"You have the keys to my house. You slip back there to-night, find my purse, or bring something that you might sell." Matilda slumped down, aghast. "It's perfectly simple," Mrs. De Peyster reassured her. "We should have thought of it at first." "But, ma'am!" quaveringly protested Matilda. "Suppose a policeman should see me! They watch those closed houses. And suppose--suppose he should shoot!" "Nonsense, Matilda! No one will see you if you are careful." "But if--if--Mr. Jack should hear me and come down and see me--" "We shall prepare for such an emergency some kind of plausible explanation that will satisfy Jack." "But, ma'am, please! I don't think I could ever do it!" "Matilda, it is the only way"--in the voice of authority. And then more emphatically, and in some desperation: "Remember, we have got to do something! We have simply got to have money!" Matilda was beginning to whimper yieldingly, when a knock sounded at their door. They clutched each other, but did not answer. The knuckles rapped again. They continued silent. The knock sounded more loudly. "It's the landlady, come to throw us out," quaked Matilda. "Open the door," ordered Mrs. De Peyster, decorously rearranging the throat of her dress, "and tell her she shall have her money in the morning." Matilda unlocked the door, partially opened it, then fell back with a little cry. There entered the Reverend Mr. Pyecroft. He smiled at them, put a finger to his lips. Then he locked the door behind him. "Please leave this instant!" commanded Mrs. De Peyster. "It is not in my nature," he returned in his bland voice, "to go and leave behind me fellow creatures in distress." "Fellow creatures in distress?" repeated Mrs. De Peyster. "I was passing," said he, "and chanced to overhear you say a moment since that you simply had to have money." Mrs. De Peyster's face filled with suspicion. "You have been listening all the while?" "Possibly," said Mr. Pyecroft, with the same bland smile. "Eavesdropper!" His smile did not alter. "I did not hear very much, really. Miss Thompson, may I beg the favor of a few minutes with you alone?" "Most certainly not!" "I am sure when you learn what it is, Miss Thompson, you would prefer that it be between yourself and myself." "Matilda, don't go!" He shrugged his shoulders pleasantly. "I had really hoped that the matter might be between just you and me, Miss Thompson. However, if you prefer Miss Perkins"--Matilda's name at Mrs. Gilbert's--"to be present, yours is the right to command. Shall we be seated?" Matilda had already subsided upon her couch. Mrs. De Peyster sank into one of the chairs. The Reverend Mr. Pyecroft drew the other up to face her and sat down. "Miss Thompson," he began, "I have a very serious proposition to lay before you."