The woman gave him a long, calculating glance, and followed to the waiting cab. CHAPTER XXVII 111 WEST FORTY ---- STREET Gertrude Shultze listened attentively while Donald instructed the cabman to go to number 111 West Forty ---- Street, but to stop on the way and pick up another passenger on the northwest corner of Thirty-ninth Street. She looked at him shrewdly from the corner of her eye as the cab started forward, and after a moment she said: "Who's your friend, Mr. Morris? I shouldn't think Miss Blake would be any too crazy to have a crowd----" "It's a friend of Miss Blake's," said Morris, shortly. "Someone who is almost as interested in finding her as I am." "Oh," said the woman, and remained silent for several minutes, much to Donald's relief. She started talking again (it was obvious that she could not be silent for long), but she said nothing of any consequence to Donald. Her chatter annoyed him because it gave him no time to think, and he was relieved when he saw O'Malley's bulky old figure standing at the appointed place. O'Malley jumped in, with surprising agility for one of his age and figure, almost before the cab came to a standstill, and after being introduced to Mrs. Shultze, he bore the brunt of the conversation. Even then, Donald had little opportunity for concentrated thought for his attention was distracted by the clever way in which the old man drew the woman out, making an excellent impression by the interest he showed in her personal concerns. The adaptable old fellow had no difficulty, apparently, in meeting her on her own ground, and in the few minutes which elapsed before the cab stopped in front of her house he had gained such headway that she made no difficulty whatever about his accompanying Mr. Morris. With her own latch-key she opened the door of the big, somewhat shabby house, and requested the gentlemen to follow her upstairs. Donald hesitated to go up unannounced, but she imperatively overruled his objections. "Your best bet is to go in sudden, Mr. Morris," she said. "It may be a shock, but if you ask me, I think a shock is just what the poor thing needs." O'Malley cast a sharp, questioning look from one to the other, and Mrs. Shultze told him at once of Miss Blake's loss of memory. When he understood: "I think she's right, Mr. Morris," he said. "I've had some experience--I mean I've seen a case of this sort, and it was just the shock of seeing someone well known in the past that brought the memory back. It's worth trying." Donald agreed to that, and all three, Mrs. Shultze in the lead, went up the heavily carpeted, dusty stairs. When they reached the top floor, she pointed to a door and placing her finger on her lips, knocked softly. "Who's there?" Donald started forward at the sound of the voice within the room. O'Malley put his hand on Donald's arm. "Wait," he said, in a low whisper.