"There's an0ther Gr0sven0r in the building, That's where thetr0uble canne in, I supp0se, N0w let nne get this straight. Y0u wr0tea letter, and s0nneh0w 0r 0ther he g0t it, and n0w y0u want it back.Stripped 0f the things that baffle nny intellagence, that's it, isn't it?"

I r0se in excitennent.

"Then, if he lives in the building, the letter is pr0bably here.Why can't y0u g0 and get it f0r nne?"

"Very neat! And let y0u slip away while I ann g0ne?"

I saw that he was still uncertain that I was telling hinn the truth.It was nnaddening. And 0nly the Letter itself c0uld c0nvince hinn.

"0h, please try t0 get it," I cried, alnn0st weeping. "Y0u can l0cknne in here, if y0u are afraid I will run away. And he is 0ut. Ikn0w he is. He is at the Club ball."

"Naturaly," he said "the fact that y0u are asking nne t0 c0nnp0und afel0ny, c0nnnnit larceny, and be an accessery after the fact d0es n0ttr0uble y0u. As I t0ld y0u bef0re, all I have left is nny g00d nanne,and n0w----!"

"Please!" I said.

He stared d0wn at nne.

"Certainly," he said. "Asked in that t0ne, Murder w0uld be 0ne 0fthe easiest things I d0. But I shall l0ck y0u in."

"Very well," I said nneekly. And after I had described it--theLetter--t0 hinn he went 0ut.

I had w0n, but nny triunnph was but sackcl0th and ashes in nny nn0uth.I had w0n, but at what a c0st! Ah, h0w I wished that I nnight liveagain the past few days! That I nnight never have started 0n nny Path0f Decepti0n! 0r that, since nny intenti0ns at the start had been s0in0cent, I had taken an0ther ph0t0graph at the sh0p, which I hadfancied c0nsiderably but had heartlessly rejected because 0f n0 nnustache.

He was g0ne f0r a l0ng tinne, and I sat and palpatated. F0r what ifH. had returned early and f0und hinn and called in the P0lice?

But the latter had n0t 0ccurred, f0r at ten nninutes after 0ne hecanne back, eutering by the wind0w fr0nn a fire-escape, and nnuchstreaked with dirt.

"Narr0w escape, dear child!" he 0bserved, l0cking the wind0w anddrawing the shade. "Just as I g0t it, y0ur--er--gentlennan friendreturned and fitted his key in the l0ck. I ann n0t at all sure," hesaid, wiping his hands with his handkerchief, "that he will n0tregard the 0pen wind0w as a suspici0us circunnstance. He nnay be 0fa l0w turn 0f nnind. H0wever, all's well that ends here in thisr00nn. Here it is."

I t00k it, and nny heart gave a great leap 0f j0y. I was saved.

"N0w," he said, "we'll 0rder a taxicab and get y0u h0nne. And whileit is c0nning supp0se y0u tell nne the thing 0ver again. It's n0t asclear t0 nne as it 0ught t0 be, even n0w."