resident of the Bayou State Security Bank last spring and made a
get-away with a hundred thousand--what?"

"All right; you say so--prove it." Griswold had taken a cigar from the
open box on the writing-table and was calmly lighting it. There was
nothing to be nervous about. "I'm waiting," he went on, placidly, when
the cigar was going. "If you are an officer, you probably have a
warrant, or a requisition, or something of that sort. Show it up."

"I don't need any papers to take you," was the barked-out retort.
Broffin had more than once found himself confronting similar dead walls,
and he knew the worth of a bold play.

"Oh, yes, you do. You accuse me of a crime: did you see me commit the
crime?"

"No."

"Well, somebody did, I suppose. Bring on your witnesses. If anybody can
identify me as the man you are after, I'll go with you--without the
requisition. That's fair, isn't it?"

"I know you're the man, and you know it, too, damned well!" snapped
Broffin, angered into bandying words with his obstinate capture.

"That is neither here nor there; I am not affirming or denying. It is
for you to prove your case, if you can. And, listen, Mr. Broffin:
perhaps it will save your time and mine if I add that I happen to know
that you can't prove your case."

"Why can't I?"

"Just because you can't," Griswold went on, argumentatively. "I know the
facts of this robbery you speak of; a great many people know them. The
newspaper accounts said at the time that there were three persons who
could certainly identify the robber: the president, the paying teller,
and a young woman. It so happens that all three of these people are at
present in Wahaska. At different times you have appealed to each of
them, and in each instance you have been turned down. Isn't that true?"

Broffin glanced up, scowling.

"It's true enough that you--you and the little black-eyed girl between
you--have hoodooed the whole bunch!" he rasped. "But when I get you into
court, you'll find out that there are others."

Griswold smiled good-naturedly. "That is a bold, bad bluff, Mr. Broffin,
and nobody knows it any better than you do," he countered. "You haven't
a leg to stand on. This is America, and you can't arrest me without a
warrant. And if you could, what would you do with me without the support
of at least one of your three witnesses? Nothing--nothing at all."

Broffin laid the pistol on the table, and put the key of the safety-box
beside it. Then