XXIII
GIRLS, GIRLS! NOTHING BUT GIRLS!
The superintendent was puzzled and showed it. He listened to Mr. Grycewith a shrug, saying that so many women had been taken on that day, thathe really couldn't remember whether any one of them answered to the givendescription.
"There's the time-keeper's book. Look it over. All the names are there,"he said.
Mr. Gryce did as he advised, but of course without finding there the nameof Antoinette Duclos or of anyone else of whom he had ever heard.
The next thing was for him to go through the factory itself and see if hecould pick her out from those already at work. This he was greatly averseto doing; it would be too long and painful an effort for him, and hecould not trust Perry with any such piece of nice discrimination. How hemissed Sweetwater! How tempted he was to send for him! It was finallydecided that when the hour came for the departure of the whole dayshift,he should take his stand where he could mark each employee as shefiled out.
A sorry attempt followed by as sorry a failure! He did not see one amongthem who was over twenty-five years of age. But this did not mean theend of all hope. There was the nightshift. Might she not be put on that?A different man had charge at night. He would wait for this man'sappearance, present his cause to him and see what could be done.
Not much, he found, when the night superintendent finally entered theoffice and he had the chance of introducing himself. Newer to authoritythan the superintendent of the dayshift, he was also of a more activetemperament and much more self-assertive. He was not impressed by thedetective's years or even by his errand. It was a busy night, a very busynight--new hands in every department. To take him through the building atpresent was quite out of the question. Perhaps later it might be done;but not now, not now.
With that the night superintendent bustled out. This was not veryencouraging, but Mr. Gryce did not despair. He had seen with what ease hecould look from the broad, rear window near which he stood, into therooms where rows upon rows of girls were already at work. Only a narrowcourt divided him from these girls, and as the three stories of which thefactory was composed were all brilliantly lighted, he should have littledifficulty in picking out from among them the middle-aged woman who heldin her closed and mysterious hand the key to that formidable affairthreatening the honor of one of New York's most prominent men.
Before doing this, Mr. Gryce stopped to locate himself and recall ifpossible the entire plan of the building. He was in what was called theouter office. The inner one, used only by the president of the concern,opened on his left. There was no one in the latter room at present, thepresident seldom showing up at night. Another door led to the platformoutside, and a third one, located in the middle of the right-handpartition, to a large vestibule or locker-room belonging exclusively tothe girls, which in its turn communicated with the work-rooms of thefactory running in unbroken continuity around a narrow central court.
He had been through this locker-room in the late afternoon. It was herehe had stood to watch the girls file out at the close of their day'swork. The exit for all employees was in one of the corners and out ofthis Antoinette Duclos would have to pass when it came her turn to leavethe building--that is, if she were really in it, as he had everyreason to believe.
However, certainty on this point would relieve him from much of hispresent impatience, and with this end in view he prepared to enter theroom again in the hope of spying among the various hats with which thewalls were hung the one with whose shape and trimming he was so wellacquainted.
But promising as this attempt looked, it was destined to immediatefailure. The room was not empty. He could hear girls whispering not adozen steps away, and anxious as he always was not to attract anyunnecessary attention to himself, he turned his back upon this door andreturned to the window from the broad view of which he anticipated somuch.
A brilliant scene awaited him. This building, built originally for otherpurposes, had been hastily reconstructed for its present use in a mannerpossibly open to criticism but which certainly gave those who worked init an abundance of light and air. The narrow columns supporting its threestories were so inconspicuous at night when a blaze of electricitydominated the whole, that it presented the appearance of being madeentirely of windows. One break and one only he observed in the double rowof lights encircling the courtyard. This was in a spot diagonallyopposite, where a space of several feet showed a dimness he failed tounderstand. But as no workers appeared to be there, he passed the matterover as one of no importance.
The task before him looked hopeless. In the first place there were thethree floors, with no faces visible above the first one. Then of the longrectangle stretching out before him he could see but two sides, whichfact was further complicated by there being as many of the workers' facesturned toward the outside of the building as toward the court. Yet havingdetermined upon his course, he was bound to see it through.
His position near the corner of the huge rectangle precluded his seeinganyone working at his own end. He was obliged to pass them over. But ofthose opposite, especially those directly so, he could take easy count.They were all girls of fifteen or so, and could be passed over alsowithout more than a cursory glance. Further on he saw a row of olderwomen, and student as he was of human nature, there were faces among themat which he was tempted to look twice, though once answered his purpose.There was no Madame there.
Continuing his examination, he next encountered the space sounaccountably darkened, and having skipped this, came upon a stretch ofbenches displaying great activity. Only old hands seemed to be at work inthis section. Their method and despatch showed a training which made ituseless to look among them for one who had probably never worked beforeamid the hum of machinery.
In the corner beyond he saw nobody, but when he came to look along theend connecting the opposite rooms with those on his side, a differentscene awaited him. There every bench seemed occupied both back and front,and mostly by newcomers, as was apparent from the anxious way thesuperintendent moved about among them, explaining the work and directingthem with a zeal which not only attested his interest in the task butshowed how completely he had forgotten the man he had left behind him inhis office. Well, well, such is the way of the world! The old man sawthat he would have to depend upon himself, and realizing this, bent allhis energies to his present far-off inspection of these women, hopingagainst hope that he would be able at least to tell the young from theold.
Yes, he could do that, but the older women seemed to be in the majority;and this perplexed him. It was all too distant for him to see clearly,but he took heart of grace as he observed how the faces and figures hewas studying so closely were resolving themselves into mere silhouettesunder his gaze. For as I have already said, he had a quick eye foroutline, and felt sure that he could sufficiently recall that of thewoman whose head and shoulders had been so long under his eye that day,to recognize it even among fifty others. But not one of them--not one ofthem all--had the precise narrowness and rigidity of Madame Duclos'; andafter many painful minutes of renewed effort followed by reneweddisappointment he moved back from the window and sat down. There was onething you could always count on in Mr. Gryce, and that was his patience.
But it was a patience not without its breaks. Once he rose to look outfront to make sure he had not miscalculated the distance of this factoryfrom the river. Then after another period of waiting, he got thinking howmuch he might discover if he could get one glimpse into that far cornercontiguous to that end of the rectangle where he had seen so many rawworkers receiving the assistance of the night superintendent. There was away of doing this of which he had not thought before. He had but to stepoutside, walk the length of the platform where the loading of shipmentswas going on, and look in at one of the great windows at the further end.But when he came to make the attempt, he found himself plunged into sucha turmoil and the way so blocked by the loading of boxes and the backingup and driving off of horses that he retreated precipitately. Rather thanencounte
r all this, he would await events from the inside. So he took hisold seat again and for another half-hour listened to the thump ofmachinery and the squeak of a rusty elevator-brake which almost robbedhim of thought. He was even inclined to doze, when he suddenly becameaware of some change either in himself or in what lay about him.
Had the machinery stopped? No, it was not that.
The place seemed darker, yet it was still very light.
With a restless move, he rose heavily and peered again into the court.Immediately it was evident what had occurred. The whole string of lightsin the third story had been shut off, and now those of the middle storywere following suit. Only the ground floor remained active with all itslights at the maximum, and every belt moving.
At this unexpected narrowing down of his field of operations he feltgreatly relieved. He had dreaded those long walks through innumerablerooms. He could manage circling the building once, but three times wouldhave been too much. In a mood of increased contentment, he started toreturn to his seat, but found himself stayed by something he saw in whathad been but a dimly lighted space when he looked there last. It was nowas bright as the rest and showed him the figure of the superintendentstooping over a woman, explaining to her some intricate manipulation ofthe work in hand which was evidently quite new to her. He could see himvery plainly, but her figure was more or less hidden. Not for longthough. The superintendent passed on and she came into full view. It wasAntoinette Duclos. He was confident of this even before he noted herdress. When his eyes fell on that, he was sure; there was no mistakingthe stripes and the dots. Antoinette Duclos! and she was where he couldreach her in five minutes--in fact as soon as the superintendentreturned. As he stood and watched her working quite assiduously but insomething like isolation, he felt as though ten years had slipped fromhis age, and trifled with his pleasure as the rest of us do when webehold a despaired-of goal loom suddenly in sight. Was she the woman hehad pictured in his mind's eye? Hardly. Yet there was an admirabledirectness in her movements. From the way she went about things, he couldplainly see that she would master her duties in no time if Fate did notinterpose to prevent. It certainly was hard to interrupt her in her workjust when she was on the way to safety and competence. But there could beno question of his duty, or of the claims of Mr. Roberts to whatever helpmight accrue from an understanding of the relation of this woman toevents threatening his reputation with such utter destruction. Her storymight free him from all suspicion or it might actually determine hisguilt. Therefore her story must be had, and at once--if possible, thisvery night.
But he must wait--wait for the coming of the superintendent. He felt safeto do this. Meanwhile he was determined not to let this woman out of hissight; so, drawing up a chair, he settled down within view of her activefigure, from which all rigidity had vanished in the interest she wasrapidly developing in her work. If he could have seen her countenancemore clearly, he would have been glad. There seemed to be a veil betweenhim and it, a hazy indistinctness which he found it difficult tounderstand; but remembering that he was looking through two windows andon a long diagonal, he accepted this slight drawback with equanimity andwas about to indulge in the comfort of a cigar when he saw the scene hestill held in view change, and change vividly, to the excitation of afresh interest and a still more careful watch.
A girl had approached Madame Duclos from some place quite out of sight,and in passing her by, had slipped a note into her hand. The Frenchwomanhad taken it, but in a way indicating shock. The ease which had givensuppleness to her form and surety to all her movements was gone in aninstant, and from the furtive way in which she sought to read thecommunication thus handed her Mr. Gryce saw that his own powers wouldsoon be taxed to keep him even with a situation changing thus from momentto moment under his eye.
What did that note contain, and who could have taken advantage of thearrival of some late-comer to slip it into her hand? Mr. Gryce found thisa very formidable question, and watched with ever-increasing anxiety tosee what effect these unknown words would have upon their recipient whenher opportunity came for reading them.
A startling one--of that he was presently a witness; for no sooner hadshe taken in their import than she cast a hurried look about her and lefther place without fuss or flurry, but with an air of quiet determinationwhich Mr. Gryce felt confident covered a resolution which nothing couldbalk.
She had not only left her bench but seemingly was in the act of leavingthe building. This, of course, it was for him to prevent, and he rose todo so. It might be interesting to wait and watch her hurrying figurethreading its way to the locker-room through the double row of girls onthe opposite side of the court; but there were reasons why he wished toreach that last mentioned room before she did; reasons which seemed goodenough to send him there without any further delay. If he could butdiscover her hat among the many he had seen hanging on pegs in one of thecorners, how easy it would be for him to hold her back till he could makeher listen to the few words which must be said before he could allow herto leave the building.
Quick of eye, if not of step, he had run in review the varying headgeardepending from those isolated pegs, before he had half-circled thelockers. But hers he did not see. Could she have been given a locker onthis her first night? He did not think so; and approaching closer, helooked again. The hat was there, but lying on the floor. Somebody hadknocked it down; perhaps the late-comer who had given her the letter.
Greatly gratified by the advantage he now indisputably held over her, hepicked up the hat and approached the door through which she must inanother minute emerge.
She did not come.
He waited and waited, and still she did not come. At last, driven byimpatience, he ventured to open the door he had previously hesitated totouch and took a quick look in. Girls, girls! nothing but girls! NoMadame Duclos anywhere.
Something must have happened to interrupt her escape. Either she had beencaught in the attempt by the superintendent or by some one else of equalauthority. This, if bad for her, was also bad for him, as a quiet hold-upin the manner he had planned was certainly better than the public onewhich must now follow.
Sorry for her and sorry for himself, Mr. Gryce returned to the officejust as the superintendent entered from the opposite door. He thought thelatter looked a little queer, and in an instant he learned why.
"Was the woman you wanted a staid, elderly person, apparently aforeigner?"
"Yes--of French birth, I am told."
"Well, I guess you were all right in distrusting her. She's gone--took anotion that night work didn't agree with her and left without so much asa 'By your leave!' She must have smelt you out in some uncanny way. Toobad! She bade fair to be just the woman we wanted for a very nice part ofthe work."
"Do you mean she's really out of the building--that you didn't stopher----"
"I didn't know what she was up to, till she was gone. I----"
"But how did she get out? She didn't go by the employees' door for Istood there on the watch. I had seen her receive a note----"
"A note? How? Who gave it to her?"
"Some girl."
"And you saw this? How could you? Been through the work-rooms?"
"No. I saw her from this window, as I was looking diagonally across thecourt. She was in one of the opposite rooms over there----"
The superintendent broke into a hearty laugh.
"Fooled!" he cried. "You police detectives are a smart crowd, but our oldfactory with its string of useless windows has led you astray for once.You weren't looking into any one of the rooms over there. You werelooking at a reflection in that useless old window behind which theelevator runs. That happens when the elevator running on that side isdown. I've seen it often and laughed in my sleeve at the chance it givesme to observe on the sly how things are going on at certain benches. Manya girl has got her discharge--But no matter about that. Come here.
"The room you think you see over there--you will notice that nobody is atwork in it now--is on this side of the build
ing, and the woman you havein chase escaped by the south delivery-door. We are loading cars to-nightfrom this side of the building, and she took a flying advantage of it.Men give way to a woman. Though there's an order against any such use ofthat door, you can't get one of them to hold onto a woman when she oncegets it into her head to skip the premises. But she can't have gone far.This is a place of few houses and no big buildings besides the factory.If you take pains to head her off at the station, you'll be safe forto-night, and in the morning you can easily find her. Now I must go; butfirst, what was her offense? Theft, eh?"
"No. This woman whom we have let slip through our fingers is MadameDuclos, the mother of the girl shot in a New York museum. There is a bigreward out for her recovery and detention, and----"
The superintendent stood aghast.
"Why didn't you say so? Why didn't you say so at once? I'd have had thewhole troop file out before you. I'd have had----"
The detective caught at his hat.
"I wasn't aware that I had reached an age when I couldn't tell thedifference between a reflection and a reality," he growled, and hurriedout.
The town was a small one; and Perry would see that she didn't escape fromthe station. Besides, she had fled without her hat. Surely, with all thisin his favor, he would soon be able to lay his hand upon her, if notto-night, certainly before another day was at an end.