ith what lay before her
now, to-night, at the first contact with those who had been Gypsy Nan's
confederates.

What was she to do? Upon her, and upon her alone, depended a man's life,
and, adding to her distraction, she knew the man--the Sparrow, who had
already done time; that was the vile ingenuity of it all. And there
would le corroborative evidence, of course; they would have seen to
that. If the Sparrow disappeared and was never heard of again, even a
child would deduce the assumption that the proceeds of the robbery had
disappeared with him.

Her brain seemed to grow panicky. She was standing here helplessly. And
time, the one precious ally that she possessed, was slipping away from
her. She could not go to the police as Gypsy Nan--and, much less, as
the White Moll! She could not go to the police in any case, for the
"corroborative" evidence, that obviously must exist, unless Danglar and
those with him were fools, would indubitably damn the Sparrow to another
prison term, even supposing that through the intervention of the police
his life were saved. What was she to do?

And then, for a moment, her eyes lighted in relief. The Adventurer!
She thrust her hand into the pocket of her skirt, and drew out the torn
piece of paper, and studied the telephone number upon it--and slowly the
hurt and misery came back into her eyes again. Who was he? He had told
her. An adventurer. He had given her to understand that he, if she had
not been just a few minutes ahead of him, would have taken that money
from Skarbolov's escritoire last night. Therefore he was a crook.
Danglar had said that some one had been getting in ahead of them lately
and snatching the plunder from under their noses; and Danglar now
believed that it had been the White Moll. A wan smile came to her lips.
Instead of the White Moll, it appeared to be quite obvious that it was
the Adventurer. It therefore appeared to be quite as obvious that the
man was a professional thief, and an extremely clever one, at that. She
dared not trust him. To enlist his aid she would have to explain
the gang's plot; and while the Adventurer might go to the Sparrow's
assistance, he might also be very much more interested in the diamond
necklace that was involved, and not be entirely averse to Danglar's plan
of using the Sparrow as a pawn, who, in that case, would make a very
convenient scapegoat for the Adventurer--instead of Danglar! She dared
not trust the man. She could not abs