"Is there a drugstore in the hotel?" I asked the girl at random, to distract her attention.
"No, sir. There is one opposite the Thirty-fourth street entrance."
The elevator was approaching my floor. I needed one more second to make my getaway. "Is it a reliable place?" I asked.
"Conway's," she said, holding the plug ready in her hand, "one of the largest in town."
The elevator door was now open, and I stepped aboard. The operator shoved the plug in, and answered the call. I was carried down.
I could not tell, of course, what form Lorina's appeal for help would take. In case she might telephone to have me intercepted in the lobby, I took the precaution to get off at the mezzanine floor. I passed around the gallery to the other side of the building, and gained the street without interference.
So there I was safe, but once more homeless.
A gaily-dressed couple left the hotel immediately in front of me. The woman was talking rather excitedly. Reaching the pavement I saw that the talker was Miss Beulah Maddox, late of Irma's company. Of course! No difficulty in guessing what she was excited about. They turned West on Thirty-fourth street. I was bound in the same direction. I heard her say:
"Of course nobody believes she's sick. What can be the matter?"
"They've had a row I suppose," replied her companion.