No，no；itdoesnotmatterwhatitis！
What？……No！Itellyou，no！Nothing！Notto-night！Thosearetheorders……No，Idon’tknow！Nanisherenow……Eh？……You’llpayforitifyoudo！“Shlukerwassnarlingthreateninglynow。
“What？……Well，then，wait！I’llcomeover……No，youcanbetI
won’tbelong！Youwait！Understand？“
Hebangedthereceiveronthehook，andgotupfromhischairhurriedly。
“Fools！“hemutteredsavagely。“No，Iwon’tbelonggettin’there！“
HegrabbedRhodaGray’sarm。“Yes，andyoucome，too！Youwillhelpmeputalittlesenseintotheirheads，ifitispossible-eh？
Thefools！“
Themanwasviolentlyexcited。HehalfpulledRhodaGraydownthelengthoftheshoptothefrontdoor。Puzzled，bewildered，alittleuneasy，shewatchedhimlockthedoor，andthenfollowedhimacrossthecourtyard，whilehecontinuedtomutterconstantlytohimself。
“Wot’sdematter？“sheaskedhimtwice。
Butitwasnotuntiltheyhadreachedthestreet，andShlukerwashurryingalongasfastashecouldwalk，thatheansweredher。
“It’sthePugandPinkieBonn！“hejerkedoutangrily。“They’reinthePug’sroom。Pinkiewentbackthereaftertelephonin’。
They’venosedoutsomethingtheywanttoputthrough。Thefools！
Andafterlastnightnearlyhavin’finishedeverything！Itold’em-youheardme-thateverybody’stokeepundercovernow。Buttheythinkthey’vegotasoftthing，andtheysaythey’regoin’toit。I’vegottoputacrimpinit，andyou’vegottohelpme。
Y’understand，Nan？“
“Yes，“shesaidmechanically。
Hermindwasworkingswiftly。Thenight，afterall，perhaps，wasnottobesomuchofafailure！Togetintointimatetouchwithallthemembersofthecliquewasequallyoneofherobjects，and，failingDanglarhimselfto-night，herewasan“opensesame“tothere-treatoftwooftheothers。Shewouldneverhaveabetterchance，oroneinwhichriskanddanger，underthechaperonage，asitwere，ofShlukerhere，were，ifnotentirelyeliminated，atleastreducedtoanapparentlynegligibleminimum。Yes；shewouldgo。Torefusewastoturnherbackonherownproposedlineofaction，andonthedecisionwhichshehadmadeherself。
Itwasnotfar。Shluker，hasteningalong，stillmutteringtohimself，turnedintoacrossstreetsometwoblocksaway，andfromthereagainintoalane；and，amomentlater，ledthewaythroughasmalldoorinthefencethathung，batteredandhalfopen，onsaggingandbrokenhinges。RhodaGray’seyestraveledsharplyaroundherinalldirections。Itwasstilllightenoughtoseefairlywell，andshemightatsomefuturetimefindthebearingsshetooknowtobeofinestimableworth。Notthattherewasmuchtoremark！Theycrossedadiminutiveanddisgustinglydirtybackyard，whosesolereasonforexistenceseemedtobethatofareceptacleforoldtincans，andwereconfrontedbytherearofwhatappearedtobeafour-storytenement。Therewasabackdoorhere，and，ontherightofthedoor，frontingtheyard，asinglewindowthatwassomefourorfivefeetfromtheleveloftheground。
Shluker，withouthesitation，openedthebackdoor，shutitbehindthem，ledthewayalongablack，unlightedhall，andhaltingbeforeadoorwelltowardthefrontofthebuilding，knockedsoftlyuponit-givingtworaps，asinglerap，andthentwomoreinquicksuccession。Therewasnoanswer。Heknockedagaininpreciselythesamemanner，andthenafootstepsoundedfromwithin，andthedoorwasflungopen。“Fools！“growledShlukeringreeting，astheysteppedinsideandthedoorwasclosedagain。“Apairofbrainlessfools！“
Thereweretwomenthere。TheypaidShlukerscantattention。TheybothgrinnedatRhodaGraythroughthemurkylightsuppliedbyawheezyandwhollyinadequategas-jet。
“Hello，Nan！“gibedthesmallerofthetwo。“Wholetyouout？“
“Aw，forgetit！“croakedRhodaGray。
Shlukertookupthecudgels。
“Youcloseyourface，Pinkie！“hesnapped。“Getdowntocases！DoyouthinkIgotnothingelsetodobutchaseyoutwoaroundlikeacoupleofpuppydogsthathaven’tgotsenseenoughtotakecareofthemselves？Wasn’twhatItoldyouoverthephoneenoughwithoutmehavin’tocomehere？“
“Nixonthatstuff！“returnedtheonedesignatedasPinkieimperturbably。“Say，you’llbegladyoucomewhenweletsyouinonalittlepieceofeasymoney。Weain’taskin’youradvice；allwe’reaskin’youtodoisframeupthealibi，sameasusual，formean’thePughereincasewewantsit。“
Shlukershookhisfist。
“Framenothing！“hesplutteredangrily。“Ain’tItellin’youthattheordersarenottomakeamove，thateverythingisoffforafewdays？That’sthewordIgotalittlewhileago，andtheSeven-Three-Nineisgoin’outnow。Nan’lltellyouthesamething。“
“Sure！“corroboratedRhodaGray，pickinguptheobviouscue。“Dat’sdestraightgoods。“
Thetwomenwereloungingbesideatablethatstoodattheextremeendoftheroom，andnowforamomenttheywhisperedtogether。And，astheywhispered，RhodaGrayfoundherfirstopportunitytotakecriticalstockbothofhersurroundingsandofthetwomenthemselves。Pinkie，ashort，slightlittleman，shedismissedwithhardlyaglance；hewasthecommontype，withlow，viciouscunningstampedalloverhisface-anordinaryratoftheunderworld。Butherglancerestedlongeronhiscompanion。ThePugwasindeedentitledtohismoniker！Hisfacemadeherthinkofone。Itseemedtobeallscrewedupoutofshape。Perhapstheeye-patchovertherighteyehelpedalittletoputthefinishingtouchofrepulsivenessuponacountenancealreadymostunpleasant。Thecelluloideye-patch，onceflesh-colored，wasnowsodirtyandsmearedthatitsoriginalcolorwasdiscernibleonlyinspots，andtheoncewhiteelasticcordthatcircledhisheadandkeptthepatchinplacewasinequaldisrepute。Abatteredslouchhatcametotheleveloftheeye-patchinaforbiddingsortoftilt。Hislefteyeliddroopeduntilitwasscarcelyopenatall，andflutteredcontinually。Onenostrilofhisnosewasentirelyclosed；andhismouthseemedtobetwistedoutofshape，sothat，evenwheninrepose，thelipsneverentirelymetatonecorner。Andhisears，whatshecouldseeoftheminthepoorlight，andonaccountoftheslouchhat，seemedtobearoutthelow-typecriminalimpressionthemangaveher，inthattheylayflatbackagainsthishead。
Sheturnedhereyesawaywithalittleshudderofrepulsion，andgaveherattentiontoaninspectionoftheroom。Therewasnowindow，exceptasmallonehighupintheright-handpartitionwall。
Shequiteunderstoodwhatthatmeant。Itwascommonenough，andalltoounsanitaryenough，intheseoldandcheaptenements；thewindowgave，notontheout-of-doors，butonalight-well。Forthe，rest，itwasaroomshehadseenathousandtimesbefore-carpetless，unfurnishedsaveforthebarestnecessities，dirteverywhere，unkempt。
PinkieBonnbrokeinabruptlyuponherinspection。
“That’sallright！“heannouncedairily。“We’llletNaninonit，too。ThePugan’mefiguresshecangiveusahand。“
Shluker’swizenedlittlefaceseemedsuddenlytogopurple。
“Areyoutryin’tomakeafoolofme？“hehalfscreamed。“Orcan’tyouunderstandEnglish？D’yewantmetokeepontellin’youtillI’mhoarsethatthereain’tnobodygoin’inwithyou，becauseyouam’tgoin’inyourself！See？Understandthat？There’snothingdoin’to-nightforanybody-andthatmeansyou！“
“Aw，shutup，Shluker！“ItwasthePugnow，acuriouswhisperingsibilancyinhisvoice，duenodoubttothedisfigurementofhislips。“GivePinkieachancetoshoothisspielbeforeyouseinjureyerselfthrowin’afit！Goon，Pinkie，spillit。“
“Sure！“saidPinkieeagerly。“Listen，Shluk！Itain’tanycribwe’rewantin’tocrack，ornothin’likethat。It’sjustacoupleofcrooksthatwon’tdareopentheiryapstothebulls，’causewhatwe’reafter’llbewhatthey’llhavepinchedthemselves。See？“
Shluker’sfacelostsomeofitsbelligerency，andinitsplaceadawninginterestcame。
“What’sthat？“hedemandedcautiously。“Whatcrooks？“
“FrenchPetean’MarnyDay，“saidPinkie-andgrinned。
“Oh！“Shluker’seyebrowswentup。HelookedatthePug，andthePugwinkedknowinglywithhishalf-closedlefteyelid。Shlukerreachedoutforachair，and，findingitsuspiciouslywobbly，straddleditwarily。“MabbeI’vebeeninwrong，“headmitted。
“What’sthelay？“
“Me，“saidPinkie，“IwasdowntoCharlie’sthisafternoonhavin’
alittlelay-off，an’“
“Oneofthesedays，“interruptedShlukersharply，“you’llgooutlike“-hesnappedhisfingers-“that！““Can’tyouleavethestuffalone？“
