He was moving slowly away when her slow light voice brought him up short. “Tex,” she said, “I see you're just a cheap liar, after all.” Then she watched the color sweep over his face. It was something to stir that wooden countenance with genuine emotion. She even found a perverse thrill in the experience. He stood motionless for a long moment. Finally he said, none too steadily: “You know what would happen to a man that said that to me.” “What would you do? Shoot?.... Where would that get you? No, Tex, listen! Sit down here.” But he stood over her. “I know everything you're doing.” “Oh--you do?” “You're crossing me. But you can't get away with it. You know where you are--in China! And you're tampering with the troops of the viceroy of Nanking. My God, Tex, haven't you _any_ brains? Did you really think I'd show my hand?” He chewed the cigar in silence, staring down. “I'll give you your choice,” she went on. “You can work with me. fifty-fifty, or I'll have Tom Sung beheaded. And then you'll be out a meal ticket. And all your expenses with Tom up to now. And the three thousand you lost to the Kanes.” “You don't know what you're talking about! I haven't even seen Tom Sung in twenty-four hours.” “That's another lie. He was in your room this morning.” “How do you know that? Say, if Jim Watson's been talking....” “He hasn't, Tex. I've got my information--and there's a lot of if--from Kato the Japanese. Go and talk to him, if you like. Or to your friends the Kanes.” Connor, the color gone from his face now, looked steadily down at her. Slowly he drew from an inner pocket a gold-mounted case of alligator skin and selected a fresh cigar, lighting it on the stump of the old one. Finally he said: “Dix, I'm taking some rough talk from you. But never mind--now. You say you know where the stuff is, but you won't tell me.” “Not now. I'll keep that information to trade with, Tex.” “Well and good. I'll tell you that you can't get it without a little help from me. And you're not going to get it. Tell me where it is, and I'll put it through and split with you. It'll have to be pretty quick, too. If you won't, you don't get your loot. And you give up my boy Tom--” “What'll you do, Tex?” She was faintly smiling. “Oh, I won't shoot you. I'll protect myself better'n that. But I'll run you off the coast. You'll have turned your last card out here.” To this she said simply nothing. For a moment her two eyes met his one full. Then he strolled away. And the day passed.