Mittel neither spoke nor moved.  Stupefaction, surprise, and a very obvious regard for Jimmie Dale’s revolver mingled themselves in a helpless expression on his face.

Jimmie Dale set down his glass and pointed to a chair in front of the desk.

“Sit down, Mr. Mittel,” he invited pleasantly.  “It will be quite apparent to you that I have not time to prolong our interview unnecessarily, in view of the possible return of the police at any moment, but you might as well be comfortable.  You will pardon me again if I take another liberty”—­he crossed the room, turned the key in the lock of the door leading into the hall, and returned to the desk.  “Sit down, Mr. Mittel!” he repeated, a sudden rasp in his voice.

Mittel, none too graciously, now seated himself.

“Look here, my fine fellow,” he burst out, “you’re carrying things with a pretty high hand, aren’t you?  You seem to have eluded the police for the moment, somehow, but let me tell you I—­”

“No,” interrupted Jimmie Dale softly, “let me tell you—­all there is to be told.”  He leaned over the desk and stared rudely at the bruise on Mittel’s face.  “Rather a nasty crack, that,” he remarked.

Mittel’s fists clenched, and an angry flush swept his cheeks.

“I’d have made it a good deal harder,” said Jimmie Dale, with sudden insolence, “if I hadn’t been afraid of putting you out of business and so precluding the possibility of this little meeting.  Now then”—­the revolver swung upward and held steadily on a line with Mittel’s eyes—­ “I’ll trouble you for the diagram of that Alaskan claim that belongs to Mrs. Michael Breen!”

Mittel, staring fascinated into the little, round, black muzzle of the automatic, edged back in his chair.

“So—­so that’s what you’re after, is it?” he jerked out.  “Well”—­he laughed unnaturally and waved his hand at the disarray of the room—­“it’s been stolen already.”

“I know that,” said Jimmie Dale grimly.  “By—­you!”

“Me!” Mittel started up in his chair, a whiteness creeping into his face.  “Me!  I—­I—­”

“Sit down!” Jimmie Dale’s voice rang out ominously cold.  “I haven’t any time to spare.  You can appreciate that.  But even if the police return before that map is in my possession, they will still be too late as far as you are concerned.  Do you understand?  Furthermore, if I am caught—­you are ruined.  Let me make it quite plain that I know the details of your little game.  You are a curb broker, Mr. Mittel—­ostensibly.  In reality, you run what is nothing better than an exceedingly profitable bucket shop.  The Weasel has been a customer and also a stool for you for years.  How Hamvert met the Weasel is unimportant—­he came East with the intention of getting in touch with a slick crook to help him—­the Weasel is the coincidence, that is all.  I quite understand that you have never met Hamvert, nor Hamvert you, nor that Hamvert