it did not say for what, or exactly where!  If they found nothing, Hagan was safe.  Connie Myers’ reputation, the fact that he was found in disguise at Doyle’s house, was, barring any incriminating evidence, quite enough to let Hagan out.  There would only remain in the minds of the police the question of who, beside Connie Myers, had been in old Doyle’s house that night?  And now Jimmie Dale smiled a little whimsically.  Well, perhaps he could answer that—­and, if not quite to the satisfaction of the police, at least to the complete vindication of Mike Hagan.

But he could not drive through towns and villages with a mask on his face; and there, ahead now, lights were beginning to show.  And more than ever now, with what was before him, it was imperative that Mike Hagan should not recognise Larry the Bat.  Jimmie Dale glanced again at Hagan—­and slowed down the car.  They were on the outskirts of a town, and off to the right he caught the twinkling lights of a street car.

“Hagan,” he said sharply, “pull yourself together, and listen to me!  If you keep your mouth shut, you’ve nothing to fear; if you let out a word of what’s happened to-night, you’ll probably go to the chair for a crime you know nothing about.  Do you understand?—­keep your mouth shut!”

The car had stopped.  Hagan nodded his head.

“All right, then.  You get out here, and take a street car into New York,” continued Jimmie Dale crisply.  “But when you get there, keep away from your home for the next two or three hours.  Hang around with some of the boys you know, and if you’re asked anything afterward, say you were batting around town all evening.  Don’t worry—­you’ll find you’re out of this when you read the morning papers.  Now get out—­hurry!” He pushed Hagan from the car.  “I’ve got to make my own get-away.”

Hagan, standing in the road, brushed his hand bewilderingly across his eyes.

“Yes—­but you—­I—­”

“Never mind about that!” Jimmie Dale leaned out, and gripped Hagan’s arm impressively.  “There’s only one thing you’ve got to think of, or remember.  Keep your mouth shut!  No matter what happens, keep your mouth shut—­if you want to save your neck!  Good-night, Hagan!”

The car was racing forward again.  It shot streaking through the streets of the town ahead, and, dully, over its own inferno, echoed shouts, cries, and execrations of an outraged populace—­then out into the night again, roaring its way toward New York.

He had half an hour—­perhaps!  It was a good thing Hagan did not know, or had not grasped the significance of that torn letter—­the man would have been unmanageable with fear and excitement.  It would puzzle Hagan to find no paper stuck under his table when he came to look for it!  But that was a minor consideration, that mattered not at all.