Weiss rose to his feet, crossed the office, and turned the key in the lock of the door.  He was a big man, and his face was a little flushed.  Littleson, too, had slid softly from the edge of the table, and was watching his friend’s face as though for a signal.  Norris Vine, long, angular, unathletic, showed not the slightest signs of discomposure.  He was leaning back in his chair, gently twirling by its thin black ribbon the horn-rimmed eyeglass which he usually wore.

“Mr. Vine,” Weiss said, “whatever attitude we may take up afterwards, there isn’t the slightest need to play a part with you.  We did sign that document, and we have been kicking ourselves ever since for doing so.  It was Phineas Duge’s idea, and we are fairly well convinced that he pressed us for our signatures as subscribers to the fund, simply for the purpose of having in his possession a document which might, if its contents were known, cause us some inconvenience.  Am I right in assuming that he deceived us that night, that he himself never signed the paper?”

“His signature,” Norris Vine answered, “certainly does not appear.”

Weiss nodded.

“Just as I thought,” he remarked.  “There was every indication a few weeks ago of what has actually happened, namely a split between us and Phineas Duge.  This document was the weapon with which he had hoped to obtain the master-hand over us.  Now, instead of finding it in his hands, we find it in yours.  What are you going to do about it?”

“I am going to use it,” Vine answered.  “I am going to use it to strike a blow against the abominable system of robbery and corruption which is ruining the finest of all God’s countries.”

“Very well,” Weiss said, “I am not going to give away our defence, of course.  We may treat the document as a forgery, concocted by you or by Phineas Duge, either of whom would have sufficient motives.  We may insist upon it that it was an after-dinner joke.  We may contest the meaning of the text, and swear that we intended to use none but legitimate methods in this fight.  Or, to put the whole matter before you, we may use such powers as we possess to see that you are put out of harm’s way before you have an opportunity to make use of that paper.  You see we have alternatives.  We are not absolutely without hope.  Now I ask you this, as man to man.  The value of that document is, after all, a matter of speculation to you.  Put a price on it, and fight us with our own dollars.”

Norris Vine shook his head gently.

“I think not,” he said.  “If you gave me half your fortunes, we should only come into the field level.”

“We are not small men,” Stephen Weiss said slowly.  “We represent a great power, and a power for which we mean to fight.  When I talk to you of money, I mean it.  We will raise a million dollars for you before midday to-morrow, if you leave that paper in our hands.”