He turned to the door man.

"Whose machine was that? On the regular club stand here?"

"Yes, sir. A man named Perkins drives it, sir."

"Will it return here as soon as the fare is taken to the end of the
trip?"

"Yes, sir, they have orders for that. They belong to a gent who supplies
cars for our club exclusively, sir. They are not allowed to take outside
passengers."

"Very good! You send for me, in my rooms, as soon as the driver of the
car shows up. I want to find out where he went."

Shirley hurried up in the lift to his own floor. He went to the door of
his room, and tried to open it with his key. It was bolted from inside!
There came a muffled report from within. Then he heard a cry, which
he recognized as the voice of Chen, the Jap. He dropped to the floor,
listening at the crack--a scuffle was in progress within!

CHAPTER XXI. A BURGLARY FOR JUSTICE

Shirley rose, and once more applied that gridiron-trained boot of his:
this time to the lock of the door. Two doses resulted in a complete cure
for its obstinacy. As he rushed into the room, he saw a figure swing out
of the window on a dangling rope. He hesitated--the desire to chase
this intruder to the roof of the club struggled with his duty to the
unfortunate Jap, who lay on the floor, where he was being garroted by a
burly ruffian in a chauffeur's habiliments. He sprang toward his little
assistant, and made quick work of the big man.

As he threw the other, with one of his "silencer" twists of the neck
cords, the Jap sprang up. A demoniac anger twisted that usually smiling
countenance, and it took all of Shirley's strength, to wrest away the
automatic revolver from the maddened valet, to prevent swift revenge.

"Why, Chen. He's caught. Don't shoot him now!"

Chen, with a voluble stream of Nagasaki profanity, spluttered in rage,
and strove like a bantam rooster to get at his antagonist. The necessity
for quieting him to prevent bloodshed was fatal to the pursuit of the
other man, as Shirley realized bitterly. The servants were running to
the room by this time. The club steward opened the battered door, and
Shirley turned to explain.

"You have a brave little man, here, Cushman. Chen heard this burglar
in my room, and tried to capture him at the risk of his own life. He
deserves promotion and a raise in salary. Go downstairs and call the
police. We'll have this fellow locked up!"

The man glared at Shirley, and rubbed his throat which thro