With that she turned inside, but before she could lower the flap Hammer sprang forward. His mind was in a swirl, and he only realized the one great fact that this woman had a very wrong idea of him and of his intentions. Catching the flap from the outside, he paused as she whirled on him indignantly.
"Just a minute, Miss Helmuth! Look here! I'm not an associate of Dr. Krausz, in the first place, and in the next I don't intend to carry back any report. But I do want to square myself with you, honest, and I think you might give me a chance."
He found himself, for the second time within twenty-four hours, looking squarely into the muzzle of a revolver which she had plucked from the table behind her.
"You step inside this tent, Mr. Hammer, and I fire."
"But, confound it!" he cried, astounded, "I haven't done——"
"Let go that flap and get out of here!"
Helplessly, Hammer stared into her brown eyes and read determination there. He made one more attempt, however.
"Please listen to reason, professor! I'm not trying to put anything over on you; all I want is to get out of this accursed place and to make you look at the thing straight before I go. I didn't know I'd got in so bad——"
"Let go that flap or I'll have my boys force you out of here bodily!"
The brown eyes were blazing with fury, but Hammer thought that never had he seen a woman look so beautiful, so capable of taking care of herself, so thoroughly efficient.