit to-night must appear +entirely logical. There was last night - and, a natural corollary, +her equally natural anxiety on her supposed husband's account, +providing, of course, that Shluker was aware that Gypsy Nan was +Danglar's wife. But even if Shluker did not know that, he knew +at least that Gypsy Nan was one of the gang, and, as such, he must +equally accept it as natural that she should be anxious and disturbed +over what had happened. She would be on safe ground either way. +She would pretend to know only what had appeared in the papers; in +other words, that the police, attracted to the spot by the sound of +revolver shots, had found Danglar handcuffed to the fire escape of +a well-known thieves' resort in an all too well-known and +questionable locality. + +A smile came spontaneously. It was quite true. That was where the +Adventurer had left Danglar - handcuffed to the fire escape! The +smile vanished. The humor of the situation was not long-lived; it +ended there. Danglar was as cunning as the proverbial fox; and +Danglar, at that moment, in desperate need of explaining his +predicament in some plausible way to the police, had, as the +expression went, run true to form. Danglar's story, as reported by +the papers, even rose above his own high-water mark of vicious +cunning, because it played upon a chord that appealed instantly to +the police; and it rang true, not only because what the police +could find out about him made it likely, but also because it +contained a modicum of truth in itself; and, furthermore, Danglar +had scored on still another count in that his story must stimulate +the police into renewed activities as his unsuspecting allies in +the one thing, the one aim and object that, at that moment, must +obsess him above all others - the discovery of herself, the White +Moll. + +It was ingeniously simple, Danglar's smooth and oily lie! He had +been walking along the street, he had stated, when he saw a woman, +as she passed under a street lamp, who he thought resembled the +White Moll. To make sure, he followed her - at a safe distance, +as he believed. She entered the tenement. He hesitated. He knew +the reputation of the place, which bore out his first impression +that the woman was the one he thought she was; but he did not want +to make a fool of himself by calling in the police until he was +positive of her identity, so he finally followed her inside, and +heard her go upstairs, and crept up after her in the dark. And +then, suddenly, he was set upon and hustled into a room. It was +the White Moll, all right; and the shots came from her companion, +a man whom he described minutely - the description being that of +the Adventurer, of course. They seemed to think that he, Danglar, +was a plain-clothes man, and tried to sicken him of his job by +frightening him. And then they forced him through the window and +down the fire escape, and fastened him there with handcuffs to +mock the police, and the White Moll's companion had deliberately +fired some more shots to make sure of bringing the police to the +scene, and then the two of them had run for it. + +Rhoda Gray's eyes darkened angrily. The newspapers said that +Danglar had been temporarily held by the police, though his story +was believed to be true, for certainly the man would make no mistake +as to the identity of the White Moll, since his life, what the +police could find out about it, coincided with his own statements, +and he would naturally therefore have seen her many times in the +Bad Lands when she was working there under cover of her despicable +role of sweet and innocent charity. Danglar had made no pretensions +to self-righteousness - he was too cute for that. He admitted that +he had no "specific occupation," that he hung around the gambling +hells a good deal, that he followed the horses - that, frankly, he +lived by his wits. He had probably given some framed-up address to +the police, but, if so, the papers had not stated where it was. +Rhoda Gray's face, under the grime of Gypsy Nan's disguise, grew +troubled and perplexed. Neither had the papers, even the evening +papers, stated whether Danglar had as yet been released - they had +devoted the rest of their space to the vilification of the White +Moll. They had demanded in no uncertain tones a more conclusive +effort on the part of the authorities to bring her, and with her +now the man in the case, as they called the Adventurer, to +justice, and... + +The thought of the Adventurer caused her mind to swerve sharply off +at a tangent. Where he had piqued and aroused her curiosity before, +he now, since last night, seemed more complex a character than ever. +It was strange, most strange, the way their lives, his and hers, had +become interwoven! She had owed him much; but last night she had +repaid him and squared accounts. She had told him so. She owed him +nothing more. If a sense of gratitude had once caused her to look +upon him with - with - She bit her lips. What was the use of that? +Had it become so much a part of her life, so much a habit, this +throwing of dust in the eyes of others, this constant passing of +herself off for some one else, this constant deception, warranted +though it might be, that she must now seek to deceive herself! Why +not frankly admit to her own soul, already in the secret, that she +cared in spite of herself - for a thief? Why not admit that a great +hurt had come, one that no one but herself would ever know, a hurt +that would last for always because it was a wound that could never +be healed? + +A thief! She loved a thief. She had fought a bitter, stubborn +battle with her common sense to convince herself that he was not +a thief. She had snatched hungrily at the incident that centered +around those handcuffs, so opportunely produced from the Adventurer's +pocket. She had tried to argue that those handcuffs not only +suggested, but proved, he was a police officer in disguise, working +on some case in which Danglar and the gang had been mixed up; and, +as she tried to argue in this wise, she tried to shut her eyes to +the fact that the same pocket out of which the handcuffs came was +at exactly the same moment the repository of as many stolen +banknotes as it would hold. She had tried to argue that the fact +that he was so insistently at work to defeat Danglar's plans was in +his favor; but that argument, like all others, came quickly and +miserably to grief. Where the "leak" was, as Danglar called it, +that supplied the Adventurer with foreknowledge of the gang's +movements, she had no idea, save that perhaps the Adventurer and +some traitor in the gang were in collusion for their own ends - and +that certainly did not lift the Adventurer to any higher plane, or +wash from him the stigma of thief. + +She clenched her hands. It was all an attempt at argument without +the basis of a single logical premise. It was silly and childish! +Why hadn't the man been an ordinary, plain, common thief and +criminal - and looked like one? She would never have been attracted +to him then even through gratitude! Why should he have all the +graces and ear-marks of breeding? Why should he have all the +appearances of gentleman? It seemed a needlessly cruel and +additional blow that fate had dealt her, when already she was living +through days and nights of fear, of horror, of trepidation, so great +that at times it seemed she would literally lose her reason. If +he had not looked, yes, and at times, acted, so much like a +thorough-bred gentleman, there would never have come to her this +hurt, this gulf between them that could not now be spanned, and in +a personal way she would never have cared because he was - a thief. + +Her mental soliloquy ended abruptly. She had reached the narrow +driveway that led in, between the two blocks of down-at-the-heels +tenements, to the courtyard at the rear that harbored Shluker's junk +shop. And now, unlike that other night when she had first paid a +visit to the place, she made no effort at concealment as she entered +the driveway. She walked quickly, and as she emerged into the +courtyard itself she saw a light in the window of the junk shop. + +Rhoda Gray nodded her head. It was still quite early, still almost +twilight - not more than eight o'clock. Back there, on that squalid +doorstep where the old woman and the old man had stood, it had still +been quite light. The long summer evening had served at least to +sear, somehow, those two faces upon her mind. It was singular that +they should intrude themselves at this moment! She had been thinking, +hadn't she, that at this hour she might naturally expect to find +Shluker still in his shop? That was why she had come so early - since +she had not cared to come in full daylight. Well, if that light meant +anything, he was there. + +She felt her pulse quicken perceptibly as she crossed the courtyard, +and reached the shop. The door was open, and she stepped inside. +It was a dingy place, filthy, and littered, without the slightest +attempt at order, with a heterogeneous collection of, it seemed, +every article one could think of, from scraps of old iron and bundles +of rags to cast-off furniture that was in an appalling state of +dissolution. The light, that of a single and dim incandescent, came +from the interior of what was apparently the "office" of the +establishment, a small, glassed-in partition affair, at the far end +of the shop. + +Her first impression had been that there was no one in the shop, but +now, from the other side of the glass partition, she caught sight of +a bald head, and became aware that a pair of black eyes were fixed +steadily upon her, and that the occupant was beckoning to her with +his hand to come forward. + +She scuffled slowly, but without hesitation, up the shop. She +intended to employ the vernacular that was part of the disguise of +Gypsy Nan. If Shluker, for that was certainly Shluker there, gave +the slightest indication that he took it amiss, her explanation would +come glibly and logically enough - she had to be careful; how was she +supposed to know whether there was any one else about, or not! + +"'Ello!" she said curtly, as she reached the doorway of the little +office, and paused on the threshold. Shifty little black eyes met +hers, as the bald head fringed with untrimmed gray hair, was lifted +from a battered desk, and the wizened face of an old man was +disclosed under the rays of the tin-shaded lamp. He grinned suddenly, +showing discolored teeth - and instinctively she drew back a little. +He was an uninviting and exceedingly disreputable old creature. + +"You, eh, Nan!" he grunted. "So you've come to see old Jake Shluker, +have you? 'Tain't often you come! And what's brought you, eh?" + +"I can read, can't I?" Rhoda Gray glanced furtively around her, +then leaned toward the other. "Say, wot's de lay? I been scared +stiff all day. Is dat straight wot de papers said about +youse-know-who gettin' pinched?" + +A scowl settled over Shluker's features as he nodded. + +"Yes; it's straight enough," he answered. "Damn 'em, one and all! +But they let him out again." + +"Dat's de stuff!" applauded Rhoda Gray earnestly. "Where is he, den?" + +Shluker shook his head. + +"He didn't say," said Shluker. + +"He didn't say?" echoed Rhoda Gray, a little tartly. "Wot d'youse +mean, he didn't say? Have youse seen him?" + +Shluker jerked his hand toward the telephone instrument on the desk. + +"He was talkin' to me a little while ago." + +"Well, den" - Rhoda Gray risked a more peremptory tone - "where is he?" + +Shluker shook his head again. + +"I dunno," he said. "I'm tellin' you, he didn't say." + +Rhoda Gray studied the wizened and repulsive old creature, that, +huddled in his chair in the dirty, boxed-in little office, made her +think of some crafty old spider lurking in its web for unwary prey. +Was the man lying to her? Was he in any degree suspicious? Why +should he be? He had given not the slightest sign that her uncouth +language was either unexpected or unnecessary. Perhaps to Shluker, +and perhaps to all the rest of the gang - except Danglar! - Gypsy +Nan was accepted at face value as just Gypsy Nan; and, if that were +so, the idea of playing up a natural wifely anxiety on Danglar's +behalf could not be used unless Shluker gave her a lead in that +direction. But, all that apart, she was getting nowhere. She bit +her lips in disappointment. She had counted a great deal on this +Shluker here, and Shluker was not proving the fount of information, +far from it, that she had hoped he would. + +She tried again-even more peremptorily than before. + +"Aw, open up!" she snapped. "Wot's de use bein' a clam! Youse +heard me, didn't youse? Where is he?" + +Shluker leaned abruptly forward, and looked at her in a suddenly +perturbed way. + +"is there anything wrong?" he asked in a tense, lowered voice. +"What makes you so anxious to know?" + +Rhoda Gray laughed shortly. + +"Nothin'!" she answered coolly. "I told youse once, didn't I? I +got a scare readin' dem papers - an' I ain't over it yet. Dat's +wot I want to know for, an' youse seem afraid to open up!" + +Shluker sank back again in his chair with an air of relief. + +"Oh!" he ejaculated. "Well, that's all right, then. You were +beginning to give me a scare, too. I ain't playin' the clam, and +I dunno where he is; but I can tell you there's nothing to worry +you any more about the rest of it. He was after the White Moll last +night, and it didn't come off. They pulled one on him instead, and +fastened him to the fire escape the way the papers said. Skeeny +and the Cricket, who were in on the play with him, didn't have time +to get him loose before the bulls got there. So Danglar told them +to beat it, and he handed the cops the story that was in the papers. +He got away with it, all right, and they let go him to-day; but he +phoned a little while ago that they were still stickin' around kind +of close to him, and that I was to pass the word that the lid was to +go down tight for the next few days, and -" + +Shluker stopped abruptly as the telephone rang, and reached for the +instrument. + +Rhoda Gray fumbled unnecessarily with her shawl, as the other +answered the call. Failure! A curious bitterness came to her. Her +plan then, for to-night it least, was a failure. Shluker did not +know where Danglar was. She was quite convinced of that. Shluker +was - She glanced suddenly at the wizened little old man. From an +ordinary tone, Shluker' s voice had risen sharply in protest about +something. She listened now: + +No, no; it does not matter what it is! + +What?...No! I tell you, no! Nothing! Not to-night! Those are +the orders....No, I don't know! Nan is here now....Eh?....You'll +pay for it if you do!" Shluker was snarling threateningly now. +"What?....Well, then, wait! I'll come over....No, you can bet I +won't be long! You wait! Understand?" + +He banged the receiver on the hook, and got up from his chair +hurriedly. + +"Fools!" he muttered savagely. "No, I won't be long gettin' there!" +He grabbed Rhoda Gray's arm. "Yes, and you come, too! You will +help me put a little sense into their heads, if it is possible - eh? +The fools!" + +The man was violently excited. He half pulled Rhoda Gray down the +length of the shop to the front door. Puzzled, bewildered, a little +uneasy, she watched him lock the door, and then followed him across +the courtyard, while he continued to mutter constantly to himself. + +"Wot's de matter?" she asked him twice. + +But it was not until they had reached the street, and Shluker was +hurrying along as fast as he could walk, that he answered her. + +"It's the Pug and Pinkie Bonn!" he jerked out angrily. "They're +in the Pug's room. Pinkie went back there after telephonin'. +They've nosed out something they want to put through. The fools! +And after last night nearly havin' finished everything! I told 'em +- you heard me - that everybody's to keep under cover now. But +they think they've got a soft thing, and they say they're goin' to +it. I've got to put a crimp in it, and you've got to help me. +Y'understand, Nan?" + +"Yes," she said mechanically. + +Her mind was working swiftly. The night, after all, perhaps, was +not to be so much of a failure! To get into intimate touch with +all the members of the clique was equally one of her objects, and, +failing Danglar himself to-night, here was an "open sesame" to the +re-treat of two of the others. She would never have a better chance, +or one in which risk and danger, under the chaperonage, as it were, +of Shluker here, were, if not entirely eliminated, at least reduced +to an apparently negligible minimum. Yes; she would go. To refuse +was to turn her back on her own proposed line of action, and on the +decision which she had made herself. + + +XII. CROOKS Vs. CROOKS + +It was not far. Shluker, hastening along, still muttering to +himself, turned into a cross street some two blocks away, and from +there again into a lane; and, a moment later, led the way through +a small door in the fence that hung, battered and half open, on +sagging and broken hinges. Rhoda Gray's eyes traveled sharply +around her in all directions. It was still light enough to see +fairly well, and she might at some future time find the bearings +she took now to be of inestimable worth. Not that there was much +to remark! They crossed a diminutive and disgustingly dirty +backyard, whose sole reason for existence seemed to be that of a +receptacle for old tin cans, and were confronted by the rear of +what appeared to be a four-story tenement. There was a back door +here, and, on the right of the door, fronting the yard, a single +window that was some four or five feet from the level of the ground. + +Shluker, without hesitation, opened the back door, shut it behind +them, led the way along a black, unlighted hall, and halting before +a door well toward the front of the building, knocked softly upon +it - giving two raps, a single rap, and then two more in quick +succession. There was no answer. He knocked again in precisely +the same manner, and then a footstep sounded from within, and the +door was flung open. "Fools!" growled Shluker in greeting, as they +stepped inside and the door was closed again. "A pair of brainless +fools!" + +There were two men there. They paid Shluker scant attention. They +both grinned at Rhoda Gray through the murky light supplied by a +wheezy and wholly inadequate gas-jet. + +"Hello, Nan!" gibed the smaller of the two. "Who let you out?" + +"Aw, forget it!" croaked Rhoda Gray. + +Shluker took up the cudgels. + +"You close your face, Pinkie!" he snapped. "Get down to cases! Do +you think I got nothing else to do but chase you two around like a +couple of puppy dogs that haven't got sense enough to take care of +themselves? Wasn't what I told you over the phone enough without +me havin' to come here?" + +"Nix on that stuff!" returned the one designated as Pinkie +imperturbably. "Say, you'll be glad you come when we lets you in +on a little piece of easy money. We ain't askin' your advice; all +we're askin' you to do is frame up the alibi, same as usual, for me +an' the Pug here in case we wants it." + +Shluker shook his fist. + +"Frame nothing!" he spluttered angrily. "Ain't I tellin' you that +the orders are not to make a move, that everything is off for a few +days? That's the word I got a little while ago, and the +Seven-Three-Nine is goin' out now. Nan'll tell you the same thing." + +"Sure!" corroborated Rhoda Gray, picking up the obvious cue. "Dat's +de straight goods." + +The two men were lounging beside a table that stood at the extreme +end of the room, and now for a moment they whispered together. And, +as they whispered, Rhoda Gray found her first opportunity to take +critical stock both of her surroundings and of the two men +themselves. Pinkie, a short, slight little man, she dismissed with +hardly a glance; he was the common type, with low, vicious cunning +stamped all over his face - an ordinary rat of the underworld. But +her glance rested longer on his companion. The Pug was indeed +entitled to his moniker! His face made her think of one. It seemed +to be all screwed up out of shape. Perhaps the eye-patch over the +right eye helped a little to put the finishing touch of repulsiveness +upon a countenance already most unpleasant. The celluloid eye-patch, +once flesh-colored, was now so dirty and smeared that its original +color was discernible only in spots, and the once white elastic cord +that circled his head and kept the patch in place was in equal +disrepute. A battered slouch hat came to the level of the eye-patch +in a forbidding sort of tilt. His left eyelid drooped until it was +scarcely open at all, and fluttered continually. One nostril of +his nose was entirely closed; and his mouth seemed to be twisted +out of shape, so that, even when in repose, the lips never entirely +met at one corner. And his ears, what she could see of them in the +poor light, and on account of the slouch hat, seemed to bear out the +low-type criminal impression the man gave her, in that they lay flat +back against his head. + +She turned her eyes away with a little shudder of repulsion, and +gave her attention to an inspection of the room. There was no +window, except a small one high up in the right-hand partition wall. +She quite understood what that meant. It was common enough, and all +too unsanitary enough, in these old and cheap tenements; the window +gave, not on the out-of-doors, but on a light-well. For the, rest, +it was a room she had seen a thousand times before - carpetless, +unfurnished save for the barest necessities, dirt everywhere, +unkempt. + +Pinkie Bonn broke in abruptly upon her inspection. + +"That's all right!" he announced airily. "We'll let Nan in on it, +too. The Pug an' me figures she can give us a hand." + +Shluker's wizened little face seemed suddenly to go purple. + +"Are you tryin' to make a fool of me?" he half screamed. "Or can't +you understand English? D'ye want me to keep on tellin' you till +I'm hoarse that there ain't nobody goin' in with you, because you +am't goin' in yourself! See? Understand that? There's nothing +doin' to-night for anybody - and that means you!" + +"Aw, shut up, Shluker!" It was the Pug now, a curious whispering +sibilancy in his voice, due no doubt to the disfigurement of his +lips. "Give Pinkie a chance to shoot his spiel before youse injure +yerself throwin' a fit! Go on, Pinkie, spill it." + +"Sure!" said Pinkie eagerly. "Listen, Shluk! It ain't any crib +we're wantin' to crack, or nothin' like that. It's just a couple +of crooks that won't dare open their yaps to the bulls, 'cause what +we're after 'll be what they'll have pinched themselves. See?" + +Shluker's face lost some of its belligerency, and in its place a +dawning interest came. + +"What's that?" he demanded cautiously. "What crooks?" + +"French Pete an' Marny Day," said Pinkie - and grinned. + +"Oh!" Shluker's eyebrows went up. He looked at the Pug, and the +Pug winked knowingly with his half-closed left eyelid. Shluker +reached out for a chair, and, finding it suspiciously wobbly, +straddled it warily. "Mabbe I've been in wrong," he admitted. +"What's the lay?" + +"Me," said Pinkie, "I was down to Charlie's this afternoon havin' +a little lay-off, an'" + +"One of these days," interrupted Shluker sharply, "you'll go out +like" - he snapped his fingers - "that!" "Can't you leave the stuff +alone?" + +"I got to have me bit of coke," Pinkie answered, with a shrug of +his shoulders. "An', anyway, I'm no pipe-hitter. + +"It's all the same whatever way you take it!" retorted Shluker. +"Well, go on with your story. You went down to Charlie's dope +parlors, and jabbed a needle into yourself, or took it some other +old way. I get you! What happened then?" + +"It was about an hour ago," resumed Pinkie Bonn with undisturbed +complacency. "Just as I was beatin' it out of there by the cellar, +I hears some whisperin' as I was passin' one of the end doors. +Savvy? I hadn't made no noise, an' they hadn't heard me. I gets +a peek in, 'cause the door's cracked. It was French Pete an' Marny +Day. I listens. An' after about two seconds I was goin' shaky for +fear some one would come along an' I wouldn't get the whole of it. +Take it from me, Shluk, it was some goods!" + +Shluker grunted noncommittingly. + +"Well, go on!" he prompted. + +"I didn't get all the fine points," grinned Pinkie; "but I got +enough. There was a guy by the name of Dainey who used to live +somewhere on the East Side here, an' he used to work in some +sweat-shop, an' he worked till he got pretty old, an' then his +lungs, or something, went bad on him, an' he went broke. An' the +doctor said he had to beat it out of here to a more salubrious +climate. Some nut filled his ear full 'bout gold huntin' up in +Alaska, an' he fell for it. He chewed it over with his wife, an' +she was for it too, 'cause the doctor 'd told her her old man would +bump off if he stuck around here, an' they hadn't any money to get +away together. She figured she could get along workin' out by the +day till he came back a millionaire; an' old Dainey started off. + +"I dunno how he got there. I'm just fillin' in what I hears French +Pete an' Marny talkin' about. I guess mostly he beat his way there +ridin' the rods; but, anyway, he got there. See? An' then he goes +down sick there again, an' a hospital, or some outfit, has to take +care of him for a couple of years; an' back here the old woman got +kind of feeble an' on her uppers, an there was hell to pay, an' -" + +"Wot's bitin' youse, Nan?" The Pug's lisping whisper broke sharply +in upon Pinkie Bonn's story. + +Rhoda Gray started. She was conscious now that she had been leaning +forward, staring in a startled way at Pinkie as he talked; conscious +now that for a moment she had forgotten - that she was Gypsy Nan. +But she was mistress of herself on the instant, and she scowled +blackly at the Pug. + +"Mabbe it's me soft heart dat's touched!" she flung out acidly. +"Youse close yer trap, an' let Pinkie talk!" + +"Yes, shut up!" said Pinkie. "What was I sayin'? Oh, yes! An' +then the old guy makes a strike. Can you beat it! I dunno nothing +about the way they pull them things, but he's off by his lonesome +out somewhere, an' he finds gold, an' stakes out his claim, but +he takes sick again an' can't work it, an' it's all he can do to +get back alive to civilization. He keeps his mouth shut for a +while, figurin' he'll get strong again, but it ain't no good, an' +he gets a letter from the old woman tellin' how bad she is, an' +then he shows some of the stuff he'd found. After that there's +nothing to it! Everybody's beatin' it for the place; but, at that, +old Dainey comes out of it all right, an' goes crazy with joy +'cause some guy offers him twenty-five thousand bucks for his claim, +an' throws in the expenses home for good luck. He gets the money +in cash, twenty-five one-thousand-dollar bills, an' the chicken +feed for the expenses, an' starts for back here an' the old woman. +But this time he don't keep his mouth shut about it when he'd have +been better off if he had. See? He was tellin' about it on the +train. I guess he was tellin' about it all the way across. But, +anyway, he tells about it comm' from Philly this afternoon, an' +French Pete an' Marny Day happens to be on the train, an' they +hears it, an' frames it up to annex the coin before morning, 'cause +he's got in too late to get the money into any bank to-day." + +Pinkie Bonn paused, and stuck his tongue significantly in his cheek. + +Shluker was rubbing his hands together now in a sort of unctuous +way. + +"It sounds pretty good," he murmured; "only there's Danglar -" + +"Youse leave Danglar to me!" broke in the Pug. "As soon as we +hands one to dem two boobs an' gets de cash, Pinkie can beat it +back here wid de coin an wait fer me while I finds Danglar an' +squares it wid him. He ain't goin' to put up no holler at dat. We +ain't runnin' de gang into nothin'. Dis is private business - see? +So youse just take a sneak wid yerself, an' fix a nice little alibi +fer us so's we won't be takin' any chances." + +Shluker frowned. + +"But what's the good of that?" he demurred. "French Pete and +Marny Day '11 see you anyway." + +"Will dey!" scoffed the Pug. "Guess once more! A coupla +handkerchiefs over our mugs is good enough fer dem, if youse holds +yer end up. An' dey wouldn't talk fer publication, anyway, would +dey?" + +Shluker smiled now-almost ingratiatingly. + +"And how much is my end worth?" he inquired softly. + +"One of dem thousand-dollar engravin's," stated the Pug promptly. +"An' Pinkie'll run around an' slip it to youse before mornin'" + +"All right," said Shluker, after a moment. "It's half past eight +now. From nine o'clock on, you can beat any jury in New York to it +that you were both at the same old place - as long as you keep +decently under cover. That'll do, won't it? I'll fix it. But I +don't see -" + +Rhoda Gray, as Gypsy Nan, for the first time projected herself into +the discussion. She cackled suddenly in jeering mirth. + +"I t'ought something was wrong wid her!" whispered the Pug with +mock anxiety. "Mabbe she ain't well! Tell us about it, Nan!" + +"When I do," she said complacently, "mabbe youse'll smile out of de +other corner of dat mouth of yers!" She turned to Shluker. "Youse +needn't lay awake waitin' fer dat thousand, Shluker, 'cause youse'll +never see it. De little game's all off - 'cause it's already been +pulled. See? Dere was near a riot as I passes along a street goin' +to yer place, an' I gets piped off to wot's up, an' it's de same +story dat Pinkie's told, an' de crib's cracked, an' de money's gone +- dat's all." + +Shluker's face fell. + +"I said you were fools when I first came in here!" he burst out +suddenly, wheeling on Pinkie Bonn and the Pug. "I'm sure of it now. +I was wonderin a minute ago how you were goin' to keep your lamps on +Pete and Marny from here, or know when they were goin' to pull their +stunt, or where to find 'em." + +Pinkie Bonn, ignoring Shluker, leaned toward Rhoda Gray. + +"Say, Nan, is that straight?" he inquired anxiously. "You sure?" + +"Sure, I'm sure!" Rhoda Gray asserted tersely. The one thought in +her head now was that her information would naturally deprive these +men here of any further interest in the matter, and that she would +get away as quickly as possible, and, in some way or other, see that +the police were tipped off to the fact that it was French Pete and +Marny Day who had taken the old couple's money. Those two old faces +rose before her again now - blotting out most curiously the face of +Pinkie Bonn just in front of her. She felt strangely glad - glad +that she had heard all of old Dainey's story, because she could see +now an ending to it other than the miserable, hopeless one of +despair that she had read in the Daineys' faces just a little while +ago. "Sure, I'm sure!" she repeated with finality. + +"How long ago was it?" prodded Pinkie. + +"I dunno," she answered. "I just went to Shluker's, an' den we +comes over here. Youse can figure it fer yerself." + +And then Rhoda Gray stared at the other - with sudden misgiving. +Pinkie Bonn's face was suddenly wreathed in smiles. + +"I'll answer you now, Shluk," he grinned. "What do you think? That +we're nuts, me an' Pug? Well, forget it! We didn't have to stick +around watchin' Pete an' Marny; we just had to wait until they had +collected the dough. That was the most trouble we had - wonderin' +when that would be. Well, we don't have to wonder any more. We +know now that the cherries are ripe. See? An' now we'll go an' +pick 'em! Where? Where d'ye suppose? Down to Charlie's, of course! +I hears 'em talkin' about that, too. They ain't so foolish! They're +out for an alibi themselves. Get the idea? They was to sneak out +of Charlie's without anybody seem' 'em, an' if everything broke +right for 'em, they was to sneak back again an' spend the night +there. No, they ain't so foolish - I guess they ain't! There ain't +no place in New York you can get in an' out of without nobody knowin' +it like Charlie's, if you know the way, an -" + +"Aw, write de rest of it down in yer memoirs!" interposed the Pug +impatiently - and moved toward the door. "It's all right, Shluker +- all de way. Now, everybody beat it, an' get on de job. Nan, +youse sticks wid Pinkie an' me." + +Rhoda Gray, her mind in confusion, found herself being crowded +hurriedly through the doorway by the three men. Still in a mentally +confused condition, she found herself, a few minutes later - Shluker +having parted company with them - walking along the street between +Pinkie Bonn and the Pug. She was fighting desperately to obtain a +rip upon herself. The information she had volunteered had had an +effect diametrically opposite to that which she had intended. She +seemed terribly impotent; as though she were being swept from her +feet and borne onward by some swift and remorseless current, whether +she would or no. + +The Pug, in his curious whisper, was talking to her: "Pinkie knows +de way in. We don't want any row in dere, on account of Charlie. +We ain't fer puttin' his place on de rough, an' gettin' him raided +by de bulls. Charlie's all to de good. See? Well, dat's wot 'd +likely happen if me an' Pinkie busts in on Pete an' Marny widout +sendin' in our visitin'-cards first, polite-like. Dey would pull +deir guns, an' though we'd get de coin just de same, dere'd be hell +to pay fer Charlie, an' de whole place 'd go up in fireworks right +off de bat. Well, dis is where youse come in. Youse are de +visitin'-card. Youse gets into deir bunk room, pretendin' youse +have made a mistake, an' youse leaves de door open behind youse. +Dey don't know youse, an', bein' a woman, dey won't pull no gun on +youse. An' den youse breaks it gently to dem dat dere's a coupla +gents outside, an' just about den dey looks up an' sees me an' +Pinkie an' our guns-an' I guess dat's all. Get it?" + +"Sure!" mumbled Rhoda Gray. + +The Pug talked on. She did not hear him. It seemed as though her +brain ached literally with an acute physical pain. What was she +to do? What could she do? She must do something! There must +be some way to save herself from being drawn into the very center +of this vortex toward which she was being swept closer with every +second that passed. Those two old faces, haggard in their despair +and misery, rose before her again. She felt her heart sink. She +had counted, only a few moments before, on getting their money +back for them - through the police. The police! How could she +get any word to the police now, without first getting away from +these two men here? And suppose she did get away, and found some +means of communicating with the authorities, it would be Pinkie +Bonn here, and the Pug, who would fall into the meshes of the law +quite as much as would French Pete and Marny Day; and to have Pinkie +and the Pug apprehended now, just as they seemed to be opening the +gateway for her into the inner secrets of the gang, meant ruin to +her own hopes and plans. And to refuse to go on with them now, as +one of them, would certainly excite their suspicions - and suspicion +of Gypsy Nan was the end of everything for her. + +Her hands, under her shawl, clenched until the nails bit into her +palms. Couldn't she do anything? And there was the money, too, +for those two old people. Wasn't there any - She caught her breath. +Yes, yes! Perhaps there was a way to save the money; yes, and at +the same time to place herself on a firmer footing of intimacy with +these two men here - if she went on with this. But - She shook her +head. She could not afford "buts" now; they must take care of +themselves afterwards. She would play Gypsy Nan now without +reservation. These two men here, like Shluker, were obviously +ignorant that Gypsy Nan was Danglar's wife; so she was - Pinkie +Bonn's hand was on her arm. She had stumbled. + +"Look out for yourself!" he cautioned under his breath. "Don't +make a sound!" + +They had drawn into a very dark and narrow area way between two +buildings, and now Pinkie kept his touch upon her as he led the way +along. What was this "Charlie's"? She did not know, except that, +from what had been said, it was a drug dive of some kind, patronized +extensively by the denizens of the underworld. She did not know +where she was now, save that she had suddenly left one of the +out-of-the--way East Side streets. + +Pinkie halted suddenly, and, bending down, lifted up what was +evidently a half section of the folding trapdoor to a cellar +entrance. + +"There's only a few of us regulars wise to this," whispered Pinkie. +"Watch yourself! There's five steps. Count 'em, so's you won't +trip. Keep hold of me all the way. An' nix on the noise, or we +won't get away with it inside. Leave the trap open, Pug, for our +getaway. We ain't goin' to be long. Come on!" + +It was horribly dark. Rhoda Gray, with her hand on Pinkie Bonn's +shoulder, descended the five steps. She felt the Pug keeping touch +behind by holding the corner of her shawl. They went forward softly, +slowly, stealthily. She felt her knees shake a little, and suddenly +panic seized her, and she wanted to scream out. What was she doing? +Where was she going? Was she mad, that she had ventured into this +trap of blackness? Blackness! It was hideously black. She looked +behind her. She could not see the Pug, close as he was to her; and +dark as she had thought it outside there at the cellar entrance, it +appeared by contrast to have been light, for she could even +distinguish now the opening through which they had come. + +They were in a cellar that was damp underfoot, and the soft earth +deadened all sound as they walked upon it - and they seemed to be +walking on interminably. It was too far - much too far! She felt +her nerve failing her. She looked behind her again. That opening, +still discernible to her straining eyes, beckoned her, lured her. +Better to... + +Pinkie had halted again. She bumped into him. And then she felt +his lips press against her ear. + +"Here we are!" he breathed. "They got the end room on the right, +so's they could get in an' out with out bein' seen, an so's even +Charlie'd swear they was here all the time. You're too old a bird +to fall down, Nan. If the door's locked, knock - an' give 'em any +old kind of a song an' dance till you gets 'em off their guard. +The Pug an' me '11 see you through. Go it!" + +Before Rhoda Gray could reply, Pinkie had stepped suddenly to one +side. A door in front of her, a sliding door it seemed to be, +opened noiselessly, and she could see a faintly lighted, narrow, +and very short passage ahead of her. It appeared to make a +right-angled turn just a few yards in, and what light there was +seemed to filter in from around the corner. And on each side of +the passage, before it made the turn, there was a door, and from +the one on the right, through a cracked panel, a tiny thread of +light seeped out. + +Her lips moved silently. After all, it was not so perilous. Nobody +would be hurt. Pinkie and the Pug would cover those two men in +there - and take the money - and run for it - and... + +The Pug gave her an encouraging push from behind. + +She moved forward mechanically. There were many sounds now, but +they came muffled and indeterminate from around that corner ahead +- all save a low murmuring of voices from the door with the cracked +panel on the right. + +It was only a few feet. She found herself crouched before the door +- but she did not knock upon it. Instead, her blood seemed suddenly +to run cold in her veins, and she beckoned frantically to her two +companions. She could see through the crack in the panel. There +were two men in there, French Pete and Marny Day undoubtedly, and +they sat on opposite sides of a table, and a lamp burned on the +table, and one of the men was counting out a sheaf of crisp +yellow-back banknotes - but the other, while apparently engrossed +in the first man's occupation, and while he leaned forward in +apparent eagerness, was edging one hand stealthily toward the lamp, +and his other hand, hidden from his companion's view by the table, +was just drawing a revolver from his pocket. There was no mistaking +the man's murderous intentions. A dull horror, that numbed her +brain, seized upon Rhoda Gray; the low-type brutal faces under the +rays of the lamp seemed to assume the aspect of two monstrous +gargoyles, and to spin around and around before her vision; and then +- it could only have been but the fraction of a second since she had +begun to beckon to Pinkie and the Pug - she felt herself pulled +unceremoniously away from the door, and the Pug leaned forward in +her place, his eyes to the crack in the panel. + +She heard a low, quick-muttered exclamation from the Pug; and then +suddenly, as the lamp was obviously extinguished, that crack of +light in the panel had vanished. But in an instant, curiously like +a jagged lightning flash, light showed through the crack again - and +vanished again. It was the flash of a revolver shot from within, +and the roar of the report came now like the roll of thunder on its +heels. + +Rhoda Gray was back against the opposite wall. She saw the Pug +fling himself against the door. It was a flimsy affair. It +crashed inward. She heard him call to Pinkie: + +"Shoot yer flash on de table, an' grab de coin! I'll fix de other +guy!" + +Were eternities passing? Her eyes were fascinated by the interior +beyond that broken door. It was utterly dark inside there, save +that the ray of a flashlight played now on the table, and a hand +reached out and snatched up a scattered sheaf of banknotes; and +on the outer edge of the ray two shadowy forms struggled and one +went down. Then the flashlight went out She heard the Pug speak: + +"Beat it!" + +Commotion came now; cries and footsteps from around that corner in +the passage. The Pug grasped her by the shoulders, and rushed her +back into the cellar. She was conscious, it seemed, only in a dazed +and mechanical way. There were men in the passage running toward +them - and then the passage had disappeared. Pinkie Bonn had shut +the connecting door. + +"Hop it like blazes!" whispered the Pug, as they ran for the faint +glimmer of light that located the cellar exit. "Separate de minute +we're outside!" he ordered. "Dere's murder in dere. Pete shot +Marny. I put Pete to sleep wid a punch on de jaw; but de bunch +knows now some one else was dere, an' Pete'll swear it was us, +though he don't know who we was dat did de shootin'. I gotta make +dis straight right off de bat wid Danglar." His whispering voice +was labored, panting; they were climbing up the steps now. "Youse +take de money to my room, Pinkie, an' wait fer me. I won't be much +more'n half an hour. Nan, youse beat it fer yer garret, an' stay +dere!" + +They were outside. The Pug had disappeared in the darkness. Pinkie +was closing, and evidently fastening, the trap-door. + +"The other way, Nan!" he flung out, as she started to run. "That +takes you to the other street, an' they can't get around that way +without goin' around the whole block. Me for a fence I knows about, +an' we gives 'em the merry laugh! Go on!" + +She ran - ran breathlessly, stumbling, half falling, her hands +stretched out before her to serve almost in lieu of eyes, for she +could make out scarcely anything in front of her. She emerged upon +a street. It seemed abnormal, the quiet, the lack of commotion, the +laughter, the unconcern in the voices of the passers-by among whom +she suddenly found herself. She hurried from the neighborhood. + + +XI. THE DOOR ACROSS THE HALL + +It was many blocks away before calmness came again to Rhoda Gray, +and before it seemed, even, that her brain would resume its normal +functions; but with the numbed horror once gone, there came in its +place, like some surging tide, a fierce virility that would not be +denied. The money! The old couple on that doorstep, stripped of +their all! Wasn't that one reason why she had gone on with Pinkie +Bonn and the Pug? Hadn't she seen a way, or at least a chance, +to get that money back? + +Rhoda Gray looked quickly about her. On the corner ahead she saw +a drug store, and started briskly in that direction. Yes, there +was a way! The idea had first come to her from the Pug's remark +to Shluker that, after they had secured the money, Pinkie would +return with it to the Pug's room, while the Pug would go and +square things with Danglar. And also, at the same time, that same +remark of the Pug's had given rise to a hope that she might yet +trace Danglar to night through the Pug - but the circumstances and +happenings of the last few minutes had shattered that hope utterly. +And so there remained the money. And, as she had walked with Pinkie +and the Pug a little while ago, knowing that Pinkie would, if they +were successful, carry the money back to the Pug's room, just as +was being done now precisely in accordance with the Pug's original +intentions, she had thought of the Adventurer. It had seemed the +only way then; it seemed the only way now - despite the fact that +she would be hard put to it to answer the Adventurer if he thought +to ask her how, or by what means, she was in possession of the +information that enabled her to communicate with him. But she must +risk that - put him off, if necessary, through the plea of haste, +and on the ground that there was not time to-night for an unnecessary +word. He had given her, believing her to be Gypsy Nan, his telephone +number, which she, in turn, was to transmit to the White Moll - in +other words, herself! But the White Moll, so he believed, had never +received that message - and it must of necessity be as the White +Moll that she must communicate with him to-night! It would be hard +to explain - she meant to evade it. The one vital point was that +she remembered the telephone number he had given her that night when +he and Danglar had met in the garret. She was not likely to have +forgotten it! + +Rhoda Gray, alias Gypsy Nan, scuffled along. Was she inconsistent? +The Adventurer would be in his element in going to the Pug's room, +and in relieving Pinkie Bonn of that money; but the Adventurer, too, +was a thief-wasn't he? Why, then, did she propose, for her mind +was now certainly made up as to her course of action, to trust a +thief to recover that money for her? + +She smiled a little wearily as she reached the drug store, stepped +into the telephone booth, and gave central her call. Trust a thief! +No, it wasn't because her heart prompted her to believe in him; it +was because her head assured her she was safe in doing so. She +could trust him in an instance such as this because - well, because +once before, for her sake he had foregone the opportunity of +appropriating a certain diamond necklace worth a hundred times the +sum that she would ask him - yes, if necessary, for her sake - to +recover to-night. There was no... + +She was listening in a startled way now at the instrument. Central +had given her "information"; and "information" was informing her +that the number she had asked for had been disconnected. + +She hung up the receiver, and went out again to the street in a +dazed and bewildered way. And then suddenly a smile of bitter +self-derision crossed her lips. She had been a fool! There was no +softer word - a fool! Why had she not stopped to think? She +understood now! On the night the Adventurer had confided that +telephone number to her as Gypsy Nan, he had had every reason to +believe that Gypsy Nan would, as she had already apparently done, +befriend the White Moll even to the extent of accepting no little +personal risk in so doing. But since then things had taken a very +different turn. The White Moll was now held by the gang, of which +Gypsy Nan was supposed to be a member, to be the one who had of late +profited by the gang's plans to the gang's discomfiture; and the +Adventurer was ranked but little lower in the scale of hatred, since +they counted him to be the White Moll's accomplice. Knowing this, +therefore, the first thing the Adventurer would naturally do would +be to destroy the clew, in the shape of that telephone number, that +would lead to his whereabouts, and which he of course believed he +had put into the gang's hands when he had confided in Gypsy Nan. +Had he not told her, no later than last night, that Gypsy Nan was +her worst enemy? He did not know, did he, that Gypsy Nan and the +White Moll were one! And so that telephone had been disconnected +- and to-night, now, just when she needed help at a crucial moment, +when she had counted upon the Adventurer to supply it, there was no +Adventurer, no means of reaching him, and no means any more of +knowing where he was! + +Rhoda Gray walked on along the street, her lips tight, her face +drawn and hard. Failing the Adventurer, there remained - the police. +If she telephoned the police and sent them to the Pug's room, they +would of a certainty recover the money, and with equal certainty +restore it to its rightful owners. She had already thought of that +when she had been with Pinkie and the Pug, and had been loath even +then to take such a step because it seemed to spell ruin to her own +personal plans; but now there was another reason, and one far more +cogent, why she should not do so. There had been murder committed +back there in that underground drug-dive, and of that murder Pinkie +Bonn was innocent; but if Pinkie were found in possession of that +money, and French Pete, to save his own skin from the consequences +of a greater crime, admitted to its original theft, Pinkie would be +convicted out of hand, for there were the others in that dive, who +had come running along the passage, to testify that an attack had +been made on the door of French Pete and Marny Day's room, and that +the thieves and murderers had fled through the cellar and escaped. + +Her lips pressed harder together. And so there was no Adventurer +upon whom she could call, and no police, and no one in all the +millions in this great pulsing city to whom she could appeal; and +so there remained only - herself. + +Well, she could do it, couldn't she? Not as Gypsy Nan, of course +- but as the White Moll. It would be worth it, wouldn't it? If +she were sincere, and not a moral hypocrite in her sympathy for +those two outraged old people in the twilight of their lives, and +if she were not a moral coward, there remained no question as to +what her decision should be. + +Her mind began to mull over the details. Subconsciously, since +the moment she had made her escape from that cellar, she found now +that she had been walking in the direction of the garret that +sheltered her as Gypsy Nan. In another five minutes she could +reach that deserted shed in the lane behind Gypsy Nan's house where +her own clothes were hidden, and it would take her but a very few +minutes more to effect the transformation from Gypsy Nan to the +White Moll. And then, in another ten minutes, she should be back +again at the Pug's room. The Pug had said he would not be much more +than half an hour, but, as nearly as she could calculate it, that +would still give her from five to ten minutes alone with Pinkie +Bonn. It was enough - more than enough. The prestige of the White +Moll would do the rest. A revolver in the hands of the White Moll +would insure instant and obedient respect from Pinkie Bonn, or any +other member of the gang under similar conditions. And so - and so +- it - would not be difficult. Only there was a queer fluttering +at her heart now, and her breath came in hard, short little +inhalations. And she spoke suddenly to herself: + +"I'm glad," she whispered, "I'm glad I saw those two old faces on +that doorstep, because - because, if I hadn't, I - I would be afraid." + +The minutes passed. The dissolute figure of an old hag disappeared, +like a deeper shadow in the blackness of a lane, through the broken +door of a deserted shed; presently a slim, neat little figure, +heavily veiled, emerged. Again the minutes passed. And now the +veiled figure let herself in through the back door of the Pug's +lodging house, and stole softly down the dark hall, and halted +before the Pug's door. It was the White Moll now. + +From under the door, at the ill-fitting threshold, there showed a +thin line of light. Rhoda Gray, with her ear against the door panel, +listened. There was no sound of voices from within. Pinkie Bonn, +then, was still alone, and still waiting for the Pug. She glanced +sharply around her. There was only darkness. Her gloved right hand +was hidden in the folds of her skirt; she raised her left hand and +knocked softly upon the door-two raps, one rap, two raps. She +repeated it. And as it had been with Shluker, so it was now with +her. A footstep crossed the floor within, the key turned in the +lock, and the door was flung open. + +"All right, Pug," said Pinkie Bonn, "I -" + +The man's words ended in a gasp of surprised amazement. With a +quick step forward, Rhoda Gray was in the room. Her revolver, +suddenly outflung, covered the other; and her free hand, reaching +behind her, closed and locked the door again. + +There was an almost stupid look of bewilderment on Pinkie Bonn's +face. + +Rhoda Gray threw back her veil. + +"My Gawd!" mumbled Pinkie Bonn - and licked his lips. "The White +Moll!" + +"Yes!" said Rhoda Gray tersely. "Put your hands up over your head +and go over there and stand against the wall - with your face to it!" + +Pinkie Bonn, like an automaton moved purely by mechanical means, +obeyed. + +Rhoda Gray followed him, and with the muzzle of her revolver +pressed into the small of the man's back, felt rapidly over his +clothes with her left hand for the bulge of his revolver. She +found and possessed herself of the weapon, and, stepping back, +ordered him to turn around again. + +"I haven't much time," she said icily. "I'll trouble you now for +the cash you took from Marny Day and French Pete." + +"My Gawd!" he mumbled again. "You know about that!" + +"Quick!" she said imperatively. "Put it on the table there, and +then go back again to the wall!" + +Pinkie Bonn fumbled in his pocket. His face was white, almost +chalky white, and it held fear; but its dominant expression was one +of helpless stupefaction. He placed the sheaf of banknotes on the +table, and shuffled back again to the wall. + +Rhoda Gray picked up the money, and retreated to the door. Still +facing the man, working with her left hand behind her back, she +unlocked the door again, and this time removed the key from the lock. + +"You are quite safe here," she observed evenly, "since there appears +to be no window through which you could get out; but you might make +it a little unpleasant for me if you gave the alarm and aroused the +other occupants of the house before I had got well away. I dare say +that was in your mind, but - she opened the door slightly, and +inserted the key on the outer side - "I am quite sure you will +reconsider any such intentions - Pinkie. It would be a very +disastrous thing for you if I were caught. Somebody is 'wanted' for +the murder of Marny Day at Charlie's a little while ago, and a jury +would undoubtedly decide that the guilty man was the one who broke +in the door there and stole the money. And if I were caught and +were obliged to confess that I got it from you, and French Pete +swore that it was whoever broke into the room that shot his pal, it +might go hard with you, Pinkie - don't you think so?" She smiled +coldly at the man's staring eyes and dropped jaw. "Good-night, +Pinkie; I know you won't make any noise," she said softly - and +suddenly opened the door, and in a flash stepped back into the hall, +and closed and locked the door, and whipped out the key from the +lock. + +And inside Pinkie Bonn made no sound. + +It was done now. Rhoda Gray drew in her breath in a great choking +gasp of relief. She found herself trembling violently. She found +her limbs were bearing her none too steadily, as she began to grope +her way now along the black hall toward the back door. But it was +done now, and - No, she was not safe away, even yet! Some one was +coming in through that back door just ahead of her; or, at least, +she heard voices out there. + +She was just at the end of the hall now. There was no time to go +back and risk the front entrance. She darted across the hall to +the opposite side from that of the Pug's room, because on that side +the opening of the door would not necessarily expose her, and +crouched down in the corner. It was black here, perhaps black +enough to escape observation. She listened, her heart beating +wildly. The voices outside continued. Why were they lingering +there? Why didn't they do one thing or the other - either go away, +or come in? There wasn't any too much time! The Pug might be +back at any minute now. Perhaps one of those people out there was +the Pug! Perhaps it would be better after all to run back and go +out by the front door, risky as that would be. No, her escape in +that direction now was cut off, too! + +She shrank as far back into the corner as she could. The door of +the end room on this side of the hall had opened, and now a man +stepped out and closed the door behind him. Would he see her? She +held her breath. No! It - it was all right. He was walking away +from her toward the front of the hall. And now for a moment it +seemed as though she had lost her senses, as though her brain were +playing some mad, wild trick upon her. Wasn't that the Pug's door +before which the man had stopped? Yes, yes! And he seemed to have +a key to it, for he did not knock, and the door was opening, and +now for an instant, just an instant, the light fell upon the man +as he stepped with a quick, lightning-like movement inside, and she +saw his face. It was the Adventurer. + +She stifled a little cry. Her brain was in turmoil. And now the +back door was opening. They - they might see her here! And - yes +- it was safer - safer to act on the sudden inspiration that had +come to her. The door of the room from which the Adventurer had +emerged was almost within reach; and he had not locked it as he had +gone out - she had subconsciously noted that fact. And she +understood why he had not now - that he had safeguarded himself +against the loss of even the second or two it would have taken +him to unlock it when he ran back for cover again from the Pug's +room. Yes-that room! It was the safest thing she could do. She +could even get out that way, for it must be the room with the low +window, which she remembered gave on the back yard, and - She +darted silently forward, and, as the back door opened, slipped into +the room the Adventurer had just vacated. + +It was pitch black. She must not make a sound; but, equally, she +must not lose a second. What was taking place in the Pug's room +between Pinkie Bonn and the Adventurer she did not know. But the +Adventurer was obviously on one of his marauding expeditions, and +he might stay there no more than a minute or two once he found out +that he had been forestalled. She must hurry - hurry! + +She felt her way forward in what she believed to be the direction +of the window. She ran against the bed. But this afforded her +something by which to guide herself. She kept her touch upon it, +her hand trailing along its edge. And then, halfway down its +length, what seemed to be a piece of string caught in her extended, +groping fingers. It seemed to cling, but also to yield most +curiously, as she tried to shake it off; and then something, +evidently from under the mattress, came away with a little jerk, +and remained, suspended, in her hand. + +It didn't matter, did it? Nothing mattered except to reach the +window. Yes, here it was now! And the roller shade was drawn down; +that was why the room was so dark. She raised the shade quickly +- and suddenly stood there as though transfixed, her face paling, +as in the faint light by the window she gazed, fascinated, at the +object that still dangled by a cord from her hand. + +And it seemed as if an inner darkness were suddenly riven as by a +bolt of lightning - a hundred things, once obscure and +incomprehensible, were clear now, terribly clear. She understood +now how the Adventurer was privy to all the inner workings of the +organization; she understood now how it was, and why, the Adventurer +had a room so close to that other room across the hall. That +dangling thing on an elastic cord was a smeared and dirty celluloid +eye-patch that had once been flesh-colored! The Adventurer and the +Pug were one! + + +Her wits! Quick! He must not know! In a frenzy of haste she ran +for the bed, and slipped the eye-patch in under the mattress again; +and then, still with frenzied speed, she climbed to the window sill, +drew the roller shade down again behind her, and dropped to the +ground. + +Through the back yard and lane she gained the street, and sped on +along the street - but her thoughts outpaced her hurrying footsteps. +How minutely every detail of the night now seemed to explain itself +and dovetail with every other one! At the time, when Shluker had +been present, it had struck her as a little forced and unnecessary +that the Pug should have volunteered to seek out Danglar with +explanations after the money had been secured. But she understood +now the craft and guile that lay behind his apparently innocent plan. +The Adventurer needed both time and an alibi, and also he required +an excuse for making Pinkie Bonn the custodian of the stolen money, +and of getting Pinkie alone with that money in the Pug's room. +Going to Danglar supplied all this. He had hurried back, changed +in that room from the Pug to the Adventurer, and proposed in the +latter character to relieve Pinkie of the money, to return then +across the hall, become the Pug again, and then go back, as though +he had just come from Danglar, to find his friend and ally, Pinkie +Bonn, robbed by their mutual arch-enemy - the Adventurer! + +The Pug-the Adventurer! She did not quite seem to grasp its +significance as applied to her in a personal way. It seemed to +branch out into endless ramifications. She could not somehow think +logically, coolly enough now, to decide what this meant in a +concrete way to her, and her to-morrow, and the days after the +to-morrow. + +She hurried on. To-night, as she would lay awake through the hours +that were to come, for sleep was a thing denied, perhaps a clearer +vision would be given her. For the moment there - there was +something else - wasn't there? The money that belonged to the old +couple. + +She hurried on. She came again to the street where the old couple +lived. It was a dirty street, and from the curb she stooped and +picked up a dirty piece of old newspaper. She wrapped the banknotes +in the paper. + +There were not many people on the street as she neared the mean +little frame house, but she loitered until for the moment the +immediate vicinity was deserted; then she slipped into the alleyway, +and stole close to the side window, through which, she had noted +from the street, there shone a light. Yes, they were there, the +two of them - she could see them quite distinctly even through +the shutters. + +She went back to the front door then, and knocked. And presently +the old woman came and opened the door. + +"This is yours," Rhoda said, and thrust the package into the woman's +hand. And as the woman looked from her to the package +uncomprehendingly, Rhoda Gray flung a quick "good-night" over her +shoulder, and ran down the steps again. + +But a few moments later she stole back, and stood for an instant +once more by the shuttered window in the alleyway. And suddenly +her eyes grew dim. She saw an old man, white and haggard, with +bandaged head, sitting in a chair, the tears streaming down +his face; and on the floor, her face hidden on the other's knees, +a woman knelt - and the man's hand stroked and stroked the thin +gray hair on the woman' s head. + +And Rhoda Gray turned away. And out in the street her face was +lifted and she looked upward, and there were myriad stars. And +there seemed a beauty in them that she had never seen before, and +a great, comforting serenity. And they seemed to promise something +- that through the window of that stark and evil garret to which +she was going now, they would keep her dreaded vigil with her until +morning came again. + + +XIV. THE LAME MAN + +Another night - another day! And the night again had been without +rest, lest Danglar's dreaded footstep come upon her unawares; and +the day again had been one of restless, abortive activity, now +prowling the streets as Gypsy Nan, now returning to the garret to +fling herself upon the cot in the hope that in daylight, when +she might risk it, sleep would come, but it had been without avail, +for, in spite of physical weariness, it seemed to Rhoda Gray as +though her tortured mind would never let her sleep again. Danglar's +wife! That was the horror that was in her brain, yes, and in her +soul, and that would not leave her. + +And now night was coming upon her once more. It had even begun to +grow dark here on the lower stairway that led up to that wretched, +haunted garret above where in the shadows stark terror lurked. +Strange! Most strange! She feared the night - and yet she welcomed +it. In a little while, when it grew a little darker, she would +steal out again and take up her work once more. It was only during +the night, under the veil of darkness, that she could hope to make +any progress in reaching to the heart and core of this criminal +clique which surrounded her, whose members accepted her as Gypsy +Nan, and, therefore, as one of themselves, and who would accord to +her, if they but even suspected her to be the White Mall, less mercy +than would be shown to a mad dog. + +She climbed the stairs. Fear was upon her now, because fear was +always there, and with it was abhorrence and loathing at the +frightful existence fate had thrust upon her; but, somehow, to-night +she was not so depressed, not so hopeless, as she had been the night +before. There had been a little success; she had come a little +farther along the way; she knew a little more than she had known +before of the inner workings of the gang who were at the bottom of +the crime of which she herself was accused. She knew now the +Adventurer's secret, that the Pug and the Adventurer were one; and +she knew where the Adventurer lived, now in one character, now in +the other, in those two rooms almost opposite each other across +that tenement hall. + +And so it seemed that she had the right to hope, even though there +were still so many things she did not know, that if she allowed her +mind to dwell upon that phase of it, it staggered her - where those +code messages came from, and how; why Rough Rorke of headquarters +had never made a sign since that first night; why the original +Gypsy Nan, who was dead now, had been forced into hiding with the +death penalty of the law hanging over her; why Danglar, though Gypsy +Nan's husband, was comparatively free. These, and a myriad other +things! But she counted now upon her knowledge of the Adventurer's +secret to force from him everything he knew; and, with that to work +on, a confession from some of the gang in corroboration that would +prove the authorship of the crime of which she had seemingly been +caught in the act of committing. + +Yes, she was beginning to see the way at last - through the +Adventurer. It seemed a sure and certain way. If she presented +herself before him as Gypsy Nan, whom he believed to be not only +one of the gang, but actually Danglar's wife, and let him know +that she was aware of the dual role he was playing, and that the +information he thus acquired as the Pug he turned to his own +account and to the undoing of the gang, he must of necessity be at +her mercy. Her mercy! What exquisite irony! Her mercy! The man +her heart loved; the thief her common sense abhorred! What irony! +When she, too, played a double role; when in their other characters, +that of the Adventurer and the White Moll, he and she were linked +together by the gang as confederates, whereas, in truth, they were +wider apart than the poles of the earth! + +Her mercy! How merciful would she be - to the thief she loved? He +knew, he must know, all the inner secrets of the gang. She smiled +wanly now as she reached the landing. Would he know that in the +last analysis her threat would be only an idle one; that, though her +future, her safety, her life depended on obtaining the evidence she +felt he could supply, her threat would be empty, and that she was +powerless - because she loved him. But he did not know she loved +him - she was Gypsy Nan. If she kept her secret, if he did not +penetrate her disguise as she had penetrated his, if she were Gypsy +Nan and Danglar's wife to him, her threat would be valid enough, +and - and he would be at her mercy! + +A flush, half shamed, half angry, dyed the grime that was part of +Gypsy Nan's disguise upon her face. What was she saying to herself? +What was she thinking? That he did not know she loved him! How +would he? How could he? Had a word, an act, a single look of hers +ever given him a hint that, when she had been with him as the White +Moll, she cared! It was unjust, unfair, to fling such a taunt at +herself. It seemed as though she had lost nearly everything in +life, but she had not yet lost her womanliness and her pride. + +She had certainly lost her senses, though! Even if that word, that +look, that act had passed between them, between the Adventurer and +the White Moll, he still did not know that Gypsy Nan was the White +Moll - and that was the one thing now that he must not know, and... + +Rhoda Gray halted suddenly, and stared along the hallway ahead of +her, and up the short, ladder-like steps that led to the garret. +Her ears - or was it fancy? - had caught what sounded like a low +knocking up there upon her door. Yes, it came again now distinctly. +It was dusk outside; in here, in the hall, it was almost dark. Her +eyes strained through the murk. She was not mistaken. Something +darker than the surrounding darkness, a form, moved up there. + +The knocking ceased, and now the form seemed to bend down and grope +along the floor; and then, an instant later, it began to descend the +ladder-like steps - and abruptly Rhoda Gray, too, moved forward. It +wasn't Danglar. That was what had instantly taken hold of her mind, +and she knew a sudden relief now. The man on the stairs - she could +see that it was a man now - though he moved silently, swayed in a +grotesquely jerky way as though he were lame. It wasn't Danglar! +She would go to any length to track Danglar to his lair; but not +here - here in the darkness - here in the garret. Here she was +afraid of him with a deadly fear; here alone with him there would +be a thousand chances of exposure incident to the slightest intimacy +he might show the woman whom he believed to be his wife - a thousand +chances here against hardly one in any other environment or +situation. But the man on the stairs wasn't Danglar. + +She halted now and uttered a sharp exclamation, as though she had +caught sight of the man for the first time. + +The other, too, had halted - at the foot of the stairs. A plaintive +drawl reached her: + +"Don't screech, Bertha! It's only your devoted brother-in-law. +Curse your infernal ladder, and my twisted back!" + +Danglar's brother! Bertha! She snatched instantly at the cue with +an inward gasp of thankfulness. She would not make the mistake of +using the vernacular behind which Gypsy Nan sheltered herself. Here +was some one who knew that Gypsy Nan was but a role. But she had to +remember that her voice was slightly hoarse; that her voice, at least, +could not sacrifice its disguise to any one. Danglar had been a +little suspicious of it until she had explained that she was +suffering from a cold. + +"Oh!" she said calmly. "It's you, is it? And what brought you +here?" + +"What do you suppose?" he complained irritably. "The same old +thing, all I'm good for - to write out code messages and deliver +them like an errand boy! It's a sweet job, isn't it? How'd you +like to be a deformed little cripple?" + +She did not answer at once. The night seemed suddenly to be opening +some strange, even premonitory, vista. The code messages! Their +mode of delivery! Here was the answer! + +"Maybe I'd like it better than being Gypsy Nan!" she flung back +significantly. + +He laughed out sharply. + +"I'd like to trade with you," he said, a quick note of genuine envy +in his voice. "You can pitch away your clothes; I can't pitch away +a crooked spine. And, anyway, after to-night, you'll be living +swell again. + +She leaned toward him, staring at him in the semi-darkness. That +premonitory vista was widening; his words seemed suddenly to set her +brain in tumult. After to-night! She was to resume, after to-night, +the character that was supposed to lay behind the disguise of Gypsy +Nan! She was to resume her supposedly true character - that of +Pierre Danglar's wife! + +"What do you mean?" she demanded tensely. + +"Aw, come on!" he said abruptly. "This isn't the place to talk. +Pierre wants you at once. That's what the message was for. I +thought you were out, and I left it in the usual place so you'd get +it the minute you got back and come along over. So, come on now +with me." + +He was moving down the hallway, blotching like some misshapen toad +in the shadowy light, lurching in his walk, that was, nevertheless, +almost uncannily noiseless. Mechanically she followed him. She was +trying to think; striving frantically to bring her wits to play on +this sudden and unexpected denouement. It was obvious that he was +taking her to Danglar. She had striven desperately last night to +run Danglar to earth in his lair. And here was a self-appointed +guide! And yet her emotions conflicted and her brain was confused. +It was what she wanted, what through bitter travail of mind she had +decided must be her course; but she found herself shrinking from it +with dread and fear now that it promised to become a reality. It +was not like last night when of her own initiative she had sought +to track Danglar, for then she had started out with a certain freedom +of action that held in reserve a freedom to retreat if it became +necessary. To-night it was as though she were deprived of that +freedom, and being led into what only too easily might develop into +a trap from which she could not retreat or escape. + +Suppose she refused to go? + +They had reached the street now, and now she obtained a better view +of the misshapen thing that lurched jerkily along beside her. The +man was deformed, miserably deformed. He walked most curiously, +half bent over; and one arm, the left, seemed to swing helplessly, +and the left hand was like a withered thing. Her eyes sought the +other's face. It was an old face, much older than Danglar's, and +it was white and pinched and drawn; and in the dark eyes, as they +suddenly darted a glance at her, she read a sullen, bitter brooding +and discontent. She turned her head away. It was not a pleasant +face; it struck her as being both morbid and cruel to a degree. + +Suppose she refused to go? + +"What did you mean by 'after to-night'?" she asked again. + +"You'll see," he answered. "Pierre'll tell you. You're in luck, +that's all. The whole thing that has kept you under cover has bust +wide open your way, and you win. And Pierre's going through for a +clean-up. To-morrow you can swell around in a limousine again. And +maybe you'll come around and take me for a drive, if I dress up, and +promise to hide in a corner of the back seat so's they won't see your +handsome friend!" + +The creature flung a bitter smile at her, and lurched on. + +He had told her what she wanted to know - more than she had hoped +for. The mystery that surrounded the character of Gypsy Nan, the +evidence of the crime at which the woman who had originated that +role had hinted on the night she died, and which must necessarily +involve Danglar, was hers, Rhoda Gray's, now for the taking. As +well go and give herself up to the police as the White Moll and +have done with it all, as to refuse to seize the opportunity which +fate, evidently in a kindlier mood toward her now, was offering +her at this instant. It promised her the hold upon Danglar that +she needed to force an avowal of her own innocence, the very hold +that she had but a few minutes before been hoping she could obtain +through the Adventurer. + +There was no longer any question as to whether she would go or not. + +Her hand groped down under the shabby black shawl into the wide, +voluminous pocket of her greasy skirt. Yes, her revolver was there. +She knew it was there, but the touch of her fingers upon it seemed +to bring a sense of reassurance. She was perhaps staking her all +in accompanying this cripple here to-night - she did not need to be +told that - but there was a way of escape at the last if she were +cornered and caught. Her fingers played with the weapon. If the +worst came to the worst she would never be at Danglar's mercy while +she possessed that revolver and, if the need came, turned it upon +herself. + +They walked on rapidly; the lurching figure beside her covering the +ground at an astounding rate of speed. The man made no effort to +talk. She was glad of it. She need not be so anxiously on her +guard as would be the case if a conversation were carried on, and +she, who knew so much and yet so pitifully little, must weigh her +every word, and feel her way with every sentence. And besides, too, +it gave her time to think. Where were they going? What sort of a +place was it, this headquarters of the gang? For it must be the +headquarters, since it was from there the code messages would +naturally emanate, and this deformed creature, from what he had +said, was the "secretary" of the nefarious clique that was ruled +by his brother. And was luck really with her at last? Suppose she +had been but a few minutes later in reaching Gypsy Nan's house, and +had found, instead of this man here, only the note instructing her +to go and meet Danglar! What would she have done? What explanation +could she have made for her nonappearance? Her hands would have +been tied. She would have been helpless. She could not have +answered the summons, for she could have had no idea where this +gang-lair was; and the note certainly would not contain such details +as street and number, which she was obviously supposed to know. She +smiled a little grimly to herself. Yes, it seemed as though fortune +were beginning to smile upon her again - fortune, at least, had +supplied her with a guide. + +The twisted figure walked on the inside of the sidewalk, and +curiously seemed to seek as much as possible the protecting shadows +of the buildings, and invariably shrank back out of the way of the +passers-by they met. She watched him narrowly as they went along. +What was he afraid of? Recognition? It puzzled her for a time, +and then she understood: It was not fear of recognition; the sullen, +almost belligerent stare with which he met the eyes of those with +whom he came into close contact belied that. The man was morbidly, +abnormally sensitive of his deformity. + +They turned at last into one of the East Side cross streets, and +her guide halted finally on a corner in front of a little shop that +was closed and dark. She stared curiously as the man unlocked the +door. Perhaps, after all, she had been woefully mistaken. It did +not look at all the kind of place where crimes that ran the gamut +of the decalogue were hatched, at all the sort of place that was +the council chamber of perhaps the most cunning, certainly the most +cold-blooded and unscrupulous, band of crooks that New York had +ever harbored. And yet - why not? Wasn't there the essence of +cunning in that very fact? Who would suspect anything of the sort +from a ramshackle, two-story little house like this, whose front +was a woe-begone little store, the proceeds of which might just +barely keep the body and soul of its proprietor together? + +The man fumbled with the lock. There was not a single light showing +from the place, but in the dwindling rays of a distant street lamp +she could see the meager window display through the filthy, unwashed +panes. It was evidently a cheap and tawdry notion store, well +suited to its locality. There were toys of the cheapest variety, +stationery of the same grade, cheap pipes, cigarettes, tobacco, +candy - a package of needles. + +"Go on in!" grunted the man, as he pushed the door - which seemed +to shriek out unduly on its hinges - wide open. "If anybody sees +the door open, they'll be around wanting to buy a paper of pins +- curse 'em! - and I ain't open to-night." He snarled as he shut +and locked the door. "Pierre says you're grouching about your +garret. How about me, and this job? You get out of yours to-night +for keeps. What about me? I can't do anything but act as a damned +blind for the rest of you with this fool store. just because I was +born a freak that every gutter-snipe on the street yells at!" + +Rhoda Gray did not answer. + +"Well, go on!" snapped the man. "What are you standing there for? +One would think you'd never been here before!" + +Go on! Where? She had not the faintest idea. It was quite dark +inside here in the shop. She could barely make out the outline of +the other's figure. + +"You're in a sweet temper to-night, aren't you?" she said tartly. +"Go on, yourself! I'm waiting for you to get through your speech." + +He moved brusquely past her, with an angry grunt. Rhoda Gray +followed him. They passed along a short, narrow space, evidently +between a low counter and a shelved wall, and then the man opened +a door, and, shutting it again behind them, moved forward once more. +She could scarcely see him at all now; it was more the sound of his +footsteps than anything else that guided her. And then suddenly +another door was opened, and a soft, yellow light streamed out +through the doorway, and she found that she was standing in an +intervening room between the shop and the room ahead of her. She +felt her pulse quicken, and it seemed as though her heart began to +thump almost audibly. Danglar ! She could see Danglar seated at +a table in there. She clenched her hands under her shawl. She +would need all her wits now. She prayed that there was not too +much light in that room yonder. + + +XV. IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER + +The man with the withered hand had passed through into the other +room. She heard them talking together, as she followed. She +forced herself to walk with as nearly a leisurely defiant air as +she could. The last time she had been with Danglar - as Gypsy Nan +- she had, in self-protection, forbidding intimacy, played up what +he called her "grouch" at his neglect of her. + +She paused in the doorway. Halfway across the room, at the table, +Danglar's gaunt, swarthy face showed under the rays of a shaded +oil lamp. Behind her spectacles, she met his small, black ferret +eyes steadily. + +"Hello, Bertha!" he called out cheerily. "How's the old girl +to-night?" He rose from his seat to come toward her. "And how's +the cold?" + +Rhoda Gray scowled at him. + +"Worse!" she said curtly-and hoarsely. "And a lot you care! I +could have died in that hole, for all you knew! She pushed him +irritably away, as he came near her. "Yes, that's what I said! +And you needn't start any cooing game now! Get down to cases!" +She jerked her hand toward the twisted figure that had slouched +into a chair beside the table. "He says you've got it doped out +to pull something that will let me out of this Gypsy Nan stunt. +Another bubble, I suppose!" She shrugged her shoulders, glanced +around her, and, locating a chair - not too near the table - seated +herself indifferently. "I'm getting sick of bubbles!" she announced +insolently. "What's this one?" + +He stood there for a moment biting at his lips, hesitant between +anger and tolerant amusement; and then, the latter evidently gaining +the ascendency, he too shrugged his shoulders, and with a laugh +returned to his chair. + +"You're a rare one, Bertha!" he said coolly. "I thought you'd be +wild with delight. I guess you're sick, all right - because usually +you're pretty sensible. I've tried to tell you that it wasn't my +fault I couldn't go near you, and that I had to keep away from -" + +"What's the use of going over all that again?" she interrupted +tartly. "I guess I -" + +"Oh, all right!" said Danglar hurriedly. "Don't start a row! After +to-night I've an idea you'll be sweet enough to your husband, and +I'm willing to wait. Matty maybe hasn't told you the whole of it." + +Matty! So that was the deformed creature's name. She glanced at +him. He was grinning broadly. A family squabble seemed to afford +him amusement. Her eyes shifted and made a circuit of the room. It +was poverty-stricken in appearance, bare-floored, with the scantiest +and cheapest of furnishings, its one window tightly shuttered. + +"Maybe not," she said carelessly. + +"Well, then, listen, Bertha!" Danglar's voice was lowered earnestly. +"We've uncovered the Nabob's stuff! Do you get me? Every last one +of the sparklers!" + +Rhoda Gray's eyes went back to the deformed creature at Danglar's +side, as the man laughed out abruptly. + +"Yes," grinned Matty Danglar, "and they weren't in the empty +money-belt that you beat it with like a scared cat after croaking +Deemer!" + +How queer and dim the light seemed to go suddenly - or was it a blur +before her own eyes? She said nothing. Her mind seemed to be +groping its way out of darkness toward some faint gleam of light +showing in the far distance. She heard Danglar order his brother +savagely to hold his tongue. That was curious, too, because she +was grateful for the man's gibe. Gypsy Nan, in her proper person, +had murdered a man named Deemer in an effort to secure - Danglar's +voice came again: + +"Well, to-night we'll get that stuff, all of it - it's worth a cool +half million; and to-night we'll get Mr. House-Detective Cloran for +keeps - bump him off. That cleans everything up. How does that +strike you, Bertha?" + +Rhoda Gray's hands under her shawl locked tightly together. Her +premonition had not betrayed her. She was face to face to-night with +the beginning of the end. + +"It sounds fine!" she said derisively. + +Danglar's eyes narrowed for an instant; and then he laughed. + +"You're a rare one, Bertha!" he ejaculated again. "You don't seem +to put much stock in your husband lately." + +"Why should I?" she inquired imperturbably. "Things have been +breaking fine, haven't they? - only not for us!" She cleared her +throat as though it were an effort to talk. "I'm not going crazy +with joy till I've been shown." + +Danglar leaned suddenly over the table. + +"Well, come and look at the cards, then," he said impressively. +"Pull your chair up to the table, and I'll tell you." + +Rhoda Gray tilted her chair, instead, nonchalantly back against the +wall - it was quite light enough where she was! + +"I can hear you from here," she said coolly. "I'm not deaf, and I +guess Matty's suite is safe enough so that you won't have to whisper +all the time!" + +The deformed creature at the table chortled again. + +Danglar scowled. + +"Damn you, Bertha!" he flung out savagely. "I could wring that neck +of yours sometimes, and -" + +"I know you could, Pierre," she interposed sweetly. "That's what I +like about you - you're so considerate of me! But suppose you get +down to cases. What's the story about those sparklers? And what's +the game that's going to let me shed this Gypsy Nan stuff for keeps?" + +"I'll tell her, Pierre," grinned the deformed one. "It'll keep you +two from spitting at one another; and neither of you have got all +night to stick around here." He swung his withered hand suddenly +across the table, and as suddenly all facetiousness was gone both +from his voice and manner. "Say, you listen hard, Bertha! What +Pierre's telling you is straight. You and him can kiss and make +up to-morrow or the next day, or whenever you damned please; but +to-night there ain't any more time for scrapping. Now, listen! +I handed you a rap about beating it with the empty money-belt +the night you croaked Deemer with an overdose of knockout drops +in the private dining-room up at the Hotel Marwitz, but you forget +that! I ain't for starting any argument about that. None of us +blames you. We thought the stuff was in the belt, too. And none +of us blames you for making a mistake and going too strong with the +drops, either; anybody might do that. And I'll say now that I take +my hat off to you for the way you locked Cloran into the room with +the dead man, and made your escape when Cloran had you dead to +rights for the murder; and I'll say, too, that the way you've played +Gypsy Nan and saved your skin, and ours too, is as slick a piece of +work as has ever been pulled in the underworld. That puts us +straight, you and me, don't it, Bertha?" + +Rhoda Gray blinked at the man through her spectacles; her brain was +whirling in a mad turmoil. "I always liked you, Matty," she +whispered softly. + +Danglar was lolling back in his chair, blowing smoke rings into the +air. She caught his eyes fixed quizzically upon her. + +"Go on, Matty!" he prompted. "You'll have her in a good humor, if +you're not careful!" + +"We were playing more or less blind after that." The withered hand +traced an aimless pattern on the table with its crooked and +half-closed fingers, and the man's face was puckered into a shrewd, +reminiscent scowl. "The papers couldn't get a lead on the motive +for the murder, and the police weren't talking for publication. Not +a word about the Rajah's jewels. Washington saw to that! A young +potentate's son, practically the guest of the country, touring about +in a special for the sake of his education, and dashed near 'ending +it in the river out West if it hadn't been for the rescue you know +about, wouldn't look well in print; so there wasn't anything said +about the slather of gems that was the reward of heroism from a +grateful nabob, and we didn't get any help that way. All we knew +was that Deemer came East with the jewels, presumably to cash in on +them, and it looked as though Deemer "were pretty clever; that he +wore the money-belt for a stall, and that he had the sparklers +safe somewhere else all the time. And I guess we all got to +figuring it that way, because the fact that nothing was said about +any theft was strictly along the lines the police were working +anyway, and a was a toss-up that they hadn't found the stuff among +his effects. Get me?" + +Get him! This wasn't real, was it, this room here; those two +figures sitting there under that shaded lamp? Something cold, an +icy grip, seemed to seize at her heart, as in a surge there swept +upon her the full appreciation of her peril through these confidences +to which she was listening. A word, in act, some slightest thing, +might so easily betray her; and then - Her fingers under the shawl +and inside the wide pocket of her greasy skirt, clutched at her +revolver. Thank God for that! It would at least be merciful! She +nodded her head mechanically. + +"But the police didn't find the jewels - because they weren't there +to be found. Somebody got in ahead of us. Pinched 'em, understand, +may be only a few hours before you got in your last play, and, from +the way you say Deemer acted, before he was wise to the fact that +he'd been robbed." + +Rhoda Gray let her chair come sharply down to the floor. She must +play her role of "Bertha" now as she never had before. Here was a +question that she could not only ask with safety, but one that was +obviously expected. + +"Who was it?" she demanded breathlessly. + +"She's coming to life!" murmured Danglar, through a haze of cigarette +smoke. "I thought you'd wake up after a while, Bertha. This is the +big night, old girl, as you'll find out before we're through." + +"Who was it?" she repeated with well-simulated impatience. + +"I guess she'll listen to me now," said Danglar, with a little +chuckle. "Don't over-tax yourself any more, Matty. I'll tell you, +Bertha; and it will perhaps make you feel better to know it took +the slickest dip New York ever knew to beat you to the tape. It was +Angel Jack, alias the Gimp." + +"How do you know?" Rhoda Gray demanded. + +"Because," said Danglar, and lighted another cigarette, "he died +yesterday afternoon up in Sing Sing." + +She could afford to show her frank bewilderment. Her brows knitted +into furrows, as she stared at Danglar. + +"You - you mean he confessed?" she said. + +"The Angel? Never!" Danglar laughed grimly, and shook his head. +"Nothing like that! It was a question of playing one 'fence' against +another. You know that Witzer, who's handled all our jewelry for +us, has been on the look-out for any stones that might have come +from that collection. Well, this afternoon he passed the word to me +that he'd been offered the finest unset emerald he'd ever seen, and +that it had come to him through old Jake Luertz's runner, a very +innocent-faced young man who is known to the trade as the Crab." + +Danglar paused - and laughed again. Unconsciously Rhoda Gray drew +her shawl a little closer about her shoulders. It seemed to bring +a chill into the room, that laugh. Once before, on another night, +Danglar had laughed, and, with his parted lips, she had likened him +to a beast showing its fangs. He looked it now more than ever. For +all his ease of voice and manner, he was in deadly earnest; and if +there was merriment in his laugh, it but seemed to enhance the +menace and the promise of unholy purpose that lurked in the cold +glitter of his small, black eyes. + +"It didn't take long to get hold of the Crab" - Danglar was rubbing +his hands together softly - "and the emerald with him. We got him +where we could put the screws on without arousing the neighborhood." + +"Another murder, I suppose!" Rhoda Gray flung out the words crossly. + +"Oh, no," said Danglar pleasantly. "He squealed before it came to +that. He's none the worse for wear, and he'll be turned loose in +another hour or so, as soon as we're through at old Jake Luertz's. +He's no more good to us. He came across all right - after he was +properly frightened. He's been with old Jake as a sort of familiar +for the last six years, and -" + +"He'd have sold his soul out, he was so scared!" The withered hand +on the table twitched; the deformed creature's face was twisted +into a grimace; and the man was chuckling with unhallowed mirth, as +though unable. to contain himself at, presumably, the recollection +of a scene which he had witnessed himself. "He was down on his +knees and clawing out with his hands for mercy, and he squealed like +a rat. 'It's the sixth panel in the bedroom upstairs,' he says; +'it's all there. But for God's sake don't tell Jake I told. It's +the sixth panel. Press the knot in the sixth panel that -'" He +stopped abruptly. + +Danglar had pulled out his watch and with exaggerated patience was +circling the crystal with his thumb. + +"Are you all through, Matty?" he inquired monotonously. "I think +you said something a little while ago about wasting time. Bertha's +looking bored; and, besides, she's got a little job of her own on +for to-night." He jerked his watch back into his pocket, and turned +to Rhoda Gray again. "The only one who knew all the details Angel +Jack, and he'll never tell now because he's dead. Whether he came +down from the West with Deemer or not, or how he got wise to the +stones, I don't know. But he got the stones, all right. And then +he tumbled to the fact that the police were pushing him hard for +another job he was 'wanted' for, and he had to get those stones out +of sight in a hurry. He made a package of them and slipped them to +old Luertz, who had always done his business for him, to keep for +him; and before he could duck, the bulls had him for that other job. +Angel Jack went up the river. See? Old Jake didn't know what was +in that package; but he knew better than to monkey with it, because +he always thought something of his own skin. He knew Angel Jack, +and he knew what would happen if he didn't have that package ready +to hand back the day Angel Jack got out of Sing Sing. Understand? +But yesterday Angel Jack died-without a will; and old Jake appointed +himself sole executor-without bonds! He opened that package, +figured he'd begin turning it into money - and that's how we get +our own back again. Old Jake will get a fake message to-night +calling him out of the house on an errand uptown; and about ten +o'clock Pinkie Bonn and the Pug will pay a visit there in his +absence, and - well, it looks good, don't it, Bertha, after two +years?" + +Rhoda Gray was crouched down in her chair. She shrugged her +shoulders now, and infused a sullen note into her voice. + +"Yes, it's fine!" she sniffed. "I'll be rolling in wealth in my +garret - which will do me a lot of good! That doesn't separate me +from these rags, and the hell I've lived, does it - after two years?" + +"I'm coming to that," said Danglar, with his short, grating laugh. +"We've as good as got the stones now, and we're going through +to-night for a clean-up of all that old mess. We stake the whole +thing. Get me, Bertha - the whole thing ! I'm showing my hand +for the first time. Cloran's the man that's making you wear those +clothes; Cloran's the only one who could go into the witness box +and swear that you were the woman who murdered Deemer; and Cloran's +the man who has been working his head off for two years to find you. +We've tried a dozen times to bump him off in a way that would make +his death appear to be due purely to an accident, and we didn't get +away with it; but we can afford to leave the 'accident' out of it +to-night, and go through for keeps - and that's what we're going +to do. And once he's out of the way - by midnight - you can heave +Gypsy Nan into the discard." + +It seemed to Rhoda Gray that horror had suddenly taken a numbing +hold upon her sensibilities. Danglar was talking about murdering +some man, wasn't he, so that she could resume again the personality +of a woman who was dead? Hysterical laughter rose to her lips. It +was only by a frantic effort of will that she controlled herself. +She seemed to speak involuntarily, doubtful almost that it was her +own voice she heard. + +"I'm listening," she said; "but I wouldn't be too sure. Cloran's +a wary bird, and there's the White Moll." + +She caught her breath. What suicidal inspiration had prompted her +to say that! Had what she had been listening to here, the horror +of it, indeed turned her brain and robbed her of her wits to the +extent that she should invite exposure? Danglar's face had gone a +mottled purple; the misshapen thing at Danglar's side was leering +at her most curiously. + +It was a moment before Danglar spoke; and then his hand, clenched +until the white of the knuckles showed, pounded upon the table to +punctuate his words. + +"Not to-night!" he rasped out with an oath. "There's not a chance +that she's in on this to-night - the she-devil! But she's next! +With this cleaned up, she's next! If it takes the last dollar of +to-night's haul, and five years to do it, I'll get her, and get -" + +"Sure!" mumbled Rhoda Gray hurriedly. "But you needn't get excited! +I was only thinking of her because she's queered us till I've got +my fingers crossed, that's all. Go on about Cloran." + +Danglar's composure did not return on the instant. He gnawed at +his lips for a moment before he spoke. + +"All right!" he jerked out finally. "Let it go at that! I told +you the other night in the garret that things were beginning to +break our way, and that you wouldn't have to stay there much +longer, but I didn't tell you how or why - you wouldn't give me +a chance. I'll tell you now; and it's the main reason why I've +kept away from you lately. I couldn't take a chance of Cloran +getting wise to that garret and Gypsy Nan." He grinned suddenly. +"I've been cultivating Cloran myself for the last two weeks. We're +quite pals! I'm for playing the luck every time! When the jewels +showed up to-day, I figured that to-night's the night - see? +Cloran and I are going to supper together at the Silver Sphinx at +about eleven o'clock -and this is where you shed the Gypsy Nan +stuff, and show up as your own sweet self. Cloran'll be glad to +meet you!" + +She stared at him in genuine perplexity and amazement. + +"Show myself to Cloran!" she ejaculated heavily. "I don't get you!" + +"You will in a minute," said Danglar softly. "You're the bait +-see? Cloran and I will be at supper and watching the fox-trotters. +You blow in and show yourself - I don't need to tell you how, you're +clever enough at that sort of thing yourself - and the minute he +recognizes you as the woman he's been looking for that murdered +Deemer, you pretend to recognize him for the first time too, and +then you beat it like you had the scare of your life for the door. +He'll follow you on the jump. I don't know what it's all about, +and I sit tight, and that lets me out. And now get this! There'll +be two taxicabs outside. If there's more than two, it's the first +two I'm talking about. You jump into the one at the head of the +line. Cloran won't need any invitation to grab the second one and +follow you. That's all! It's the last ride he'll take. It'll be +our boys, and not chauffeurs, who'll be driving those cars to-night, +and they've got their orders where to go. Cloran won't come back. +Understand, Bertha'?" + +There was only one answer to make, only one answer that she dared +make. She made it mechanically, though her brain reeled. A man +named Cloran was to be murdered; and she was to show herself as +this - this Bertha - and... + +"Yes," she said. + +"Good!" said Danglar. He pulled out his watch again. "All right, +then! We've been here long enough." He rose briskly. "It's time +to make a move. You hop it back to the garret, and get rid of that +fancy dress. I've got to meet Cloran uptown first. Come on, Matty, +let us out." + +The place stifled her. She got up and moved quickly through the +intervening room. She heard Danglar and his crippled brother +talking earnestly together as they followed her. And then the +cripple brushed by her in the darkness, and opened the front door +- and Danglar had drawn her to him in a quick embrace. She did not +struggle; she dared not. Her heart seemed to stand still. Danglar +was whispering in her ear: + +"I promised I'd make it up to you, Bertha, old girl. You'll see +- after to-night. We'll have another honey-moon. You go on ahead +now - I can't be seen with Gypsy Nan. And don't be late - the +Silver Sphinx at eleven." + +She ran out on the street. Her fingers mechanically clutched at +her shawl to loosen it around her throat. It seemed as though she +were choking, that she could not breathe. The man's touch upon her +had seemed like contact with some foul and loathsome thing; the +scene in that room back there like some nightmare of horror from +which she could not awake. + + +XVI. THE SECRET PANEL + +Rhoda Gray hurried onward, back toward the garret, her mind in riot +and dismay. It was not only the beginning of the end; it was very +near the end! What was she to do? The Silver Sphinx - at eleven! +That was the end - after eleven - wasn't it? She could impersonate +Gypsy Nan; she could not, if she would, impersonate the woman who +was dead! And then, too, there were the stolen jewels at old Jake +Luertz's! She could not turn to the police for help there, because +then the Pug might fall into their hands, and - and the Pug was +- was the Adventurer. + +And then a sort of fatalistic calm fell upon her. If the masquerade +was over, if the end had come, there remained only one thing for her +to do. There were no risks too desperate to take now. It was she +who must strike, and strike first. Those jewels in old Luertz's +bedroom became suddenly vital to her. They were tangible evidence. +With those jewels in her possession she should be able to force +Danglar to his knees. She could get them - before Pinkie Bonn and +the Pug - if she hurried. Afterward she would know where to find +Danglar - at the Silver Sphinx. Nothing would happen to Cloran, +because, through her failure to cooperate, the plan would be +abortive; but, veiled, as the White Moll, she could pick up Danglar's +trail again there. Yes, it would be the end - one way or the other +- between eleven o'clock and daylight! + +She quickened her steps. Old Luertz was to be inveigled away from +his home about ten o'clock. At a guess, she made it only a little +after nine now. She would need the skeleton keys in order to get +into old Luertz's place, and, yes, she would need a flashlight, too. +Well, she would have time enough to get them, and time enough, then, +to run to the deserted shed in the lane behind the garret and change +her clothes. + +Rhoda Gray, as Gypsy Nan, went on as speedily as she dared without +inviting undue attention to herself, reached the garret, secured +the articles she sought, hurried out again, and went down the lane +in the rear to the deserted shed. She remained longer here than in +the attic, perhaps ten minutes, working mostly in the darkness, +risking the flashlight only when it was imperative; and then, the +metamorphosis complete, a veiled figure, in her own person, as +Rhoda Gray, the White Moll, she was out on the street again, and +hastening back in the same general direction from which she had +just come. + +She knew old Jake Luertz's place, and she knew the man himself very +intimately by reputation. There were few such men and such places +that she could have escaped knowing in the years of self-appointed +service that she had given to the worst, and perhaps therefore the +most needy, element in New York. The man ostensibly conducted a +little secondhand store; in reality he probably "shoved" more stolen +goods for his clientele, which at one time or another undoubtedly +embraced nearly every crook in the underworld, than any other "fence" +in New York. She knew him for an oily, cunning old fox who lived +alone in the two rooms over his miserable store - unless, of late, +his young henchman, the Crab, had taken to living with him; though, +as far as that was concerned, it mattered little to-night, since +the Crab, for the moment, thanks to the gang, was eliminated from +consideration. + +She reached the secondhand store - and walked on past it. There +was a light upstairs in the front window. Old Luertz therefore had +not yet gone out in response to the gang's fake message. She knew +old Luertz's reputation far too well for that; the man would never +go out and leave a gas jet burning - which he would have to pay for! + +There was nothing to do but wait. Rhoda Gray sought the shelter of +a doorway across the street. She was nervously impatient now. The +minutes dragged along. Why didn't 'the man hurry and go out? +"About ten o'clock," Danglar had said - but that was very indefinite. +Pinkie Bonn and the Pug might be as late as that; but, equally, they +might be earlier! + +It seemed an interminable time. And then, her eyes strained across +the street upon that upper window, she drew still farther back into +the protecting shadows of the doorway. The light had gone out. + +A moment more passed. The street door of the house opposite to her +- a door separate from that of the secondhand store-opened, and a +bent, gray-bearded man, stepped out, peered around, locked the door +behind him, and scuffled down the street. + +Rhoda Gray scanned the dingy and ill-lighted little street. It was +virtually deserted. She crossed the road, and stepped into the +doorway from which the old "fence" had just emerged. It was dark +here, well out of the direct radius of the nearest street lamp, +and, with luck, there was no reason why she should be observed - if +she did not take too long in opening the door! She had never +actually used a skeleton key in her life before, and... + +She inserted one of her collection of keys in the lock. It would +not work. She tried another, and still another-with mounting +anxiety and perplexity. Suppose that - yes! The door was open now! +With a quick glance over her shoulder, scanning the street in both +directions to make sure that she was not observed, she stepped +inside, closed the door, and locked it again. + +Her flashlight stabbed through the darkness. Narrow stairs +immediately in front of her led upward; at her right was a +connecting door to the secondhand shop. Without an instant's +hesitation she ran up the stairs. There was no need to observe +caution since the place was temporarily untenanted; there was need +only of haste. She opened the door at the head of the stairs, and, +with a quick, eager nod of satisfaction, as the flashlight swept +the interior, stepped over the threshold. It was the room she +sought - old Luertz's bedroom. + +And now the flashlight played inquisitively about her. The bed +occupied a position by the window; across one corner of the room +was a cretonne hanging, that evidently did service as a wardrobe; +across another corner was a large and dilapidated washstand; there +were a few chairs, and a threadbare carpet; and, opposite the bed, +another door, closed, which obviously led into the front room. + +Rhoda Gray stepped to this door, opened it, and peered in. She +was not concerned that it was evidently used for kitchen, +dining-room and the stowage of everything that overflowed from the +bedroom; she was concerned only with the fact that it offered no +avenue through which any added risk or danger might reach her. She +closed the door as she had found it, and gave her attention now to +the walls of old Luertz's bedroom. + +She smiled a little whimsically. The Crab had used a somewhat +dignified term when he had referred to "panels." True, the, walls +were of stained wood, but the wood was of the cheapest variety of +matched boards, and the stain was of but a single coat, and a very +meager one at that! The smile faded. There were a good many knots; +and there were four corners to the room, and therefore eight boards, +each one of which would answer to the description of being the +"sixth panel." + +She went to the corner nearest her, and dropped down on her knees. +As well start with this one! She had not dared press Danglar, or +Danglar's deformed brother, for more definite directions, had she? +She counted the boards quickly from the corner to her right; and +then, the flashlight playing steadily, she began to press first one +knot after another, in the board before her, working from the bottom +up. There were many knots; she went over each one with infinite +care. There was no result. + +She turned then to the sixth board from the corner to her left. The +result was the same. She stood up, her brows puckered, a sense of +anxious impatience creeping upon her. She had been quite a while +over even these two boards, and it might be any one of the remaining +six! + +Her eyes traversed the room, following the ray of the flashlight. +If she only knew which one, it would - Was it an inspiration? Her +eyes had fixed on the cretonne hanging across one of the far corners +from the door, and she moved toward it now quickly. The hanging +might very well serve for an other purpose than that of merely a +wardrobe! It seemed suddenly to be the most likely of the four +corners because it was ingeniously concealed. + +She parted the hanging. A heterogeneous collection of clothing +hung from pegs and nails. Eagerly, hastily now, she brushed these +aside, and, close to the wall, dropped down on her knees again. The +minutes passed. Twice she went over the sixth board from the +corner to her right. She felt so sure now that it was this corner. +And then, still eagerly, she turned to the corresponding board at +her left. + +It was warm and close here. The clothing hanging from the pegs +and nails enveloped her, and, with the cretonne hanging itself, +shut out the air, what little of it there was, that circulated +through the room. + +Over the board, from the tiniest knot to the largest, her fingers +pressed carefully. Had she missed one anywhere? She must have +missed one! She was sure the panel in question was here behind this +hanging. Well, she would try again, and... + +What was that? + +In an instant the flashlight in her hand was out, and she was +listening tensely. Yes, there was a footstep - two of them - not +only on the stairs, but already just outside the door. It seemed +as though a deadly fear, cold and numbing, settled upon her and +robbed her of even the power of movement. She was caught! If it +was Pinkie Bonn and the Pug, and if this corner hid the secret +panel as she still believed it did, this was the first place to +which they would come, and they would find her here amongst the +clothing - which had evidently been the cause of deadening any +sound on those stairs out there until it was too late. + +She held her breath, her hands tight upon her bosom. There was +no time to reach the sanctuary of the other room - the footsteps +were already crossing the threshold from the head of the stairs. +And then a voice reached her - the Pug's. It was the Pug and +Pinkie Bonn. + +"Strike a light, Pinkie! Dere's no use messin' around wid a +flash. De old geezer'11 be back on de hop de minute he finds out +he's been bunked, an' de quicker we work de better." + +A match crackled into flame. An air-choked gas jet, with a +protesting hiss, was lighted. And then Rhoda Gray's drawn face +relaxed a little, and a strange, mirthless smile came hovering over +her lips. What was she afraid of? The Pug was the Adventurer, +wasn't he? This was one of the occasions when he could not escape +the entanglements of the gang, and must work for the gang instead +of appropriating all the loot for his own personal and nefarious +ends; but he was the Adventurer. The White Moll need not fear him, +even though he appeared, linked with Pinkie Bonn, in the role of +the Pug! So there was only Pinkie Bonn to fear. + +Rhoda Gray took her revolver from her pocket. She was well armed +- and in more than a material sense. The Adventurer did not know +that she was aware of the Pug's identity. Her smile, still +mirthless, deepened. She might even turn the tables upon them, and +still secure the stolen stones. She had turned the tables upon +Pinkie Bonn last night; to-night, if she used her wits, she could +do it again! + +And then, suddenly, she stifled an exclamation, as the Pug's voice +reached her again: + +"Wot are youse gapin' about? Dere ain't anything else worth pinchin' +around here except wot's in de old gent's safety vault. Get a move +on! We ain't got all night! It's de corner behind de washstand. +Give us a hand to move de furniture!" + +It wasn't here behind the cretonne hanging! Rhoda Gray bit her lips +in a crestfallen little way. Well, her supposition had been natural +enough, hadn't it? And she would have tried every corner before she +was through if she had had the opportunity. + +She moved now slightly, without a sound, parting the clothing away +from in front of her, and moving the cretonne hanging by the fraction +of an inch where it touched the side wall of the room. And now she +could see the Pug, with his dirty and discolored celluloid eye-patch, +and his ingeniously contorted face; and she could see Pinkie Bonn's +pasty-white, drug-stamped countenance + +It was not a large room. The two men in the opposite corner along +the wall from her were scarcely more than ten feet away. They swung +the washstand out from the wall, and the Pug, going in behind it, +began to work on one of the wall boards. Pinkie Bonn, an unlighted +cigarette dangling from his lip, leaned over the washstand watching +his companion. + +A minute passed - another. It was still in the room, except only +for the distant sounds of the world outside - a clatter of wheels +upon the pavement, the muffled roar of the elevated, the clang of a +trolley bell. And then the Pug began to mutter to himself. Rhoda +Gray smiled a little grimly. She was not the only one, it would +appear, who experienced difficulty with old Jake Luertz's crafty +hiding place! + +"Say, dis is de limit!" the Pug growled out suddenly. "Dere's more +damned knots in dis board dan I ever save in any piece of wood in me +life before, an' -" He drew back abruptly from the wall, twisting +his head sharply around. "D'ye hear dat, Pinkie!" he whispered +tensely. "Quick! Put out de light! Quick! Dere's some one down +at de front door!" + +Rhoda Gray felt the blood ebb from her face. She had heard nothing +save the rattle and bump of a wagon along the street below; but she +had had reason to appreciate on a certain occasion before that the +Pug, alias the Adventurer, was possessed of a sense of hearing that +was abnormally acute. If it was some one else - who was it? What +would it mean to her? What complication here in this room would +result? What... + +The light was out. Pinkie Bonn had stepped silently across the +room to the gas jet near the door. Her eyes, strained, she could +just make out the Adventurer's form kneeling by the wall, and then +- was she mad! Was the faint night-light of the city filtering in +through the window mocking her? The Adventurer, hidden from his +companion by the washstand, was working swiftly and without a +sound - or else it was a phantasm of shadows that tricked her! +A door in the wall opened; the Adventurer thrust in his hand, drew +out a package, and, leaning around, slipped it quickly into the +bottom of the washstand, where, with its little doors, there was +a most convenient and very commodious apartment. He turned again +then, seemed to take something from his pocket and place it in the +opening in the wall, and then the panel closed. + +It had taken scarcely more than a second. + +Rhoda Gray brushed her hand across her eyes. No, it wasn't a +phantasm! She had misjudged the Adventurer - quite misjudged him! +The Adventurer, even with one of the gang present - to furnish an +unimpeachable alibi for him! - was plucking the gang's fruit again +for his own and undivided enrichment! + +Pinkie Bonn's voice came in a guarded whisper from the doorway. + +"I don't hear nothin'!" said Pinkie Bonn anxiously. + +The Pug tiptoed across the room, and joined his companion. She +could not see them now, but apparently they stood together by the +door listening. They stood there for a long time. Occasionally +she heard them whisper to each other; and then finally the Pug +spoke in a less guarded voice. + +"All right," he said. "I guess me nerves are gettin' de creeps. +Shoot de light on again, an' let's get back on de job. An' youse +can take a turn dis time pushin' de knots, Pinkie; mabbe youse'll +have better luck." + +The light went on again. Both men came back across the room, and +now Pinkie Bonn knelt at the wall while the Pug leaned over the +washstand watching him. Pinkie Bonn was not immediately successful; +the Pug's nerves, of which he had complained, appeared shortly to +get the better of him. + +"Fer Gawd's sake, hurry up!" he urged irritably. "Or else lemme +take another crack at it, Pinkie, an'... + +A low, triumphant exclamation came from Pinkie Bonn, as the small +door in the wall swung suddenly open. + +"There she is, my bucko!" he grinned. "Some nifty vault, eh? The +old guy-" He stopped. He had thrust in his hand, and drawn it out +again. His fingers gripped a sheet of notepaper - but he was +seemingly unconscious of that fact. He was leaning forward, +staring into the aperture. "It's empty!" he choked. + +"Wot's dat?" cried the Pug, and sprang to his companion's side. +"Youse're crazy, Pinkie! He thrust his head toward the opening +- and then turned and stared for a moment helplessly at Pinkie Bonn. +"So help me!" he said heavily. "It's - it's empty." He shook his +fist suddenly. "De Crab's handed us one, dat's wot! But de Crab'll +get his fer -" + +"It wasn't the Crab!" Pinkie Bonn was stuttering his words. He +stood, jaws dropped, his eyes glued now on the paper in his hand. + +The Pug, his face working, the personification of baffled rage and +intolerance, leered at Pinkie Bonn. "Well, who was it, den?" he +snarled. + +Pinkie Bonn licked his lips. + +"The White Moll!" He licked his lips again. + +"De White Moll!" echoed the Pug incredulously. + +"Yes," said Pinkie Bonn. "Listen to what's on this paper that I +fished out of there I Listen! She's got all the nerve of the devil! +'With thanks, and my most grateful appreciation - the White Moll.'" + +The Pug snatched the paper from Pinkie Bonn's hand, as though to +assure himself that it was true. Rhoda Gray smiled faintly. It +was good acting, very excellently done - seeing that the Pug had +written the note and placed it in the hiding place himself! + +"My God!" mumbled Pinkie Bonn thickly. "I ain't afraid of most +things, but I'm gettin' scared of her. She ain't human. Last +night you know what happened, and the night before, and -" He +gulped suddenly. "Let's get out of here !" he said hurriedly. +The Pug made no reply, except for a muttered growl of assent and +a nod of his head. + +The two men crossed the room. The light went out. Their footsteps +echoed back as they descended the stairs, then died away. + +And then Rhoda Gray moved for the first time. She brushed aside +the cretonne hanging, ran to the washstand, possessed herself of +the package she had seen the Pug place there, and then made her way, +cautious now of the s1ightest sound, downstairs. + +She tried the door that led into the secondhand shop from the hall, +found it unlocked, and with a little gasp of relief slipped through, +and closed it gently behind her. She did not dare risk the front +entrance. Pinkie Bonn and the Pug were not far enough away yet, and +she did not dare wait until they were. Too bulky to take the risk +of attempting to conceal it about his person while with Pinkie Bonn, +the Pug, it was obvious, would come back alone for that package, and +it was equally obvious that he would not be long in doing so. There +was old Luertz's return that he would have to anticipate. It would +not take wits nearly so sharp as those possessed by the Pug to find +an excuse for separating promptly from Pinkie Bonn! + +Rhoda Gray groped her way down the shop, groped her way to a back +door, unbolted it, working by the sense of touch, and let herself +out into a back yard. Five minutes later she was blocks away, and +hurrying rapidly back toward the deserted shed in the lane behind +Gypsy Nan's garret. + +Her lips formed into a tight little curve as she went along. There +was still work to do to-night - if this package really contained +the stolen legacy of gems left by Angel Jack. She had first of all +to reach a place where she could examine the package with safety; +then a place to hide it where it would be secure; and then - Danglar! + +She gained the lane, stole along it, and disappeared into the shed +through the broken door that hung, partially open, on sagging hinges. +Here she sought a corner, and crouched down so that her body would +smother any reflection from her flashlight. And now, eagerly, +feverishly, she began to undo the package; and then, a moment later, +she gazed, stupefied and amazed, at what lay before her. Precious +stones, scores of them, nestled on a bed of cotton; they were of all +colors and of all sizes - but each one of them seemed to pulsate and +throb, and from some wondrous, glorious depth of its own to fling +back from the white ray upon it a thousand rays in return, as though +into it had been breathed a living and immortal fire. + +And Rhoda Gray, crouched there, stared - until suddenly she grew +afraid, and suddenly with a shudder she wrapped the package up again. +These were the stones for whose fabulous worth the woman whose +personality she, Rhoda Gray, had usurped, had murdered a man; these +were the stones which were indirectly the instrumentality - since +but for them Gypsy Nan would never have existed - that made her, +Rhoda Gray, to-night, now, at this very moment, a hunted thing, +homeless, friendless, fighting for her very life against police and +underworld alike! + +She rose abruptly to her feet. She had no longer any need of a +flashlight. There was even light of a sort in the place - she could +see the stars through the jagged holes in the roof, and through one +of these, too, the moonlight streamed in. The shed was all but +crumbling in a heap. Underfoot, what had once been flooring, was +now but rotting, broken boards. Under one of these, beside the +clothing of Gypsy Nan which she had discarded but a little while +before, she deposited the package; then stepped out into the lane, +and from there to the street again. + +And now she became suddenly conscious of a great and almost +overpowering physical weariness. She did not quite understand at +first, unless it was to be attributed to the reaction from the last +few hours - and then, smiling wanly to herself, she remembered. For +two nights she had not slept. It seemed very strange. That was it, +of course, though she was not in the least sleepy now - just tired, +just near the breaking point. + +But she must go on. To-night was the end, anyhow. To-night, failing +to keep her appointment as "Bertha," the crash must come; but before +it came, as the White Moll, armed with the knowledge of the crime +that had driven Danglar's wife into hiding, and which was Danglar's +crime too, and with the evidence in the shape of those jewels in her +possession, she and Danglar would meet somewhere - alone. Before the +law got him, when he would be close-mouthed and struggling with all +his cunning to keep the evidence of other crimes from piling up +against him and damning whatever meager chances he might have to +escape the penalty for Deemer's murder, she meant - yes, even if +she pretended to compound a felony with him - to force or to inveigle +from him, it mattered little which, a confession of the authorship +and details of the scheme to rob Skarbolov that night when she, +Rhoda Gray, in answer to a dying woman's pleading, had tried to +forestall the plan, and had been caught, apparently, in the very act +of committing the robbery herself! With that confession in her +possession, with the identity of the unknown woman who had died in +the hospital that night established, her own story would be believed. + +And so, if she were weary, what did it matter? It was only until +morning. Danglar was at the Silver Sphinx now with the man he meant +that she should help him murder, only - only that plan would fail, +because there would be no "Bertha" to lure the man to his death, and +she, Rhoda Gray, had only to keep track of Danglar until somewhere, +where he lived perhaps, she should have that final scene, that final +reckoning with him alone. + +It was a long way to the Silver Sphinx, which she knew, as every one +in the underworld, and every one in New York who was addicted to +slumming knew, was a combination dance-hall and restaurant in the +Chatham Square district. She tried to find a taxi, but with out +avail. A clock in a jeweler's window which she passed showed her +that it was ten minutes after eleven. She had had no idea that it +was so late. At eleven, Danglar had said. Danglar would be growing +restive! She took the elevated. If she could risk the protection +of her veil in the Silver Sphinx, she could risk it equally in an +elevated train! + +But, in spite of the elevated, it was, she knew, well on towards +half past eleven when she finally came down the street in front of +the Silver Sphinx. From under her veil, she glanced, half curiously, +half in a sort of grim irony, at the taxis lined up before the +dancehall. The two leading cars were not taxis at all, though they +bore the ear-marks, with their registers, of being public vehicles +for hire; they were large, roomy, powerful, and looked, with their +hoods up, like privately owned motors. Well, it was of little +account! She shrugged her shoulders, as -she mounted the steps of +the dance-hall. Neither "Bertha" nor Cloran would use those cars +to-night! + + +XVII. THE SILVER SPHINX + +A Bedlam of noise smote Rhoda Gray's ears as she entered the Silver +Sphinx. A jazz band was in full swing; on the polished section of +the floor in the center, a packed mass of humanity swirled and +gyrated and wriggled in the contortions of the "latest" dance, and +laughed and howled immoderately; and around the sides of the room, +the waiters rushed this way and that amongst the crowded tables, +mopping at their faces with their aprons. It seemed as though +confusion itself held sway! + +Rhoda Gray scanned the occupants of the tables. The Silver Sphinx +was particularly riotous to-night, wasn't it? Yes, she understood! +A great many of the men were wearing little badges. Some society +or other was celebrating - and was doing it with abandon. Most of +the men were half drunk. It was certainly a free-and-easy night! +Everything went! + +Danglar! Yes, 'there he was - quite close to her, only a few tables +away - and beside him sat a heavy built, clean-shaven man of middle +age. That would be Cloran, of course - the man who was to have been +lured to his death. And Danglar was nervous and uneasy, she could +see. His fingers were drumming a tattoo on the table; his eyes were +roving furtively about the room; and he did not seem to be paying any +but the most distrait attention to his companion, who was talking +to him. + +Rhoda Gray sank quickly into a vacant chair. Three men, linked arm +in arm, and decidedly more than a little drunk, were approaching +her. She turned her head away to avoid attracting their attention. +It was too free and easy here to-night, and she began to regret her +temerity at having ventured inside; she would better, perhaps, have +waited until Danglar came out - only there were two exits, and she +might have missed him - and... + +A cold fear upon her, she shrank back in her chair. The three men +had halted at the table, and were clustered around her. They began +a jocular quarrel amongst themselves as to who should dance with her. +Her heart was pounding. She stood up, and pushed them away. + +"Oh, no, you don't!" hiccoughed one of the three. "Gotta see your +- hic! - pretty face, anyhow!" + +She put up her hands frantically and clutched at her veil - but just +an instant too late to save it from being wrenched aside. Wildly her +eyes flew to Danglar. His attention had been attracted by the scene. +She saw him rise from his seat; she saw his eyes widen - and then, +stumbling over his chair in his haste, he made toward her. Danglar +had recognized the White Moll! + +She turned and ran. Fear, horror, desperation, lent her strength. +It was not like this that she had counted on her reckoning with +Danglar! She brushed the roisterers aside, and darted for the door. +Over her shoulder she glimpsed Danglar following her. She reached +the door, burst through a knot of people there, and, her torn veil +clutched in her hand, dashed down the steps. She could only run +- run, and pray that in some way she might escape. + +And then a mad exultation came upon her. She saw the man in the +chauffeur's seat of the first car in the line lean out and swing +the door open. And in a flash she grasped the situation. The man +was waiting for just this - for a woman to come running for her life +down the steps of the Silver Sphinx. She put her hand up to her +face, hiding it with the torn veil, raced for the car, and flung +herself into the tonneau. + +The door slammed. The car leaped from the curb. Danglar was coming +down the steps. She heard him shout. The chauffeur, in a startled +way, leaned out, as he evidently recognized Danglar's voice - but Rhoda +Gray was mistress of herself now. The tonneau of the car was not +separated from the driver's seat, and bending forward, she wrenched +her revolver from her pocket, and pressed the muzzle of her weapon to +the back of the man's neck. + +"Don't stop!" she gasped, struggling for her breath. "Go on! +Quick!" + +The man, with a frightened oath, obeyed. The car gained speed. A +glance through the window behind showed Danglar climbing into the +other car. + +And then for a moment Rhoda Gray sat there fighting for her +self-control, with the certain knowledge in her soul that upon her +wits, and her wits alone, her life depended now. She studied the +car's mechanism over the chauffeur's shoulder, even as she continued +to hold her revolver pressed steadily against the back of the man's +neck. She could drive a car - she could drive this one. The +presence of this chauffeur, one of the gang, was an added menace; +there were too many tricks he might play before she could forestall +them, any one of which would deliver her into the hands of Danglar +behind there - an apparently inadvertent stoppage due to traffic, +for instance, that would bring the pursuing car alongside - that, +or a dozen other things which would achieve the same end. + +"Open the door on your side!" she commanded abruptly. "And get out +- without slowing the car! Do you understand?" + +He turned his head for a half incredulous, half frightened look at +her. She met his eyes steadily - the torn veil, quite discarded now, +was in her pocket. She did not know the man; but it was quite +evident from the almost ludicrous dismay which spread over his face +that he knew her. + +"The - the White Moll!" he stammered. "It's the White Moll!" + +"Jump!" she ordered imperatively - and her revolver pressed still +more significantly against the man's flesh. + +He seemed in even frantic haste to obey her. He whipped the door +open, and, before she could reach to the wheel, he had leaped to +the street. The car swerved sharply. She flung herself over into +the vacated seat, and snatched at the wheel barely in time to +prevent the machine from mounting the curb. + +She looked around again through the window of the hood. The man +had swung aboard Danglar's car, which was only a few yards behind. + +Rhoda Gray drove steadily. Here in the city streets her one aim +must be never to let the other car come abreast of her; but she +could prevent that easily enough by watching Danglar's movements, +and cutting across in front of him if he attempted anything of the +sort. But ultimately what was she to do? How was she to escape? +Her hands gripped and clenched in a sudden, almost panic-like +desperation at the wheel. Turn suddenly around a corner, and jump +from the car herself? It was useless to attempt it; they would +keep too close behind to give her a chance to get out of sight. +Well, then, suppose she jumped from the car, and trusted herself to +the protection of the people on the street. She shook her head grimly. +Danglar, she knew only too well, would risk anything, go to any +length, to put an end to the White Moll. He would not hesitate an +instant to shoot her down as she jumped and he would be fairly +safe himself in doing it. A few revolver shots from a car that +speeded away in the darkness offered an even chance of escape. And +yet, unless she forced an issue such as that, she knew that Danglar +would not resort to firing at her here in the city. He would want +to be sure that was the only chance he had of getting her, before +he accepted the risk that he would run of being caught for it by +the police. + +She found herself becoming strangely, almost unnaturally, cool and +collected now. The one danger, greater than all others, that +menaced her was a traffic block that would cause her to stop, and +allow those in the other car behind to rush in upon her as she sat +here at the wheel. And sooner or later, if she stayed in the city, +a block such as that was inevitable. She must get out of the city, +then. It was only to invite another risk, the risk that Danglar +was in the faster car of the two but there was no other way. + +She drove more quickly, made her way to the Bridge, and crossed it. +The car behind followed with immutable persistence. It made no +effort to close the short gap between them; but, neither, on the +other hand, did it permit that gap to widen. + +They passed through Brooklyn; and then, reaching the outskirts, +Rhoda Gray, with headlights streaming into the black, with an open +Long Island road before her, flung her throttle wide, and the car +leaped like a thing of life into the night. It was a sudden start, +it gained her a hundred yards but that was all. + +The wind tore at her and whipped her face; the car rocked and reeled +as in some mad frenzy. There was not much traffic, but such as +there was it cleared away from before her as if by magic, as, +seeking shelter from the wild meteoric thing running amuck, the few +vehicles, motor or horse, that she encountered hugged; the edge of +the road, and the wind whisked to her ears fragments of shouts and +execrations. Again and again she looked back two fiery balls of +light blazed behind her always those same two fiery balls. + +She neither gained nor lost. Rigid, like steel, her little figure +was crouched over the wheel. She did not know the road. She knew +nothing save that she was racing for her life. She did not know +the end; she could not see the end. Perhaps there would be some +merciful piece of luck for her that would win her through a +break-down to that roaring thing, with its eyes that were balls of +fire, behind. + +She passed through a town with lighted streets and lighted windows + or was it only imagination? It was gone again, anyhow, and there +was just black road ahead. Over the roar of the car and the sweep +of the wind, then, she caught, or fancied she caught, a series +of faint reports. She looked behind her. Yes, they were firing +now. Little flashes leaped out above and at the sides of those +blazing headlights. + +How long was it since she had left the Silver Sphinx? Minutes or +hours would not measure it, would they? But it could not last much +longer! She was growing very tired; the strain upon her arms, yes, +and upon her eyes, was becoming unbearable. She swayed a little +in her seat, and the car swerved, and she jerked it back again into +the straight. She began to laugh a little hysterically and then, +suddenly, she straightened up, tense and alert once more. + +That swerve was the germ of an inspiration! It took root swiftly +now. It was desperate - but she was desperate. She could not drive +much more, or much longer like this. Mind and body were almost +undone. And, besides, she was not outdistancing that car behind +there by a foot; and sooner or later they would hit her with one of +their shots, or, perhaps what they were really trying to do, +puncture one of her tires. + +Again she glanced over her shoulder. Yes, Danglar was just far +enough behind to make the plan possible. She began to allow the +car to swerve noticeably at intervals, as though she were weakening +and the car was getting beyond her control - which was, indeed, +almost too literally the case. And now it seemed to her that each +time she swerved there came an exultant shout from the car behind. +Well, she asked for nothing better; that was what she was trying to +do, wasn't it? - inspire them with the belief that she was breaking +under the strain. + +Her eyes searched anxiously down the luminous pathway made by her +high-powered headlights. If only she could reach a piece of road +that combined two things - an embankment of some sort, and a curve +just sharp enough to throw those headlights behind off at a tangent +for an instant as they rounded it, too, in following her. + +A minute, two, another passed. And then Rhoda Gray, tight-lipped, +her face drawn hard, as her own headlights suddenly edged away from +the road and opened what looked like a deep ravine on her left, +while the road curved to the right, flung a frenzied glance back +of her. It was her chance - her one chance. Danglar was perhaps +a little more than a hundred yards in the rear. Yes - now! His +headlights were streaming out on her left as he, too, touched the +curve. The right-hand side of her car, the right-hand side of the +road were in blackness. She checked violently, almost to a stop, +then instantly opened the throttle wide once more, wrenching the +wheel over to head the machine for the ravine; and before the car +picked up its momentum again, she dropped from the right-hand side, +darted to the far edge of the road, and flung herself flat down +upon the ground. + +The great, black body of her car seemed to sail out into nothingness +like some weird aerial monster, the headlights streaming uncannily +through space - then blackness - and a terrific crash. + +And now the other car had come to a stop almost opposite where she +lay. Danglar and the two chauffeurs, shouting at each other in +wild excitement, leaped out and rushed to the edge of the embankment. +And then suddenly the sky grew red as a great tongue-flame shot up +from below. It outlined the forms of the three men as they stood +there, until, abruptly, as though with one accord, they rushed +pell-mell down the embankment toward the burning wreckage. And as +they disappeared from sight Rhoda Gray jumped to her feet, sprang +for Danglar's car, flung herself into the driver's seat, and the car +shot forward again along the road. + +A shout, a wild chorus of yells, the reports of a fusillade of +shots reached her; she caught a glimpse of forms running insanely +after her along the edge of the embankment - then silence save for +the roar of the speeding car. + +She drove on and on. Somewhere, nearing a town, she saw a train +in the distance coming in her direction. She reached the station +first, and left the car standing there, and, with the torn veil +over her face again, took the train. + +She was weak, undone, exhausted. Even her mind refused its +functions further. It was only in a subconscious way she realized +that, where she had thought never to go to the garret again, the +garret and the role of Gypsy Nan were, more than ever now, her sole +refuge. The plot against Cloran had failed, but they could not +blame that on "Bertha's" non-appearance; and since it had failed +she would not now be expected to assume the dead woman's personality. +True, she had not, as had been arranged, reached the Silver Sphinx +at eleven, but there were a hundred excuses she could give to +account for her being late in keeping the appointment so that she +had arrived just in time, say, to see Danglar dash wildly in pursuit +of a woman who had jumped into the car that she was supposed to take! + +The garret! The garret again - and Gypsy Nan! Her surroundings +seemed to become a blank to her; her actions to be prompted by some +purely mechanical sense. She was conscious only that finally, after +an interminable time, she was in New York again; and after that, +long, long after that, dressed as Gypsy Nan, she was stumbling up +the dark, ladder-like steps to the attic. + +How her footsteps dragged! She opened the door, staggered inside, +locked the door again, and staggered toward the cot, and dropped +upon it; and the gray dawn came in with niggardly light through +the grimy little window panes, as though timorously inquisitive +of this shawled and dissolute figure prone and motionless, this +figure who in other dawns had found neither sleep nor rest - this +figure who lay there now as one dead. + + +XVIII. THE OLD SHED + +Rhoda Gray opened her eyes, and, from the cot upon which she lay, +stared with drowsy curiosity around the garret - and in another +instant was sitting bolt upright, alert and tense, as the full flood +of memory swept upon her. + +There was still a meager light creeping in through the small, grimy +window panes, but it was the light of waning day. She must have +slept, then, all through the morning and the afternoon, slept the +dead, heavy sleep of exhaustion from the moment she had flung +herself down here a few hours before daybreak. + +She rose impulsively to her feet. It was strange that she had not +been disturbed, that no one had come to the garret! The recollection +of the events of the night before were crowding themselves upon her +now. In view of last night, in view of her failure to keep that +appointment in the role of Danglar's wife, it was very strange +indeed that she had been left undisturbed! + +Subconsciously she was aware that she was hungry, that it was long +since she had eaten, and, almost mechanically, she prepared herself +something now from the store the garret possessed; but, even as she +ate, her mind was far from thoughts of food. From the first night +she had come here and self-preservation had thrust this miserable +role of Gypsy Nan upon her, from that first night and from the +following night when, to save the Sparrow, she had been whirled +into the vortex of the gang's criminal activities, her mind raced +on through the sequence of events that seemed to have spanned some +vast, immeasurable space of time until they had brought her to +- last night. + +Last night! She had thought it was the end last night, but instead +- The dark eyes grew suddenly hard and intent. Yes, she had +counted upon last night, when, with the necessary proof in her +possession with which to confront Danglar with the crime of murder, +she could wring from the man all that now remained necessary to +substantiate her own story and clear herself in the eyes of the law +of that robbery at Skarbolov's antique store of which she was held +guilty - and instead she had barely escaped with her life. That +was the story of last night. + +Her eyes grew harder. Well, the way was still open, wasn't it? +Last night had changed nothing in that respect. To-night, as the +White Moll, she had only to find and corner Danglar as she had +planned to do last night. She had still only to get the man alone +somewhere. + +Rhoda Gray's hands clenched tightly. That was all that was necessary +- just the substantiation of her own story that the plot to rob +Skarbolov lay at the door of Danglar and his gang; or, rather, perhaps, +that the plot was in existence before she had ever heard of Skarbolov. +It would prove her own statement of what the dying woman had said. +It would exonerate her from guilt; it would prove that, rather than +having any intention of committing crime, she had taken the only means +within her power of preventing one. The real Gypsy Nan, Danglar's +wife, who had died that night, bad, even in eleventh-hour penitence, +refused to implicate her criminal associates. There was a crime +projected which, unless she, Rhoda Gray, would agree to forestall +it in person and would give her oath not to warn the police about +it and so put the actual criminals in jeopardy, would go on to its +fulfillment! + +She remembered that night in the hospital. The scene came vividly +before her now. The woman's pleading, the woman's grim loyalty +even in death to her pals. She, Rhoda Gray, had given her oath. + +It became necessary only to substantiate those facts. Danglar +could be made to do it. She had now in her possession the evidence +that would convict him of complicity in the murder of Deemer, and +for which murder the original Gypsy Nan had gone into hiding; she +even had in her possession the missing jewels that had prompted that +murder; she had, too, the evidence now to bring the entire gang to +justice for their myriad depredations; she knew where their secret +hoard of ill-gotten gains was hidden - here in this attic, behind +that ingeniously contrived trap-door in the ceiling. She knew all +this; and this information placed before the police, providing +only it was backed by the proof that the scheme to rob Skarbolov +was to be carried out by the gang, as she, Rhoda Gray, would say +the dying woman had informed her, would be more than enough to +clear her. She had not had this proof on that first night when +she had snatched at the mantle of Gypsy Nan as the sole means of +escape from Rough Rorke, of headquarters; she did not have it +now - but she would have it, stake all and everything in life she +had to have it, for it, in itself, literally meant everything and +all - and Danglar would make a written confession, or else - or +else - She smiled mirthlessly. That was all! Last night she had +failed. To-night she would not fail. Before morning came, if it +were humanly within her power, she and Danglar would have played +out their game - to the end. + +And now a pucker came and gathered her forehead into little furrows, +and anxiety and perplexity crept into her eyes. Another thought +tormented her. In the exposure that was to come the Adventurer, +alias the Pug, was involved. Was there any way to save the man to +whom she owed so much, the splendidly chivalrous, high-couraged +gentleman she loved, the thief she abhorred? + +She pushed the remains of her frugal meal away from her, stood up +abruptly from the rickety washstand at which she had been seated, +and commenced to pace nervously up and down the stark, bare garret. +Where was the line of demarcation between right and wrong? Was it +a grievous sin, or an infinitely human thing to do, to warn the +man she loved, and give him a chance to escape the net she meant +to furnish the police? He was a thief, even a member of the gang +- though he used the gang as his puppets. Did ethics count when +one who had stood again and again between her and peril was himself +in danger now? Would it be a righteous thing, or an act of +despicable ingratitude, to trap him with the rest? + +She laughed out shortly. Warn him! Of course, she would warn him! +But then - what? She shivered a little, and her face grew drawn and +tired. It was the old, old story of the pitcher and the well. It was +almost inevitable that sooner or later, for some crime or another, +the man she loved would be caught at last, and would spend the +greater portion of his days behind prison bars. That was what the +love that had come into her life held as its promise to her! It was +terrible enough without her agency being the means of placing him +there! + +She did not want to think about it. She forced her mind into other +channels, though they were scarcely less disquieting. Why was it +that during the day just past there had been not a sign from Danglar +or any one of the gang, when every plan of theirs had gone awry last +night, and she had failed to keep her appointment in the role of +Danglar's wife? Why was it? What did it mean? Surely Danglar +would never allow what had happened to pass unchallenged, and - was +that some one now? + +She halted suddenly by the door to listen, her hand going +instinctively to the wide, voluminous pocket of her greasy skirt +for her revolver. Yes, there was a footstep in the hall below, but +it was descending now to the ground floor, not coming up. She even +heard the street door close, but still she hung there in a strained, +tense way, and into her face there came creeping a gray dismay. Her +pocket was empty. + +The revolver was gone! Its loss, pregnant with a hundred ominous +possibilities, seemed to bring a panic fear upon her, holding her +for a moment inert - and then she rushed frantically to the cot. +Perhaps it had fallen out of her pocket during the hours she had +lain there asleep. She searched the folds of the soiled and +crumpled blanket, that was the cot's sole covering, then snatched +the blanket completely off the cot and shook it; and then, down on +her knees, she searched the floor under the cot. There was no sign +of the revolver. + +Rhoda Gray stood up, and stared in a stunned way about her. Was +this, then, the explanation of her having seemingly been left +undisturbed here all through the day? Had some one, after all, +been here, and -? She shook her head suddenly with a quick, +emphatic gesture of dissent. The door was still locked, she +could see the key on the inside; and, besides, as a theory, it +wasn't logical. They wouldn't have taken her revolver and left +her placidly asleep! + +The loss of the revolver was a vital matter. It was her one +safeguard; the one means by which she could first gain and +afterwards hold the whip-hand over Danglar in the interview she +proposed to have with him; the one means of escape, the last resort, +if she herself were cornered and fell into his power. It had +sustained her more than once, that resolution to turn it against +herself if she were in extremity. It meant everything to her, that +weapon, and it was gone now; but the panic that had seized upon her +was gone too, and she could think rationally and collectively again. + +Last night, or rather this morning, when she had made her way back +to the shed out there in the lane behind the garret, she had been +in a state of almost utter exhaustion. She had changed from the +clothes of the White Moll to those of Gypsy Nan, but she must have +done so almost mechanically for she had no concrete recollection of +it. It was quite likely then, even more than probable, that she +had left the revolver in the pocket of her other clothes; for she +had certainly had, not only her revolver, but her flashlight and her +skeleton keys with her when she had visited old Luertz's place last +night, and later on too, when she had jumped into that automobile +in front of the Silver Sphinx, she had had her revolver, for she +had used it to force the chauffeur out of the car - and she had no +one of those articles now. + +Of course! That was it! She stepped impulsively to the door, and, +opening it, made her way quickly down the stairs to the street. The +revolver was undoubtedly in the pocket of her other skirt, and she +felt a surge of relief sweep upon her; but a sense of relief was far +from enough. She would not feel safe until the weapon was again in +her possession, and intuitively she felt that she had no time to +lose in securing it. She had already been left too long alone not +to make a break in that unaccountable isolation they had accorded +her as something to be expected at any moment. She hurried now down +the street to the lane that intervened between Gypsy Nan's house +and the next corner, glanced quickly about her, and, seeing no one +in her immediate vicinity, slipped into the lane. She gained the +deserted shed some fifty yards along the lane, entered through the +broken door that hung, half open, on sagging hinges, and, dropping +on her knees, reached in under the decayed and rotting flooring. +She pushed aside impatiently the package of jewels, at whose +magnificence she had gazed awe-struck and bewildered the night +before, and drew out the bundle that comprised her own clothing. +Her hand sought the pocket eagerly. Yes, it was here - at least +the flashlight was, and so were the skeleton keys. That was what +had happened! She had been near utter collapse last night, and she +had forgotten, and - Rhoda Gray, unconscious even that she still +held the clothing in her hands, rose mechanically to her feet. +There was a sudden weariness in her eyes as she stared unseeingly +about her. Yes, the flashlight and the keys were here - but the +revolver was not! Her brain harked back in lightning flashes over +the events of the preceding night. She must have lost it somewhere, +then. Where? She had had it in the automobile, that she knew +positively; but after that she did not remember, unless - yes, it +must have been that! When she had jumped from the car and flung +herself down at the roadside! It must have fallen out of her +pocket then. + +Her heart seemed to stand still. Suppose they had found it! They +would certainly recognize it as belonging to Gypsy Nan! They were +not fools. The deduction would be obvious - the identity of the +White Moll would be solved. Was that why no one had apparently +come near her? Were they playing at cat-and-mouse, watching her +before they struck, so that she would lead them to those jewels +under the flooring here that were worth a king's ransom? They +certainly believed that the White Moll had them. The Adventurer's +note, so ironically true, that he had intended as an alibi for +himself, and which he had exchanged for the package in old Luertz's +place, would have left no doubt in their minds but that the stones +were in her possession. Was that it? Were they - She held her +breath. It seemed as though suddenly her limbs were refusing to +support her weight. In the soft earth outside she had heard no +step, but she saw now a shadow fall athwart the half-open door-way. +There was no time to move, even had she been capable of action. It +seemed as though even her soul had turned to stone, and, with the +White Moll's clothes in her hands, she stood there staring at the +doorway, and something that was greater than fear, because it +mingled horror, ugly and forbidding, fell upon her. It was still +just light enough to see. The shadow moved forward and came inside. +She wanted to scream, to rush madly in retreat to the farthest +corner of the shed; but she could not move. It was Danglar who was +standing there. He seemed to sway a little on his feet, and the dark, +sinister face seemed blotched, and he seemed to smile as though +possessed of some unholy and perverted sense of humor. + +She was helpless, at his mercy, unarmed, saved for her wits. Her wits! +Were wits any longer of avail? She could believe nothing else now +except that he had been watching her - before he struck. + +"What are you doing here, and what are those clothes you've got in +your hands?" he rasped out. + +She could only fence for time in the meager hope that some loophole +would present itself. She forced an assumed defiance into her tones +and manner, that was in keeping with the sort of armed truce, which, +from her first meeting with Danglar, she had inaugurated as a barrier +between them. + +"You have asked me two questions," she said tartly. "Which one do +you want me to answer first?" + +"Look here," he snapped, "you cut that out! There's one or two +things need explaining - see? What are those clothes?" + +Her wits! Perhaps he did not know as much as she was afraid he did! +She seemed to have become abnormally contained, her mind abnormally +acute and active. It was not likely that the woman, his wife, whom +he believed she was, had worn her own clothes in his presence since +the day, some two years ago, when she had adopted the disguise of +Gypsy Nan; and she, Rhoda Gray, remembered that on the night Gypsy +Nan, re-assuming her true personality, had gone to the hospital, the +woman's clothes, like these she held now, had been of dark material. +It was not likely that a man would be able to differentiate between +those clothes and the clothes of the White Moll, especially as the +latter hung folded in her hands now, and even though he had seen +them on her at the Silver Sphinx last night. + +"What clothes do you suppose they are but my own? - though I haven't +had a chance to wear them much lately!" she countered crisply. + +He scowled at her speculatively. + +"What are you doing with them out here in this hole, then?" he +demanded. + +"I had to wear them last night, hadn't I?" she retorted. "I'd have +looked well coming out of Gypsy Nan's garret dressed as myself if any +one had seen me! She scowled at him in turn. She was beginning to +believe that he had not even an inkling of her identity. Her safest +play was to stake everything on that belief. "Say, what's the matter +with you?" she inquired disdainfully. "I came out here and changed +last night; and I changed into these rags I'm wearing now when I got +back again; and I left my own clothes here because I was expecting to +get word that I could put them on again soon for keeps - though I +might have known from past experience that something would queer the +fine promises you made at Matty's last night! And the reason I'm out +here now is because I left some things in the pocket, amongst them" +- she stared at him mockingly -" my marriage certificate." + +Danglar's face blackened. + +"Curse you!" he burst out angrily. "When you get your tantrums on, +you've got a tongue, haven't you! You'd have been wearing your +clothes now, if you'd have done as you were told. You're the one +that queered things last night." His voice was rising; he was +rocking even more unsteadily upon his feet. "Why in hell weren't +you at the Silver Sphinx?" + +Rhoda Gray squinted at him through Gypsy Nan's spectacles. She knew +an hysterical impulse to laugh outright in the sure consciousness of +supremacy over him now. The man had been drinking. He was by no +means drunk; but, on the other hand, he was by no means sober - and +she was certain now that, though she did not know how he had found +her here in the shed, not the slightest suspicion of her had entered +his mind. + +"I was at the Silver Sphinx," she announced coolly. + +"You lie!" he said hoarsely. "You weren't! I told you to be there +at eleven, and you weren't. You lie! What are you lying to me for +- eh? I'll find out, you - you -" + +Rhoda Gray dashed the clothes down on the floor at her feet, and +faced the man as though suddenly overcome in turn herself with +passion, shaking both closed fists at him. + +"Don't you talk to me like that, Pierre Danglar!" she shrilled. "I +lie, do I? Well, I'll prove to you I don't! You said you were +going to have supper with Cloran at about eleven o'clock, and perhaps +I was a few minutes after that, but maybe you think it's easy to get +all this Gypsy Nan stuff off me face and all, and rig up in my own +clothes that I haven't seen for so long it's a wonder they hold +together at all. I lie, do I? Well, just as I got to the Silver +Sphinx, I saw a woman breaking her neck to get down the steps with +you after her. She jumped into the automobile it was doped out I +was to take, and you jumped into the other one, and both beat it +down the street. I thought you'd gone crazy. I was afraid that +Cloran would come out and recognize me, so I turned and ran, too. +The safest thing I could do was to get back into the Gypsy Nan game +again, and that's what I did. And I've been lying low ever since, +waiting to get word from some of you, and not a soul came near me. +You're a nice lot, you are! And now you come sneaking here and call +me a liar! How'd you get to this shed, anyway?" + +Danglar pushed his hand in a heavy, confused way across his eyes. + +"My God!" he said heavily. "So that's it, is it?" His voice became +suddenly conciliating in its tones. "Look here, Bertha, old girl, +don't get sore. I didn't understand, see? And there was a whole lot +that looked queer. We even lost the jewels at old Luertz's last +night. Do you know who that woman was? It was the White Moll! She +led us a chase all over Long Island, and -" + +"The White Moll!" ejaculated Rhoda Gray. And then her laugh, short +and jeering, rang out. The tables were turned. She had him on the +defensive now. "You needn't tell me I She got away again, of course! +Why don't you hire a detective to help you? You make me weary! So, +it was the White Moll, was it? Well, I'm listening - only I'd like +to know first how you got here to this shed." + +"There's nothing in that!" he answered impatiently. "There's +something more important to talk about. I was coming over to the +garret, and just as I reached the corner I saw you go into the lane. +I followed you; that's all there is to that." + +"Oh!" she sniffed. She stared at him for a moment. There was +something in which there was the uttermost of irony now, it seemed, +in this meeting between them. Last night she had striven to meet him +alone, and she had meant to devote to-night to the same purpose; and +she was here with him now, and in a place than which, in her wildest +hopes, she could have imagined one no better suited to the reckoning +she would have demanded and forced. And she was helpless, powerless +to make use of it. She was unarmed. Her revolver was gone. Without +that to protect her, at an intimation that she was the White Moll she +would never leave the shed alive. The spot would be quite as ideal +under those circumstances for him, as it would have been under other +circumstances for her. She shrugged her shoulders. Danglar's +continued silence evidently invited further comment on her part. "Oh!" +she sniffed again. "And I suppose, then, that you have been chasing +the White Moll ever since last night at eleven, and that's why you +didn't get around sooner to allay my fears, even though you knew I +must be half mad with anxiety at the way things broke last night. +She'll have us down and out for keeps if you haven't got brains enough +to beat her. How much longer is this thing going on?" + +Danglar's little black eyes narrowed. She caught a sudden glint of +triumph in them. It was Danglar now who laughed. + +"Not much longer!" His voice was arrogant with malicious +satisfaction. "The luck had to turn, hadn't it? Well, it's turned! +I've got the White Moll at last!" + +She felt the color leave her face. It seemed as though something +had closed with an icy clutch upon her heart. She had heard aright, +hadn't she? - that he had said he had got the White Moll at last. +And there was no mistaking the mans s sinister delight in making +that announcement. Had she been premature, terribly premature, in +assuring herself that her identity was still safe as far as he was +concerned? Did it mean that, after all, he had been playing at +cat-and-mouse with her, as she had at first feared? + +"You - you've got the White Moll?" She forced the words from her +lips, striving to keep her voice steady and in control, and to +infuse into it an ironical incredulity. + +"Sure!" he said complacently. "The showdown comes to-night. In +another hour or so we'll have her where we want her, and -" + +"Oh!" She laughed almost hysterically in relief. "I thought so! +You haven't got her yet. You're only going to get her - in another +hour or so! You make me tired! It's always in 'another hour or so' +with you - and it never comes off!" + +Danglar scowled at her under the taunt. + +"It'll come off this time!" he snarled in savage menace. "You hold +that tongue of yours! Yes, it'll come off! And when it does" - a +sweep of fury sent the red into his working face - "I'll keep the +promise I made her once - that she'd wish she had never been born! +D'ye hear, Bertha?" + +"I hear," she said indifferently. "But would you mind telling me +how you are going to do it? I might believe you then - perhaps!" + +"Damn you, Bertha!" he exploded. "Sometimes I'd like to wring that +pretty neck of yours; and sometimes!" - he moved suddenly toward her +- "I would sell my soul for you, and -" + +She retreated from him coolly. + +"Never mind about that! This isn't a love scene!" she purred +caustically. "And as for the other, save it for the White Moll. +What makes you think you've got her at last?" + +"I don't think - I know." He stood gnawing at his lips, eying her +uncertainly, half angrily, half hungrily. And then he shrugged his +shoulders. "Listen!" he said. "I've got some one else, too! And +I know now where the leak that's queered every one of our games and +put the White Moll wise to every one of our plans beforehand has +come from. I guess you'll believe me now, won't you? We've got that +dude pal of hers fastened up tighter than the night he fastened me +with his cursed handcuffs! Do you know who that same dude pal is?" +He laughed in an ugly, immoderate way. "You don't, of course, so +I'll tell you. It's the Pug!" Rhoda Gray did not answer. It was +growing dark here in the shed now - perhaps that was why the man's +form blended suddenly into the doorway and wall, and blurred before +her. She tried to think, but there seemed to have fallen upon her +a numbed and agonized stupefaction. There was no confusing this +issue. Danglar had found out that the Adventurer was the Pug. And +it meant - oh, what did it mean? They would kill him. Of course, +they would kill him! The Adventurer, discovered, would be safer at +the mercy of a pack of starved pumas, and... + +"I thought that would hold you!" said Danglar with brutal serenity. +"That's why I didn't get around till now. I didn't get back from +that chase until daylight - the she-fiend stole our car - and then +I went to bed to get a little sleep. About three o'clock this +afternoon Pinkie Bonn woke me up. He was half batty with excitement. +He said he was over in the tenement in the Pug's room. The Pug +wasn't in, and Pinkie was waiting for him, and then all of a sudden +he heard a woman screaming like mad from somewhere. He went to the +door and looked out, and saw a man dash out of a room across the +hall, and burst in the door of the next room. There was a woman in +there with her clothes on fire. She'd upset a coal-oil stove, or +something. The man Pinkie had seen beats the fire out, and +everybody in the tenement begins to collect around the door. And +then Pinkie goes pop-eyed. The man's face was the face of the White +Moll's dude pal - but he had on the Pug's clothes. Pinkie's a wise +guy. He slips away to me without getting himself in the limelight +or spilling any beans. And I didn't ask him if he'd been punching +the needle again overtime, either. It fitted like a glove with what +happened at old Luertz's last night. You don't know about that. +Pinkie and this double-crossing snitch went there - and only found +a note from the White Moll. He'd tipped her off before, of course, +and the note made a nice little play so's he'd be safe himself with +us. Well, that's about all. We had to get him - where we wanted +him - and we got him. We waited until he showed up again as the +Pug, and then we put over a frame-up deal on him that got him to go +over to that old iron plant in Harlem, you know, behind Jake Malley's +saloon, where we had it fixed to hand Cloran his last night - and the +Pug's there now. He's nicely gagged, and tied, and quite safe. The +plant's been shut down for the last two months, and there's only the +watchman there, and he's 'squared.' We gave the Pug two hours of +solitary confinement to think it over and come across. We just asked +him for the White Moll's address, so's we could get her and the +sparklers she swiped at Old Luertz's place last night." + +Still Rhoda Gray did not speak for a moment. She seemed to be held +in thrall by both terror and a sickening dismay. It did not seem +real, her surroundings here, this man, and the voice that was +gloatingly pronouncing the death sentence upon the man who had +come unbidden into her life, and into her heart, the man she loved. +Yes, she understood! Danglar's words had been plain enough. The +Adventurer had been trapped - not through Danglar's cunning, or +lack of cunning on the Adventurer's own part, but through force of +circumstances that had caused him to fling all thought of +self-consideration to the winds in an effort to save another's life. +Her hands, hidden in the folds of her skirt, clenched until they +hurt. And it was another self, it seemed, subconsciously enacting +the role of Gypsy Nan, alias Danglar's wife, who spoke at last. + +"You are a fool! You are all fools!" she cried tempestuously. +"What do you expect to gain by that? Do you imagine you can make +the Pug come across with any information by a threat to kill him +if he doesn't? You tried that once. You had him cold, or at least +you thought you had, and so did he, that night in old Nicky Viner's +room, and he laughed at you even when he expected you to fire the +next second. He's not likely to have changed any since then, is he?" + +"No," said Danglar, with a vicious chuckle; "and that's why I'm not +trying the same game twice. That's why we've got him over in the +old iron plant now." + +There was something she did not like in Danglar's voice, something +of ominous assurance, something that startled her. + +"What do you mean?" she demanded sharply. + +"It's a lonely place," said Danglar complacently. "There's no one +around but the watchman, and he's an old friend of Shluker's; and +it's so roomy over there that no one could expect him to be +everywhere at once. See? That let's him out. He's been well +greased, and he won't know anything. Don't you worry, old girl! +That's what I came here for - to tell you that everything is all +right, after all. The Pug will talk. Maybe he wouldn't if he just +had his choice between that and the quick, painless end that a +bullet would bring; but there are some things that a man can't +stand. Get me? We'll try a few of those on the Pug, and, believe +me, before we're through, there won't be any secrets wrapped up in +his bosom." + +Rhoda Gray stood motionless. Thank God it had grown dark - dark +enough to hide the whiteness that she knew had crept over her face, +and the horror that had crept into her eyes. "You mean" - her voice +was very low - "you mean you're going to torture him into talking?" + +"Sure!" said Danglar. "What do you think!" + +"And after that?" + +"We bump him off, of course," said Danglar callously. "He knows +all about us, don't he? And I guess we'll square up on what's +coming to him! He's put the crimp into us for the last time!" +Danglar's voice pitched suddenly hoarse in fury. "That's a hell +of a question to ask! What do you think we'd do with a yellow +cur that's double-crossed us like that?" + +Plead for the Adventurer's life? It was useless; it was worse than +useless - it would only arouse suspicion toward herself. From the +standpoint of any one of the gang, the Adventurer's life was forfeit. +Her mind was swift, cruelly swift, in its workings now. There came +the prompting to disclose her own identity to tell Danglar that he +need not go to the Adventurer to discover the whereabouts of the +White Moll, that she was here now before him; there came the +prompting to offer herself in lieu of the man she loved. But that, +too, was useless, and worse than useless; they would still do away +with the Adventurer because he had been the Pug, and the only chance +he now had, as represented by whatever she might be able to do, +would be gone, since she would but have delivered herself into +their hands. + +She drew back suddenly. Danglar had stepped toward her. She was +unable to avoid him, and his arm encircled her waist. She shivered +as the pressure of his arm tightened. + +"It's all right, old girl!" he said exuberantly. "You've been +through hell, you have; but it's all right at last. You leave it +to me! Your husband's got a kiss to make up for every drop of that +grease you've had to put on the prettiest face in New York." + +It seemed as though she must scream out. It was hideous. She could +not force herself to endure it another instant even for safety's safe. +She pushed him away. It was unbearable - at any risk, cost what it +might. Mind, soul and body recoiled from the embrace. + +"Leave me alone!" she panted. "You've been drinking. Leave me alone!" + +He drew back, and laughed. + +"Not very much," he said. "The celebration hasn't started yet, and +you'll be in on that. I guess your nerves have been getting shaky +lately, haven't they? Well, you can figure on the swellest +rest-cure you ever heard of, Bertha. Take it from me! We're going +down to keep the Pug company presently. You blow around to Matty's +about midnight and get the election returns. We'll finish the job +after that by getting Cloran out of the road some way before morning, +and that will let you out for keeps - there won't be any one left to +recognize the woman who was with Deemer the night he shuffled out." +He backed to the doorway. "Get me? Come over to Matty's and see the +rajah's sparklers about midnight. We'll have 'em then - and the +she-fiend, too. So long, Bertha!" + +She scarcely heard him; she answered mechanically. + +"Good-night," she said. + + +XIX. DREAD UPON THE WATERS + +For a moment after Danglar had gone, Rhoda Gray stood motionless; +and then, the necessity for instant action upon her, she moved +quickly toward the doorway herself. There was only one thing she +could do, just one; but she must be sure first that Danglar was +well started on his way. She reached the doorway, looked out - and +suddenly caught her breath in a low, quick inhalation, In the +semi-darkness she could just make out Danglar's form, perhaps +twenty-five yards away now, heading along the lane toward the +street; but behind Danglar, at a well-guarded distance in the rear, +hugging the shadows of the fence, she saw the form of another man. +Her brows knitted in a perplexed and anxious frown. The second man +was undoubtedly following Danglar. That was evident. But why? +Who was it? What did it mean? + +She retreated back into the shed, and commenced hastily to disrobe +and dress again in her own clothes, which she had flung down upon +the floor. In the last analysis, did it matter who it was that was +following Danglar - even if it were one of the police? For, +supposing that the man who was shadowing Danglar was a plain-clothes +man, and suppose he even followed Danglar and the rest of the gang +to the old iron plant, and suppose that with the necessary assistance +he rounded them all up, and in that sense effected the Adventurer's +rescue, it scarcely meant a better fate for the Adventurer! It +simply meant that the Adventurer, as one of the gang, and against +whom every one of the rest would testify as the sole means left to +them of wreaking their vengeance upon one who had tricked and +outwitted them again and again for his own ends, would stand his +trial with the others, and with the others go behind prison bars for +a long term of years. + +She hurried now, completing the last touches that transformed her +from Gypsy Nan into the veiled figure of the White Moll, stepped +out into the lane, and walking rapidly, reached the street and +headed, not in the direction of Harlem, but deeper over into the +East Side. Even as Danglar had been speaking she had realized that, +for the Adventurer's own sake, and irrespective of what any +premature disclosure of her own identity to the authorities might +mean to her, she could not call upon the police for aid. There +was only one way, just one - to go herself, to reach the Adventurer +herself before Danglar returned there and had an opportunity of +putting his worse than murderous intentions into effect. + +Well, she was going there, wasn't she? And if she lost no time she +should be there easily ahead of them, and her chances would be +excellent of releasing the Adventurer with very little risk. From +what Danglar had said, the Adventurer was there alone. Once tied +and gagged there had been no need to leave anybody to guard him, +save that the watchman would ordinarily serve to keep any one off +the premises, which was all that was necessary. But that he had +been left at all worried her greatly. He had, of course, already +refused to talk. What they had done to him she did not know, but +the 'solitary confinement' Danglar had referred to was undoubtedly +the first step in their efforts to break his spirit. Her lips +tightened as she went along. Surely she could accomplish it! She +had but to evade the watchman - only, first, the lost revolver, +the one safeguard against an adverse turn of fortune, must be +replaced, and that was where she was going now. She knew, from her +associations with the underworld as the White Moll in the old days, +where such things could be purchased and no questions asked, if one +were known. And she was known in the establishment to which she +was going, for evil days had once fallen upon its proprietor, one +"Daddy" Jacques, in that he had incurred the enmity of certain of +his own ilk in the underworld, and on a certain night, which he +would not be likely to forget, she had stood between him and a +manhandling that would probably have cost him his life, and - Yes, +this was the place. + +She entered a dirty-windowed, small and musty pawnshop. A little +old man, almost dwarf-like in stature, with an unkempt, tawny beard, +who wore a greasy and ill-fitting suit, and upon whose bald head +was perched an equally greasy skull cap, gazed at her inquiringly +from behind the counter. + +"I want a gun, and a good one, please," she said, after a glance +around her to assure herself that they were alone. + +The other squinted at her through his spectacles, as he shook his +head. + +"I haven't got any, lady," he answered. "We're not allowed to sell +them without -" + +"Oh, yes, you have, Daddy," she contradicted quietly, as she raised +her veil. "And quick, please; I'm in a hurry." + +The little old man leaned forward, staring at her for a moment as +though fascinated; and then his hand, in a fumbling way, removed +the skull cap from his bead. There was a curious, almost wistful +reverence in his voice as he spoke. + +"The White Moll!" he said. + +"Yes," she smiled. "But the gun, Daddy. Quick! I haven't an +instant to lose." + +"Yes, yes!" he said eagerly - and shuffled away. + +He was back in a moment, an automatic in his hand. + +"It's loaded, of course?" she said, as she took the weapon. She +slipped it into her pocket as he nodded affirmatively. "How much, +Daddy?" + +"The White Moll!" He seemed still under the spell of amazement. +"It is nothing. There is no charge. It is nothing, of course." + +"Thank you, Daddy!" she said softly - and laid a bill upon the +counter, and stepped back to the door. "Good-night!" she smiled. + +She heard him call to her; but she was already on the street again, +and hurrying along. She felt better, somehow, in a mental way, for +that little encounter with the shady old pawnbroker. She was not +so much alone, perhaps, as she had thought; there were many, perhaps, +even if they were of the underworld, who had not swerved from the +loyalty they had once professed to the White Moll. + +It brought a new train of thought, and she paused suddenly in her +walk. She might rally around her some of those underworld intimates +upon whose allegiance she felt she could depend, and use them now, +to-night, in behalf of the Adventurer; she would be sure then to be +a match for Danglar, no matter what turn affairs took. And then, +with an impatient shake of her head, she hurried on again. There +was no time for that. It would take a great deal of time to find +and pick her men; she had even wasted time herself, where there was +no time to spare, in the momentary pause during which she had given +the thought consideration. + +She reached the nearest subway station, which was her objective, +and boarded a Harlem train, satisfied that her heavy veil would +protect her against recognition. Unobtrusively she took a window +seat. No one paid her any attention. Hours passed, it seemed to +her impatience, while the black walls rushed by, punctuated by +occasional scintillating signal lights, and, at longer intervals, +by the fuller glare from the station platforms. + +In the neighborhood of 125th street she left the train, and, +entering the first drug store she found, consulted a directory. +She did not know this section of New York at all; she did not know +either the location or the firm name of the iron plant to which +Danglar, assuming naturally, of course, that she was conversant +with it, had referred; and she did not care to ask to be directed +to Jake Malley's saloon, which was the only clew she had to guide +her. The problem, however, did not appear to be a very difficult +one. She found the saloon's address, and, asking the clerk to +direct her to the street indicated, left the drug store again. + +But, after all, it was not so easy; no easier than for one +unacquainted with any locality to find one's way about. Several +times she found herself at fault, and several times she was obliged +to ask directions again. She had begun to grow panicky with fear +and dread at the time she had lost, before, finally, she found the +saloon. She was quite sure that it was already more than half an +hour since she had left the drug store; and that half an hour might +easily mean the difference between safety and disaster, not only +for the Adventurer, but for herself as well. Danglar might have +been in no particular hurry, and he would probably have gone first +to whatever rendezvous he had appointed for those of the gang +selected to accompany him, but even to have done so in a leisurely +way would surely not have taken more than that half hour! + +Yes, that was Jake Malley's saloon now, across the road from her, +but she could not recall the time that was already lost! They +might be there now - ahead of her. + +She quickened her steps almost to a run. There should be no +difficulty in finding the iron plant now. "Behind Jake Malley's +saloon," Danglar had said. She turned down the cross street, +passed the side entrance to the saloon, and hastened along. The +locality was lonely, deserted, and none too well lighted. The arc +lamps, powerful enough in themselves, were so far apart that they +left great areas of shadow, almost blackness, between them. And +the street too was very narrow, and the buildings, such as they +were, were dark and unlighted - certainly it was not a residential +district! + +And now she became aware that she was close to the river, for the +sound of a passing craft caught her attention. Of course! She +understood now. The iron plant, for shipping facilities, was +undoubtedly on the bank of the river itself, and - yes, this was +it, wasn't it? - this picket fence that began to parallel the +right-hand side of the street, and enclose, seemingly, a very large +area. She halted and stared at it - and suddenly her heart sank +with a miserable sense of impotence and dismay. Yes, this was the +place beyond question. Through the picket fence she could make +out the looming shadows of many buildings, and spidery iron +structures that seemed to cobweb the darkness, and - and - Her +face mirrored her misery. She had thought of a single building. +Where, inside there, amongst all those rambling structures, with +little time, perhaps none at all, to search, was she to find the +Adventurer? + +She did not try to answer her own question - she was afraid that +her dismay would get the better of her if she hesitated for an +instant. She crossed the street, choosing a spot between two of +the arc lamps where the shadows were blackest. It was a high fence, +but not too high to climb. She reached up, preparatory to pulling +herself to the top - and drew back with a stifled cry. She was too +late, then - already too late! They were here ahead of her - and +on guard after all! A man's form, appearing suddenly out of the +darkness but a few feet away, was making quickly toward her. She +wrenched her automatic from her pocket. The touch of the weapon +in her hand restored her self-control. + +"Don't come any nearer!" she cried out sharply. "I will fire if +you do!" + +And then the man spoke. + +"It's you, ain't it?" he called in guarded eagerness. "It's the +White Moll, ain't it? Thank God, it's you!" + +Her extended hand with the automatic fell to her side. She had +recognized his voice. It wasn't Danglar, it wasn't one of the +gang, or the watchman who was no better than an accomplice; it was +Marty Finch, alias the Sparrow. + +"Marty!" she exclaimed. "You! What are you doing here?" + +"I'm here to keep you from goin' in there!" he answered excitedly. +"And - and, say, I was afraid I was too late. Don't you go in +there! For God's sake, don't you go! They're layin' a trap for +you! They're goin' to bump you off! I know all about it!" + +"You know? What do you mean?" she asked quickly. "How do you +know?" + +"I quit my job a few days after that fellow you called Danglar +tried to murder me that night you saved me," said the Sparrow, with +a savage laugh. "I knew he had it in for you, and I guess I had +something comm' to him on my own account too, hadn't I? That's the +job I've been on ever since - tryin' to find the dirty pup. And I +found him! But it wasn't until to-night, though you can believe me +there weren't many joints in the old town where I didn't look for +him. My luck turned to-night. I spotted him comin' out of Italian +Joe's bar. See? I followed him. After a while he slips into a +lane, and from the street I saw him go into a shed there. I worked +my way up quiet, and got as near as I dared without bein' heard and +seen, and I listened. He was talkin' to a woman. I couldn't hear +everything they said, and they quarreled a lot; but I heard him say +something about framin' up a job to get somebody down to the old +iron plant behind Jake Malley's saloon and bump 'em off, and I +heard him say there wouldn't be any White Moll by morning, and I +put two and two together and beat it for here." + +Rhoda Gray reached out and caught the Sparrow's hand. + +"Thank you, Marty! You haven't got it quite right - though, thank +Heaven, you got it the way you did, since you are here now!" she +said fervently. "It wasn't me, it wasn't the White Moll, they +expected to get here; it's the man who helped me that night to +clear you of the Hayden-Bond robbery that Danglar meant to make +you shoulder. He risked his life to do it, Marty. They've got +him a prisoner somewhere in there; and they're coming back to - to +torture him into telling them where I am, and - and afterwards to +do away with him. That's why I'm here, Marty - to get him away, +if I can, before they come back." + +The Sparrow whistled low under his breath. + +"Well, then, I guess it's my hunt too," he said coolly. "And I +guess this is where a prison bird horns in with the goods. Ever +since I've been looking for that Danglar guy, I've been carryin' +a full kit - because I didn't know what might break, or what kind +of a mess I might want to get out of. Come on! We ain't got no +time. There's a couple of broken pickets down there. We might be +seen climbin' the fence. Come on!" + +Bread upon the waters! With a sense of warm gratitude upon her, +Rhoda Gray followed the ex-convict. They made their way through +the fence. A long, low building, a storage shed evidently, showed +a few yards in front of them. It seemed to be quite close to the +river, for now she could see the reflection of lights from here +and there playing on the black, mirror-like surface of the water. +Farther on, over beyond the shed, the yard of the plant, dotted +with other buildings and those spidery iron structures which she +had previously noticed, stretched away until it was lost in the +darkness. Here, however, within the radius of one of the street +arc lamps it was quite light. + +Rhoda Gray had paused in almost hopeless indecision as to how or +where to begin her search, when the Sparrow spoke again. + +"It looks like we got a long hunt," whispered the Sparrow; "but a +few minutes before you came, a guy with a lantern comes from over +across the yard there and nosed around that shed, and acted kind +of queer, and I could see him stick his head up against them side +doors there as though he was listenin' for something inside. Does +that wise you up to anything?" + +"Yes!" she breathed tensely. "That was the watchman. He's one of +them. The man we want is in that shed beyond a doubt. Hurry, +Marty - hurry!" + +They ran together now, and reached the double side-door. It was +evidently for freight purposes only, and probably barred on the +inside, for they found there was no way of opening it from without. + +"There must be an entrance," she said feverishly - and led the way +toward the front of the building in the direction away from the +river. "Yes, here it is!" she exclaimed, as they rounded the end +of the shed. + +She tried the door. It was locked. She felt in her pocket for her +skeleton keys, for she had not been unprepared for just such an +emergency, but the Sparrow brushed her aside. + +"Leave it to me!" he said quickly. "I'll pick that lock like one +o'clock! It won't take me more'n a minute." + +Rhoda Gray did not stand and watch him. Minutes were priceless +things, and she could put the minute he asked for to better +advantage than by idling it away. With an added injunction to +hurry and that she would be back in an instant, she was already +racing around the opposite side of the shed. If they were pressed, +cornered, by the arrival of Danglar, it might well mean the +difference between life and death to all of them if she had an +intimate knowledge of the surroundings. + +She was running at top speed. Halfway down the length of the +shed she tripped and fell over some object. She pushed it aside +as she rose. It was an old iron casting, more bulky in shape than +in weight, though she found it none too light to lift comfortably. +She ran on. A wharf projected out, she found, from this end of +the shed. At the edge, she peered over. It was quite light here +again; away from the protecting shadows of the shed, the rays of +the arc lamp played without hindrance on the wharf just as they +did on the shed's side door. Below, some ten or twelve feet below, +and at the corner of the wharf, a boat, or, rather, a sort of scow, +for it was larger than a boat though oars lay along its thwarts, +was moored. It was partly decked over, and she could see a small +black opening into the forward end of it, though the opening itself +was almost hidden by a heap of tarpaulin, or sailcloth, or something +of the kind, that lay in the bottom of the craft. She nodded her +head. They might all of them use that boat to advantage! + +Rhoda Gray turned and ran back. The Sparrow, with a grunt of +satisfaction, was just opening the door. She stepped through the +doorway. The Sparrow followed. + +"Close it!" said Rhoda Gray, under her breath. She felt her heart +beat quicken, the blood flood her face and then recede. Her +imagination had suddenly become too horribly vivid. Suppose they +- they had already gone farther than... + +With an effort she controlled herself - and the round, white ray of +her flashlight swept the place. A moment more, and, with a low cry, +she was running forward to where, on the floor near the wall of the +shed opposite the side door, she made out the motionless form of a +man. She reached him, and dropped on her knees beside him. It was +the Adventurer. She spoke to him. He did not answer. And then she +remembered what Danglar had said, and she saw that he was gagged. +But - but she was not sure that was the reason why he did not answer. +The flashlight in her hand wavered unsteadily as it played over him. +Perhaps the whiteness of the ray itself exaggerated it, but his face +held a deathly pallor; his eyes were closed; and his hands and feet +were twisted cruelly and tightly bound. + +"Give me your knife - quick - Sparrow!" she called. "Then go and +keep watch just outside." + +The Sparrow handed her his knife, and hurried back to the door. + +She worked in the darkness now. She could not use both hands and +still hold the flashlight; and, besides, with the door partially +open now where the Sparrow was on guard there was always the chance, +if Danglar and those of the gang with him were already in the +vicinity, of the light bringing them all the more quickly to the +scene. + +Again she spoke to the Adventurer, as she removed the gag - and a +fear that made her sick at heart seized up on her. There was still +no answer. And now, as she worked, cutting at the cords on his +hands and feet, the love that she knew for the man, its restraint +broken by the sense of dread and fear at his condition, rose +dominant within her, and impulse that she could not hold in least +took possession of her, and in the darkness, since he would not +know, and there was none to see, she bent her head, and, half +crying, her lips pressed upon his forehead. + +She drew back startled, a crimson in her face that the darkness +hid. What had she done? Did he know? Had he returned to +consciousness, if he really had been unconscious, in time to +know? She could not see; but she knew his eyes had opened. + +She worked frantically with the bonds. He was free now. She cast +them off. + +He spoke then - thickly, with great difficulty. + +"It's you, the White Moll, isn't it?" + +"Yes," she answered. + +He raised himself up on his elbow, only to fall back with a +suppressed groan. + +"I don't know how you found me, but get away at once - for God's +sake, get away!" he cried. "Danglar'll be here at any minute. +It's you he wants. He thinks you know where some - some jewels are, +and that I - I -" + +"I know all about Danglar," she said hurriedly. "And I know all +about the jewels, for I've got them myself." + +He was up on his knees now, swaying there. She caught at his +shoulder to support him. + +"You!" he cried out incredulously. "You - you've got them? Say +that again! You - you've -" + +"Yes," she said, and with an effort steadied her voice. He - he +was a thief. Cost her what it might, with all its bitter hurt, +she must remember that, even - even if she had forgotten once. +"Yes," she said. "And I mean to turn them over to the police, and +expose every one of Danglar's gang. I - you are entitled to a +chance; you once stood between me and the police. I can do no less +by you. I couldn't turn the police loose on the gang without +giving you warning, for, you see, I know you are the Pug." + +"Good God!" he stammered. "You know that, too?" + +"Try and walk," she said breathlessly. "There isn't any time. +And once you are away from here, remember that when Danglar is in +the hands of the police he will take the only chance for revenge he +has left, and give the police all the information he can, so that +they will get you too. + +He stumbled pitifully. + +"I can't walk much yet." He was striving to speak coolly. "They +trussed me up a bit, you know - but I'll be all right in a little +while when I get the cramps out of my joints and the circulation +back. And so, Miss Gray, won't you please go at once? I'm free +now, and I'll manage all right, and-" + +The Sparrow came running back from the door. + +"They're comm'!" he said excitedly. "They're comm' from a different +way than we came in. I saw 'em sway up there across the yard for a +second when they showed up under a patch of light from an arc lamp +on the other street. There's three of 'em. We. got about a couple +of minutes, and -" + +"Get those side doors open! Quick! And no noise!"' ordered Rhoda +Gray tersely. And then to the Adventurer: "Try - try and walk! +I'll help you." + +The Adventurer made a desperate attempt at a few steps. It was +miserably slow. At that rate Danglar would be upon them before +they could even cross the shed itself. + +"I can crawl faster," laughed the Adventurer with bitter +whimsicality. "Give me your revolver, Miss Gray, and you two go +- and God bless you!" + +The Sparrow was opening the side door, but she realized now that +even if they could carry the Adventurer they could not get away in +time. Her mind itself seemed stunned for an instant - and then, in +a lightning flash, inspiration came. She remembered that iron +casting, and the wharf, and the other side of the shed in shadow. +It was desperate, perhaps almost hopeless, but it was the only way +that gave the Adventurer a chance for his life. + +She spoke rapidly. The little margin of time they had must be +narrowing perilously. + +"Marty, help this gentleman! Crawl to the street, if you have to. +The only thing is that you are not to make the slightest noise, +and -" + +"What are you going to do?" demanded the Adventurer hoarsely. + +"I'm going to take the only chance there is for all of us," she +answered. + +She started toward the front door of the shed; but he reached out +and held her back. + +"You are going to take the only chance there is for me!" he cried +brokenly. "You're going out there - where they are. Oh, my God! +I know! You love me! I - I was only half conscious, but I am sure +you kissed me a little while ago. And but for this you would never +have known that I knew it, because, please God, whatever else I am, +I am not coward enough to take that advantage of you. But I love +you, too! Rhoda! I have the right to speak, the right our love +gives me. You are not to go - that way. Run - run through the side +door there - they will not see you. + +She was trembling. Repudiate her love? Tell him there could be +nothing between them because he was a thief? She might never live +to see him again. Her soul was in riot, the blood flaming hot in +her cheeks. He was clinging to her arm. She tore herself forcibly +away. The seconds were counting now. She tried to bid him good-by, +but the words choked in her throat. She found herself running for +the front door. + +"Sparrow - quick! Do as I told you!" she half sobbed over her +shoulder - and opening the door, stepped out and dosed it behind her. + + +XX. A LONE HAND + +And now Rhoda Gray was in the radius of the arc lamp, and distinctly +visible to any one coming down the yard. How near were they? Yes, +she saw them now - three forms-perhaps a little more than a hundred +yards away. She moved a few steps deliberately toward them, as +though quite unconscious of their presence; and then, as a shout +from one of them announced that she was seen, she halted, hesitated +as though surprised, terrified and uncertain, and, as they sprang +forward, she turned and ran - making for the side of the shed away +from the side door. + +A voice rang out - Danglar's: + +"By God, it's the White Moll!" + +It was the only way! She had the pack in cry now. They would pay +no attention to the Adventurer while the White Moll was seemingly +almost within their grasp. If she could only hold them now for a +little while - just a little while - the Adventurer wasn't hurt +- only cramped and numbed - he would be all right again and able +to take care of himself in a little while - and meanwhile the +Sparrow would help him to get away. + +She was running with all her speed. She heard them behind her - the +pound, pound, pound of feet. She had gained the side of the shed. +The light from the arc lamp was shut off from her now, and they would +only be able to see her, she knew, as a dim, fleeting shadow. Where +was that iron casting? Pray God, it was heavy enough; and pray God, +it was not too heavy! Yes, here it was! She pretended to stumble +- and caught the thing up in her arms. An exultant cry went up +from behind her as she appeared to fall - oaths, a chorus of them, +as she went on again. + +They had not gained on her before; but with the weight in her arms, +especially as she was obliged to carry it awkwardly in order to +shield it from their view with her body, she could not run so fast +now, and they were beginning to close up on her. But she was on the +wharf now, and there was not much farther to go, and - and surely +she could hold all the lead she needed until she reached the edge. + +The light from the arc lamp held her in view again out here on the +wharf where she was clear of the shed; but she knew they would not +fire at her except as a last resort. They could not afford to sound +an alarm that would attract notice to the spot - when they had, or +believed they had, both the Adventurer and the White Moll within +their grasp now. + +She was running now with short, hard, panting gasps. There were +still five yards to go-three-one! She looked around her like a +hunted animal at bay, as she reached the end of the wharf and stood +there poised at the edge. Yes, thank God, they were still far +enough behind to give her the few seconds she needed! She cried +out loudly as though in despair and terror - and sprang from the +edge of the wharf. And as she sprang she dropped the casting; but +even as it struck the water with a loud splash, Rhoda Gray, in +frantic haste, was crawling in through the little locker-like +opening under the decked-over bow of the half scow, half boat into +which she had leaped. And quick as a flash, huddled inside, she +reached out and drew the heap of what proved to be sailcloth nearer +to her to cover the opening-and lay still. + +A few seconds passed; then she heard them at the edge of the wharf, +and heard Danglar s voice. + +"Watch where she comes up! She can't get away!" + +A queer, wan smile twisted Rhoda Gray's lips. The casting had +served her well; the splash had been loud enough! She listened, +straining her ears to catch every sound from above. It was +miserably small this hiding place into which she had crawled, +scarcely large enough to hold her - she was beginning to be +painfully cramped and uncomfortable already. + +Another voice, that she recognized as Pinkie Bonn's now, reached +her: + +"It's damned hard to spot anything out there; the water's blacker'n +hell." + +Came a savage and impatient oath from Danglar. + +"She's got to come up, ain't she - or drown!" he rasped. "Maybe +she's swum under the wharf, or maybe she's swum under water far +enough out so's we can't see her from here. Anyway, jump into +that boat there, and we'll paddle around till we get her." + +Rhoda Gray held her breath. The boat rocked violently as, one after +another, the men jumped into it. Her right hand was doubled under +her, it was hard to reach her pocket and her automatic. She moved +a little; they were cursing, splashing with their oars, making too +much noise to hear any slight rustle that she might make. + +A minute, two, went by. She had her automatic now, and she lay +there, grim-lipped, waiting. Even if they found her now, she had +her own way out; and by now, beyond any question, the Adventurer +and the Sparrow would have reached the street, and, even if they +had to hide out there somewhere until the Adventurer had recovered +the use of his limbs, they would be safe. + +She could not see, of course. Once the boat bumped, and again. +They were probably searching around under the wharf. She could not +hear what they said, for they were keeping quiet now, talking in +whispers - so as not to give her warning of their whereabouts +undoubtedly! + +The time dragged on. Her cramped position was bringing her +excruciating agony now. She could understand how the Adventurer, +in far worse case in the brutal position in which they had bound him, +had fainted. She was afraid she would faint herself - it was not +only the pain, but it was terribly close in the confined space, and +her head was swimming. + +Occasionally the oars splashed; and then, after an interminable +time, the men, as though hopeless of success, and as though caution +were no longer of any service, began to talk louder. + +The third man was Shluker. She recognized his voice, too. + +"It's no use!" he snarled. "If she's a good swimmer, she could get +across the river easy. She's got away; that's sure. What the hell's +the good of this? We're playing the fool. Beat it back! She was +nosing around the shed. How do we know she didn't let the Pug loose +before we saw her?" + +Pinkie Bonn whined: + +"If he's gone too, we're crimped! The whole works is bust up! The +Pug knows everything, where our money is, an' everything. They'll +have us cold!" + +"Close your face, Pinkie!" It was Danglar speaking, his voice hoarse +with uncontrollable rage. "Go on back, then, Shluker. Quick!" + +Rhoda Gray heard the hurried splashing of the oars now; and presently +she felt the bumping of the boat against the wharf, and its violent +rocking as the men climbed out of it again. But she did not move +- save with her hand to push the folds of sailcloth a cautious inch +or two away from the opening. It did not ease the agony she was +suffering from her cramped position, but it gave her fresher air, +and she could hear better - the ring of their boot-heels on the +wharf above, for instance. + +The footsteps died away. There was silence then for a moment; and +then, faintly, from the direction of the shed, there came a chorus +of baffled rage and execration. She smiled a little wearily to +herself. It was all right. That was what she wanted to know. The +Adventurer had got away. + +Still she lay there. She dared not leave the boat yet; but she +could change her position now. She crawled half out from under the +docking, and lay with her head on the sailcloth. It was exquisite +relief! They could not come back along the wharf without her hearing +them, and she could retreat under the decking again in an instant, +if necessary. + +Voices reached her now occasionally from the direction of the shed. +Finally a silence fell. The minutes passed - ten - fifteen - twenty +of them. And then Rhoda Gray climbed warily to the wharf, made her +way warily past the shed, and gained the road - and three-quarters +of an hour later, in another shed, in the lane behind the garret, she +was changing quickly into the rags of Gypsy Nan again. + +It was almost the end now. To-night, she would keep the appointment +Danglar had given her - and keep it ahead of time. It was almost +the end. Her lips set tightly. The Adventurer had been warned. +There was nothing now to stand in the way of her going to the police, +save only the substantiation of that one point in her own story +which Danglar must supply. + +Her transformation completed, she reached in under the flooring and +took out the package of jewels - they would help very materially +when she faced Danglar! - and, though it was somewhat large, tucked +it inside her blouse. It could not be noticed. The black, greasy +shawl hid it effectively. + +She stepped out into the lane, and from there to the street, and +began to make her way across town. She did not have to search for +Danglar to-night. She was to meet him at Matty's at midnight, and +it was not more than halfpast eleven now. Three hours and a half! +Was that all since at eight o'clock, as nearly as she could place +it, he had left her in the lane? It seemed as many years; but it +was only twenty minutes after eleven, she had noticed, when she had +left the subway on her return a few minutes ago. Her hand clenched +suddenly. She was to meet him at Matty's - and, thereafter, if it +took all night, she would not leave him until she had got him alone +somewhere and disclosed herself. The man was a coward in soul. She +could trust to the effect upon him of an automatic in the hands of +the White Mall to make him talk. + +Rhoda Gray walked quickly. It was not very far. She turned the +corner into the street where Danglar's deformed brother, Matty, +cloaked the executive activities of the gang with his cheap little +notion store - and halted abruptly. The store was just ahead of +her, and Danglar himself, coming out, had just closed the door. + +He saw her, and stepping instantly to her side, grasped her arm +roughly and wheeled her about. + +"Come on!" he said - and a vicious oath broke from his lips. + +The man was in a towering, ungovernable passion. She cast a +furtive glance at his face. She had seen him before in anger; but +now, with his lips drawn back and working, his whole face contorted, +he seemed utterly beside himself. + +"What's the matter?" she inquired innocently. "Wouldn't the Pug +talk, or is it a case of 'another hour or so,' and -" + +He swung on her furiously. + +"Hold your cursed tongue!" he flared. "You'll snicker on the +wrong side of your face this time!" He gulped, stared at her +threateningly, and quickened his step, forcing her to keep pace +with him. But he spoke again after a minute, savagely, bitterly, +but more in control of himself. "The Pug got away. The White +Moll queered us again. But it's worse than that. The game's up! +I told you to be here at midnight. It's only half past eleven yet. +I figured you would still be over in the garret, and I was going +there for you. That's where we're going now. There's no chance at +those rajah's jewels now; there's no chance of fixing Cloran so's +you can swell it around in the open again - the only chance we've +got is to save what we can and beat it!" + +She did not need to simulate either excitement or disquiet. + +"What is it? What's happened?" she asked tensely. + +"The gang's thrown us down!" he said between his teeth. "They're +scared; they've got cold feet - they're going to quit. Shluker and +Pinkie were with me at the iron plant. We went back to Matty's +from there. Matty's with them, too. They say the Pug knows every +one of us, and every game we've pulled, and that in revenge for our +trying to murder him he'll wise up the police - that he could do it +easily enough without getting nipped himself, by sending them a +letter, or even telephoning the names and addresses of the whole +layout. They're scared - he curs! They say he knows where all our +coin is too; and they're for splitting it up to-night, and ducking +it out of New York for a while to get under cover." He laughed out +suddenly, raucously. "They will - eh? I'll show them - the +yellow-streaked pups! They wouldn't listen to me - and it meant +that you and I were thrown down for fair. If we're caught, it's +the chair. I'll show them! When I saw it wasn't any use trying to +get them to stick, I pretended to agree with them. See? I said +they could go around and dig up the rest of the gang, and if the +others felt the same way about it, they were all to come over to +the garret, and I'd be waiting for them, - and we'd split up the +swag, and everybody'd be on his own after that." Again he laughed +out raucously. "It'll take them half an hour to get together - but +it won't take that long for us to grab all that's worth grabbing +out of that trap-door, and making our getaway. See? I'll teach +them to throw Pierre Danglar down! Come on, hurry!" + +"Sure!" she mumbled mechanically. + +Her mind was sifting, sorting, weighing what he had said. She was +not surprised. She remembered Pinkie Bonn's outburst in the boat. +She walked on beside Danglar. The man was muttering and cursing +under his breath. Well, why shouldn't she appear to fall in with +his plans? Under what choicer surroundings could she get him alone +than in the garret? And half an hour would be ample time for her, +too! Yes, yes, she began to see! With Danglar, when she had got +what she wanted out of him herself, held up at the point of her +automatic, she could back to the door and lock him in there - and +notify the police - and the police would not only get Danglar and +the ill-gotten hoard hidden in the ceiling behind that trap-door, +but they would get all the rest of the gang as the latter in due +course appeared on the scene. Yes, why not? She experienced an +exhilaration creeping upon her; she even increased, unconsciously, +the rapid pace which Danglar had set. + +"That's the stuff!" he grunted in savage approval. "We need every +minute we've got." + +They reached the house where once - so long ago now, it seemed! +- Rhoda Gray had first found the original Gypsy Nan; and, Danglar +leading, mounted the dark, narrow stairway to the hall above, and +from there up the short, ladder-like steps to the garret. He +groped in the aperture under the partition for the key, opened the +door, and stepped inside. Rhoda Gray, following, removed the key, +inserted it on the inside of the door, and, as she too entered, +locked the door behind her. It was pitch-black here in the attic. +Her face was set now, her lips firm. She had been waiting for this, +hadn't she? It was near the end at last. She had Danglar - alone. +But not in the darkness! He was too tricky! She crossed the garret +to where the candle-stub, stuck in the neck of the gin bottle, stood +on the rickety washstand. + +"Come over here and light the candle," she said. "I can't find my +matches." + +Her hand was in the pocket of her skirt now, her fingers +tight-closed on the stock of her automatic, as he shuffled his way +across the attic to her side. A match spurted into flame; the +candle wick flickered, then steadied, dispersing little by little, +as it grew brighter, the nearer shadows - and there came a startled +cry from Danglar - and Rhoda Gray, the weapon in her pocket +forgotten, was staring as though stricken of her senses across the +garret. The Adventurer was sitting on the edge of the cot, and a +revolver in his hand held a steady bead upon Danglar and herself.. + + +XXI . THE RECKONING + +It was the Adventurer who spoke first. + +"Both of you! What charming luck!" he murmured whimsically. "You'll +forgive the intrusion won't you? A friend of mine, the Sparrow by +name - I think you are acquainted with him, Danglar - was good enough +to open the door for me, and lock it again on the outside. You see, +I didn't wish to cause you any alarm through a premature suspicion +that you might have a guest!" His voice hardened suddenly as he rose +from the cot, and, though he limped badly, stepped quickly toward +them. "Don't move, Danglar - or you, Mrs. Danglar!" he ordered +sharply - and with a lightning movement of his hand felt for, and +whipped Danglar's revolver from the latter's pocket. "Pardon me!" +he said - and his hand was in and out of Rhoda Gray's pocket. He +tossed the two weapons coolly over onto the cot. "Well, Danglar," +he smiled grimly, "there's quite a change in the last few hours, +isn't there?" + +Danglar made no answer. His face was ashen; his little black eyes, +like those of a cornered rat, and as though searching for some +avenue of escape, were darting hunted glances all around the garret. + +Rhoda Gray, the first shock of surprise gone, leaned back against +the washstand with an air of composure that she did not altogether +feel. What was the Adventurer going to do? True, she need have no +fear of personal violence - she had only to disclose herself. But +- but there were other considerations. She saw that reckoning of +her own with Danglar at an end, though - yes! - perhaps the +Adventurer would become her ally in that matter. But, then, there +was something else. The Adventurer was a thief, and she could not +let him get away with those packages of banknotes up there behind +the trap-door in the ceiling, if she could help it. That was +perhaps what he had come for, and - and - Her mind seemed to tumble +into chaos. She did not know what to do. She stared at the +Adventurer. He was still dressed as the Pug, though the eye-patch +was gone, and there was no longer any sign of the artificial facial +disfigurements. + +The Adventurer spoke again. + +"Won't you sit down - Mrs. Danglar?" He pushed the single chair +the garret possessed toward her - and shrugged his shoulders as +she remained motionless. "You'll pardon me, then, if I sit down +myself." He appropriated the chair, and faced them, his revolver +dangling with ominous carelessness in his hand. "I've had a +rather upsetting experience this evening, and I am afraid I am +still a little the worse for it - as perhaps you know, Danglar?" + +"You damned traitor!" Danglar burst out wildly. "I - I -" + +"Quite so!" said the Adventurer smoothly. "But we'll get to that +in a minute. Do you mind if I inflict a little story on you? I +promise you it won't take long. It's a little personal history +which I think will be interesting to you both; but, in any case, +as my hosts, I am sure you will be polite enough to listen. It +concerns the murder of a man named Deemer; but in order that you +may understand my interest in the matter, I must go back quite a +little further. Perhaps I even ought to introduce myself. My name, +my real name, you know, is David Holt. My father was in the American +Consular service in India when I was about ten. He eventually left +it and went into business there through the advice of a very warm +friend of his, a certain very rich and very powerful rajah in the +State of Chota Nagpur in the Province of Bengal, where we then +lived. I became an equally intimate friend of the rajah's son, +and - do I bore you, Danglar?" + +Danglar was like a crouched animal, his head drawn into his +shoulders, his hands behind him with fingers twisting and gripping +at the edge of the washstand. + +"What's your proposition?" he snarled. "Curse you, name your price, +and have done with it! You're as big a crook as I am!" + +"You are impatient!" The Adventurer's shoulders went up again. "In +due time the rajah decided that a trip through Europe and back home +through America would round out his son's education, and broaden and +fit him for his future duties in a way that nothing else would. It +was also decided, I need hardly say to my intense delight, that I +should accompany him. We come now to our journey through the United +States - you see, Danglar, that I am omitting everything but the +essential details. In a certain city in the Middle West - I think +you will remember it well, Danglar - the young rajah met with an +accident. He was out riding in the outskirts of the city. His +horse took fright and dashed for the river-bank. He was an +excellent horseman, but, pitched from his seat, his foot became +tangled in the stirrup, and as he hung there head down, a blow from +he horse's hoof rendered him unconscious, and he was being dragged +along, when a man by the name of Deemer, at the risk of his own +life, saved the rajah's son. The horse plunged over the bank and +into the water with both of them. They were both nearly drowned. +Deemer, let me say in passing, did one of the bravest things that +any man ever did. Submerged, half drowned himself, he stayed +with the maddened animal until he had succeeded in freeing the +unconscious man. All this was some two years ago." + +The Adventurer paused. + +Rhoda Gray, hanging on his words, was leaning tensely forward - it +seemed as though some great, dawning wonderment was lifting her out +of herself, making her even unconscious of her surroundings. + +"The rajah's son remained at the hotel there for several days to +recuperate," continued the Adventurer deliberately; "and during that +time he saw a great deal of Deemer, and, naturally, so did I. And, +incidentally, Danglar, though I thought nothing much of it then, +I saw something of you; and something of Mrs. Danglar there, too, +though - if she will permit me to say it - in a more becoming +costume than she is now wearing!" Once more he shrugged his +shoulders as Danglar snarled. "Yes, yes; I will hurry. I am almost +through. While it was not made public throughout the country, +inasmuch as the rajah's son was more or less an official guest of +the government, the details of the accident were of course known +locally, as also was the fact that the young rajah in token of his +gratitude had presented Deemer with a collection of jewels of +almost priceless worth. We resumed our journey; Deemer, who was a +man in very moderate circumstances, and who had probably never had +any means in his life before, went to New York, presumably to have +his first real holiday, and, as it turned out, to dispose of the +stones, or at least a portion of them. When we reached the coast +we received two advices containing very ill news. The first was +an urgent message to return instantly to India on account of the +old rajah's serious illness; the second was to the effect that +Deemer had been murdered by a woman in New York, and that the jewels +had been stolen." + +Again the Adventurer paused, and, eying Danglar, smiled - not +pleasantly. + +"I will not attempt to explain to you," he went on, "the young +rajah's feelings when he heard that the gift he had given Deemer +in return for his own life had cost Deemer his. Nor will I attempt +to explain the racial characteristics of the people of whom the +young rajah was one, and who do not lightly forget or forgive. +But an eye for an eye, Danglar - you will understand that. If it +cost all he had, there should be justice. He could not stay +himself; and so I stayed-because he made me swear I would, and +because he made me swear that I would never allow the chase to lag +until the murderers were found. + +"And so I came East again. I remembered you, Danglar - that on +several occasions when I had come upon Deemer unawares, you, +sometimes accompanied by a woman, and sometimes not, had been +lurking in the background. I went to Cloran, the house detective +at the hotel here in New York where Deemer was murdered. He +described the woman. She was the same woman that had been with +you. I went to the authorities and showed my credentials, with +which the young rajah had seen to it I was supplied from very +high sources indeed. I did not wish to interfere with the +authorities in their handling of the case; but, on the other hand, +I had no wish to sit down idly and watch them, and it was necessary +therefore that I should protect myself in anything I did. I also +made. myself known to one of New York's assistant district attorneys, +who was an old friend of my father's. And then, Danglar, I started +out after you. + +"I discovered you after about a month; then I wormed myself into +your gang as the Pug. That took about a year. I was almost another +year with you as an accepted member of the gang. You know what +happened during that period. A little while ago I found out that +the woman we wanted - with you, Danglar - was your wife, living in +hiding in this garret as Gypsy Nan. But the jewels themselves were +still missing. To-night they are not. A - a friend of mine, one +very much misjudged publicly, I might say, has them, and has told +me they would be handed to the police. + +"And so, Danglar, after coming here to-night, I sent the Sparrow +out to gather together a few of the authorities who are interested +in the case - my friend the assistant district attorney; Cloran, the +house detective; Rough Rorke of headquarters, who on one occasion +was very much interested in Gypsy Nan; and enough men to make the +round of arrests. They should be conveniently hidden across the +road now, and waiting for my signal. My idea, you see, was to allow +Mrs. Danglar to enter here without having her suspicions aroused, +and to see that she did not get away again if she arrived before +those who are duly qualified - which I am not - to arrest her did; +also, in view of what transpired earlier this evening, I must +confess I was a little anxious about those several years' +accumulation of stolen funds up there in the ceiling. As I said +at the beginning, I hardly expected the luck to get you both at the +same time; though we should have got you, Danglar, and every one of +the rest of the gang before morning, and -" + +"You," Rhoda Gray whispered, "you - are not a thief!" Brain and +soul seemed on fire. It seemed as though she had striven to voice +those words a dozen times since he had been speaking, but that she +had been afraid - afraid that this was not true, this great, +wonderful thing, that it could not be true. "You - you are not a +- a thief!" + +The Adventurer's face lost its immobility. He half rose from his +chair, staring at her in a startled way - but it was Danglar now +who spoke. + +"It's a lie!" he screamed out. "It's a lie!" The man's reason +appeared to be almost unhinged; a mad terror seemed to possess him. +"It's all a lie! I never heard of this rajah bunk before in my +life! I never heard of Deemer, or any jewels before. You lie! I +tell you, you lie! You can't prove it; you can't -" + +"But I can," said Rhoda Gray in a low voice. The shawl fell from +her shoulders; from her blouse she took the package of jewels and +held them out to the Adventurer. "Here are the stones. I got them +from where you had put them in old Luertz's room. I was hidden +there all the time last night." She was removing her spectacles +and her wig of tangled gray hair as she spoke, and now she turned +her face full upon Danglar. "I heard you discuss Deemer's murder +with your brother last night, and plan to get rid of Cloran, who +you thought was the only existing witness you need fear, and -" + +"Great God!" The Adventurer cried out. "You - Rhoda! The White +Moll! I - I don't understand, though I can see you are not the +woman who originally masqueraded as Gypsy Nan, for I knew her, as +I said, by sight." + +He was on his feet now, his face aflame with a great light. He +took a step toward her. + +"Wait!" she said hurriedly. She glanced at Danglar. The man's +face was blanched, his body seemed to have shriveled up, and +there was a light in his eyes as they held upon her that was near +to the borderland of insanity. "That night at Skarbolov's!" she +said, and tried to hold her voice in control. "Gypsy Nan, this +man's wife, died that night in the hospital. I had found her here +sick, and I had promised not to divulge her secret. I helped her +get to the hospital. She was dying; she was penitent in a way; +she wanted to prevent a crime that she said was to be perpetrated +that night, but she would not inform on her accomplices. She begged +me to forestall them, and return the money anonymously the next day. +That was the choice I had - either to allow the crime to be carried +out, or else swear to act alone in return for the information that +would enable me to keep the money away from the thieves without +bringing the police into it. I - I was caught. You - you saved me +from Rough Rorke, but he followed me. I put on Gypsy Nan's clothes, +and managed to outwit him. I had had no opportunity to return the +money, which would have been proof of my innocence; the only way I +could prove it, then, was to try and find the authors of the crime +myself. I - I have lived since then as Gypsy Nan, fighting this +hideous gang of Danglar's here to try and save myself, and - and +to-night I thought I could see my way clear. I - I knew enough at +last about this man to make him give me a written statement that it +was a pre-arranged plan to rob Skarbolov. That would substantiate +my story. And" - she looked again at Danglar; the man was still +crouched there, eying her with that same mad light in his eyes +- "and he must be made to - to do it now for -" + +"But why didn't you ask me?" cried the Adventurer. "You knew me as +the Pug, and therefore must have believed that I, too, know all +about it." + +"Yes," she said, and turned her head away to hide the color she felt +was mounting to her cheeks. "I - I thought of that. But I thought +you were a thief, and - and your testimony wouldn't have been much +good unless, with it, I could have handed you, too, over to the +police, as I intended to do with Danglar; and - and - I - I couldn't +do that, and - Oh, don't you see?" she ended desperately. + +"Rhoda! Rhoda!" There was a glad, buoyant note in the Adventurer's +voice. "Yes, I see! Well, I can prove it for you now without any +of those fears on my behalf to worry you! I went to Skarbolov's +myself, knowing their plans, to do exactly what you did. I did not +know you then, and, as Rough Rorke, who was there because, as I +heard later, his suspicions had been aroused through seeing some of +the gang lurking around the back door in the lane the night before, +had taken the actual money from you, I contrived to let you get +away, because I was afraid that you were some new factor in the +game, some member of the gang that I did not know about, and that I +must watch, too! Don't you understand? The jewels were still +missing. I had not got the general warning that was sent out to +the gang that night to lay low, for at the last moment it seems that +Danglar here found out that Rough Rorke had suspicions about +Skarbolov's place." He came close to her - and with the muzzle +of his revolver he pushed Danglar's huddled figure back a little +further against the washstand. "Rhoda - you are clear. The +assistant district attorney who had your case is the one I spoke +of a few minutes ago. That night at Hayden-Bond's, though I did +not understand fully, I knew that you were the bravest, truest +little woman into whom God had ever breathed the breath of life. +I told him the next day there was some mistake, something strange +behind it all. I told him what happened at Hayden-Bond's. He +agreed with me. You have never been indicted. Your case has +never come before the grand jury. And it never will now! Rhoda! +Rhoda! Thank God for you! Thank God it has all come out right, +and -" + +A peal of laughter, mad, insane, horrible in its perverted mirth, +rang through the garret. Danglar's hands were creeping queerly +up to his temples. And then, oblivious evidently in his frenzy +of the revolver in the Adventurer's hand, and his eye catching the +weapons that lay upon the cot, he made a sudden dash in that +direction - and Rhoda Gray, divining his intention, sprang for the +cot, too, at the same time. But Danglar never reached his objective. +As Rhoda Gray caught up the weapons and thrust them into her pocket, +she heard Danglar's furious snarl, and whirling around, she saw the +two men locked and struggling in each other's embrace. + +The Adventurer's voice reached her, quick, imperative: + +"Show the candle at the window, Rhoda! The Sparrow is waiting for +it in the yard below. Then open the door for them." + +A sudden terror and fear seized her. The Adventurer was not fit, +after what he had been through to-night to cope with Danglar. He +had been limping badly even a few minutes ago. It seemed to her, +as she rushed across the garret and snatched up the candle, that +Danglar was getting the best of it even now. And the Adventurer +could have shot him down, and been warranted in doing it! She +reached the window, waved the candle frantically several times +across the pane, then setting the candle down on the window ledge, +she ran for the door. + +She looked back again, as she turned the key in the lock. With a +crash, pitching over the chair, both men went to the floor - and the +Adventurer was underneath. She cried out in alarm, and wrenched the +door open - and stood for an instant there on the threshold in a +startled way. + +They couldn't be coming already! The Sparrow hadn't had time even +to get out of the yard. But there were footsteps in the hall below, +many of them. She stepped out on the landing; it was too dark to +see, but... + +A sudden yell as she showed even in the faint light of the open +garret door, the quicker rush of feet, reached her from below. + +"The White Moll! That's her! The White Moll!" She flung herself +flat down, wrenching both the automatic and the revolver from her +pocket. She understood now! That was Pinkie Bonn's voice. It was +the gang arriving to divide up the spoils, not the Sparrow and the +police. Her mind was racing now with lightning speed. If they got +her, they would get the Adventurer in there, too, before the police +could intervene. She must hold this little landing where she lay +now, hold those short, ladder-like steps that the oncoming footsteps +from below there had almost reached. + +She fired once - twice - again; but high, over their heads, to check +the rush. + +Yells answered her. A vicious tongue-flame from a revolver, another +and another, leaped out at her from the black below; the spat, spat +of bullets sounded from behind her as they struck the walls. + +Again she fired. They were at least more cautious now in their rush +- no one seemed anxious to be first upon the stairs. She cast a +wild glance through the open door into the garret at her side. The +two forms in there, on their feet again, were spinning around and +around with the strange, lurching gyrations of automatons - and then +she saw the Adventurer whip a terrific blow to Danglar's face - and +Danglar fall and lie still - and the Adventurer come leaping toward +her. + +But faces were showing now above the level of the floor, and there +was suddenly an increased uproar from further back in the rear until +it seemed that pandemonium itself were loosed. + +"It's the police! The police behind us!" she heard Shluker's voice +shriek out. + +She jumped to her feet. Two of the gang had reached the landing +and were smashing at the Adventurer. There seemed to be a swirling +mob in riot there below. The Adventurer was fighting like a madman. +It was hand to hand now. + +"Quick! Quick!" she cried to the Adventurer. "Jump back through +the door." + +"Oh, no, you don't!" It was Skeeny - she could see the man's brutal +face now. "Oh, no, you don't, you she-devil!" he shouted, and, +over-reaching the Adventurer's guard, struck at her furiously with +his clubbed revolver. + +It struck her a glancing blow on the head, and she reeled and +staggered, but recovered herself. And now it seemed as though it +were another battle that she fought - and one more desperate; a +battle to fight back a horrible giddiness from overpowering her, +and with which her brain was swimming, to fight it back for just +a second, the fraction of a second that was needed until - until +- "Jump!" she cried again, and staggered over the threshold, and, +as the Adventurer leaped backward beside her, she slammed the door, +and locked it - and slid limply to the floor. + +When she regained consciousness she was lying on the cot. It +seemed very still, very quiet in the garret. She opened her eyes. +It - it must be all right, for that was the Sparrow standing there +watching her, and shifting nervously from foot to foot, wasn't it? +He couldn't be there, otherwise. She held out her hand. + +"Marty," she said, and smiled with trembling lips, "we - we owe +you a great deal." + +The Sparrow gulped. + +"Gee, you're all right again! They said it wasn't nothin', but you +had me scared worse'n down at the iron plant when I had to do the +rough act with that gent friend of yours to stop him from crawlin' +after you and fightin' it out, and queerin' the whole works. You +don't owe me nothin', Miss Gray; and, besides, I'm gettin' a lot +more than is comm' to me, 'cause that same gent friend of yours +there says I'm goin' to horn in on the rewards, and I guess that's +goin' some, for they got the whole outfit from Danglar down, and +the stuff up in the ceiling there, too." + +She turned her head. The Adventurer was coming toward the cot. + +"Better?" he called cheerily. + +"Yes," she said. "Quite! Only I - I'd like to get away from here, +from this - this horrible place at once, and back to - to my flat +if they'll let me. Are - are they all gone?" + +The Adventurer's gray eyes lighted with a whimsical smile. + +"Nearly all!" he said softly. "And - er - Sparrow, suppose you go +and find a taxi!" + +"Me? Sure! Of course! Sure!" said the Sparrow hurriedly, and +retreated through the door. + +She felt the blood flood her face, and she tried to avert it. + +He bent his head close to hers. + +"Rhoda," his voice was low, passionate, "I -" + +"Wait!" she said. "Your friend - the assistant district attorney +- did he come?" + +"Yes," said the Adventurer. "But I shooed them all out, as soon as +we found you were not seriously hurt. I thought you had had enough +excitement for one night. He wants to see you in the morning." + +"To see me" - she rose up anxiously on her elbow - "in the morning?" + +He was smiling at her. His hands reached out and took her face +between them, and made her look at him. + +"Rhoda," he said gently, "I knew to-night in the iron plant that +you cared. I told him so. What he wants to see you for is to tell +you that he thinks I am the luckiest man in all the world. You are +clear, dear. Even Rough Rorke is singing your praises; he says you +are the only woman who ever put one over on him." + +She did not answer for a moment; and then with a little sob of glad +surrender she buried her face on his shoulder. + +"It - it is very wonderful," she said brokenly, "for - for even we, +you and I, each thought the other a - a thief." + +"And so we were, thank God!" he whispered - and lifted her head +until now his lips met hers. "We were both thieves, Rhoda, weren't +we? And, please God, we will be all our lives - for we have stolen +each other's heart." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The White Moll by Frank L. Packard + diff --git a/old/wtmol10.zip b/old/wtmol10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a57c647 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wtmol10.zip |