The White Moll

by Frank L. Packard

  VII. FELLOW THIEVES

  Reaching the courtyard, Rhoda Gray led the way without a word throughthe driveway, and finding the street clear, hurried on rapidly. Hermind, strangely stimulated, was working in quick, incisive flashes.Her work was not yet done. The Sparrow was safe, as far as his life wasconcerned; but her possession of even the necklace would not save theSparrow from the law. There was the money that was gone from the safe.She could not recover that, but--yes, dimly, she began to see a way. Sheswerved suddenly from the sidewalk as she came to an alleyway--which hadbeen her objective--and drew the Sparrow in with her out of sight of thestreet.

  The Sparrow gripped at her hand.

  "The White Moll!" he whispered brokenly. "God bless the White Moll! Iain't had a chance to say it before. You saved my life, and I--I--"

  In the semi-darkness she leaned forward and laid her fingers gently overthe Sparrow's lips.

  "And there's no time to say it now, Marty," she said quickly. "You arenot out of this yet."

  He swept his hand across his eyes.

  "I know it," he said. "I got to get those shiners back up there somehow,and I got to get that paper they planted on me."

  She shook her head.

  "Even that wouldn't clear you," she said. "The safe has been looted ofmoney, as well; and you can't replace that. Even with only the moneygone, who would they first naturally suspect? You are known as asafe-breaker; you have served a term for it. You asked for a night offto stay with your mother who is sick. You left Mr. Hayden-Bond's, we'llsay, at seven or eight o'clock. It's after midnight now. How long wouldit take them to find out that between eight and midnight you had notonly never been near your mother, but could not prove an alibi of anysort? If you told the truth it would sound absurd. No one in their sobersenses would believe you."

  The Sparrow looked at her miserably.

  "My God!" he faltered. He wet his lips. "That's true."

  "Marty," she said quietly, "did you read in the papers that I had beenarrested last night for theft, caught with the goods on me, but hadescaped?"

  The Sparrow hesitated.

  "Yes, I did," he said. And then, earnestly: "But I don't believe it!"

  "It was true, though, Marty--all except that I wasn't a thief," she saidas quietly as before. "What I want to know is, in spite of that, wouldyou trust me with what is left to be done to-night, if I tell you that Ibelieve I can get you out of this?"

  "Sure, I would!" he said simply. "I don't know how you got wise aboutall this, or how you got to know about that necklace, but any of ourcrowd would trust you to the limit. Sure, I'd trust you! You bet yourlife!"

  "Thank you, Marty," she said. "Well, then, how do you get into Mr.Hayden-Bond's house when, for instance, you are out late at night?"

  "I've got a key to the garage," he answered. "The garage is attached tothe house, though it opens on the side street."

  She held Out her hand.

  The Sparrow fished in his pocket, and extended the key withouthesitation.

  "It's for the small door, of course," he explained.

  "You haven't got a flashlight, I suppose?" she smiled.

  "Sure! There's plenty of 'em! Each car's got one with its tools underthe back seat."

  She nodded.

  "And now, the library," she said. "What part of the house is it in? Howis it situated?"

  "It's on the ground floor at the back," he told her. "The little shortpassage from the garage opens on the kitchen, then the pantry, and thenthere's a little cross hallway, and the dining-room is on the left, andthe library on the right. But ain't I going with you?"

  She shook her head again.

  "You're going home, Marty--after you've sent me a taxicab. If you wereseen in that neighborhood now, let alone by any chance seen in thehouse, nothing could save you. You understand that, don't you? Now,listen! Find a taxi, and send it here. Tell the chauffeur to pick me up,and drive me to the corner of the cross street, one block in the rear ofMr. Hayden-Bond's residence. Don't mention Hayden-Bond's name. Give thechauffeur simply street directions. Be careful that he is some one whodoesn't know you. Tell him he will be well paid--and give him this tobegin with." She thrust a banknote into the Sparrow's hand. "You're sureto find one at some all-night cabaret around here. And remember,when you go home afterward, not a word to your mother! And not a wordto-morrow, or ever-to any one! You've simply done as you told youremployer you were going to do--spent the night at home."

  "But you," he burst out, and his words choked a little. "I--I can't letyou go, and--"

  "You said you would trust me, Marty," she said. "And if you want to helpme, as well, don't waste another moment. I shall need every second Ihave got. Quick! Hurry!"

  "But--"

  She pushed him toward the street.

  "Run!" she said tensely. "Hurry, Marty, hurry!"

  She drew back into the shadows. She was alone now. The Sparrow's racingfootsteps died away on the pavement. Her mind reverted to the planthat she had dimly conceived. It became detailed, concrete now, as theminutes passed. And then she heard a car coming along the previouslydeserted street, and she stepped out on the sidewalk. It was the taxi.

  "You know where to go, don't you?" she said to the chauffeur, as the cabdrew up at the curb, and the man leaned out and opened the door.

  "Yes'm," he said.

  "Please drive fast, then," she said, as she stepped in.

  The taxi shot out from the curb, and rattled forward at a rapid pace.Rhoda Gray settled back on the cushions. A half whimsical, half wearylittle smile touched her lips. It was much easier, and infinitely safer,this mode of travel, than that of her earlier experience that evening;but, earlier that evening, she had had no one to go to a cab rankfor her, and she had not dared to appear in the open and hail one forherself. The smile vanished, and the lips became, pursed and grim. Hermind was back on that daring, and perhaps a little dangerous, plan, thatshe meant to put into execution. Block after block was traversed. Itwas a long way uptown, but the chauffeur's initial and generous tip wasbearing fruit. The man was losing no time.

  Rhoda Gray calculated that they had been a little under half an hour inmaking the trip, when the taxi finally drew up and stopped at a corner,and the chauffeur, again leaning out, opened the door.

  "Wait for me," she instructed, and handed the man another tip--and, witha glance about her to get her location, she hurried around the corner,and headed up the cross street.

  She had only a block now to go to reach the Hayden-Bond mansion on thecorner of Fifth Avenue ahead--less than that to reach the garage,which opened on the cross street here. She had little fear of personalidentification now. Here in this residential section and at this hour ofnight, it was like a silent and deserted city; even Fifth Avenue, justahead, for all its lights, was one of the loneliest places at this hourin all New York. True, now and then, a car might race up or down thegreat thoroughfare, or a belated pedestrian's footsteps ring and echohollow on the pavement, where but a few hours before the traffic-squadstruggled valiantly, and sometimes vainly, with the congestion--but thatwas all.

  She could make out the Hayden-Bond mansion on the corner ahead of hernow, and now she was abreast of the rather ornate and attached littlebuilding, that was obviously the garage. She drew the key from herpocket, and glanced around her. There was no one in sight. She steppedswiftly to the small door that flanked the big double ones where thecars went in and out, opened it, closed it behind her, and locked it.

  For a moment, her eyes unaccustomed to the darkness, she could seenothing; and then a car, taking the form of a grotesque, looming shadow,showed in front of her. She moved toward it, felt her way intothe tonneau, lifted up the back seat, and, groping around, found aflashlight. She meant to hurry now. She did not mean to let that nervousdread, that fear, that was quickening her pulse now, have time to getthe better of her. She located the door that led to the house, and inanother moment, the short passage behind her, she was in the kitchen,the flashlight winking cautiously around
her. She paused to listen here.There was not a sound.

  She went on again--through a swinging pantry door with extreme care, andinto a small hall. "On the right," the Sparrow had said. Yes, hereit was; a door that opened on the rear of the library, evidently. Shelistened again. There was no sound--save the silence, that seemed togrow loud now, and palpitate, and make great noises. And now, in spiteof herself, her breath was coming in quick, hard little catches, and theflashlight's ray, that she sent around her, wavered and was not steady.She bit her lips, as she switched off the light. Why should she beafraid of this, when in another five minutes she meant to inviteattention!

  She pushed the door in front of her open, found it hung with a heavyportiere inside, brushed the portiere aside, stepped through into theroom, stood still and motionless to listen once more, and then theflashlight circled inquisitively about her.

  It was the library. Her eyes widened a little. At her left, over againstthe wall, the mangled door of a safe stood wide open, and the floor fora radius of yards around was littered with papers and documents. Theflashlight's ray lifted, and she followed it with her eyes as it madethe circuit of the walls. Opposite the safe, and quite near the doorwayin which she stood, was a window recess, portiered; diagonally acrossfrom her was another door that led, presumably, into the main hallof the house; the walls were tapestried, and hung here and there withclusters of ancient trophies, great metal shields, and swords, andcurious arms, that gave a sort of barbaric splendor to the luxuriousfurnishings of the apartment.

  She worked quickly now. In a moment she was at the window portieres,and, drawing these aside, she quietly raised the window, and looked out.The window was on the side of the house away from the cross street, andshe nodded her head reassuringly to herself as she noted that it gave ona narrow strip of grass, it could not be called lawn, that separated theHayden-Bond mansion from the house next door; that the window was littlemore than shoulder-high from the ground; and that the Avenue was withineasy and inviting reach along that little strip of grass between the twohouses.

  She left the window open, and retraced her steps across the room, goingnow to the littered mass of papers on the floor near the safe. She beganto search carefully amongst them. She smiled a little curiously asshe came across the plush-lined jeweler's case that had contained thenecklace, and which had evidently been contemptuously discarded by theCricket and his confederates; but it took her longer to find the paperfor which she was searching. And then she came upon it--a grease-smearedadvertisement for some automobile appliances, a well-defined greasyfinger-print at one edge--and thrust the paper into her pocket.

  And now suddenly her heartbeat began to quicken again until its thumpingbecame tumultuous. She was ready now. She looked around her, usingthe flashlight, and her eyes rested appraisingly on one of the greatclusters of shields and arms that hung low down on the wall between thewindow and the door by which she had entered. Yes, that would do. Herlips tightened. It would have been so easy if there had not been thatcash to account for! She could replace the necklace, but she could notreplace the cash--and one, as far as the Sparrow was concerned, was asbad as the other. But there was a way, and it was simple enough. Shewhispered to herself that it was not, after all, very dangerous, thatthe cards were all in her own hands. She had only to pull down thoseshields with a clatter to the floor, which would arouse some one of thehousehold, and as that some one reached the library door and openedit, she would be disappearing through the window, and the necklace, asthough it had slipped from her pocket or grasp in her wild effort toescape, would be lying behind her on the floor. They would see thatit was not the Sparrow; and there would be no question as to where themoney was gone, since the money had not been dropped. There was theinterval, of course, that must elapse between the accident that knockedthe shields from the wall and the time it would take any of the inmatesto reach the library, an interval in which a thief might reasonably beexpected to have had time enough to get away without being seen; butthe possibility that she had not fully accomplished her ends when theaccident occurred, and that she had stayed to make frantic and desperateefforts to do so right up to the last moment, would account for that.

  She moved now to an electric-light switch, and turned on the light.They must be able to see beyond any question of doubt that the personescaping through the window was not the Sparrow. What was she afraid ofnow, just at the last! There was an actual physical discomfort in thefurious thumping of that cowardly little heart of hers. It was the onlyway. And it was worth it. And it was not so very dangerous. People,aroused out of bed, could not follow her in their night clothes; and ina matter of but a few minutes, before the police notified by telephonecould become a factor in the affair, she would have run the block downthe Avenue, and then the other block down the cross street, then back tothe taxi, and be whirling safely downtown.

  Yes, she was ready! She nodded her head sharply, as though in imperativeself-command, and running back, her footfalls soundless on the rich,heavy rug, she picked up the plush-lined necklace case. She dropped thisagain, open, on the floor, halfway between the safe and the window. Withthe case apparently burst open as it fell, and the necklace also on thefloor, the stage would be set! She felt inside her bodice, drew out thenecklace--and as she stood there holding it, and as it caught the lightand flashed back its fire and life from a thousand facets, a numbnessseemed to come stealing over her, and a horror, and a great fear, and adismay that robbed her of power of movement until it seemed that she wasrooted to the spot, and a low, gasping cry came from her lips. Her eyes,wide with their alarm, were fixed on the window. There was a man'sface there, just above the sill--and now a man's form swung through thewindow, and dropped lightly to the floor inside the room. And she staredin horrified fascination, and could not move. It was the Adventurer.

  "It's Miss Gray, isn't it? The White Moll?" he murmured amiably. "I'vebeen trying to find you all night. What corking luck! You remember me,don't you? Last night, you know."

  She did not answer. His eyes had shifted from her face to the glitteringriver of gems in her hand.

  "I see," he smiled, "that you are ahead of me again. Well, it is thefortune of war, Miss Gray. I do not complain."

  She found her voice at last; and, quick as a flash, as he advanced astep, she dropped the necklace into her pocket, and her revolver was inher hand.

  "W--what are you doing here?" she whispered.

  He shrugged his shoulders expressively.

  "I take it that we are both in the same boat," he said pleasantly.

  "In the same boat?" she echoed dully. She remembered his conversationwith her a few hours ago, when he had believed he was talking to GypsyNan. And now he stood before her for the second time a self-confessedthief. In the same boat-fellow-thieves! A certain cold composure came toher. "You mean you came to steal this necklace? Well, you shall not haveit! And, furthermore, you have no right to class me with yourself as athief."

  He had a whimsical and very engaging smile. His eyebrows lifted.

  "Miss Gray perhaps forgets last night," he suggested.

  "No, I do not forget last night," she said slowly, "And I do not forgetthat I owe you very much for what you did. And that is one reason why Iwarn you at once that, as far as the necklace is concerned, it willdo you no good to build any hopes on the supposition that we arefellow-thieves, and that I am likely either to part with it, or, throughgratitude, share it. In spite of appearances last night, I was not athief."

  "And to-night, Miss Gray--in spite of appearances?" he challenged.

  He was regarding her with eyes that, while they appraised shrewdly,held a lurking hint of irony in their depths. And somehow, suddenly,self-proclaimed crook though she held him to be, she found herselfseized with an absurd, unreasonable, but nevertheless passionate, desireto make good her words.

  "Yes, and to-night, too!" she asserted. "I did not steal this necklace.I--never mind how--I--I got it. It was planned to put the theft on aninnocent man's shoulders. I was trying to
thwart that plan. Whether youbelieve me or not, I did not come here to steal the necklace; I camehere to return it."

  "Quite so! Of course!" acknowledged the Adventurer softly. "I am afraidI interrupted you, then, in the act of returning it. Might I suggest,therefore, Miss Gray, that as it's a bit dangerous to linger around hereunnecessarily, you carry out your intentions with all possible haste,and get away."

  "And you?" she queried evenly.

  "Myself, of course, as well." He shrugged his shoulders philosophically."Under the circumstances, as a gentleman--will you let me say I preferthat word to the one I know you are substituting for it--what else can Ido?"

  She bit her lips. Was he mocking her? The gray eyes were inscrutablenow.

  "Then please do not let me detain you!" she said sharply. "And in myturn, let me advise you to go at once. I intend to knock one ofthose shields down from the wall before I go, in order to arouse thehousehold. I will, however, in part payment for last night, allow youthree full minutes from the time you climb out of that window, so thatyou may have ample time to get away."

  He stared at her in frank bewilderment.

  "Good Lord!" he gasped. "You--you're joking, Miss Gray."

  "No, I am not," she replied coolly. "Far from it! There was money stolenthat I cannot replace, and the theft of the money would be put uponthe same innocent shoulders. I see no other way than the one I havementioned. If whoever runs into this room is permitted to get a glimpseof me, and is given the impression that the necklace, which I shallleave on the floor, was dropped in my haste, the supposition remainsthat, at least, I got away with the money. I am certainly not theinnocent man who has been used as the pawn; and if I am recognized asthe White Moll, what does it matter--after last night?"

  He took a step toward her impetuously--and stopped quite as impetuously.Her revolver had swung to a level with his head.

  "Pardon me!" he said.

  "Not at all!" she said caustically.

  For the first time, as she watched him warily, the Adventurer appearedto lose some of his self-assurance. He shifted a little uneasily onhis feet, and the corners of his eyes puckered into a nest of perturbedwrinkles.

  "I say, Miss Gray, you can't mean this!" he protested. "You're notserious!"

  "I have told you that I am," she answered steadily. "Those three minutesthat I gave you are going fast."

  "Then look here!" he exclaimed earnestly. "I'll tell you something. Isaid I had been trying to find you to-night. It was the truth. I went toGypsy Nan's--and might have been spared my pains. I told her about lastnight, and that I knew you were in danger, and that I wanted to helpyou. I mention this so that you will understand that I am not justspeaking on the spur of the moment, now that I have an opportunity ofrepeating that offer in person."

  She looked at him impassively for a moment. He had neglected to statethat he had also told Gypsy Nan he desired to enter into a partnershipwith her--in crime.

  "It is very kind of you," she said sweetly. "I presume, then, that youhave some suggestion to make?"

  "Only what any--may I say it?--gentleman would suggest under thecircumstances. It is far too dangerous a thing for a woman to attempt;it would be much less dangerous for me. I realize that you are inearnest now, and I will agree to carry out your plan in every detailonce I am satisfied that you are safely away."

  "The idea being," she observed monotonously, "that, being safely away,and the necklace being left safely on the floor, you are left safely inpossession of--the necklace. Well, my answer is--no!"

  His face hardened a little.

  "I'm sorry, then," he said. "For in that case, in so far as your projectis concerned, I, too, must say--no!"

  It was an impasse. She studied his face, the strong jaw set a littlenow, the lips molded in sterner lines, and for all her outward show ofcomposure, she knew a sick dismay. And for a moment she neither movednor spoke. What he would do next, she did not know; but she knewquite well that he had not the slightest intention of leaving her hereundisturbed to carry out her plan, unless--unless, somehow, she couldoutwit him. She bit her lips again. And then inspiration came. Sheturned, and with a sudden leap gained the wall, and the next instant,holding him back with her revolver as she reached up with her left hand,she caught at the great metal shield with its encircling cluster ofsmall arms, and wrenched it from its fastenings. It crashed to the floorwith a din infernal that, in the night silence, went racketing throughthe house like the reverberations of an explosion.

  "My God, what have you done!" he cried out hoarsely.

  "What I said I'd do!" she answered. She was white-faced, frightened ather own act, fighting to maintain her nerve. "You'll go now, I imagine!"she flung at him passionately. "You haven't much time."

  "No!" he said. His composure was instantly at command again. "No,"he repeated steadily; "not until after you have gone. Irefuse--positively--to let you run any such risk as that. It is far toodangerous."

  "Yes, you will!" she burst out wildly. "You will! You must! You shall!I--I--" The house itself seemed suddenly to have awakened. From abovedoors opened and closed. Indistinctly there came the sound of a voice.She clenched her hand in anguished desperation. "Go, you--you coward!"she whispered frantically.

  "Miss Gray, for God's sake, do as I tell you!" he said between histeeth. "You don't realize the danger. It's not the pursuit. They are notcoming down here unarmed after that racket. I know that you came in bythat door there. Go out that way. I will play the game for you. I swearit!"

  There were footsteps, plainly audible now, out in the main hall.

  "Quick!" he urged. "Are we both to be caught? See!" He backed suddenlytoward the window.

  "See! I am too far away now to touch that necklace before they get here.Throw it down, and get behind the portiere of the rear door!"

  Mechanically she was retreating. They were almost at the other door now,those footsteps outside in the main hall. With a backward spring shereached the portiere. The door handle across the room rattled. Sheglanced at the Adventurer. He was close to the window. It was true,he could not get the necklace and at the same time hope to escape. Shewhipped it from her pocket, tossed it from her to the floor near theplush-lined case--and slipped behind the portiere.

  The door opposite to her was wrenched violently open. She couldsee through the corner of the portiere. There was a sharp, excitedexclamation, as a gray-haired man, in pajamas, evidently Mr. Hayden-Bondhimself, sprang into the room. He was followed by another man in equaldishabille.

  And the Adventurer was leaping for the window.

  There was a blinding flash, the roar of a report, as the millionaireflung up a revolver and fired; it was echoed by the splatter and tinkleof falling glass. The Adventurer was astride the window sill now, hisface deliberately and unmistakably in view.

  "A foot too high, and a bit to the right!" said the Adventurerdebonairly--and the window sill was empty.

  Rhoda Gray stole silently through the doorway behind her. She could hearthe millionaire and his companion, the butler, probably, rush across thelibrary to the window. As she gained the pantry, she heard another shot.Tight-lipped, using her flashlight, she ran through the kitchen. In amoment more, she was standing at the garage door, listening, peeringfurtively outside. The street itself was empty; there were shouts,though, from the direction of the Avenue. She stepped out on the sidestreet, and walking composedly that she might not attract attention,though very impulse urged her to run with frantic haste, she reached thecorner and the waiting taxicab. She gave the chauffeur an address thatwould bring her to the street in the rear of Gypsy Nan's and withinreach of the lane where she had left her clothes, and, with aninjunction to hurry, sprang into the cab.

  And then for a long time she sat there with her hands tightly clasped inher lap. Her mind, her brain, her very soul itself seemed in chaos andturmoil. There was the Sparrow, who was safe; and Danglar, who wouldmove heaven and hell to get her now; and the Adventurer, who--Her mindseemed to grope around in cycles; it seemed t
o moil on and on and arriveat nothing. The Adventurer had played the game--perhaps because he hadhad to; but he had not risked that revolver shot in her stead becausehe had had to. Who was he? How had he come there? How had he found herthere? How had he known that she had entered by that rear door behindthe portiere? She remembered how that he had offered not a singleexplanation.

  Almost mechanically she dismissed the taxi when at last it stopped;and almost mechanically, as Gypsy Nan, some ten minutes later, she letherself into the garret, and lighted the candle. She was conscious, asshe hid the White Moll's clothes away, that she was thankful she hadregained in safety even the questionable sanctuary of this wretchedplace; but, strangely, thoughts of her own peril seemed somehow to betemporarily relegated to the background.

  She flung herself down on the bed--it was not Gypsy Nan's habit toundress--and blew out the light. But she could not sleep. And hour afterhour in the darkness she tossed unrestfully. It was very strange! Itwas not as it had been last night. It was not the impotent, franticrebellion against the horrors of her own situation, nor the fear andterror of it, that obsessed her to-night. It was the Adventurer whoplagued her.