hy?" Jan saw that she was staring at him. Suddenly her stare was
transformed to a soft smile. "Oh-h--sometimes these cabbies think
they're funny."

Presently the cab stopped. Jan looked out. It was a hotel, with a wide
door and a narrow one. The narrow door was marked "Ladies' Entrance,"
and through the transom a red light shone.

"Wait," said Jan.

He went through the wide door to the desk. "I want a room for a lady,"
he said to the clerk.

"Lady? Sure. Four dollars."

Jan paid the four dollars and registered. The clerk touched a bell. A
boy bobbed up.

"I will bring her in by the ladies' entrance," said Jan; but in passing
out to the street he caught a glimpse of a room across the hall--a room
with tables, and men and women at the tables, and drinks on the tables.
He halted for a longer look and went out to the cab finally with a
troubled look.

"There's a room for you, but"--he took off his hat and ran his fingers
through his hair--"I don't think you ought to stay here." He had put his
head inside the cab and was speaking low, so that the cabman should not
hear. "I don't think it's a nice place for a lady."

"But"--she almost smiled--"I'm afraid we'll have to put up with it.
Look!" She spread wide her rumpled skirt. Her eyes rolled down to
indicate her torn bodice. With her fingertips she touched the bruises on
her face and the marks on her neck. "And I haven't even a hat on," she
concluded with an undoubted smile.

Jan gave in. He paid the cabman, and led her through the ladies'
entrance to where the bell-boy was waiting. The boy led the way
upstairs, opened a door and turned on the light.

"You wait out in the hall," Jan said to the bell-boy. "The lady may want
hot water and things to clean up. You know? The lady"--Jan tapped the
boy on the shoulder--"fell out of a buggy and lost her hat." He handed
the boy a dollar bill. "You understand now?"

The boy tucked the bill away. "I'm wise! I'm wise!" He winked at Jan and
left the room.

Jan turned to her. "I'll have a few things sent up in the morning."

She was standing straight and motionless in the middle of the room.

"You're good," she said, but without looking at him.

"And--oh, my mother! I most forgot her. She lives in Port Rock.
To-morrow night I'll put you aboard the boat for Port Rock. And I won't
be able to see you till then."

"Not till to-morrow night?"

"I has to be at the dry dock early in the morning or they can't start
work. Good