第14章
“Youshe-fiend！“Danglarhadfoundhisvoiceagain。You’llcrawlforthis！Doyouunderstand？andI’llshowyouinsideoftwenty-fourhourswhatyou’reupagainst，you-you-“Hisvoicebrokeinitsfury。Theveinswerestandingoutonthesideofhisnecklikewhipcords。Hecouldjustmovehisforearmsalittle，andhishandsreachedouttowardher，curvedlikeclaws。“I’ll-“
ButRhodaGrayhadclosedthedoorbehindher，and，withtheSparrow，wasretreatingdownthestairs。
VII。FELLOWTHIEVES
Reachingthecourtyard，RhodaGrayledthewaywithoutawordthroughthedriveway，andfindingthestreetclear，hurriedonrapidly。Hermind，strangelystimulated，wasworkinginquick，incisiveflashes。Herworkwasnotyetdone。TheSparrowwassafe，asfarashislifewasconcerned；butherpossessionofeventhenecklacewouldnotsavetheSparrowfromthelaw。Therewasthemoneythatwasgonefromthesafe。Shecouldnotrecoverthat，but-yes，dimly，shebegantoseeaway。Sheswervedsuddenlyfromthesidewalkasshecametoanalleyway-whichhadbeenherobjective-anddrewtheSparrowinwithheroutofsightofthestreet。
TheSparrowgrippedatherhand。
“TheWhiteMoll！“hewhisperedbrokenly。“GodblesstheWhiteMoll！Iain’thadachancetosayitbefore。Yousavedmylife，andI-I-“
Inthesemi-darknesssheleanedforwardandlaidherfingersgentlyovertheSparrow’slips。
“Andthere’snotimetosayitnow，Marty，“shesaidquickly。“Youarenotoutofthisyet。“
Heswepthishandacrosshiseyes。
“Iknowit，“hesaid。“Igottogetthoseshinersbackuptheresomehow，andIgottogetthatpapertheyplantedonme。“
Sheshookherhead。
“Eventhatwouldn’tclearyou，“shesaid。“Thesafehasbeenlootedofmoney，aswell；andyoucan’treplacethat。Evenwithonlythemoneygone，whowouldtheyfirstnaturallysuspect？Youareknownasasafe-breaker；youhaveservedatermforit。Youaskedforanightofftostaywithyourmotherwhoissick。YouleftMr。Hayden-Bond’s，we’llsay，atsevenoreighto’clock。It’saftermidnightnow。Howlongwouldittakethemtofindoutthatbetweeneightandmidnightyouhadnotonlyneverbeennearyourmother，butcouldnotproveanalibiofanysort？Ifyoutoldthetruthitwouldsoundabsurd。Nooneintheirsobersenseswouldbelieveyou。“
TheSparrowlookedathermiserably。
“MyGod！“hefaltered。Hewethislips。“That’strue。“
“Marty，“shesaidquietly，“didyoureadinthepapersthatIhadbeenarrestedlastnightfortheft，caughtwiththegoodsonme，buthadescaped？“
TheSparrowhesitated。
“Yes，Idid，“hesaid。Andthen，earnestly:“ButIdon’tbelieveit！“
“Itwastrue，though，Marty-allexceptthatIwasn’tathief，“
shesaidasquietlyasbefore。“WhatIwanttoknowis，inspiteofthat，wouldyoutrustmewithwhatislefttobedoneto-night，ifItellyouthatIbelieveIcangetyououtofthis？“
“Sure，Iwould！“hesaidsimply。“Idon’tknowhowyougotwiseaboutallthis，orhowyougottoknowaboutthatnecklace，butanyofourcrowdwouldtrustyoutothelimit。Sure，I’dtrustyou！Youbetyourlife！“
“Thankyou，Marty，“shesaid。“Well，then，howdoyougetintoMr。
Hayden-Bond’shousewhen，forinstance，youareoutlateatnight？“
“I’vegotakeytothegarage，“heanswered。“Thegarageisattachedtothehouse，thoughitopensonthesidestreet。“
SheheldOutherhand。
TheSparrowfishedinhispocket，andextendedthekeywithouthesitation。
“It’sforthesmalldoor，ofcourse，“heexplained。
“Youhaven’tgotaflashlight，Isuppose？“shesmiled。
“Sure！There’splentyof’em！Eachcar’sgotonewithitstoolsunderthebackseat。“
Shenodded。
“Andnow，thelibrary，“shesaid。“Whatpartofthehouseisitin？Howisitsituated？“
“It’sonthegroundfloorattheback，“hetoldher。“Thelittleshortpassagefromthegarageopensonthekitchen，thenthepantry，andthenthere’salittlecrosshallway，andthedining-roomisontheleft，andthelibraryontheright。Butain’tIgoingwithyou？“
Sheshookherheadagain。
“You’regoinghome，Marty-afteryou’vesentmeataxicab。Ifyouwereseeninthatneighborhoodnow，letalonebyanychanceseeninthehouse，nothingcouldsaveyou。Youunderstandthat，don’tyou？
Now，listen！Findataxi，andsendithere。Tellthechauffeurtopickmeup，anddrivemetothecornerofthecrossstreet，oneblockintherearofMr。Hayden-Bond’sresidence。Don’tmentionHayden-Bond’sname。Givethechauffeursimplystreetdirections。Becarefulthatheissomeonewhodoesn’tknowyou。Tellhimhewillbewellpaid-andgivehimthistobeginwith。“ShethrustabanknoteintotheSparrow’shand。“You’resuretofindoneatsomeall-nightcabaretaroundhere。Andremember，whenyougohomeafterward，notawordtoyourmother！Andnotawordto-morrow，orever-toanyone！
You’vesimplydoneasyoutoldyouremployeryouweregoingtodo-spentthenightathome。“
“Butyou，“heburstout，andhiswordschokedalittle。“I-I
can’tletyougo，and-“
“Yousaidyouwouldtrustme，Marty，“shesaid。“Andifyouwanttohelpme，aswell，don’twasteanothermoment。IshallneedeverysecondIhavegot。Quick！Hurry！“
“But-“
Shepushedhimtowardthestreet。
“Run！“shesaidtensely。“Hurry，Marty，hurry！“
Shedrewbackintotheshadows。Shewasalonenow。TheSparrow’sracingfootstepsdiedawayonthepavement。Hermindrevertedtotheplanthatshehaddimlyconceived。Itbecamedetailed，concretenow，astheminutespassed。Andthensheheardacarcomingalongthepreviouslydesertedstreet，andshesteppedoutonthesidewalk。
Itwasthetaxi。
“Youknowwheretogo，don’tyou？“shesaidtothechauffeur，asthecabdrewupatthecurb，andthemanleanedoutandopenedthedoor。
“Yes’m，“hesaid。
“Pleasedrivefast，then，“shesaid，asshesteppedin。
Thetaxishotoutfromthecurb，andrattledforwardatarapidpace。RhodaGraysettledbackonthecushions。Ahalfwhimsical，halfwearylittlesmiletouchedherlips。Itwasmucheasier，andinfinitelysafer，thismodeoftravel，thanthatofherearlierexperiencethatevening；but，earlierthatevening，shehadhadnoonetogotoacabrankforher，andshehadnotdaredtoappearintheopenandhailoneforherself。Thesmilevanished，andthelipsbecame，pursedandgrim。Hermindwasbackonthatdaring，andperhapsalittledangerous，plan，thatshemeanttoputintoexecution。Blockafterblockwastraversed。Itwasalongwayuptown，butthechauffeur’sinitialandgeneroustipwasbearingfruit。Themanwaslosingnotime。
RhodaGraycalculatedthattheyhadbeenalittleunderhalfanhourinmakingthetrip，whenthetaxifinallydrewupandstoppedatacorner，andthechauffeur，againleaningout，openedthedoor。
“Waitforme，“sheinstructed，andhandedthemananothertip-and，withaglanceabouthertogetherlocation，shehurriedaroundthecorner，andheadedupthecrossstreet。
ShehadonlyablocknowtogotoreachtheHayden-BondmansiononthecornerofFifthAvenueahead-lessthanthattoreachthegarage，whichopenedonthecrossstreethere。Shehadlittlefearofpersonalidentificationnow。Hereinthisresidentialsectionandatthishourofnight，itwaslikeasilentanddesertedcity；
evenFifthAvenue，justahead，forallitslights，wasoneoftheloneliestplacesatthishourinallNewYork。True，nowandthen，acarmightraceupordownthegreatthoroughfare，orabelatedpedestrian’sfootstepsringandechohollowonthepavement，wherebutafewhoursbeforethetraffic-squadstruggledvaliantly，andsometimesvainly，withthecongestion-butthatwasall。
ShecouldmakeouttheHayden-Bondmansiononthecorneraheadofhernow，andnowshewasabreastoftheratherornateandattachedlittlebuilding，thatwasobviouslythegarage。Shedrewthekeyfromherpocket，andglancedaroundher。Therewasnooneinsight。
Shesteppedswiftlytothesmalldoorthatflankedthebigdoubleoneswherethecarswentinandout，openedit，closeditbehindher，andlockedit。
Foramoment，hereyesunaccustomedtothedarkness，shecouldseenothing；andthenacar，takingtheformofagrotesque，loomingshadow，showedinfrontofher。Shemovedtowardit，feltherwayintothetonneau，liftedupthebackseat，and，gropingaround，foundaflashlight。Shemeanttohurrynow。Shedidnotmeantoletthatnervousdread，thatfear，thatwasquickeningherpulsenow，havetimetogetthebetterofher。Shelocatedthedoorthatledtothehouse，andinanothermoment，theshortpassagebehindher，shewasinthekitchen，theflashlightwinkingcautiouslyaroundher。Shepausedtolistenhere。Therewasnotasound。