so does the chief of police, that Mr. Mallow has something to do
with the gang of crooks that infests this country. One thing is
certain, they're not the native product, and our hold-ups aren't
staged by rope-chokers out of work."

Calvin Gray turned now and openly stared at the object of
Coverly's suspicions. There was an alert interest in his eyes.
"You've cinched the matter with me," he declared, after a moment.
"Get out your diamonds to-morrow; I'm going to take the night
train to Ranger."

Later that evening, after his guest had gone, Gray took occasion
deliberately to put himself in Mallow's way and to get into
conversation with him. This was not a difficult maneuver, for it
was nearly midnight and the lobby was well-nigh deserted;
moreover, it almost appeared as if the restless Mr. Mallow was
seeking an acquaintance.

For the better part of an hour the two men smoked and talked,
and had Coverly overheard their conversation his blood would have
chilled and he would have prematurely aged, for his distinguished
host, Calvin Gray, the worldly-wise, suave man of affairs,
actually permitted himself to be pumped like a farmer's son. It
would have been a ghastly surprise to the jeweler to learn how
careless and how confiding his friend could be in an off moment;
he would have swooned when Gray told about his coming trip to
Ranger and actually produced the misspelled Briskow letter for the
edification of his chance acquaintance. Any lingering doubt as to
his friend's honesty of purpose would have vanished utterly had he
heard Mallow announce that he, too, was going to Ranger, the very