第5章
AndthenGypsyNanspokeagain，aqueer，yearninghesitancyinhervoice:
“Do-doyoubelieveinGod？“
“Yes，“saidRhodaGraysimply。
GypsyNanclosedhereyes。
“Do-doyouthinkthereisachance-evenatthelast-if-if，withoutthrowingdownone’spals，onetriestomakegood？“
“Yes，“saidRhodaGrayagain。
“Isthedoorclosed？“GypsyNanattemptedtoraiseherselfonherelbow，asthoughtoseeforherself。
RhodaGrayforcedtheothergentlybackuponthepillows。
“Itisclosed，“shesaid。“Youneednotbeafraid。“
“Whattimeisit？“demandedGypsyNan。
RhodaGraylookedatherwatch。
“Twenty-fiveminutesaftertwelve，“sheanswered。
“There’stimeyet，then，“whisperedGypsyNan。“There’stimeyet。“
Shelaysilentforamoment，thenherhandclosedtightlyaroundRhodaGray’s。“Listen！“shesaid。“There’smoreabout-aboutwhyIlivedlikethatthanItoldyou。And-andIcan’ttellyounow-Ican’tgooutlikeayellowcur-I’mnotgoingtosnitchonanybodyelsejustbecauseI’mthroughmyself。But-butthere’ssomethingonto-nightthatI’d-I’dliketostop。Onlythepolice，oranybodyelse，aren’ttoknowanythingaboutit，becausethenthey’dnipmyfriends。See？Butyoucandoit-easy。Youcandoitalonewithoutanybodyknowing。There’stimeyet。Theyweren’tgoingtopullituntilhalfpastone-andtherewon’tbeanydangerforyou。Allyou’vegottodoisgetthemoneybeforetheydo，andthenseethatitgoesbackwhereitbelongsto-morrow。
Willyou？Youdon’twanttoseeacrimecommittedto-nightif-ifyoucanstopit，doyou？“
RhodaGray’sfacewasgrave。Shehesitatedforamoment。
“I’llhavetoknowmorethanthatbeforeIcanansweryou，Nan，“
shesaid。
“It’stheonlywaytostopit！“GypsyNanwhisperedfeverishly。
“Iwon’tsplitonmypals-Iwon’t-Iwon’t！ButItrustyou。
WillyoupromisenottosnitchifItellyouhowtostopit，evenifyoudon’tgothereyourself？I’mofferingyouachancetostopatwenty-thousand-dollarhaul。Ifyoudon’tpromiseit’sgottogothrough，becauseI’vegottostandbytheonesthatwereinitwithme。I-I’dliketomakegood-just-once。ButIcan’tdoitanyotherway。ForGod’ssake，youseethat，don’tyou？“
“Yes，“saidRhodaGrayinalowvoice；“butthepromiseyouaskforisthesameasthoughIpromisedtotrytogetthemoneyyouspeakof。IfIknewwhatwasgoingon，anddidnothing，Iwouldbeanaccomplicetothecrime，andguiltymyself。“
“ButIcan’tdoanythingelse！“GypsyNanwasspeakingwithgreatdifficulty。“Iwon’tgetthosethatwerewithmeinwrong-Iwon’t！
Youcanpreventacrimeto-night，ifyouwill-you-youcanhelpmeto-tomakegood。“
RhodaGray’slipstightened，“WillyougivemeyourwordthatIcandowhatyousuggest-thatitisfeasible，possible？“
“Yes，“saidGypsyNan。“Youcandoiteasily，and-andit’ssafe。
It-itonlywantsalittlenerve，and-andyou’vegotthat。“
“Ipromise，then，“saidRhodaGray。
“ThankGod！“GypsyNanpulledfiercelyatRhodaGray’swrist。
“Comenearer-nearer！YouknowSkarbolov，oldSkarbolov，whokeepstheantiquestore-onthestreet-aroundthecornerfrommyplace？“
RhodaGraynodded。
“He’srich！“whisperedGypsyNan。“Thinkofit！Him-rich！ButhegetsthebestoftheFifthAvenuecrowdjustbecausehekeepshisjointinthatrottenhole。Theythinkthey’regettingtherealthinginantiques！He’saqueeroldfool。Afraidpeoplewouldknowhehadmoneyifhekeptitinthebank-afraidofabank，too。
Understand？Wefoundoutthateveryonceinawhilehe’dchangealotofsmallbillsforabigone-five-hundred-dollarbills-thousand-dollarbills。Thatputuswise。Webegantowatchhim。
Ittookmonthstofindwherehehidit。We’vespentnightafternightsearchingthroughhisshop。Youcangetineasily。There’snoonethere-upstairsisjustastorageplaceforhisextrastock。
There’sabigpadlockonthebackdoor，butthere’safalselinkinthechain-countthreelinkstotherightfromthepadlock-weputitthere，and-“
GypsyNan’svoicehadbecomealmostinaudible。ShepulledatRhodaGray’swristagain，urginghercloser。
“Listen-quick！I-mystrength！shepanted。“Anantiqueheneversells-oldescritoireagainstrearwall-secretdrawer-takeoutwidemiddledrawer-reachinandrubyourhandalongthetop-you’llfeelthespring。Wewaitedto-toget-getcounterfeits-putcounterfeitsthere-understand？Thenhe’dneverknowhe’dbeenrobbed-notforalongtimeanyway-discoveredperhapswhenhewasdead-oldwife-sufferthen-I-gottomakegood-makegood-I-“Shecameupsuddenlyonbothherelbows，thedarkeyesstaringwildly。“Yes，yes！“
shewhispered。“Seven-three-nine！Lookout！“Hervoicerangwithsuddenterror，risingalmosttoascream。“Lookout！Can’tyouunderstand，youfool！I’vetoldyou！Seven-three-nine！
Seven-three……
RhodaGray’sarmshadgonearoundtheother’sshoulders。Sheheardthedooropen-andthenaquick，lightstep。Therewasn’tanyothersoundnow。Shemadewaymechanicallyforthenurse。Andthen，afteramoment，sherosefromherknees。Thenurseansweredherunspokenquestion。
“Yes；it’sover。“
RhodaGraywentslowlyfromtheroom。Inacuriouslystunnedsortofwayshereachedthestreet，andforafewblockswalkedalongscarcelyconsciousofthedirectionshewastaking。Hermindwasinturmoil。Thenightseemedtohavebeenoneofharrowinghallucination；itseemedasthoughitwereutterlyunreal，likeonedreamingthatoneisdreaming。Andthen，suddenly，shelookedatherwatch，andthestraightlittleshoulderssquaredresolutelyback。
Thehallucination，ifshechosetocallitthat，wasnotyetover！
Itwastwentyminutesofone，andtherewasstillSkarbolov’s-andherpromise。
Shequickenedherpace。Shedidnotlikethispromisethatshehadmade；but，ontheotherhand，shehadnotmadeiteitherlightlyorimpulsively。Shehadnoregretsonthatscore。Shewouldmakeitagainunderthesameconditions。Howcouldshehavedoneotherwise？
Itwouldhavebeentostandasideandpermitacrimetobecommittedwhichshewasassuredwaseasilywithinherpowertoprevent。Whatexcusecouldshehavehadforthat？Fearwasn’tanexcuse。Shedidnotlikethethoughtofenteringthebackdoorofastoreinthemiddleofthenightlikeathief，and，likeathief，takingawaythathiddenmoney。Sheknewshewasgoingtobeafraid，horriblyafraid-itfrightenedhernow-butshecouldnotletthatfearmakeamoralcowardofher。
Herhandsclenchedathersides。Shewouldnotallowherselftodwelluponthatphaseofit！ShewasgoingtoSkarbolov’s，andthatwasalltherewastoit。Theonlythingshereallyhadtofearwasthatsheshouldloseevenasingleunnecessarymomentingettingthere。Halfpastone，GypsyNanhadsaid。Thatshouldgiveherampletime；butthequickershewent，thewiderthe，marginofsafety。
HerthoughtsrevertedtoGypsyNan。Whathadthewomanmeantbyherlastfewwanderingwords？TheyhadnothingtodowithSkarbolov’s，thatwascertain；butthewordscamebacknowinsistently。“Seven-three-nine。“Whatdid“seven-three-nine“
mean？Sheshookherheadhelplessly。Well，whatdiditmatter？
Shedismissedfurtherconsiderationofit。SherepeatedtoherselfGypsyNan’sdirectionsforfindingthespringofthesecretdrawer。
Sheforcedherselftothinkofanythingthatwouldbartheentryofthatfearwhichstoodlurkingatthethresholdofhermind。
Fromtimetotimesheconsultedherwatch-andeachtimehurriedthefaster。
Itwasfiveminutespastonewhen，stealingsilentlyalongablacklane，andcountingagainsttheskylinethesamenumberofbuildingsshehadpreviouslycountedonthestreetfromthecorner，sheenteredanequallyblackyard，andreachedthebackdoorofSkarbolov’slittlestore。Shefeltoutwithherhandsandfoundthepadlock，andherfingerspressedonthelinkinthechainthatGypsyNanhaddescribed。Itgavereadily。Sheslippeditfree，andopenedthedoor。Therewasfaint，almostinaudible，protestingcreakfromthehinges。Shecaughtherbreathquickly。Hadanybodyheardit？It-ithadseemedlikeacannonshot。Andthenherlipscurledinsuddenself-contempt。Whowastheretohearit？
Shesteppedforward，closedthedoorsilentlybehindher，anddrewoutherflashlight。Theraycutthroughtheblackness。Shewasinwhatseemedlikeasmall，outerstoreroom，thatwaslitteredwithanuntidycollectionofboxes，brokenfurniture，andoddsandendsofallsorts。Aheadofherwasanopendoor，and，throughthis，theflashlightdisclosedtheshopitself。Sheswitchedoffthelightnowasshemovedforward-therewerethefrontwindows，and，usedtoofreely，thelightmightbysomeunluckychancebenoticedfromthestreet。