ing room Hawksley sat
in a chair, the fiddle across his knees. He understood now. The old
chap was in love with the girl, and was afraid of himself; couldn't
risk having her and letting her go.... A curse on the drums of jeopardy!
Misfortune followed their wake always. The world would have been
different this hour if he--The break in the trend of thought was caused
by the entrance of Kuroki, who was followed by a man. This man dropped
into a chair without apparently noticing that the room was already
tenanted, for he never glanced toward Hawksley. A haggard face, dull
of eye. Kuroki bobbed and vanished, but returned shortly, beckoning the
stranger to follow him into the study.

"Coles?" cried Cutty delightedly. Here was the man he had sent to
negotiate for the emeralds, free. "How did you escape? We've combed the
town for you."

"They had me in a room on Fifteenth Street. Once in a while I got
something to eat. But I haven't escaped. I'm still a prisoner."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I am here as an emissary. There was nothing for me to do but accept the
job."

"Did he have the stones?" asked Cutty, without the least suspicion of
what was coming.

"That I don't know. He pretended to have them in order to get me where
he wanted me. I've been hungry a good deal because I wouldn't talk. I'm
here as a negotiator. A rotten business. I agreed because I've hopes
you'll be able to put one over on Karlov. It's the girl."

"Kitty?"

"Karlov has her. The girl wasn't to blame. Any one in the game would
have done as she did. Karlov is bugs on politics; but he's shrewd enough
at this sort of game. He trapped the girl because he'd studied her
enough to learn what she would or would not do. Now they are not going
to hurt her. They merely propose exchanging her for the man you've been
hiding up here. There's a taxi downstairs. It will carry me back to
Fifteenth; then it will return and wait. If the man is not at the
appointed place by midnight--he must go in this taxi--the girl will be
carried off elsewhere, and you'll never lay eyes on her again. Karlov
and his gang are potential assassins; all they want is excuse. Until
midnight they will not touch the girl; but after midnight, God knows!
What message am I to take back?"

"Do you know where she is?"

Cutty spoke without much outward emotion.

"Not the least idea. Whenever Karlov wanted to quiz me, he appeared late
at night from some other part of the town. But he nev