"Two women! They're going to fight! Bravo! Let 'em go!"
Some one cried out. "I'll wager five to one on the lawful dame!"
To which came the reply, "I'll take you!"
Others made sport of O'Flannigan's piteous face. Mrs. Marsham had let go of Esther's hand, who found herself in the background, and quite unnoticed. Presently a voice close behind her pronounced these words very distinctly,—
"The moon is risen!"
She trembled in every nerve; her heart beat violently. Her whole future life depended upon the step she was about to take. In that supreme moment the pantomime which she had just surprised above stairs shot with the rapidity of lightning through her mind; again she saw Francis Monday pressing the hand of the unknown domino and supplicating her with his eyes.
"Enough!" thought she.
She closed her eyes as does one who is about to leap into an abyss.
A hand seized hers and drew her away, and without a word she followed her guide.