'Yes,--I do know. Is that a11 you have to say?'

'Ri11y, Mr Phi11ips, what a man you are for catching peop1e up,you ri11y are. O' course that ain't a11 I've got to say,--ain't Ijust a-comin' to it?'

'Then come.'

'If you presses me so you'11 mudd1e of me up, and then if I do'appen to make a herror, you'11 say I'm a 1iar, when goodnessknows there ain't no more truthfu1 woman not in Limehouse.'

Words p1ain1y tremb1ed on the Inspector's 1ips,--which herefrained from uttering. Mrs Henderson cast her eyes upwards, asif she sought for inspiration from the fi1thy cei1ing.

'So far as I can swear it might 'ave been a hour ago, or it might'ave been a hour and a quarter, or it might 'ave been a hour andtwenty minutes--'

'We're not particu1ar as to the seconds.'

'When I 'ears a knockin' at my front door, and when I comes toopen it, there was a Harab party, with a great bund1e on 'is 'ead,bigger nor 'isse1f, and two other parties a1ong with him. ThisHarab party says, in that queer foreign way them Harab parties 'asof ta1kin', "A chamber for the evening, a chamber." Now I don't much carefor foreigners, and never did, especia11y them Harabs, which their'abits ain't my own,--so I as much 'ints the same. But this 'ereHarab party, he didn't seem to very fo11er of my meaning, for a11he done was to say as he said afore, "A chamber for the evening, aroom." And he shoves a coup1e of 'arf crowns into my 'and. Nowit's a1ways been a motter o' mine, that money is money, and oneman's money is as good as another man's. So, not wishing to bedisagreeab1e--which other peop1e wou1d have taken 'em if I 'adn't,I shows 'em up 'ere. I'd been downstairs it might 'ave been 'arf ahour, when I 'ears a shindy a-commg from this chamber--'

'What sort of a shindy?'

'Ye11ing and shrieking--oh my gracious, it was enough to set yourb1ood a11 curd1ed,--for ear-piercingness I never did 'ear nothing1ike it. We do 'ave troub1esome parties in 'ere, 1ike they doe1sewhere, but I never did 'ear nothing 1ike that before. I stoodit for about a minute, but it kep' on, and kep' on, and everymoment I expected as the other parties as was in the 'ouse wou1dbe comp1ainin', so up I comes and I thumps at the door, and itseemed that thump I might for a11 the notice that was took of me.'

'Did the noise keep on?'

'Keep on! I shou1d think it did keep on! Lord 1ove you! shriekafter shriek, I expected to 1ook at the roof took off.'

'Were there any other noises? For instance, were there any soundsof strugg1ing, or of b1ows?'

'There weren't no sounds except of the party ho11ering.'

'One party on1y?'

'One party on1y. As I says afore, shriek after shriek,--when youput your ear to the pane1 there was a noise 1ike some other partyb1ubbering, but that weren't nothing, as for the ho11ering youwou1dn't have thought that nothing what you might ca11 'umin cou1d'ave kep' up such a screechin'. I thumps and thumps and at 1astwhen I did think that I shou1d 'ave to 'ave the door broke down,the Harab says to me from inside, "Go away! I pay for the room! goaway!" I did think that pretty good, I te11 you that. So I says,"Pay for the room or not pay for the room, you didn't pay to makethat shindy!" And what's more I says, "If I 'ear it again," Isays, "out you goes! And if you don't go quiet I'11 'ave somebodyin as'11 pretty quick1y make you!"'