Slim and
George wouldn't even try to leave the city until the hue and cry had
somewhat abated. Into the windings of the underworld they had carried
Nora, and Garth knew how devious those windings were--what silent and
invisible machinery would nourish and secrete and protect.

He lifted a tiny tuft of fur which had nestled, almost hidden, in the
dust of the gutter. He examined it closely. It's colour and texture were
reminiscent of the muff he had frequently seen Nora carry. It might be a
souvenir of her struggle, or else--

He arose and walked down the street, searching every inch of the
pavement. At the corner his breath quickened, for he knew the piece of
fur had not rested in the gutter by accident. Two others were there,
trampled, but suggestive of the direction taken by the automobile. He
could picture Nora surreptitiously tearing the bits from her muff and
dropping them from the window of the car.

He hastened on. As soon as he was confident the pieces constituted an
intelligible trail he conquered his impatience long enough to enter a
drug store and telephone his discovery to the inspector.

"I'm going on," he explained. "The Lord knows what I'll find, so get
after me right away."

The voice that reached him could not conceal its suspense.

"Go fast, Garth, and I'll follow with every man I can raise. Pull Nora
out of this and ask me for my badge."

Garth went on, following the trail into the dark and intricate
thoroughfares of the lower east side, knowing that each moment his
pursuit might be abruptly and fatally ended by a flash of light from
the obscurity ahead.

* * * * * *

He emerged into a waterfront street which was nearly deserted at this
hour. One or two street lamps of an antiquated pattern flickered
ineffectually. The only sign of habitation was a glow, wan and
unhealthy, which escaped from the broad windows of a saloon on the
corner.

Garth knew the reputation of that dive, and its long resistance to a
final closing of its shutters. More than once the yellow sawdust of its
floor had reddened, while men had fought towards its doors through a
whirling, pungent fog of powder smoke. He remembered, too, that it was
suspected of harboring the explanation of stealthier and more revolting
crimes, the responsibility for which, however, had never been legally
determined. He was glad when the automobile tracks swung beyond it, but
they turned in at the next building,