"The stealing has been covered up so far, under a blanket of legal embroidery and fancy phraseology. Trust a wise outfit of lawyers, like the outfit Blake has on his pay roll, to attend to those little details. But I have reason to believe, having got hold of the inside story from strictly private sources, that the gang now in control have laid themselves liable to prison sentences by a few of the tricks they've pulled off. For instance, they haven't let a little thing like bribery stand in their way. They weren't satisfied to stifle a competitive interest politely and quietly, according to the Wall Street standards. No; these thugs just naturally clubbed it to death. I guess they saw so much in it for themselves they took a long chance on being indicted if the facts ever came out. And I happen to know where we can get the facts if we go about it in the right way. Listen, carefully!" For five minutes he talked on, expounding and explaining in straightaway, sharp sentences. And Singlebury, on the edge of his chair, listening, felt the lust of the big-game hunter quicken within him. Every real reporter is a big-game hunter at heart, and the weapon he uses frequently is a deadly one, even though it is nothing more than a lead pencil costing five cents at any stationery shop. The scent was in his nose now, dilating his nostrils; he wriggled to take the trail. "Now, then, you've got the inside dope, as I get it myself," said Mr. Foxman at the end of those pregnant five minutes. "You can see for yourself, though, that a good deal of it--the vital part of it as it stands now--is mostly surmise and suspicion. Naturally, we can't go to the bat against this gang with suspicions; we'd probably land in jail ourselves for criminal libel, instead of landing a few of them in jail, as we hope to do. But if we can prove up--if we can get hold of the rest of the evidence--it'll make one of the sweetest beats that was ever pulled off in this town.