o. She would have liked to think that he sought her
company because she appealed to him personally; but she had detected
the fact that another motive underlay his attentions. She wondered if he
could be another of those moths drawn by the light of that fabled wealth
of her father.

It was curious, she reflected, that Huang Chow never checked--indeed,
openly countenanced--her friendship with the many chance acquaintances
she had made, even when her own instincts told her that the men were
crooked; so that, knowing the acumen of her father, she was well aware
that he must know it too.

Several of these pseudo lovers of hers had died. It was a point which
often occurred to her mind, but upon which she did not care to dwell
even now. But John Hampden--John Hampden was different. He was not
wholly sincere. She sighed wearily. But nevertheless he was not like
some of the others.

She started up in bed, seized with a sudden dreadful idea. He was a
detective!

She understood now why she had found so much that was white in him,
but so much that was false. His presence seemed to be very near her.
Something caressing in his voice echoed in her mind. She found herself
to be listening to the muted sounds of Limehouse and of the waterway
which flowed so close beside her.

That old longing for the home of her childhood returned tenfold, and
tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She was falling in love with
this man whose object was her father's ruin. A cold terror clutched
at her heart. Even now, while their friendship was so new, so strange,
there was a query, a stark, terrifying query, to stand up before her.

If put to the test, which would she choose?

She was unable to face that issue, and dropped back upon her pillow,
stifling a sob.

Yes, he was a detective. In some way her father had at last attracted
the serious attention of the law. Rumours of this were flying round
Chinatown, to which she had not been entirely deaf. She thought of a
hundred questions, a hundred silences, and grew more and more convinced
of the truth.

What did he mean to do? Before her a ghostly company uprose--the shadows
of some she had known with designs upon her father. John Hampden's
design was different. But might he not join that mysterious company?

Now again she suddenly sprang upright, this time because of a definite
sound which had reached her ears from within the house: a very faint,
bell-like tinkling which ceased almost immediat