The Pippin's eyes opened.
"Who's there?" he demanded weakly.
Jimmie Dale, without a word, leaned forward, and threw the ray of light
upon his own face.
A queer smile flickered across the Pippin's lips; his voice, weak as it
was, was debonair and careless.
"Well, we nearly got you, Larry--at that! You fell for it, all right.
Only--only some one"--his voice weakened still farther--"must have
spilled the beans--to the--police."
Jimmie Dale made no answer. His lips were thinned and tight together.
It was plain enough now. It had been a plant to get _him_--to get Larry
the Bat, who was known to the underworld to be the Gray Seal--to get
the Gray Seal through an appeal to the Gray Seal's loyalty toward his
pal, Silver Mag! A plant, devilish enough in its ingenuity--Silver Mag
impersonated--the "news" of her capture spread broadcast through the
underworld on the chance that it would reach the ears of Larry the Bat,
and tempt Larry the Bat into the open--as it had done! He knew now why
the Pippin had gone to Melinoff's--old Melinoff's stock, more than any
other dealer's, would be the most likely to supply the Pippin with the
garments that, if not too closely inspected, would pass muster for
Silver Mag's.
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