“We'll go now, Marty,” she said softly, as the Sparrow finished. She motioned the Sparrow with an imperious little nod of her head to the door. And then, following the other, she backed to the door herself, and halted an instant on the threshold. “It has been a very profitable evening, Mr. Danglar,” she said coolly. “I have you to thank for it. When your friends come, which I think I heard you say would be in another hour or so, I hope you will not fail to convey to them my--” “You she-fiend!” Danglar had found his voice again. “You'll crawl for this! Do you understand? and I'll show you inside of twenty-four hours what you're up against, you--you--” His voice broke in its fury. The veins were standing out on the side of his neck like whipcords. He could just move his forearms a little, and his hands reached out toward her, curved like claws. “I'll--” But Rhoda Gray had closed the door behind her, and, with the Sparrow, was retreating down the stairs. VII. FELLOW THIEVES Reaching the courtyard, Rhoda Gray led the way without a word through the driveway, and finding the street clear, hurried on rapidly. Her mind, strangely stimulated, was working in quick, incisive flashes. Her work was not yet done. The Sparrow was safe, as far as his life was concerned; but her possession of even the necklace would not save the Sparrow from the law. There was the money that was gone from the safe. She could not recover that, but--yes, dimly, she began to see a way. She swerved suddenly from the sidewalk as she came to an alleyway--which had been her objective--and drew the Sparrow in with her out of sight of the street. The Sparrow gripped at her hand. “The White Moll!” he whispered brokenly. “God bless the White Moll! I ain't had a chance to say it before. You saved my life, and I--I--” In the semi-darkness she leaned forward and laid her fingers gently over the Sparrow's lips. “And there's no time to say it now, Marty,” she said quickly. “You are not out of this yet.” He swept his hand across his eyes. “I know it,” he said. “I got to get those shiners back up there somehow, and I got to get that paper they planted on me.” She shook her head. “Even that wouldn't clear you,” she said. “The safe has been looted of money, as well; and you can't replace that. Even with only the money gone, who would they first naturally suspect? You are known as a safe-breaker; you have served a term for it. You asked for a night off to stay with your mother who is sick. You left Mr. Hayden-Bond's, we'll say, at seven or eight o'clock. It's after midnight now. How long would it take them to find out that between eight and midnight you had not only never been near your mother, but could not prove an alibi of any sort? If you told the truth it would sound absurd. No one in their sober senses would believe you.” The Sparrow looked at her miserably. “My God!” he faltered. He wet his lips. “That's true.”