Page:Arthur Stringer - The Door of Dread.djvu/175

 "Then what can I possibly do to make amends?" inquired the officer, facing her.

She looked calmly and deliberately at the smiling face, nettled by the fact that there was more than a touch of mockery in its smile. Yet she herself laughed a little as she turned about to the vase of roses that stood between them.

"Yuh c'd square yourself," she quietly announced, "by lettin' me pin a couple o' them roses on me new armor-plate!"

She was maintaining an inspection of both Andelman and Kestner as she spoke. She was still watching them as she promptly leaned forward, with an arm outstretched, wondering from which of the men the sign of betrayal was to come.

It was Andelman who spoke. He spoke sharply, with a quick sign of command to the waiter so close to Sadie's elbow.

"Alphonse," he said, "give the lady two of the Richmond rose-buds, please!"

And with that command the mystery stood no longer a mystery.

Sadie, for a voluptuous second or two, sat staring down at the new shoulder-length white gloves