That
document is in my possession. They all signed it, and it was left for me
to be the last. No one noticed that my name was written across a piece
of paper laid over the document itself. Now this I keep as a hostage
over them. Sooner or later, when their plans mature, it will occur to
them what they have done. They will remember that, so long as I hold
this document, I have them in my power. Weiss was uneasy before he left
the room to-night. In less than a week they will be trying to regain
possession of that document under some pretext or other. I am going to
show you where I keep it."
He pushed his chair away and pulled up the rug from beneath it. Even
then Virginia, who had obeyed his gesture and was standing by his side,
could see nothing unusual in the appearance of the hardwood floor. She
watched his finger, however, count the cracks from a knot in the wood.
Then he pressed a certain spot, and one of the blocks sprang up a little
way and was easily removed. Beneath it was the steel lid of a small
coffer, with two keyholes.
"This is my hiding-place," he said calmly, "and these," he added, "are
the keys."
He laid before her two keys of curious device, and he took from a drawer
in his desk a thin chain of platinum and gold.
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