"There is a man of that name," he said, slowly, "who attained considerable notoriety in the States. People said that he was the _derniere cri_ of refined rascality. He was supposed to be without feeling of any kind; his villainies were the theme of admiration amongst financial magnates. There were brokers who piously thanked Providence because Rawlins had never thought of going on the Stock Exchange, where he could have robbed and plundered with impunity. And this Rawlins always baffles the police. If he baffles them a little longer they won't be able to touch him at all. At present, despite his outward show, he has hardly a dollar to call his own. But he is on to a great _coup_ now, and, strange to say, an honest one. Do you know the man, Miss Lee?" Chris met the speaker's eyes firmly. "I met him last night for the first time," she said. "In that case you can hardly be said to know him," Rawlins murmured. "If you drive him into a corner he will do desperate things. If you tried that game on with him you would regret it for the rest of your life. Good heavens, you are like a child playing about amidst a lot of unguarded machinery. Why do you do it?" "That I will tell you presently. Mr. Rawlins, you have a daughter." The hard look died out of the listener's eyes. "Whom I love better than my life," he said. "There are two John Rawlins's--the one you know; and, well, the other one. I should be sorry to show you the other one." "For the sake of your daughter I don't want to see the other one." "Then why do you pit yourself against me like this?" "I don't think you are displaying your usual lucidity," Chris said, coolly. Her heart was beating fast, but she did not show it. "Just reflect for a moment. I have found you out. I know pretty well what you are. I need not have told you anything of this. I need have done no more than gone to the police and told them where to find you. But I don't want to do that; I hate to do it after what I saw last night. You have your child, and she loves you. Could I unmask you before her eyes?" "You would kill her," Rawlins said, a little unsteadily; "and you would kill me, I verily believe. That child is all the world to me. I committed my first theft so that she could have the change the doctors declared to be absolutely necessary. I intended to repay the money--the old, old story. And I was found out by my employers and discharged. Thank goodness, my wife was dead. Since then I have preyed on society.... But I need not go into that sordid story. You are not going to betray me?" "I said before that I should do nothing of the kind." "Then why do you let me know that you have discovered my identity?" "Because I want you to help me. I fancy you respect my sex, Mr. Rawlins?"