"

"Blossom!" she gasped. "Then you know--"

"I may as well tell you that I was back there--a while ago," and the
colonel nodded vaguely to the splotch of blackness from whence Morocco
Kate had rushed with that despairing cry on her lips.

"I'm a friend of LeGrand Blossom's--at least, I am now since I overheard
what he had to say to you and Miss Webb," went on the detective. "Now
then, if you'll tell me what I want to know, I'll help him to come
across--clean, and I'll help you to the extent I mentioned."

Morocco Kate seemed to be considering as she stood in the darkness. Then
a long sigh came from her lips, and it was as though she had come to the
end of everything.

"I'll tell," she said simply. "What do you want to know? But first, let
me say I didn't no more have an idea that Sport Carwell was going to die
than you have Do you believe that?" she asked fiercely.

"I believe you, Kate. Now let's get down to brass tacks. Who is Jean
Carnot, and where can I find him?"

"Oh!" she murmured. "You want him?"

"Very much, I think. Don't you?"

"Yes, I do! I--I would like to tear out his eyes! I'd like to--"

"Now, Kate, be nice! No use losing your temper. That's got you into
trouble more than once. Try to play the lady--you can do it when you
have to. Calling names isn't going to get us anywhere. Just tell me
where I can find your former husband--or the one you thought was your
husband--Jean Carnot."

"You're right, Colonel Ashley, I did think him my husband," said
Morocco Kate simply. "And when I found out he had tricked me by a false
marriage, and wouldn't make it good--well, I just went to the devil and
hell--that's all."

"I know it, Kate, and I appreciate your position. I'm not throwing any
stones at you. I've seen enough of life to know that none of us can do
that with impunity. Now tell me all you can. And I'll say this--that
after this is all over, if you want to try and do as Blossom is going to
do--come through clean--I'll help you to the best of my ability."

"Will you, Colonel?" the big blonde woman asked eagerly.

"I will--and here's my hand on it!"

He reached out in the darkness, but there was no answering clasp. The
woman seemed to shrink away. And then she said:

"I don't believe it would be of any use. I guess I'm too far down to
crawl up. But I'll help you all I can."

"Don't give up, Kate!" said the detective gently. "I've seen lots worse
than you--you notice I'm not mincing words--I