ssary to fling
the window up was little less than suicidal. He edged back noiselessly
until his fingers touched the table; then, lowering himself to his
knees, he backed in underneath it, and lay flat upon the floor. It was
not much protection, but it had one advantage: if they switched on
the lights it would show an EMPTY room for the first instant, and that
instant meant--the first shot!

Where were they now? By the library door? How many of them were there?
Well, it was their move! Two could play at cat and mouse until--until
DAYLIGHT! That wasn't very far off, now, and when that came he might
still have the first shot, but after that--he turned his head quickly
toward the window. There was a faint scratching noise as of finger nails
gripping the sill; then the window, very slowly, almost silently, was
pushed steadily upward, and a dark form loomed up outside; and then,
crawling through, a man dropped, as though his feet were padded like a
cat's on the floor inside the room. The Magpie!

A flashlight's ray shot out--and, with a twisted smile propped now
on his left elbow to give free play to his revolver arm, Jimmie Dale
followed the white spot eagerly with his eyes. But it did not circle
around; instead, the light was turned almost instantly toward the lower
end of the room--and, a second later, was holding steadily on the open
door of the safe, and the litter of papers on the floor.

Came a savage growl of amazed fury from the Magpie: then his step
down the room; and, as he reached the safe, a torrent of unbridled
blasphemy--and then, in a sort of staggered gasp, as he leaned suddenly
forward examining the knob of the dial:

"The Gray Seal!"

A moment the Magpie stood there; and then, cursing again in abandon,
turned, and started back for the window, his flashlight dancing before
him--and stopped, a snarl of fury on his lips. The flashlight was
playing full on Jimmie Dale under the table!

"Larry the Bat! The Gray Seal! By God!" choked the Magpie. "You--you--"
The Magpie's flashlight, as he shifted it from his right hand to his
left and wrenched out his revolver, had fallen upon two men crouched
close against the wall by the library door--and he screamed out in an
access of fury. "De double cross! A plant! De bulls! You damned snitch,
Larry!" screamed out the Magpie--and fired.

The bullet tore into the carpet beside Jimmie Dale. Came answering shots
from the men by the door; and then the Magpie, emptying h