n door Cutty smiled. She would
do, this girl.

"Sounds all right," said the policeman. "I'll take a look at the man."

"This way, if you please," said Kitty, readily. "You come, too,
sir," she added as the squat man hesitated. Kitty wanted to watch his
expression when he saw Johnny Two-Hawks.

Seed on rocky soil; nothing came of the little artifice. No Buddha's
graven face was less indicative than the squat man's. Perhaps his face
was too sore to permit mobility of expression. The drollery of this
thought caused a quirk in one corner of Kitty's mouth. The squat man
stopped at the foot of the bed with the air of a mere passer-by and
seemed more interested in the investigations of the policeman than in
the man on the bed. But Kitty knew.

"A fine bang on the coco," was the policeman's observation. "Take
anything out of his pockets?"

"They were quite empty. I've sent for a military surgeon. He may arrive
at any moment."

"This fellow live across the way?"

"That's the odd part of it. No, he doesn't."

"Then what was he doing there?"

"Probably awaiting the return of the real tenant who hasn't returned up
to this hour"--with an oblique glance at the squat man.

"Kind o' queer. Say, you stay here and watch the lady while I scout
round."

The squat man nodded and leaned over the foot of the bed. The policeman
stalked out.

"I was in the kitchen," said Kitty, confidingly. "I saw shadows on
the window curtain. It did not look right. So I started to inquire and
almost bumped into two men leaving the apartment. They took to their
heels when they saw me."

Again the squat man nodded. He appeared to be a good listener.

"Where were you when we crossed the fire escape?"

"In the yard on the other side of the fence." There was reluctance in
the guttural voice.

"Oh, I see. You live there."

As this was a supposition and not a direct query, the squat man wagged
his head affirmatively.

Kitty, her ears strained for disquieting sounds in the kitchen, laid her
palm on the patient's cheek. It was very hot. She dipped a bit of cotton
into the water, which had grown cold, and dampened the wounded man's
cheeks and throat. Not that she expected to accomplish anything by
this act; it relieved the nerve tension. This man was no fool. If her
surmises were correct he was a strong man both in body and in mind. In a
rage he would be terrible. However, had Johnny Two-Hawks done it--beaten
the man and escaped? No doubt he ha