There was a sharp, startled cry from Birdie Lee.
"_The Gray Seal_! You're--you're Larry the Bat! They passed the word
around in Sing Sing that you were dead, and--"
"And it will be the Gray Seal who is wanted for this--not you," said
Jimmie Dale quietly. Then, almost sharply: "Now make your get-away,
Birdie. Hurry! You and I part here. And the greater distance you put
between yourself and this place to-night the better."
But the man seemed as though robbed of the power of movement--and then
his lips quivered, and his eyes filled.
"But you," he faltered, "you--you're doing this for me, and I--I--"
Jimmie Dale caught the other's arm in a kindly grip.
"Good-night, Birdie," he said significantly. "I'm the last man now that
you could afford to be seen with. You understand that. And I guess you
can understand that I've reasons for not wanting to be seen myself.
You've got your chance; give me mine to get away--alone." He pushed the
man abruptly toward the door.
Still Birdie Lee hesitated; then catching Jimmie Dale's hand, he
wrung it hard--and, with a half choked sob, turned and made his way
from the room.
For an instant Jimmie Dale stood looking after the other through the
darkness, listening as the stealthy steps descended the stairs--then
suddenly he knelt again beside the dead man on the floor.
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