The moment I do
this, throw these chairs on the ground so that the girl will fall over
them when she makes a dash for me, which she is certain to do. We will
then head straight away for 216th Street. Don't look so scared or she
will think there is something up. She has never taken her eyes off you
since we sat down!" "She's rather a nice girl!" Kelson said. "I wish I didn't look quite
such a blackguard--and--I wish I hadn't to be quite such a blackguard. Who'll pay for all this? Will she?" "We shan't, anyway," Curtis sneered. "Come, this is no time to be
sentimental. It was a question of life and death with us, and we've
only done what any one else would do in our circumstances. The girl
won't lose much! Are you ready?" Curtis rose, and Kelson, who was accustomed to obey him, reluctantly
followed suit. A look almost suggestive of fear came into the girl's
eyes as they encountered those of Curtis, and she shot a swift glance
at an inner door. Then Kelson spoke, and as she turned her head
towards him, her lips parted in a sort of smile. "Nice night, miss, isn't it?" Kelson said, halting half-way between
the counter and the chairs. "Aren't you a bit lonely here all by
yourself?" "Sometimes," the girl laughed. "But my mother's in the room there,"
and she nodded in the direction of the closed door. "And one can't be
dull when she's about. She's that there active as a rule, there's no
keeping her quiet--only just at present"--here she glanced
apprehensively at Curtis--"she's recovering from ague. Gets it every
year about this time. Your friend seems to have kind of taken a fancy
to our ham!" Kelson looked at Curtis and his heart thumped. Curtis's right hand was
getting ready to spring at the ham, whilst his left was creeping
stealthily along the counter in the direction of a loaf of bread. Kelson slowly realized that an acute crisis in both their lives was at
hand, and that it depended on him how it would end. He had never
thought it possible to feel as mean as he felt now. Besides, his
natural sympathy with women tempted him to stand by the girl and
prevent Curtis from robbing her. He was still deliberating, when he
saw two long dark objects, with lightning rapidity, swoop down on the
plates and dishes. There was a loud clatter, and the next moment the
whole place seemed alive with movement. A voice which in his confusion he did not recognize at once
shouted--and seemingly from far away--"Quick, you fool, quick! Fling
down the chairs and grab those sausages!" Whilst from close beside
him--almost, he fancied, in his ears--came a wild shriek of "Mother! Mother! We are being robbed!" Had the girl appealed to him to help her it is more than likely that
Kelson, who was even yet undecided what course to adopt, would have
offered her his aid; but the instant she acted on the defensive his
mind was made up; a mad spirit of self-preservation swept over
him--and dashing the chairs on the ground at her feet, he seized the
sausages, and flew after Curtis. Ten minutes later, Curtis and Kelson, their arms full of spoil,
clambered up the staircase of their lodgings, and reeled into their
room. "Look!" Curtis gasped, sinking into the chair. "Look and see if we are
followed!" "There's no one about!" Kelson whispered, peering cautiously out of
the window. "Not a soul! I don't believe after that first rush across
Rutter Street, any one noticed us. To leave off running was far the
best thing to do. You are a perfect genius, Ed. I wonder if this sort
of thing--er--thieving--is dormant in most of us? I say, old fellow, I
wish I hadn't looked at that book of Hamar's. Do you know, directly I
took it up, an extraordinary sensation of cunning came over me; and I
declare, when I put it down, I felt it would take very little to make
me a criminal!" "We're both criminals now--in the eyes of the law--anyway!" Curtis
said. "And now we've got so far there's no alternative but to go on! It's easier for a hundred camels to pass through the eye of a needle
than for a clerk to get work, that's a fact. The markets are
hopelessly overstocked--no one wants us! No one helps us! No one even
thinks about us. The labouring man gets pity and cents galore--we get
nothing!--nothing but rotten pay whilst we work, and when we're out of
work, dosshouses or kerbstones. D--n clerks, I say. D--n everything! There's no justice in creation--there's no justice in anything--and
the only people who prate of it are those who have never known what it
is to want. Say, when shall we take the next lot?" "When we're obliged, not before!" Kelson said. "Or rather, you do as
you like--and I'll do the same." "Well, I'm not going to commit suicide anyhow," Curtis sneered. "We
haven't the money to buy poison--and I've no mind to drown myself or
cut my throat--they're too painful! If we don't go on doing what we've
done to-night, what are we going to do?" "Trust to luck," Kelson sighed. "All right--you trust to luck--but I won't trust any more in
Providence, and that's a fact," Curtis retorted. "We've been done
enough. Now I'm for doing other people. Good-night." He tumbled into the makeshift bed as he spoke; and in a few minutes,
worn out after the unwonted exertions of the evening, both men were
fast asleep. They were at breakfast next morning--real _déjeuner à la
carte_--sausages, bread, water--and they were doing ample justice to
it, when some one rapped at the door. For a few seconds there was
silence. Their hearts stood still. Had they been followed, after all? Was it the police? Some one spoke--and they breathed again. It was
Hamar. "This looks like starving, I must say!" Hamar exclaimed, as he sniffed
his way into the room and sat on the bed. "Why, from what you fellows
told me last night I thought you were cleared out. And here you are,
stuffing like roosters! You look a bit surprised to see me, but you'll
look more surprised, I reckon, when I tell you what brings me here. You remember that book?" Kelson and Curtis nodded. "Well," Hamar went on. "I read it after you left last night, and I've
come to the conclusion that there's something in it that may be of use
to us." "Us!" Curtis ejaculated. "Yes! Us!" Hamar mimicked. "It contains full particulars of how we can
get in touch with certain Occult Powers--that can give us money or
anything else we want!" "Rot, of course!" Curtis said. "You say that now. But, listen to me," Hamar replied. "Since I've read
that book, I believe there's a lot more in Occultism than people
imagine. You may recollect the name of the author of the book--Thomas
Maitland? Well! to begin with, he impresses me as being truthful; and
he not only believed in Magic but he practised it. If he hadn't gone
into details I shouldn't think anything of it, but he's so darned
thorough, and tells you exactly what you've got to do to get in touch
with the Occult Powers and to practise sorcery.