“Aw，writederestofitdowninyermemoirs！“interposedthePugimpatiently-andmovedtowardthedoor。“It’sallright，Shluker-alldeway。Now，everybodybeatit，an’getondejob。Nan，yousestickswidPinkiean’me。“
RhodaGray，hermindinconfusion，foundherselfbeingcrowdedhurriedlythroughthedoorwaybythethreemen。Stillinamentallyconfusedcondition，shefoundherself，afewminuteslater-Shlukerhavingpartedcompanywiththem-walkingalongthestreetbetweenPinkieBonnandthePug。Shewasfightingdesperatelytoobtainaripuponherself。Theinformationshehadvolunteeredhadhadaneffectdiametricallyoppositetothatwhichshehadintended。Sheseemedterriblyimpotent；asthoughshewerebeingsweptfromherfeetandborneonwardbysomeswiftandremorselesscurrent，whethershewouldorno。
ThePug，inhiscuriouswhisper，wastalkingtoher:“Pinkieknowsdewayin。Wedon’twantanyrowindere，onaccountofCharlie。
Weain’tferputtin’hisplaceonderough，an’gettin’himraidedbydebulls。Charlie’salltodegood。See？Well，dat’swot’dlikelyhappenifmean’PinkiebustsinonPetean’Marnywidoutsendin’inourvisitin’-cardsfirst，polite-like。Deywouldpulldeirguns，an’thoughwe’dgetdecoinjustdesame，dere’dbehelltopayferCharlie，an’dewholeplace’dgoupinfireworksrightoffdebat。Well，disiswhereyousecomein。Yousearedevisitin’-card。Yousegetsintodeirbunkroom，pretendin’yousehavemadeamistake，an’youseleavesdedooropenbehindyouse。
Deydon’tknowyouse，an’，bein’awoman，deywon’tpullnogunonyouse。An’denyousebreaksitgentlytodemdatdere’sacouplagentsoutside，an’justaboutdendeylooksupan’seesmean’
Pinkiean’ourguns-an’Iguessdat’sall。Getit？“
“Sure！“mumbledRhodaGray。
ThePugtalkedon。Shedidnothearhim。Itseemedasthoughherbrainachedliterallywithanacutephysicalpain。Whatwasshetodo？Whatcouldshedo？Shemustdosomething！Theremustbesomewaytosaveherselffrombeingdrawnintotheverycenterofthisvortextowardwhichshewasbeingsweptcloserwitheverysecondthatpassed。Thosetwooldfaces，haggardintheirdespairandmisery，rosebeforeheragain。Shefeltherheartsink。Shehadcounted，onlyafewmomentsbefore，ongettingtheirmoneybackforthem-throughthepolice。Thepolice！Howcouldshegetanywordtothepolicenow，withoutfirstgettingawayfromthesetwomenhere？Andsupposeshedidgetaway，andfoundsomemeansofcommunicatingwiththeauthorities，itwouldbePinkieBonnhere，andthePug，whowouldfallintothemeshesofthelawquiteasmuchaswouldFrenchPeteandMarnyDay；andtohavePinkieandthePugapprehendednow，justastheyseemedtobeopeningthegatewayforherintotheinnersecretsofthegang，meantruintoherownhopesandplans。Andtorefusetogoonwiththemnow，asoneofthem，wouldcertainlyexcitetheirsuspicions-andsuspicionofGypsyNanwastheendofeverythingforher。
Herhands，underhershawl，clencheduntilthenailsbitintoherpalms。Couldn’tshedoanything？Andtherewasthemoney，too，forthosetwooldpeople。Wasn’tthereany-Shecaughtherbreath。
Yes，yes！Perhapstherewasawaytosavethemoney；yes，andatthesametimetoplaceherselfonafirmerfootingofintimacywiththesetwomenhere-ifshewentonwiththis。But-Sheshookherhead。Shecouldnotafford“buts“now；theymusttakecareofthemselvesafterwards。ShewouldplayGypsyNannowwithoutreservation。Thesetwomenhere，likeShluker，wereobviouslyignorantthatGypsyNanwasDanglar’swife；soshewas-PinkieBonn’shandwasonherarm。Shehadstumbled。
“Lookoutforyourself！“hecautionedunderhisbreath。“Don’tmakeasound！“
Theyhaddrawnintoaverydarkandnarrowareawaybetweentwobuildings，andnowPinkiekepthistouchuponherasheledthewayalong。Whatwasthis“Charlie’s“？Shedidnotknow，exceptthat，fromwhathadbeensaid，itwasadrugdiveofsomekind，patronizedextensivelybythedenizensoftheunderworld。Shedidnotknowwhereshewasnow，savethatshehadsuddenlyleftoneoftheout-of-the——wayEastSidestreets。
Pinkiehaltedsuddenly，and，bendingdown，liftedupwhatwasevidentlyahalfsectionofthefoldingtrapdoortoacellarentrance。
“There’sonlyafewofusregularswisetothis，“whisperedPinkie。
“Watchyourself！There’sfivesteps。Count’em，so’syouwon’ttrip。Keepholdofmealltheway。An’nixonthenoise，orwewon’tgetawaywithitinside。Leavethetrapopen，Pug，forourgetaway。Weain’tgoin’tobelong。Comeon！“
Itwashorriblydark。RhodaGray，withherhandonPinkieBonn’sshoulder，descendedthefivesteps。ShefeltthePugkeepingtouchbehindbyholdingthecornerofhershawl。Theywentforwardsoftly，slowly，stealthily。Shefeltherkneesshakealittle，andsuddenlypanicseizedher，andshewantedtoscreamout。Whatwasshedoing？
Wherewasshegoing？Wasshemad，thatshehadventuredintothistrapofblackness？Blackness！Itwashideouslyblack。Shelookedbehindher。ShecouldnotseethePug，closeashewastoher；anddarkasshehadthoughtitoutsidethereatthecellarentrance，itappearedbycontrasttohavebeenlight，forshecouldevendistinguishnowtheopeningthroughwhichtheyhadcome。
Theywereinacellarthatwasdampunderfoot，andthesoftearthdeadenedallsoundastheywalkeduponit-andtheyseemedtobewalkingoninterminably。Itwastoofar-muchtoofar！Shefelthernervefailingher。Shelookedbehindheragain。Thatopening，stilldiscernibletoherstrainingeyes，beckonedher，luredher。
Betterto……
Pinkiehadhaltedagain。Shebumpedintohim。Andthenshefelthislipspressagainstherear。
“Hereweare！“hebreathed。“Theygottheendroomontheright，so’stheycouldgetinan’outwithoutbein’seen，anso’sevenCharlie’dsweartheywashereallthetime。You’retoooldabirdtofalldown，Nan。Ifthedoor’slocked，knock-an’give’emanyoldkindofasongan’dancetillyougets’emofftheirguard。
ThePugan’me’11seeyouthrough。Goit！“
BeforeRhodaGraycouldreply，Pinkiehadsteppedsuddenlytooneside。Adoorinfrontofher，aslidingdooritseemedtobe，openednoiselessly，andshecouldseeafaintlylighted，narrow，andveryshortpassageaheadofher。Itappearedtomakearight-angledturnjustafewyardsin，andwhatlighttherewasseemedtofilterinfromaroundthecorner。Andoneachsideofthepassage，beforeitmadetheturn，therewasadoor，andfromtheoneontheright，throughacrackedpanel，atinythreadoflightseepedout。
Herlipsmovedsilently。Afterall，itwasnotsoperilous。Nobodywouldbehurt。PinkieandthePugwouldcoverthosetwomeninthere-andtakethemoney-andrunforit-and……
ThePuggaveheranencouragingpushfrombehind。
Shemovedforwardmechanically。Thereweremanysoundsnow，buttheycamemuffledandindeterminatefromaroundthatcornerahead-allsavealowmurmuringofvoicesfromthedoorwiththecrackedpanelontheright。
Itwasonlyafewfeet。Shefoundherselfcrouchedbeforethedoor-butshedidnotknockuponit。Instead，herbloodseemedsuddenlytoruncoldinherveins，andshebeckonedfranticallytohertwocompanions。Shecouldseethroughthecrackinthepanel。Thereweretwomeninthere，FrenchPeteandMarnyDayundoubtedly，andtheysatonoppositesidesofatable，andalampburnedonthetable，andoneofthemenwascountingoutasheafofcrispyellow-backbanknotes-buttheother，whileapparentlyengrossedinthefirstman’soccupation，andwhileheleanedforwardinapparenteagerness，wasedgingonehandstealthilytowardthelamp，andhisotherhand，hiddenfromhiscompanion’sviewbythetable，wasjustdrawingarevolverfromhispocket。Therewasnomistakingtheman’smurderousintentions。Adullhorror，thatnumbedherbrain，seizeduponRhodaGray；thelow-typebrutalfacesundertheraysofthelampseemedtoassumetheaspectoftwomonstrousgargoyles，andtospinaroundandaroundbeforehervision；andthen-itcouldonlyhavebeenbutthefractionofasecondsinceshehadbeguntobeckontoPinkieandthePug-shefeltherselfpulledunceremoniouslyawayfromthedoor，andthePugleanedforwardinherplace，hiseyestothecrackinthepanel。
Sheheardalow，quick-mutteredexclamationfromthePug；andthensuddenly，asthelampwasobviouslyextinguished，thatcrackoflightinthepanelhadvanished。Butinaninstant，curiouslylikeajaggedlightningflash，lightshowedthroughthecrackagain-andvanishedagain。Itwastheflashofarevolvershotfromwithin，andtheroarofthereportcamenowliketherollofthunderonitsheels。
RhodaGraywasbackagainsttheoppositewall。ShesawthePugflinghimselfagainstthedoor。Itwasaflimsyaffair。Itcrashedinward。SheheardhimcalltoPinkie:
“Shootyerflashondetable，an’grabdecoin！I’llfixdeotherguy！“
Wereeternitiespassing？Hereyeswerefascinatedbytheinteriorbeyondthatbrokendoor。Itwasutterlydarkinsidethere，savethattherayofaflashlightplayednowonthetable，andahandreachedoutandsnatchedupascatteredsheafofbanknotes；andontheouteredgeoftheraytwoshadowyformsstruggledandonewentdown。ThentheflashlightwentoutSheheardthePugspeak:
“Beatit！“
Commotioncamenow；criesandfootstepsfromaroundthatcornerinthepassage。ThePuggraspedherbytheshoulders，andrushedherbackintothecellar。Shewasconscious，itseemed，onlyinadazedandmechanicalway。Thereweremeninthepassagerunningtowardthem-andthenthepassagehaddisappeared。PinkieBonnhadshuttheconnectingdoor。
“Hopitlikeblazes！“whisperedthePug，astheyranforthefaintglimmeroflightthatlocatedthecellarexit。“Separatedeminutewe’reoutside！“heordered。“Dere’smurderindere。PeteshotMarny。IputPetetosleepwidapunchondejaw；butdebunchknowsnowsomeoneelsewasdere，an’Pete’llswearitwasus，thoughhedon’tknowwhowewasdatdiddeshootin’。IgottamakedisstraightrightoffdebatwidDanglar。“Hiswhisperingvoicewaslabored，panting；theywereclimbingupthestepsnow。“Yousetakedemoneytomyroom，Pinkie，an’waitferme。Iwon’tbemuchmore’nhalfanhour。Nan，yousebeatitferyergarret，an’staydere！“
Theywereoutside。ThePughaddisappearedinthedarkness。Pinkiewasclosing，andevidentlyfastening，thetrap-door。
“Theotherway，Nan！“heflungout，asshestartedtorun。“Thattakesyoutotheotherstreet，an’theycan’tgetaroundthatwaywithoutgoin’aroundthewholeblock。MeforafenceIknowsabout，an’wegives’emthemerrylaugh！Goon！“
Sheran-ranbreathlessly，stumbling，halffalling，herhandsstretchedoutbeforehertoservealmostinlieuofeyes，forshecouldmakeoutscarcelyanythinginfrontofher。Sheemergeduponastreet。Itseemedabnormal，thequiet，thelackofcommotion，thelaughter，theunconcerninthevoicesofthepassers-byamongwhomshesuddenlyfoundherself。Shehurriedfromtheneighborhood。
