. There consternation reigned. Fully a
dozen pensioners of the "system" of traffic in souls were struggling to
escape through the barred windows in the rear. These bars had been
placed as they were to resist the invaders from the outside. John
Clemm's system of defense was extremely ingenious. In time of trouble
he had not deemed the inmates of the middle room worth protecting--his
purpose was to exclude with the iron grating and the barred windows the
possible entry of raiders.

Three revolvers were on the floor. Their owners had wisely discarded
them to avoid the penalty of the concealed weapon law, for they had
realized that they were trapped.

"Open that door!" cried Sawyer, who had learned the arrangement of the
rooms from Burke's description.

Two men pushed at the door, which was securely locked. They finally
caught up the nearest church pew, and, using it as a battering ram,
they succeeded in smashing the heavy oaken panels. The door had been
barricaded with a cross bar. As they cautiously peered in through the
forced opening they saw the room empty and the window open.

"He's escaped!" exclaimed Sawyer.

Just then a call from the outer vestibule reached his ears.

"I've caught the go-between, Captain. Here's Mr. John Clemm, the
executive genius of this establishment," sung out Burke, who was
standing inside the door with the rueful fat man wearing the handcuffs.

"Where did you get him, Burke?"

"He tried to make a quiet getaway through the rescue department of the
Purity League," answered Officer 4434. "I nabbed him as he came up the
fire-escape from this floor."

"Where is Trubus?"

"He has gone home, so one of the stenographers tells me."

"Then we will get him, too. Hurry now. White, I leave you in charge
of this place. Send for the wagon and take these men over to our
station house. Get every bit of paper and the records. We had better
look around in that private office first before we go after Trubus."

They finished the demolition of the door and entered.

"What's this arrangement?" queried Sawyer, puzzled, as he looked at the
automatic pencil box.

"That is an arrangement by which this fellow Clemm has been making
duplicates of all his transactions in his own writing," explained
Burke. "You see this Trubus has trusted no one. He has a definite
record of every deal spread out before him by the other pencil on the
machine upstairs, just as this go-between writes it out.