He took the envelope from his pocket and stared at it.  His fingers had not been at fault—­it was one of hers.  The faint, elusive, exquisite fragrance of some rare perfume came to him as he held it.

“I’d give,” said Jimmie Dale wistfully to himself—­“I’d give everything I own to know who you are—­and some day, please God, I will know.”

Jimmie Dale tore the envelope very gently, as though the tearing almost were an act of desecration—­and extracted the letter from within.  He began to read aloud hurriedly and in snatches: 

“Dear philanthropic crook:  Charleton Park Manor—­Markel’s house is the second one from the gates on the right-hand side—­library leads off reception hall on left, door opposite staircase—­telephone in reception hall near vestibule entrance, left-hand side—­safe is one of your father’s make, No. 14,321—­clothes closet behind the desk—­probably will be kept in cash box—­five servants; two men, three maids—­quarters on top story—­Markel and wife occupy room over library—­French windows to dining room on opposite side of the house—­opening on the lawn—­get it to-night, Jimmie—­to-morrow would be too late—­dispose of it—­see fit—­Henry Wilbur, Marshall Building, Broadway—­fifth story—­”

Through the glass-panelled front of the car, Jimmie Dale could see his chauffeur’s back, and the hand that held the letter dropped now to his side, and Jimmie Dale stared—­at his chauffeur’s back.  Then, presently, he read the letter again, as though committing it to memory now; and then, tearing the paper into tiny shreds, as he did with every one of her communications, he reached out of the window and allowed the little pieces to filter gradually from his hand.

The Gray Seal!  He smiled in his whimsical way.  If it were ever known!  He, Jimmie Dale, with his social standing, his wealth, his position—­the Gray Seal!  Not a police official, not a secret-service bureau probably in the civilised world, but knew the name—­not a man, woman, or child certainly in this great city around him but to whom it was as familiar as their own!  Danger?  Yes.  A battle of wits?  Yes.  His against everybody’s—­even against Carruthers’, his old college chum!  For, even as a reporter, before he had risen to the editorial desk, and even now that he had, Carruthers had been one of the keenest on the scent of the Gray Seal.

Danger?  Yes.  But it was worth it!  Worth it a thousand times for the very lure of the danger itself; but worth it most of all for his association with her who, by some amazing means, verging indeed on the miraculous, came into touch with all these things, and supplied him with the data on which to work—­that always some wrong might be righted, or gladness come where there had been gloom before, or hope where there had been despair—­that into some fellow human’s heart should come a gleam of sunshine.  Yes, in spite of the howls of the police, the virulent diatribes of the press, an angry public screaming for his arrest, conviction, and punishment, there were those perhaps who even on their bended knees at night asked God’s blessing on—­the Gray Seal!