A door led from this back room into the lower back hall of the house,
and in the shadow of the back hall Jan thought for an instant that he
saw the landlady's figure; but he wasn't sure. Two minutes--or it may
have been five minutes--later, a boy whom Jan had noticed round the
house came into the room by way of that same door and said to the girl:
"Mrs. Goles wants to see you a minute."
"Tell her I got no minute to spare--not now."
The boy went out and quickly came back.
"Mrs. Goles says for you to come out and see her or she'll have the
policeman in off the beat. He's at the corner now."
The girl went out.
"Who's Mrs. Goles?" asked Jan of the boy.
"Why, she's the landlady."
"Oh!" said Jan. So that was her husband, the handsome proprietor with
the evil eyes. "Poor woman!" muttered Jan, and absent-mindedly drank his
ginger ale.
The boy was still there. "Where is Mrs. Goles now?" asked Jan.
The boy jerked his head. "Out there on the back stairs."
Jan stood up. "Here!" He handed the boy a quarter. "A wonder a boy like
you hangs out round here!"
"I run Mrs. Goles's errands. I been runnin' 'em since I was a kid. My
mother used to work for her mother. She was a lady."
Jan was heading for the side door, the door which led into the alley.
"Will I tell her you're comin' back, mister?"
"Tell who?"
"Why, that girl you was with.
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