f nice personal attention, but not such as I saw and admired a few
hours ago on the neck of the woman bending over her work in the
landlady's room. Oh, I recognized the difference; I have an eye for
necks."

He paused, coming to a standstill in the middle of the room, to see what
effect his words had had on Ransom.

"I have that man's name," he continued, "and can produce him if I have
time and it seems to be necessary. But I had rather come to my own
decision without any outside interference. This is not an affair for
public gossip or newspaper notoriety. It is a question of justice to
myself. If this girl is Georgian--" His whole face changed. For a moment
Ransom hardly knew him. The quiet, self-contained man seemed to have
given way to one of such unexpected power and threat that Ransom rose
instinctively to his feet in recognition of a superiority he could no
longer deny.

The action seemed to recall Hazen to himself. He wheeled about and
recommenced his quiet pacing to and fro.

"I beg pardon," he quietly finished. "If it is Georgian, she must stand
my friend. That is all I was going to say. If it is, against all reason
and probability, her strangely restored twin, I shall leave this house by
midnight, never probably to see any of you again. So you perceive that it
is incumbent upon us to work promptly. Are you ready to hear what I have
to propose?"

"Yes."

Hazen paused again, this time in front of the door. Laying his hand
lightly on one of the panels, he glanced back at Ransom.

"You are nicely placed here for observation. Your door directly faces the
hall she must traverse in returning to her room."

"That's quite true."

"She's in her room now. Ah, you know that?"

"Yes." Ransom seemed to have no other word at his command.

"Will she come out again before night to eat or to visit?"

"There's no telling. She's very fitful. No one can prophesy what she
will do. Sometimes she eats in the landlady's room, sometimes in her
own, sometimes not at all. If you have frightened her, or she has been
disturbed in any way by your companion who shows such interest in her
and in me, she probably will not come out at all."

"But she must. I expect you to see that she does. Use any messenger, any
artifice, but get her away from this hall for ten minutes, even if it is
only into Mrs. Deo's room. When she returns I shall be on my knees before
this keyhole to watch her and observe. To see what, I do not mean to tel