Andyoucantakeyourchoicebetweenabulletandastraightanswer。
WhereistheWhiteMoll？“
RhodaGray’shandfeltOutalongthewallforsupport。Wasthisadream，someghastly，soul-terrifyingnightmare！Danglar！Thoseworkinglips！Thatcallousviciousness，thatleerinthedegenerateface。Itseemedtobringaweaknesstoherlimbs，andseektorobherofthestrengthtostand。Shecouldnotevenhopeagainsthope；
sheknewthatDanglarwasindeadlyearnest。Danglarwouldnothavetheslightestcompunction，letalonehesitation，incarryingouthisthreat。Terrifiednow，hereyessoughttheAdventurer。Didn’ttheAdventurerknowDanglarassheknewhim，didn’therealizethattherewasdeadlyearnestnessbehindDanglar’swords？Wasthemanmad，thathestoodthereutterlyunmoved，asthoughhehadnoconsiderationonearthotherthanthosecarefullymanicuredfingernailsofhis！
AndthenDanglarspokeagain。
“DoyounoticeanythingspecialaboutthisgunI’mholdingonyou？“
hedemanded，inlowmenace。
TheAdventurerdidnotevenlookup。
“Oh，yes，“hesaidindifferently。“Ifancyyougotitoutofadimenovel，didn’tyou？Oneofthosesilencerthings。“
“Yes，“saidDanglargrimly；“oneofthosesilencerthings。Whereisshe？“
TheAdventurermadenoanswer。
ThecolorinDanglar’sfacedeepened。
“I’llmakethingsevenalittleplainertoyou，“hesaidwithbrutalcoolness。“Therearetwomeninourorganizationfromwhomitisabsolutelyimpossiblethatthatleakcouldhavecome。ThosetwomenfollowedyoufromPerlmer’sofficetothisplace。Theyareinthenextroomnowwaitingformetogetthroughwithyou，andreadyforanythingiftheyareneeded。Buttheywon’tbeneeded。That’snotthewayitworksout。Thisgunwon’tmakemuchnoise，anditisn’tlikelytoarousetheinmatesofthisdive，butevenifitdoes，itdoesn’tmatterverymuch-wearen’tgoingoutbythefrontdoor。Thetwoofthem，theminutetheyheartheshot，slipinhere，andlockthedoor-youseeit’sgotagood，huskyboltonit-andthenwebeatitbythefireescapethatrunspastthatwindowthere。
Gettheidea？Anddon’tkidyourselfintothinkingthatIamtakinganyriskwiththeconsequencesonaccountofthecoronerhavinggotbusybecauseamanwasfoundheredeadonthefloor。NickyVinerstandsforthat。Itisn’tthefirsttimehe’sbeensuspectedofmurder。See？Nickywaseasy。He’dcrawlonhishandsandkneesfromtheBatterytoHarlemanytimeifyouheldalittlemoneyinfrontofhisnose。He’sbeenfooleduptotheeyeswithafaked-upmessagethathe’stodeliversecretlytosomefaked-upcrooksoutWest。He’sjustaboutstartingawayonthetrainnow。Andthat’swherethepolicenabhim-runningawayfromthemurderhe’spulledinhisroomhereto-night。LookskindofbadforNickyViner-eh？
Weshouldworry！Itcostahundreddollarsandhisticket。Cheap，wasn’tit？Iguessyou’reworththatmuchtous。“
AdullhorrorseizeduponRhodaGray。Itseemedtoclogandconfusehermind。Shefoughtitfrantically，strivingtothink，andtothinkclearly。EverydetailseemedtohavebeenplannedwithSatanicforesightandingenuity，andyet-andyet-Yes，inonelittlething，Danglarhadmadeamistake。Thatwaswhyshewasherenow；
thatwaswhythosemeninthatnextroomhadnotbeenoutinthehallonguard，orevenoutinthestreetonwatchforher。DanglarhadnaturallygoneuponthesuppositionthattheAdventurerandherselfworkedhandinglove；whereastheywereasmuchinthedarkconcerningeachother’smovementsasDanglarhimselfwas。ThereforeDanglar，andlogicallyenoughfromhisviewpoint，hadjumpedtotheconclusionthat，sincetheyhadnotcometogether，onlyoneofthem，theAdventurer，wasactingintheaffairto-night，and-Danglar’svoicewasraspinginherears。
“I’mnotgoingtostayhereallnight！“hesnarled。“You’vegotonechance。I’vetoldyouwhatitis。You’reluckytohaveit。
We’dsoonerhaveyououtofthewayforkeeps。I’dratherdropyouinyourtracksthanletyoulive。WhereistheWhiteMoll？“
TheAdventurerwassidefacetothedoorwayagain，andRhodaGraysawhimsmilecontemptuouslyatDanglarnow。
“Really，“hesaidblandly，“Ihaven’ttheslightestideaintheworld。“
Danglarlaughedironically。
“Youlie！“heflungouthoarsely。“Doyouthinkyoucangetawaywiththat？Well，thinkagain！Soonerorlater，itwillbeallthesamewhetheryoutalkornot。Wecaughtyouto-nightinatrap；
we’llcatchherinanother。Ourhanddoesn’tshowhere。She’llthinkthatNickyVinerwasalittletoomuchforyou，that’sall。
Comeon，now-quick！Areyoufoolenoughtomisunderstand？The’don’tknow’stuffwon’tgetyouby！“
“Themisunderstandingseemstobeonyourside。“Therewasacold，irritatingdeliberationintheAdventurer’svoice。“IrepeatthatIdonotknowwheretheyoungladyyourefertocouldbefound；butIdidnotmakethatstatementwithanyideathatyouwouldbelieveit。Toacur，Isupposeitisnecessarytoaddthat，evenifIdidknow，IshouldtakepleasureinseeingyoudamnedbeforeItoldyou。“
Danglar’sfacewaslikeadevil’s。HisrevolverheldasteadybeadontheAdventurer’shead。
“I’llgiveyoualastchance。“Hespokethroughclosedteeth。
“I’llfirewhenIcountthree。One！“
AhorriblefascinationheldRhodaGray。Ifshecriedout，itwasmorelikelythannottocauseDanglartofireontheinstant。ItwouldnotsavetheAdventurerinanycase。Itwouldbebutthesignal，too，forthosetwomeninthenextroomtorushinhere。
“Two！“
Itseemedasthough，notinthehopethatitwoulddoanygood，butbecauseshewasgoingmadwithhorror，thatshewouldscreamoutuntiltheplacerangandrangagainwithheroutcries。Evenhersoulwasinfranticpanic。Quick！Quick！Shemustact！Shemust！Buthow？Wasthereonlyoneway？Shewasconsciousthatshehaddrawnherrevolverasthoughbyinstinct。Danglar’slife，ortheAdventurer’s！Butsheshrankfromtakinglife。Herlipswerebreathingaprayer。TheyhadcalledheracrackshotbackthereinSouthAmerica，whenshehadhuntedandriddenwithherfather。
ItwaseasyenoughtohitDanglar，butthatmightmeanDanglar’slife；itwasnotsoeasytohitDanglar’sarm，orDanglar’shand，ortherevolverDanglarheld，andifsheriskedthatandmissed，she……
“Thr-“
Therewastheroarofareportthatwentracketingthroughthesilencelikeacannonshot，andtheshort，vicioustongue-flamefromRhodaGray’srevolvermuzzlestabbedthroughtheblack。Therewasascreamofmingledsurpriseandfury，andtherevolverinDanglar’shandclatteredtothefloor。ShesawtheAdventurerspring，quickasapanther，attheother，andsawhimwhipblowafterblowwithterrificforcefullintoDanglar’sface；sheheardarushoffeetcomingfromthecorridorbehindher；andsheflungherselfforwardintotheinnerroom，and，panting，snatchedatthedoorandslammeditshut，andgropingforthebolt，foundit，andshotithomeinitsgrooves。
Andshestoodthere，weakforthemoment，anddrewherhandacrosshereyes-andbehindhertheypoundedonthedoor，andtherecameaburstofoaths；andinfrontofhertheAdventurerwassmilinggravelyashecoveredDanglarwithDanglar’sownrevolver；andDanglar，asthoughdazedandhalfstunnedfromtheblowshehadreceived，rockedunsteadilyuponhisfeet。Andthenhereyeswidenedalittle。Thepoundingonthedoor，theshouts，thenoise，wasbeginningtoarousewhatinmatestherewereinthetenement，andtherewasn’taninstanttolose-buttheAdventurernowwascalmlygatheringup，tothelastone，andpocketingthem，thebanknoteswithwhichDanglarhadbaitedhistrap。Andashecrammedthemoneyintohispockets，hespoketoher，withacurioussoftness，agreat，strangegentlenessinhisvoice:
“Ioweyoumylife，MissGray。Thatwasawonderfulshot。Youknockedtherevolverfromhishandwithoutevengrazinghisfingers。
Averywonderfulshot，and-willyouletmesayit？-youareaverywonderfulwoman。“
“Oh，quick！“shewhisperedwildly。“Iamafraidthisdoorwillnothold。“
“Thereisthewindow，andthefireescape，soourfriendherewasgoodenoughtoinformme，“saidtheAdventurer，ashecomposedlypocketedthelastdollar。“Willyouopenthewindow，MissGray，ifyouplease？IamafraidIhitMr。Danglaralittleungently，andasheisstillsomewhatgroggy，Ifancyhewillneedalittleassistance。Iimagine“-hecaughtDanglarsuddenlybythecollarofhiscoatasRhodaGrayrantothewindowandflungitup，andrushedthemanunceremoniouslyacrosstheroom-“Iimagineitwouldbeamistaketoleavehimbehind。Hemightopenthedoor，orevenbeunpleasantenoughtothrowsomethingdownonusfromabove；alsoheshouldserveusverywellasahostage。Willyougofirst，please，MissGray？“
Sheclimbedquicklyoverthesilltotheironplatform。DanglarwasdraggedthroughbytheAdventurer，mumbling，andevidentlystillinahalf-dazedcondition。Windowswereopeninghereandthere。
>Frombackinsidetheroom，theblowsrainedmoreheavilyuponthedoor-andnowtherecametheripandrendofwood，asthoughapanelhadcrashedin。
“Hurry，please，MissGray！“promptedtheAdventurer。
Itwasdark，almosttoodarktoseeherfooting。Shefeltherwaydown。Itwasonlyonestoryabovetheground，anditdidnottakelong；butitseemedhourssinceshehadfiredthatshot，thoughsheknewthetimehadbeenmeasuredbyscarcelymorethanaminute。Andnow，onthelowerplatform，waitingforthatqueer，double，twistingshadowofthetwomentojoinher，sheheardtheAdventurerssvoiceringoutsharply: