otes."

"It wouldn't do at all," Laverick admitted.

"You are a man of common sense," declared the other. "It would not
do. Now comes the time when I have a question to ask you. There
was a sealed document in this pocket-book. Where is it? What
have you done with it?"

"Can you tell me," Laverick asked, "why I should answer questions
from a person whom I discover apparently engaged in a nefarious
attempt at burglary?"

The man's hand shot out from his trouser-pocket, and Laverick looked
into the gleaming muzzle of a revolver.

"Because if you don't, you die," was the quick reply. "Whether
you've read that document or not, I want it. If you've read it, you
know the sort of men you've got to deal with. If you haven't, take
my word for it that we waste no time. The document! Will you give
it me?"

"Do I understand that you are threatening me?" Laverick asked,
retreating a few steps.

"You may understand that this is a repeating revolver, and that I
seldom miss a half-crown at twenty paces," his visitor answered.
"If you put out your hand toward that bell, it will be the last
movement you'll ever make on earth."

"London isn't really the place for this sort of thing," Laverick
said. "If you discharge that revolver, you haven't a dog's chance
of getting clear of the building. My clerks would rush out after
you into the street. You'd find yourself surrounded by a crowd of
business men. You couldn't make your way through anywhere. You'd
be held up before you'd gone a dozen yards. Put down your revolver.
We can perhaps settle this little matter without it."

"The document!" the man ordered. "You've got it! You must have it!
You took that pocket-book from a dead man, and in that pocket-book
was the document. We must have it. We intend to have it."

"And who, may I ask, are we?" Laverick inquired.

"If you do not know, what does it matter? Will you give it to me?"

Laverick shook his head.

"I have no document."

The man in the chair leaned forward. The muzzle of his revolver was
very bright, and he held it in fingers which were firm as a rock.

"Give it to me!" he repeated. "You ought to know that you are not
dealing with men who are unaccustomed to death. You have it about
you. Produce it, and I've done with you. Deny me, and you have not
time to say your prayers!"

Laverick was leaning against a small table which stood near the door.
His fingers suddenly gripped the ledger which