When he returned to New York, Alice had ceased to tempt him.

* * * * *

One midnight in the early spring he was in his sitting room, reading and a
little bored. There came a knock at the door. He hoped that it was some one
bringing something interesting or coming to propose a search for something
interesting. "Come in," he said with welcome in his voice. The door opened.
It was Alice.

She was dressed much as she had been the first time he talked with her--a
loose, clinging wrapper open at the throat. There was a change in her
face--a change for the better but also for the worse. She looked more
intelligent, more of a woman. There was more sparkle in her eyes and in her
smile. But--Howard saw instantly the price she had paid. As the German had
suggested, she had "got on up town."

She was pulling at the long broad blue ribbons of her negligee. Her hands
were whiter and her pink finger nails had had careful attention. She
smiled, enjoying his astonishment. "I have come back," she said.

Howard came forward and took her hand. "I'm glad, very glad to see you. For
a minute I thought I was dreaming."

"Yes," she went on, "I'm in my old room. I came this afternoon. I must have
been asleep, for I didn't hear you come in."

"I hope it isn't bad luck that has flung you back here."

"Oh, no. I've been doing very well. I've been saving up to come. And when I