The door opened slowly and they entered. Then, when the door was closed again, Peggy’s lover crept along and listened at the shutter outside.
Why was she there? He stood bewildered. She had promised to call upon him at his rooms, and yet she was there in that low-class house—a veritable den it seemed!
The window was closely shuttered, as were all in that mysterious silent thoroughfare—one into which the police would hardly venture to penetrate alone.
The young man listened, his ears strained to catch any sound.
Suddenly he heard Peggy shriek. He listened breathlessly. Yes, it was her voice raised distinctly.
“You!” he heard her cry. “You! You are Tai-K’an! My father has told me of you!”
“Ye-es, my lil ladee—you are lil ladee of the Engleesh mandarin!” he heard the reply—the reply of a Chinaman. “I now take my vengeance for my own child as I have each year promised. Give me the pretty jewels. You wanted to sell them, eh? But you will give them to me! I watched you take them from the table while they were all at the party. Your father never thought that Tai-K’an followed you on your country journey, eh?”
Otley heard the words faintly through the shutters and stood rooted to the spot.
Peggy was the thief? She had wanted to sell them and had been entrapped. In an instant he realized her position.
He heard her voice raised first in faint protest, and then she implored the Chinaman to release her.