ns, he decided discretion was the better
part, and merely saying: "Very well, Friday night," he unlocked the door
and took his leave.

On the whole he was well pleased with his interview. In the first place,
he had by his readiness escaped an imminent personal danger. What
was almost as important, he had broken the ice with Mr. Coburn about
Madeleine, and the former had not only declared that he was aware of the
state of his daughter's feelings, but he had expressed no objection to
the proposed match. Further, an understanding as to Mr. Coburn's
own position had been come to. He had practically admitted that the
syndicate was a felonious conspiracy, and had stated that he would do
almost anything to get out of it. Finally he had promised a decision
on the whole question in three days' time. Quite a triumph, Merriman
thought.

On the other hand he had given the manager a warning of the danger which
the latter might communicate to his fellow-conspirators, with the result
that all of them might escape from the net in which Hilliard, at any
rate, wished to enmesh them. And just to this extent he had become a
co-partner in their crime. And though it was true that he had escaped
from his immediate peril, he had undoubtedly placed himself and Hilliard
in very real danger. It was by no means impossible that the gang would
decide to murder both of the men whose knowledge threatened them, in
the hope of bluffing the bank manager out of the letter which they would
believe he held. Merriman had invented this letter on the spur of the
moment and he would have felt a good deal happier if he knew that it
really existed. He decided that he would write to Hilliard immediately
and get him to make it a reality.

A great deal, he thought, depended on the character of Coburn. If he was
weak and cowardly he would try to save his own skin and let the others
walk into the net particularly might he do this if he had suffered at
their hands in the way he suggested. On the other hand, a strong man
would undoubtedly consult his fellow-conspirators and see that a pretty
determined fight was made for their liberty and their source of gain.

He had thought of all this when it suddenly flashed into his mind
that Mr. Coburn's presence in the shed at two in the morning in itself
required a lot of explanation. He did not for a moment believe the
aspirin story. The man had looked so shifty while he was speaking, that
even at the time Merriman had deci