The three men were just inside the door. But as Vining spoke he took a step forward into the room and toward me, and his companions came forward with him. The light switch was on the wall, just inside the door, and as Vining advanced I saw a hand steal through the doorway and along the wall in the direction of the switch. Then Larry’s black poll appeared and he beckoned me with his other hand, but he did not turn the switch at once. Vining swore. “—— him! Take that mask off and search him!” he said to his two satellites, who were standing, waiting for orders. I glanced at the two men and wondered. They were swarthy and foreign, with high cheekbones—distinctly Slavic. But as they stepped toward me, a great many things happened at once. For one thing, Larry came fully into view. He had a small rug in his hand. He stepped silently as close as he could to Vining and still reach the switch. Then at one and the same moment the rug sailed over Vining’s head, the light went out, my fist connected with one Slavic jaw, while with my other arm I caught the other assistant around the middle to act as a shield in case Vining’s gun went off. And Larry must have caught Vining from behind, for another loud crash from the other side of the dark room accompanied the bang with which my first victim brought up against the floor. I threw the second Russian down by means of the cross-buttock, with which simple expedient he did not seem familiar, judging by the way he literally fell for it. Then I stumbled over the first Russian and blundered into Larry in the doorway, and together we fled for the front door and the outside world, Larry chuckling richly under his breath. As we crowded through the front door, there came the roar of somebody’s revolver from the room behind us and a scream of pain—and Larry broke into open laughter. “Sure, sor,” he panted, as we fled down the last flight, “they’ll kill each other entirely if we do but lave thim to ut!” “Maybe,” I answered, “but they’ll rouse the whole place about our ears. We’ve got to get out of here—and quick!” The headlights of my car were burning faithfully down the street, and as we hurried toward it, I noticed another, larger car a little farther down, across the street and facing the other way. It had not been there when we came. As we came out from the shadow of the house next door a figure detached itself from the larger car and approached us slowly. “Your mask, Larry,” I warned him, taking off mine at the same time. I paid no particular attention to the man from the other car until he reached us. It was too dark for me to see his face, and too dark, I hoped, for him to see mine. For as we met he glanced at us closely and then, without a word, turned and hurried back to his car. I caught Larry’s arm. “By gad, that looks like more of them. Jump in quick!” I told him.