Page:Watts Mumford--Whitewash.djvu/237

 next thing is to make her tell where the gent is. Here we are, ladies—not far to go. Now, my girl, you be careful how you talk. I know you—you all get hysterical the first time you're caught, but just you hang on to yourself."

The cab stopped short, and the door was opened by a police sergeant, who stood aside as the trio descended from the vehicle to the stone-paved court, surrounded by official-looking buildings. The hack turned and departed, making room for the second cab, from which Madame Tollé and her two companions emerged.

The whole party filed into the large, bare waiting-room, lighted by a gray-white shine of daylight filtered through pebbled glass. An immense desk similar to those used in hotels filled one side of the place; a telephone, a huge metal safe, still suggestive of a cheap hostelry, and wooden benches made up the furniture. Behind the desk a police captain stood twirling his mustache.

As the party entered, he reached for a huge ledger, and opening it, gave it a twist toward the arrivals, but on recognizing the detectives, he nodded, and closed the register with a bang. 227