Spooner essayed to speak, but the words seemed to stick in his throat. Finally he managed to mumble:
"All—all right, sir."
"But, mind you, no more of your thieving tricks, or I'll have you in the cooler before you realize it."
"All right, sir. I—I'd like to ask a question."
"Ask it."
"Who was the man who gave me away?"
"You ought to know better than to ask me that question. Frankly, it is none of your concern. We have been looking for this leak for some time, and we have found it. Had you possessed a grain of common sense you would have known that, sooner or later, you would have been checked up. You're checked. The interview is ended. Go back to work."
"I'll find the man!" growled Spooner. "I'll find him if it takes all the rest of my life to do it, and when I do——"
"What then?" interrupted the superintendent, fixing stern eyes on the man before him.
"I'll tell him what I think of him," answered the contractor lamely, as he left the room.