“I, Silas Harshaw, sound of mind, do declare and proclaim these men as my enemies.
“Louis Glenn urged me to spend my little pittance in stock that proved worthless. Thomas Sutton refused to listen to me, when I told him of my great invention.
“James Throckmorton questioned me suspiciously, and demanded that I tell him all my plans. Arthur Wilhelm furnished me with funds, but did so grudgingly, expecting much from little.
“I believe that any one of these men would steal my brains if they could do so.
“Hence if any one of them should fall into the snare that I have laid, his death will be on his own head.
“Let them beware! Alive or dead, I can thwart their plans of theft!”
“The man was crazy!” exclaimed Wilhelm. “I would have given him all the money he wanted, if he had shown some results. But I wasn’t going to throw my cash away.
“To think of it! He tried to kill me!” Joe Cardona was calling from the spot beside the window.
Biscayne placed the paper in the hands of the commissioner, and hurried to the other end of the room. The others followed.
Peering into the open space, they saw the muzzle of a revolver. The weapon had been mounted at the back of the space, set between braces.