Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/322

 door. Astro asked for rooms to let, preferably in the rear.

"We ain't got but one now," she replied. "That's on the third floor up, and it ain't vacant yet though. You can look at it. Was you married?"

Astro laughed and, ignoring the question, followed the woman up three flights of stairs, followed by his assistant. The landlady threw open a door, and the three entered. Astro gave a quick look around the apartment.

It was in confusion, cluttered with clothing and newspapers, old boots and cooking utensils.

"And he ain't paid me for t'ree weeks yet, neither!" she added. "I give him the bounce two days ago. He come home drunk in my house! I don't keep no lodgers like that!"

"What day was it he came home drunk?" Astro asked.

"Only Thursday. He nearly fell out the window, he was so soused. He had a black eye, too."

"What time was it?"

"Oh, about four o'clock. Look at them rags, now! What d'ye think of that! The pig dog!" She picked up a long dirty strip of cloth on the floor. "Bah!" she cried. "It smells like a graveyard, don't it?"

Astro took the rag and examined it carefully. It smelled strongly of creosote. He laid it on a table, and with a secret sign called Valeska's attention to it. Then he walked to the window, threw up the sash, and looked down.

"It would be a bad drop, wouldn't it?" he said.

The landlady laughed. "I only wish he had fell out!"