ve shillin'."

"For that?"

"Five shillin'," repeated the man doggedly.

Mavis did not further argue the point, as, when she opened her mouth,
the stench of the room she had quitted seemed to fasten on her throat.

She paid the money and was about to fly down the stairs. Then she
remembered her precious bag. Again holding her nose, she hurried back
into the room where she had unwittingly passed the night. The bag was
nowhere to be seen, although its outline was to be easily traced in the
dust on the table where she had put it.

"My bag! my bag!" she cried.

"Vot bag?"

"The one I had last night. Here's its mark upon the table."

"I know nodinks about it," replied the man, as he disappeared down the
stairs.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A NEW ACQUAINTANCE

Mavis' heart seemed to stop. She knew the bag contained her trinkets,
her reserve capital of twenty-three pounds, Perigal's letters, her
powder-puff, and other feminine odds and ends. What she could not
remember was if she had posted her note to Perigal, which contained the
money she was returning to him. As much as her consternation would
permit, she rapidly passed over in her mind everything that had
happened since she had left the restaurant in Oxford Street. For the
life of her, she could not recall going into a postoffice to purchase
the stamp of which she had been in need. Her next thought was the
quickest way to get back her property, at which the word police
immediately suggested itself. Once outside the house, she made careful
note of its number; she then walked quickly till she came upon a
policeman, to whom she told her trouble.

"Was you there alone?" asked the constable.

Mavis looked at him inquiringly.

"I mean was you with a gentleman?"

Mavis bit her lip, but saw it would not help her to be indignant. She
told the man how she got there, a statement which made him civil and
sympathetic.

"It's a bad place, and we've had many complaints about it. You'd better
complain to the inspector at the station, miss."

He directed her to where she should go. Exhausted with hunger and the
fear of losing all her possessions, she followed the policeman's
instructions, till she presently found herself telling an inspector at
the station of the theft; he advised her to either make a charge, or,
if she disliked the publicity of the police court, to instruct a
solicitor. Believing that making a charge would be more effectual,
besides speedier, she