I might hie me to the cellars; but how to get out of the
cellars!) "Have you seen Julius Caesar?" I asked.

"Caesar?"

"Yes, Miss Hawthorne--"

The Blue Domino swung about and leaned toward me, her hands tense upon
the sides of her chair.

"What name did you say?"--a strained note in her voice.

"Hawthorne," I answered, taking out the slip of pasteboard. "See! it
says that one blue domino was rented of Monsieur Friard at five-thirty
this afternoon."

"How did you come by that ticket?" she demanded.

"It was a miracle. I purchased a mask there, and this ticket was
wrapped up in my bundle by mistake."

"It is a curious coincidence,"--her voice normal and unagitated.

I was confused. "Then I am mistaken?"--my chagrin evident. (All this
while, mind you, I was wondering if that cellar-door was unlocked, and
how long it would take me to reach it before the denouement!)

"One way or the other, it does not matter," said she.

"Yet, if I could reach the cellars,"--absently. Then I bit my tongue.

"Cellars? Who said anything about cellars? I meant that this is not
the hour for unmasking or disclosing one's identity,"--coldly.

"And yet, when Caesar whispered 'Beware the ten of hearts' you turned
and shuddered. What have you to offer in defense?"

"It was the horrid mask he wore."

"Well, it wasn't handsome of him."

"What did you mean by cellars?"--suddenly becoming the inquisitor in
her turn.

"I? Oh, I was thinking what I should do in case of fire,"--nimbly.

"That is not the truth."

"Well, no, it isn't. Can you keep a secret?" I whispered.

"If it isn't a terrible one."

"Well, I have no earthly business here. I am an impostor."

"An impostor!"

"Yes. And for the past few minutes, since I heard of the robbery, I've
been thinking how I could get out of here upon the slightest notice."
While the reckless spirit was upon me, I produced the fatal card and
showed the back to her. "You will find that yours is of a different
color. But _I_ am not the Galloping Dick; it was only a hare-brained
lark on my part, and I had no idea it would turn out serious like this.
I was going to disappear before they unmasked. What would you advise
me to do?"

She took the card, studied it, and finally returned it. There followed
an interval of silence.

"I have known the imposition from the first," she said.

"What!"

She touched the signet-ring on my little finger. "I have seen that
once before