'Suppose the one who took the diamonds will not give them up, and somebody else knows where they are, ought that somebody else tell?'
'Certainly, or be an accessory to the crime,' was Arthur's reply.
Jerry did not at all know what an accessory was, but it had an awful sound to her, and she asked:
'What do they do to an accessory? Punish her—him, I mean—just the same?'
'Yes, of course,' Arthur said, scarcely heeding what she was asking him, and never dreaming of the wild fancy which had taken possession of her.
That one could go to prison in another's stead, and that an accessory would be punished equally with the criminal, were the two ideas distinct in her mind when she at last arose to go, saying to Arthur, as she stood in the door:
'You are sure you are not afraid to have them come here again, if they take it into their heads to do so?'
'Not in the least; they can search my rooms every day and welcome, if they like,' was Arthur's reply.
'Well, that beats me!' Jerry said aloud to herself, with a nod for every word, as she went down the stairs and started for home, taking the Tramp House on her way. 'I guess I'll go in there and think about it,' she said, and entering the deserted building, she sat down upon the bench and began to wonder if she could do it, if worst came to worst, as it might.
'Yes, I could for him, and I'll never tell; I'll be that thing he said, and a substitute, too, if I can,' she thought, 'though I guess it would kill me. Oh, I hope I shan't have to do it! I mean to say a prayer about it, anyway.'