When O'Hagan had gone Blizzard moved his chair so that it faced the door of the junk-closet. And he smiled occasionally as if he were one of an audience at some diverting play. From time to time he took a drink of whiskey and licked his lips. An hour passed, two hours, and always the legless man kept his agate eyes upon the closet door. When two hours and fifteen minutes had gone, he drew an automatic pistol from his pocket, and held it ready for instant use. A few minutes later, finding his original plan of humor a little tedious in the working out, he spoke in a clear, incisive voice: "Better come out of that now or I shall begin to shoot." The door opened, and Rose staggered into the room. After a short pause, during which she swayed and gasped for breath, an automatic pistol fell with a clatter from her nerveless fingers. She sank to the floor all in a heap and began to cry hysterically. [Illustration: The door opened, and Rose staggered into the room] Blizzard slid from his chair and secured her pistol. His face wore an expression of amused tolerance. "Tell me all about it," he said. "Crying _can't_ do any good, and talking may. You hid in the closet to listen. It's not the first time. I found one of your combs, and saw where you'd brushed away the dirt so's not to spoil your dress. Now I'd like to know how much you know, and whom you've told it to?" "What's the use?" said Rose with sudden desperation. "You've got me--nobody'll ever know from me what I've heard to-night. You're going to kill me." "I doubt it," said Blizzard. "Now look up and tell me all about everything." "Well," she said, "I've been spying on you." "I know that. I knew that the day you came. When you said you loved me I knew you were lying." "At first," she said, "I passed over everything I could find out about you. It wasn't much." "I took care of that." "Then I made up things--just to keep the others from knowing I wasn't playing fair. I wanted to put that off as long as I could. Anything I really found out--like your first talk with O'Hagan--I just kept to myself. I know I lied to you the first day. But I'm not lying now." The legless man smiled tolerantly. "Why did you keep on trying to find out things--if you didn't mean to use them?" "Because I wanted to know all about you, what you were doing, what your interests were. I thought I could be more useful to you that way." "It's a good thing for you, Rose," said Blizzard, "that I guessed all this. If I hadn't you wouldn't be alive now. And so, now that you've gotten to know me pretty well, there's something about me, is there, that's knocked your ambitions galley-west?" "I had friends that trusted me," she said, "and I've played double with them. And now I've got only you." "Tell me one thing," and Blizzard asked the question with some eagerness, "what particular quality of mine got you to feeling this way about me?"