boats going back and forth all the time, carrying crowds of curious
people, and taking the flood sufferers to the corner grocery, where
they were lowering groceries in a basket on a rope from an upper
window.

I had been making tea when I heard Mr. Ladley go out. I fixed a tray
with a cup of it and some crackers, and took it to their door. I had
never liked Mrs. Ladley, but it was chilly in the house with the gas
shut off and the lower floor full of ice-water. And it is hard enough
to keep boarders in the flood district.

She did not answer to my knock, so I opened the door and went in.
She was at the window, looking after him, and the brown valise, that
figured in the case later, was opened on the floor. Over the foot of
the bed was the black and white dress, with the red collar.

When I spoke to her, she turned around quickly. She was a tall woman,
about twenty-eight, with very white teeth and yellow hair, which she
parted a little to one side and drew down over her ears. She had a
sullen face and large well-shaped hands, with her nails long and very
pointed.

"The 'she-devil' has brought you some tea," I said. "Where shall she
put it?"

"'She-devil'!" she repeated, raising her eyebrows. "It's a very
thoughtful she-devil. Who called you that?"

But, with the sight of the valise and the fear that they might be
leaving, I thought it best not to quarrel. She had left the window,