one did not weep. She was done with tears, sick with vain regret,
yet braced to unfaltering purpose. The instant the door was closed she
picked up the telephone, and the wretched Krantz was soon in evidence
to verify the lawyer's words.

Marcelle was crying as though she had lost a lover or some dear
relative; when Hermione bade her prepare for their departure, she gave
no heed, but wailed her sorrow aloud.

"I d-don't believe them, miladi," she sobbed. "Mr. Curtis--will wring
the lawyer-man's neck--to-morrow. . . . I know he will. . . . Did Mr.
Curtis kill poor Mr. Hunter? If not, why should he tie that
Frenchman? . . . And wouldn't he t-tie twenty Frenchmen if he w-wanted
to m-marry you!"

Hermione stooped and fondled the girl's shoulders, for Marcelle had
collapsed to her knees on the hearth-rug while her mistress was using
the telephone.

"You have been my very good friend, Marcelle," she said, and the misery
in her voice subjugated the maid's louder grief. "Don't fail me now,
there's a dear! I want to write a letter, and there can be no question
whatever that you and I must get away before Mr. Curtis returns. Don't
fret, or lose faith in Providence. A great man once wrote: 'God's in
Heaven, and all's well with the world.' You and I must try to believe
that, and place utmost trust in its promise. . . . There, now! Hurry,
and I shall join you in a few minutes. We shall send for our baggage
in the morning, and so avoid attracting attention in the hotel
to-night."

Brave as she was, when left alone in the room she pressed her hands to
her face in sheer abandonment of agony. But the storm passed, and she
sat down to write.

CHAPTER XIV

THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING

Evans, the police captain of the 23rd Precinct, had a fairly long story
to hear from McCulloch. The roundsman did not spare himself in the
recital. He pleaded guilty to three errors of judgment. In the first
instance, he would have done well had he taken the advice given by
Devar during the halt at 42nd Street, and arrested the supposed
"Anatole" then and there; secondly, he might have secured corroborative
evidence of the cleansing of parts of the automobile--evidence now
destroyed by the waters of the Hudson; and, thirdly, he should have
asked Brodie to intercept the fugitive long before it became possible
to plunge the car into the river.

"All I can say is, I sized up the situation and acted accordingly," he
commente