wanted Beverley to
have both the knowledge and the pearls.

About this hour Violet was in the habit of toiling up with beer for Kit
and Churn, and water or lemonade for their neighbour. The woman was due
in a few minutes and Clo spent the interval in concocting a message for
Leontine Rossignol.

"Tell your mistress I've had news since I last saw her that Stephen is
dead," were the words she decided on, before Violet's arrival was
advertised by a tinkle of ice.

The telegram was delivered that night at the flat in Park Avenue, but
Mr. and Mrs. Sands and their household had left for Newport. Only a
parlour maid remained. She detested Leontine, being Bohemian by birth,
while Leontine was French. Anna Schultz decided to forget indefinitely
the telegram for Leontine Rossignol.

When she had sent the message, Clo's thoughts went back to the pearls.
She would be driven to leave the house soon for lack of money. If she
had to go without the pearls, she would feel herself a failure. The net
was proving tough for the tiny teeth of a mouse! But the mouse was ready
to do anything rather than give up.

That evening Churn again announced his intention to go out at any cost.
Whither he was bound, Clo did not know, for she had missed scraps of
talk in the next room. Kit cried, and in the midst of hysterical sobs,
the door slammed. Churn had gone! Kit continued to sob.

Clo's blood took fire. She flamed with courage. Having fixed upon her
plan of action she darted into the passage and knocked on Kit's door.

"Who's that?" came the sharp answer.

"It's only me. The little girl from the next room," Clo explained in a
small voice like a child's. Her hair hung over her shoulders, and she
wore a cheap blue muslin dressing gown chosen by Violet.

Kit threw open the door so suddenly, and stared so keenly through the
dusk that Clo shrank back a little. "What do you want?" snapped Kit.

"Oh, maybe I oughtn't to have come!" Clo apologized. "I heard you
crying. And I'm so homesick and miserable myself! Don't be angry."

Kit opened the door wide. Her bleached yellow hair bristled round her
face.

"I didn't know I was howling so loud. Say, can you hear us talkin', me
and my husband? I hope we don't keep you awake nights."

"You haven't kept me awake once," Clo assured her with truth. "Crying's
easier to hear than talking. You see, I'm in trouble and I'm awfully
lonely."

"_I_ haven't got any real trouble," said Kit. "Me and my husb