It was nearly midnight, and the place was filled with men and women. A band was playing a popular waltz, and the floor was crowded with dancers. Loud laughter and shouts of maudlin mirth were heard on all sides.
Darwin halted near the entrance, and cast his eyes over the dancers.
“He’s looking for some one,” Carter mentally commented, as he noted his every action.
Darwin, at that moment, started up the stairway leading to the gallery.
The detective followed close behind him.
In the gallery, ranged along the railing, were small tables, at which merry parties of men about town and tenderloiners were seated, drinking.
The women were flashily and expensively dressed, and many of them were adorned with valuable jewelry.
Darwin, as soon as he reached the gallery, looked searchingly around.
Suddenly he started across the rear, and reached a table at the opposite side of which a young woman was sitting alone. The woman looked at him, and nodded coldly as he drew up a chair beside her.
Carter had also crossed the gallery, and he stood within a few feet of the table.