"That is quite impossible!"
"I want that key!" I insisted.
"Pardon, but is this not—dangerous?" she mildly inquired. "Is it not so, to break into houses at midnight, and rob women?"
It was my turn to laugh.
"Not a bit of it," I calmly assured her. "And you can judge if I'm frightened or not. There's something much more dangerous than that!"
She was again studying me with her puzzled and ever-narrowing eyes.
"Which means?" she prompted.
"Well, for example, the theft of government naval codes, among other things."
"You are very, very drunk," she retorted with her quietly scoffing smile. "Or you are insane, quite insane. May I not lock my jewels in my own safe? Ah, I begin to see—this is a trick, that you may steal from me!"
"Then why not send for the police?" I challenged, pointing toward the telephone.