“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。