such reasoning that led Carmelita to her decision. Once the decision was made, she acted calmly and swiftly.
She arose from the table and, going to the wall-safe took out Rao-Singh's check for five thousand dollars, which she was to deliver to Mrs. Peabody and Mrs. Hurd in the morning. She telephoned for a taxicab from the village and when, dressed for the cool night air, she reappeared downstairs, the cab had arrived. Rao-Singh's check rested in the beaded bag which she carried on her arm as she stepped into the machine, without having left word with her servants where she was going. "Canary Cottage," she told the driver.
Hayden's palace of chance was having a pretty dull evening and the proprietor was not in sight when Carmelita gave the signal and was admitted through the familiar door. She was anxious to avoid being recognized but there was no need of caution. A swift glance around showed nobody whom she knew—a few "sports" from the village who were talking loudly and spending little and three members of the Little Neck actors' colony silently playing roulette at a table in the center of what had been the palatial living-room of this once sedate old mansion. In the next room a fairly large mixed party of men and women were evidently making their first visit, judg-
