f hills...a solitary cock crew lustily...occasional
footfalls floated up from the paved streets below...a cart rumbled in
the gloom. All these noises of the night were extraordinarily
friendly...like the smothered murmurings of a youth escaping from the
chains of sleep in pleasant dreaming.

A swarm of platitudes surging through his brain urged him to flight.
But in the end self-esteem gave him his final cue, and he knew in a
flash how futile would be any truce with cowardice. A locked door
would have justified escape, but in the face of an unlatched threshold
there was only one course conceivable.

Fred Starratt went back and wrapped himself in his blanket. Toward
daylight Storch arose and filled a pot with coffee. But neither spoke
a word.

CHAPTER XXIII

As Storch cleared away the primitive evidences of the morning meal and
stood before the sink letting a thin trickle of cold water wash clean
the cups he said:

"If we get the ten-o'clock boat to Oakland we will be in plenty of
time."

Starratt rolled a cigarette. "Ah, then you are going, too!"

"Naturally," Storch replied, as he turned off the water.

Fred began to dress himself carefully. Storch loaned him an
indifferent razor. The shaving process was slow but in the end it was
accomplished. Fred was amazed at the freshness of his appearance. Only
once before in his life had he deliberately sat up all night without
either the desire or determination to sleep, and that was on that
night which now seemed so remote when he had felt the first budding of
Helen's scorn. He recalled that he had been just as alert and
clear-minded on the following morning as he was now. And just as
uncertain as to what the future held in store.

Storch also made a careful toilet--for him. He rummaged for a clean
flannel shirt, combed his reddish beard, dusted off his clumsy boots.
But they were ready much too soon, like a couple of children promptly
dressed for an excursion, impatiently awaiting the hour of departure.
Of the two, Storch evinced the more nervousness. He poked into nooks
and corners of the room upon all sorts of pretended orderliness. Fred
sat and eyed him calmly--smoking cigarette after cigarette. Finally,
Storch lifted the kodak case from its hiding place and set it on the
center table. Cautiously he pried loose the false top and peered into
its depths. There followed a tense moment during which he bent in a
close inspection over its fascinating depths.