THE BRASS BOWL
sidewalk, turning and extending a hand to assist the girl.
"Come!" he said imperatively. "We've no time to waste."
For an instant only she harbored a fugitive thought of resistance; then his eyes met hers and held them, and her mind seemed to go blank under his steadfast and domineering regard. "Come!" he repeated sharply. Trembling, she placed a hand in his and somehow found herself by his side. Regardless of appearances the man retained her hand, merely shifting it beneath his arm, where a firm pressure of the elbow held it as in a vise.
"You needn't wait," he said curtly to the cabby; and swung about, the girl by his side.
"No nonsense now," he warned her tensely, again thrusting a hand in his breast pocket significantly.
"I understand," she breathed faintly, between closed teeth.
She had barely time to remark the towering white façade of upper Broadway's tallest sky-scraper ere
292
