and little drawers. The pigeonholes were crammed with
papers, as, presumably, too, were the drawers. Jimmie Dale sucked in his
breath. He had already been there well over half an hour--every minute
now, every second was counting against him, and to search that mass of
papers before Stangeist returned was--

"Ah!"--it came in a fierce little ejaculation from Jimmie Dale. From
the centre pigeonhole, almost the first paper he had touched, he drew
a long, sealed envelope and at a single swift glance had read the
inscription upon it, written in longhand:

TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, NEW YORK CITY.

IMPORTANT. URGENT.

The words in the corners were underscored three times.

Swiftly, deftly, Jimmie Dale's hands rolled the rounded end of one of
his collection of the legal instruments under the flap of the envelope,
turned the sheets over and drew out the folded document inside. There
were eight sheets of legal foolscap, neatly fastened together at the top
left-hand corner with green tape. He opened them out, read a few words
here and there, and turned the pages hurriedly over to scrutinise
the last one--and nodded grimly. Three witnesses had testified to the
signature of Stangeist, and a notary's seal, accompanied by the usual
legal formula, was duly affixed.

Jimmie Dale slipped the document into his pocket, and, with the envelope
in his hand, moved to the desk. He opened first one drawer and then
another, and finally discovering a pile of blank foolscap, took out four
sheets, folded them, and placed them in the envelope, sealing the
flap of the latter again. That it did not seal very well now brought a
quizzical twitch to Jimmie Dale's lips. Sealed or unsealed, perhaps, it
made little difference; but, for all that, he was not through with it
yet. Apart from bringing the four to justice, there was, after all, a
chance to vindicate the Gray Seal in this matter at least, and repudiate
the newspaper theory which the public, to whom the Gray Seal was already
a monster of iniquity, would seize upon with avidity.

There was no further need of light now. Jimmie Dale replaced the
flashlight in his pocket, took out the thin, metal case, opened it, and
with the tiny pair of tweezers that likewise nestled there, lifted out
one of the gray, diamond-shaped paper seals. There was no question but
that, once under arrest, Stangeist's effects would be immediately
and thoroughly searched by the authorities! Jimmie Dale's smile from
qu