"Then I suppose you take possession?" said Ralph. "That is all right. As soon as Mr. Glidden's brother arrives he will put up the cash or a bond and redeem the plant." "That can't be done," observed the constable. "Practically we are already in possession. The plaintiff, however, has sued out a writ extraordinary. As assignee of the original seller of the melting tanks, which were purchased, not on open account but on contract, and the same held delinquent, he has here in this document a writ of replevin. We want those tanks. The balance will come later." "Very well, gentlemen," said Ralph coolly, "if you are sure you are within your legal rights, go ahead." The constable's assistant made a rush for the iron door. "Only," continued Ralph impressively, "don't try it through that room." "Hey--why not?" demanded the constable, pricking up his ears. "Because the corroding vats are in action, and one minute in that poisonous air would smother the last one of you." "Hah!" ejaculated the constable, "we shall see." He advanced to the iron door and lifted its hasped bar. "Whew!" he gurgled, slamming it shut again, one whiff sending him reeling back as though he had been hit with a club. "Tricked us, have you," gritted Dorsett, darting a malevolent look at Ralph. "Get around to the rear, you four. Smash out those barred windows." "I submit," interposed Ralph calmly, "that won't do any good. The tanks are red hot and will remain so for many hours." "Baffled!" hissed the constable dramatically. "Dorsett, they've got the drop on you. No, no," continued the official, lifting his hand as the infuriated Dorsett seemed about to dash out of the office bent on any destruction, so long as he carried out his evil designs, "law is law." "And you've got a writ to execute it, haven't you?" yelled Dorsett. "Not with violence, my dear sir--not with violence," mildly intimated the constable. "I fear we have proceeded with undue haste. I assumed that the plant would be inactive." "It was, up to last evening." "On that hypothesis we took out a writ for immediate seizure of certain specified chattels. You may enter, seize, and distrain. You may stretch a point and force a door or smash a window, but you have no warrant to batter down a wall. If you did--red hot, see?" and with a rather sickly smile the speaker went through a pantomime of seizing and briskly dropping an overheated object. "Then take possession," commanded Dorsett stormily. "Get this young marplot out of here and let no more of his ilk in again." "Sorry," retorted the constable, "but there again we have checkmated ourselves. Relying to your statements we took extreme measures to tear out the tanks and later put a custodian in charge. We cannot now legally enter here or remain here except on a new writ of possession."