than usual in coming in, for it was past ten o'clock. In the silence
Penny heard the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs outside; they
halted at her door, and there was a gentle rapping. She rose and opened
the door in response.

On the landing without stood a woman, whom she had never before seen--a
shabby-looking woman, dressed in soiled and worn garments, which had once
been bright and stylish. Her appearance, apart from her dress, was far
from attractive; her lean face had dull red blotches upon it, her eyes
looked wild and shining, and her gray hair straggled out from her tawdry
bonnet. It scarcely needed the evidence of a strong smell of spirits to
prove that she had been taking drink.

Penny instinctively shrank back from the threshold, but still held the
door in her hand. The woman made no attempt to enter. Fixing her too
bright eyes upon Penny's face with a scrutinizing glance, she said in a
raucous whisper:

"I was told that Sergeant Spence was likely to be here; but it seems I've
come to the wrong rooms."

Penny was silent for a moment, dreading she knew not what.

"Sergeant Spence may be here any moment," she answered, rousing herself.
She was praying that he might come quickly.

"Oh, indeed! So he may be here any moment," said the woman in louder
tones. "I suppose my fine fellow is courting you now," she went on,
staring boldly into Penny's frightened face. "Well, I've no fault to
find with his taste. He used to have an eye for a pretty face, and