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 “I know nothing,” the girl answered faintly.

“Where have you been to-night?”

“At the house of my father, Yuan-shui, on Grant Street. Since early afternoon I was there. My brother was taking me home in his car.”

“Taking you home? That’s a lie. Taking you to the corner to wait for somebody—somebody who was going to smuggle you on board a boat bound for the treaty ports. Come on”—the detective seized one white slender wrist—“who were you waiting for on that corner? Who were you waiting for—tell me—and tell me the truth, or, by heaven” He gave her arm a brutal twist.

“Let the woman alone!” said Hung Chin-chung, and his voice sent shivers down my spine. “She was waiting for me.”

“Sure, she was,” said Barnes, dropping the girl’s arm. “Now tell me all about it.” Rh