"The Inspector's eyes wandered from our reporter to the lady. The policeman came forward and laid his charge in a temperate manner. Inspector Jealous listened in silence.
"'I thought at first,' said the policeman, 'that it was a child she had thrown into the river, but the gentleman here thinks the other way, and he is as likely to be right as I am. Of her attempt at suicide I am certain.'
"'That is a distinct charge,' said Inspector Jealous, dipping his pen in the ink. 'The bundle, whatever it is, can, I dare say, be recovered.' He called a constable, and gave him some whispered instructions; after which the man left the office. 'You can join him presently on the Embankment. Do you know the woman?' Pinned to formula, Inspector Jealous ignored our reporter's reference to her as a lady.
"'Look up,' said our reporter to the woman; 'you have nothing to be ashamed of.'
"Thus assured and comforted the woman raised her face, so that everyone in the office could see it clearly. Tears were hanging on her eyelids, and there was a piteous expression upon the trembling mouth.
"'I don't know her,' said the policeman, honestly.
"The constables in the office craned their necks, then shook their heads.
"'She's no better than she ought to be! She's no better than I am! I'm as good as her any day of the week! Go to blazes, the lot of yer!'
"The interruption came from a tipsy woman sitting on a bench. Inspector Jealous made a slight motion with his head, and the tipsy creature was taken away. Then Inspector Jealous turned to our reporter.
"'I have nothing to say against the constable making the charge,' said our reporter; 'he has performed his duty conscientiously, only he is mistaken. I was an eyewitness of the affair, and I say that there was nothing thrown in the river that the lady had not a right to throw into it--the property being her own--and that she did not attempt to commit suicide. Under these circumstances I trust you will not subject her to the indignity of being locked up. She will appear in the morning; I will be her recognizance.'