"You mean that you wish me to crack this safe for you?" he inquired,
with inward consternation.
"Not for me. Disappointment I admit is mine; but not for the loss
I sustain. In the presence of the master I am content to stand
humbly to one side, as befits one of my lowly state in--in the
ranks of our profession. I resign, I abdicate in your favor;
claiming nothing by right of priority."
"You are too generous," he mumbled, confused by her thinly veiled
ridicule.
"Not at all," she replied briskly. "I am entirely serious. My loss
of to-day will prove my gain, tomorrow. I look for incalculable
benefit through study of your methods. My own, I confess," with a
contemptuous toss of her head toward the burglar's kit, "are
clumsy, antiquated, out of date.... But then, I'm only an
amateur."
"Oh, but a woman----" he began to apologize on her behalf.
"Oh, but a woman!" she rapped out smartly. "I wish you to
understand that this woman, at least, is no mean----" And she
hesitated.
"Thief?" he supplied crudely.
"Yes, thief! We're two of a feather, at that."
"True enough.... But you were first in the field; I fail to see
why I should reap any reward for tardiness. The spoils must be
yours."
It was a test: Maitland watched her keenly, fascinated by the
subtlety of the game.
"But I refuse, Mr. Anisty--positively refuse to go to work while
you stand aside and--and laugh."
Pride! He stared, openly amazed, at this bewilderingly feminine
bundle of inconsistencies.
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