"I can take care of myself," he answered gruffly. "Can I see you back to the old lady's, anyhow?"
"No!" she answered. "I would rather go alone."
"Come and have one drink in the refreshment room, just to wish ourselves luck," he begged.
She went in with him and drank a cup of coffee. He had two liqueurs, and would have had more, but she dragged him sharply away.
"Remember," she said, "that I have nothing more I can raise money on. These few shillings are all we have. If Mr. Deane does not return for several days, we must leave."
"Deane will come back," he said, with a defiant laugh. "I let him have things his own way to-day, but he knows just where he is. Mark my words, he will be at the office to-morrow morning, and he will be there expecting to see me."
CHAPTER VIII
A BOLD MOVE
Hefferom was over sanguine. It was three days before he was able to see Stirling Deane. During that three days he had lived on a few shillings, spent mostly in drinks. He swaggered into Deane's office, an untidy, dissolute-looking creature. His efforts to seem at his ease were almost ludicrous.