"It is short and to the point. Give me your word that you will stop meddling in Miss Mayo's affairs, which are also my affairs," he added parenthetically, "and that you will never make an effort to see her again. As soon as you have given me this promise, I will escort you to the front door and bid you an eternal farewell, with great pleasure." "I'm looking forward to that pleasure, myself," confessed the visitor. "But before we throw ourselves into the delights of it, suppose you outline the other side of your proposition. I suppose it _has_ another side." Shaw frowned at his cigar. "It doesn't sound pretty," he confessed, with regret. "I'll judge of that. Let's have it." "Well,"--Shaw sighed, dropped the cigar into the tray at his elbow, and sat up to face the young man with an entire change of manner--"The rest of it," he said, calmly, "is this. Unless you make that promise we can't have the farewell scene we are both looking forward to so eagerly." "You mean--" Laurie was staring at him incredulously--"you mean you don't intend to let me leave here?" Shaw shrugged deprecating shoulders. "Oh, surely! But not immediately." His guest turned and addressed the fire. "I never listened to such nonsense in my life," he gravely assured it. Shaw nodded. "It does seem a little melodramatic," he conceded. "I tried to think of something better, something less brusque, as it were. But the time was so short; I really had no choice." "What do you mean by that?" Laurie had again turned to face him. "Exactly what I say. Think it over. Then let me have your decision." Laurie moved closer to him. "Get up," he commanded. Shaw looked surprised. "I am very comfortable here." "_Get up!_" The words came out between the young man's clenched teeth. Shaw again shrugged deprecating shoulders. Then, with another of his wide, sharp-toothed grins, he rose and faced his visitor. At the desk across the room the big blond secretary rose, also, and fixed his pale blue eyes on his employer. "Now," said Laurie, "tell me what the devil you are driving at, and what all this mystery means." "What an impulsive, high-strung chap you are!" Shaw was still grinning his wide grin. "You won't tell me?" "Of course I won't! I've told you enough now to satisfy any reasonable person. Besides, you said you had something to say to me." He was deliberately goading the younger man, and Laurie saw it. He saw, too, over Shaw's shoulder, the tense, waiting figure of the secretary. He advanced another step. "Yes," he said, "I've got three things to say to you. One is that you're a contemptible, low-lived, blackmailing hound. The second is that before I get through with you I'm going to choke the truth out of your fat throat. And the third is that I'll see you in hell before I give you any such promise as you ask. Now, I'm going."