in' you? Whatta you want?"

"I'd rather not tell my name."

"Nothin' doin'. No name, no business. That goes."

"Very well. My name is Bromfield. This fellow Lindsay--gets in my
way. I want to--to eliminate him."

"Are you askin' me to croak him?"

"Good God, no! I don't want him hurt--physically," cried Bromfield,
alarmed.

"Whatta you want, then?" The tight-lipped mouth and the harsh voice
called for a showdown.

"I want him discredited--disgraced."

"Why?"

"Some friends of mine are infatuated by him. I want to unmask him in a
public way so as to disgust them with him."

"I'm hep. It's a girl."

"We'll not discuss that," said the clubman with a touch of hauteur.
"As to the price, if you can arrange the thing as I want it done, I'll
not haggle over terms."

The ex-pugilist listened sourly to Bromfield's proposition. He watched
narrowly this fashionably dressed visitor. His suspicions still
stirred, but not so actively. He was inclined to believe in the
sincerity of the fellow's hatred of the Westerner. Jealousy over a
girl could easily account for it. Jerry did not intend to involve
himself until he had made sure.

"Whatta you want me to do? Come clean."

"Could we get him into a gambling-house, arrange some disgraceful mixup
with a woman, get the place raided by the police, and have the whole
thing come out in the papers?"

Jerry's slitted eyes went off into space. The thing could be arranged.
The trouble in getting Lindsay was to draw him into a trap he could not
break through. If Bromfield could deliver his enemy into his hands,
Durand thought he would be a fool not to make the most of the chance.
As for this soft-fingered swell's stipulation against physical injury,
that could be ignored if the opportunity offered.

"Can you bring this Lindsay to a gambling-dump? Will he come with
you?" demanded the gang politician.

"I think so. I'm not sure. But if I do that, can you fix the rest?"

"It'll cost money."

"How much will you need?"

"A coupla thousand to start with. More before I've finished. I've got
to salve the cops."

Bromfield had prepared for this contingency. He counted out a thousand
dollars in bills of large denominations.

"I'll cut that figure in two. Understand. He's not to be hurt. I
won't have any rough work."

"Leave that to me."

"And you've got to arrange it so that when the house is raided I escape
without being known."

"I'll do that,