tion to turn it against herself if she were in extremity. It meant
everything to her, that weapon, and it was gone now; but the panic that
had seized upon her was gone too, and she could think rationally and
collectively again.

Last night, or rather this morning, when she had made her way back to
the shed out there in the lane behind the garret, she had been in a
state of almost utter exhaustion. She had changed from the clothes of
the White Moll to those of Gypsy Nan, but she must have done so almost
mechanically for she had no concrete recollection of it. It was quite
likely then, even more than probable, that she had left the revolver in
the pocket of her other clothes; for she had certainly had, not only her
revolver, but her flashlight and her skeleton keys with her when she had
visited old Luertz's place last night, and later on too, when she had
jumped into that automobile in front of the Silver Sphinx, she had had
her revolver, for she had used it to force the chauffeur out of the
car--and she had no one of those articles now.

Of course! That was it! She stepped impulsively to the door, and,
opening it, made her way quickly down the stairs to the street. The
revolver was undoubtedly in the pocket of her other skirt, and she felt
a surge of relief sweep upon her; but a sense of relief was far from
enough. She would not feel safe until the weapon was again in her
possession, and intuitively she felt that she had no time to lose in
securing it. She had already been left too long alone not to make a
break in that unaccountable isolation they had accorded her as something
to be expected at any moment. She hurried now down the street to the
lane that intervened between Gypsy Nan's house and the next corner,
glanced quickly about her, and, seeing no one in her immediate vicinity,
slipped into the lane. She gained the deserted shed some fifty yards
along the lane, entered through the broken door that hung, half open, on
sagging hinges, and, dropping on her knees, reached in under the decayed
and rotting flooring. She pushed aside impatiently the package of
jewels, at whose magnificence she had gazed awe-struck and bewildered
the night before, and drew out the bundle that comprised her own
clothing. Her hand sought the pocket eagerly. Yes, it was here--at least
the flashlight was, and so were the skeleton keys. That was what had
happened! She had been near utter collapse last night, and she had
forgotten, and--Rhoda G