“A woman, sir.”
“Why, Molly!” Zizi cried, “you told me it was a man, and that he was up to no good. Those were your very words.”
“Oh, no, you don’t remember correctly. I said it was a woman.”
“That is an untruth,” Zizi stated, calmly. “So, now we know you are telling us falsehoods, we must find out why. Has some one paid you for it? We will pay you more for the truth. Might as well, Penny. This girl only sells her statements, true or false.”
“All right, Molly. But we only want to buy the true ones. Now, what’ll you take for all you really know about the matter, and guarantee to be the strict truth?”
“I don’t want any pay. And the truth is that the person I saw was a lady—I mean a woman.”
“Care to mention names?”
“I don’t know who it was. I just saw a veiled figure——”
“Cut out the veiled figure!” cried Zizi. “You’re making it up. There never was any veiled figure,—you saw a man hunting around here, while you were hidden in the bathroom. You know he was looking for something of value hidden in these rooms. And——” Zizi’s black eyes fairly seemed to bore into Molly’s own as she went on, “you know he got it. Also, you know who the man was,—and you won’t tell, and you say it was a woman, because—because what, Molly?”
“I don’t—I mean——” Molly blushed scarlet and dropped her eyes; then, with a revived bravado she cried, “It was a woman,—I tell you it was a woman!”