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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df708e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65790 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65790) diff --git a/old/65790-0.txt b/old/65790-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bdaa936..0000000 --- a/old/65790-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7015 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Under The Tiger's Claws, by Nicholas Carter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Under The Tiger's Claws - A Struggle for the Right - -Author: Nicholas Carter - -Release Date: July 7, 2021 [eBook #65790] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: David Edwards, Stephen Hutcheson, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE TIGER'S CLAWS *** - - - - - MAGNET LIBRARY No. 436 - A weekly publication devoted to Detective literature. - March 21, 1905. - - - - - UNDER THE TIGER’S CLAWS; - OR, - A Struggle for the Right - - - BY - NICHOLAS CARTER - AUTHOR OF - “The Great Enigma,” “Hounded to Death,” “The Price of a Secret,” “The - Man of Mystery,” “Run to Earth,” “Sealed Orders,” “The Seal of Death,” - “Driven from Cover,” etc. - - - NEW YORK - STREET & SMITH, Publishers - 79-89 Seventh Avenue - - Copyright, 1905 - By STREET & SMITH - - - - - CONTENTS - - - I. The Man and the Money 5 - II. Where Tides Meet 15 - III. The Tiger’s Claws 31 - IV. A Friend in Need 39 - V. A Turn of Luck 48 - VI. A Startling Sequence 63 - VII. The Wages of Sin 72 - VIII. By Whose Hand? 83 - IX. Under Oath 98 - X. A Mysterious Disappearance 109 - XI. New Clues 123 - XII. Driven to the Wall 133 - XIII. Nick Calls the Turn 143 - XIV. Two Bad Eggs 159 - XV. Secret Work 170 - XVI. Trapped 178 - XVII. The Girl and the Crime 188 - XVIII. Closing In 198 - XIX. The Right Man 208 - - - - - UNDER THE TIGER’S CLAWS. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - THE MAN AND THE MONEY. - - -“Well, my dear Gilsey, I rather think I can land him for you,” declared -Nick Carter, with an odd smile lurking in the corners of his keen, gray -eyes. - -“But that will not do, Nick,” protested Mr. Raymond Gilsey, with an -immediate display of apprehension. - -“Not do, sir?” - -“It may not be what I want.” - -“Not what you want?” - -“Not exactly, Nick,” and Mr. Raymond Gilsey decisively shook his head. - -He was a venerable banker, with a remarkably gentle and benevolent -countenance. He was the president of the Milmore Trust Company, a -banking-institution located in Forty-second Street, the patrons of which -consisted chiefly of business firms in the immediate neighborhood, and -of wealthy women, to whom the up-town location of the bank was a -convenience. - -It was in Mr. Gilsey’s handsome private office that Nick Carter was -seated, one afternoon early in May, in response to a telephone request -from the banker about an hour before. Between the two there existed a -friendship of long standing, and the celebrated detective had hastened -to respond. As yet, however, he had received but a hint at the business -for which he had been called, and he wondered a little at the banker’s -obvious misgivings, as appeared in his remarks noted above. - -“Please explain, Mr. Gilsey,” said Nick. “Certainly, if there is a -deficit in your cash, and you suspect—— Ah, but stop a moment. Perhaps -it will be just as well, my dear Gilsey, if our interview——” - -The last, spoken with lowered voice, was considered with a significant -glance in the direction of Gilsey’s private stenographer, who sat busily -engaged near one of the office windows, and Nick’s glance was equivalent -to a suggestion that the presence of a third party might wisely be -dispensed with. - -This third party was a young woman named Belle Braddon, apparently about -twenty-five years of age. Certain features about her, however, which -Nick’s keen eyes were quick to notice, indicated that Miss Braddon was -in divers ways experienced beyond her years. - -She was that type of girl quite properly termed dashing. Her figure was -striking, her face handsome, with mobile red lips, alluring blue eyes, -and cheeks with a soft tinge of color not entirely their own. She had, -too, an unusual abundance of wavy auburn hair, which was then arranged -in picturesque disorder. Regarded from top to toe, she was decidedly -noticeable, and the style of girl to which most men are quick to -respond. - -Nick Carter, however, did not quite fancy the general appearance of Miss -Braddon, and he abruptly decided that her absence was desirable. In -response to the cue so quietly given him, the banker glanced at the -girl, and asked: - -“What are you now at work on, Belle?” - -Miss Braddon started slightly, much as if her ears had been deaf to any -preceding remarks, then turned with a gracious smile to her employer. - -“On the quarterly reports which you dictated this morning,” she replied, -with a peculiarly clear and penetrating voice. - -“You may drop that for the present, Belle, as I may change some of the -concluding pages,” said Mr. Gilsey. - -“Very well, sir.” - -“Are my letters ready for signing?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“You may leave them on your table. As I shall be engaged with this -gentleman for some time, and will not require you later, I will excuse -you for the rest of the day.” - -“Ah, thank you very much, Mr. Gilsey,” cried Miss Braddon, beaming -gratefully as she arose from her table. “That will be very nice, sir. I -can do a little shopping.” - -The banker nodded and smiled, then reverted to Nick, and conversed with -him upon casual matters while the girl prepared to go. Apparently, Nick -did not notice her, but he nevertheless saw all that was worth noting. - -As Miss Braddon put on a broad picture hat and her light wrap, her -expression became more grave and her cheeks lost some of their color. - -Twice she glanced furtively at the detective, with a certain resentful -gleam in her pretty eyes. That it did not entirely please her, despite -her effusive thanks, was evinced in the slight curl of her red lips; yet -she presently bowed politely and departed, gently closing the office -door. - -“An attractive girl, Gilsey, your stenographer,” remarked Nick -carelessly. - -“Miss Braddon?” queried the banker, smiling complacently. “So she is, -Nick, and as capable and charming as she is showy.” - -“I did not say showy,” laughed Nick dryly. “I said attractive.” - -“Much the same, Nick, when applied to a woman.” - -“Has she been long in your employ?” - -“About four months.” - -“Of course, she came well recommended?” - -“Decidedly so,” bowed Gilsey; then he added, with a smile and headshake: -“You professional detectives are habitually suspicious of everybody, I -really believe. That girl is all right, Nick, take my word for it. Her -uncle, with whom she lives, is one of our largest depositors.” - -“Ah, I see,” smiled Nick, a bit oddly. “Now, my dear Gilsey, why have -you sent for me? What can I do for you?” - -The banker became grave in an instant. - -“There are two reasons, Nick, why I have appealed to you,” said he. -“First, because we are old friends, and I know that you will do just -what I require upon this case, and no more than I require.” - -“And your second reason?” - -“Because I know I can safely trust you, Nick, and that you will give no -publicity to the case after having dropped it, providing your -investigations warrant dropping it. That is more than I could expect or -hope for from men of the central office, and so I have appealed to you, -relying upon our long friendship to influence you to aid me.” - -Nick nodded gravely for a moment, noting the profound anxiety now -reflected in the banker’s venerable face. - -“I certainly will do what I can for you, Gilsey, and you may depend upon -me to be discreet,” said he warmly. “Now, what is the trouble here? You -intimated that a deficit exists in your cash.” - -“So I did, Nick, yet I am not sure of it.” - -“Not sure of it?” - -“That seems strange to you,” replied Gilsey. “I can explain in a few -words.” - -“Well?” - -“Mr. Cecil Kendall, one of my most trusty clerks, has been absent on a -vacation for several days. During the illness of our cashier, Mr. -Knights, for nearly three months, Kendall has been doing double his -share of work. He has handled the cashier’s end of our business, as well -as his own.” - -“I follow you,” said Nick attentively. - -“My own duties here are very arduous,” continued Gilsey, “yet, as far as -possible, I always keep an eye upon the work of all of my clerks. -Kendall, however, is a man of unusual ability, an expert accountant, and -a man in whom I have had the greatest confidence. His work on the books -has always been satisfactory, yet in doing double his ordinary duties it -would not be strange if some of his work had fallen a little behind.” - -“That is true,” admitted Nick. “Do you find that the books are not in -proper shape up to date?” - -“Unfortunately, I cannot tell,” was the reply. “Kendall went to Boston -to attend the wedding of his brother last Tuesday. He was to have -returned this morning, but has not yet appeared, nor sent me any word -explaining his absence. I am unable to tell in just what condition he -left his accounts. I know, however, that several large amounts were -received here during Monday, and also that considerable was used for the -payment of notes which came due that day.” - -“I see, sir.” - -“It was an exceedingly busy day for Mr. Kendall,” continued the banker, -“and he worked here Monday until compelled to leave to catch a late -train to Boston. I went home at my usual hour, about four o’clock, so -did not see him after he wound up his Monday work. Whether he has left -part of his work undone, depending upon memoranda of which I am -ignorant, I cannot say. All I know, Nick, is that he has not returned -to-day, as expected, and that there appears to be a serious deficit in -the cash accounts.” - -“How serious?” - -“Nearly ninety thousand dollars.” - -“Whew! Serious, indeed!” exclaimed the detective. “Have you no way of -getting at the exact truth?” - -“Oh, yes, it can be done,” replied Gilsey quickly. “But it would require -time, and occasion a publicity which I wish to prevent, for a day or -two, at least, in the hope that Kendall will return, or can be found, -and show that matters here are all right. In fact, Nick, I am inclined -to think they are, and that I am needlessly alarmed; yet, for the -protection of our depositors, I feel that I must take some step at this -time.” - -“Quite properly, too.” - -“I wish to locate Kendall as quickly as possible. I want him here, that -an explanation may be made. In case I am entirely wrong, however, and no -deficit really exists, I do not wish Kendall to learn of my misgivings, -and that I have employed a detective, the injustice of which would -seriously and needlessly wound him.” - -“That is very true,” admitted Nick thoughtfully. “I now see about what -you want of me, Gilsey. You wish me to locate Kendall as quickly as -possible, and send or bring him here without disclosing your doubts and -apprehensions.” - -“Exactly.” - -“If he is perfectly honest, as you are still inclined to think, it -should be an easy matter to locate him before to-morrow.” - -“Easy for one of your experience, Nick; and that is precisely why I have -called upon you.” - -“Do you know Kendall’s Boston address?” - -“I have already wired to his Boston friends.” - -“With what result?” - -“A message in reply states that Kendall left for New York last night.” - -“Does it state by what route?” - -“It does not.” - -“Ordinarily, he should have arrived here this morning,” remarked Nick, -more gravely. “There is a bare possibility, Gilsey, that he is a victim -of foul play.” - -“I have thought of that, Nick, which also deters me from acting too -hastily, or making any immediate charges.” - -“Do you know whether Kendall had much money with him?” - -“I do not.” - -“If he had what you fear may be missing, Mr. Gilsey, he had a good, -round sum,” observed Nick dryly. - -The banker shook his head. - -“I cannot yet believe it,” said he gravely. “There are, too, other -parties whom I would spare the pain of knowing that I have unjustly -suspected Kendall of embezzlement, and gone so far as to call in a -detective.” - -“What other parties, Gilsey?” inquired Nick, with brows lifting -slightly. - -“I refer to Doctor Leonard Royal, of Fordham, the Episcopal rector, and -to his family,” explained the banker. “I infer from what I see of the -couple that Kendall is engaged to marry the rector’s daughter, Medora -Royal. He is, too, an intimate friend of young Harry Royal, the rector’s -only son, who went to Boston with him. It happens, Nick, that Doctor -Royal and I have been lifelong friends. I regard him as fondly as a -brother. In case I am wrong, Nick, I would not for the world have them -know that I suspect Kendall.” - -“I see, my dear Gilsey.” - -“In a nutshell, Nick, I wish you to locate him for me as quickly as -possible.” - -“But not arrest him?” - -For an instant the banker hesitated, then said huskily: - -“No, Nick, not that. Not—not unless——” - -“Ah, well, if any ‘unless’ creeps in, I shall know what to do without -instructions,” Nick bluntly interposed. “Now, Mr. Gilsey, give me -Kendall’s city address.” - -“He occupies bachelor’s apartments in Fifty-ninth Street. Here is the -number. He has not been there to-day, however.” - -“How long since you sent to inquire?” - -“Less than an hour.” - -“Is he a clubman?” - -“I think not.” - -Nick Carter replaced his note-book in his pocket, then arose and took -his hat from the banker’s table. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - WHERE TIDES MEET. - - -Before making his departure, Nick again turned to the banker and said: - -“One more question occurs to me, Gilsey. How did you happen to discover -that a deficit possibly exists in your cash, and under the circumstances -stated?” - -“Well, it—it was a perfectly natural discovery in the course of to-day’s -business,” Mr. Gilsey faltered. - -A subtle gleam showed for a moment in Nick’s keen eyes. - -“Do you know of anything, or have you ever heard anything, which at once -led you to examine Kendall’s accounts when he failed to appear at his -desk this morning?” he demanded. - -The banker hesitated for barely a second, and Nick cried curtly: - -“Come, come, Gilsey, there is something more. Let me have the whole -business, all you know, or up go my hands and I drop the case. I thought -you knew I was a man to be safely trusted, dear fellow. Come, come, what -sent you to Kendall’s books so hurriedly?” - -The banker colored slightly, and now hastened to reply. - -“Well, Nick, to be perfectly frank with you, despite that I give no -credit to the statement, it was said to me about two weeks ago that -Kendall was given to gambling.” - -“Oh, ho! Gambling, eh? Who said so?” - -“A brother banker, Nick, whose name certainly is not material at this -time.” - -“Well? Anything more?” - -“I asked Kendall about it that very day, and he denied the report and -laughed it to scorn. I could not believe it of him, Nick, and did not.” - -“What did your brother banker say, Mr. Gilsey?” - -“Merely that he had seen both Kendall and young Harry Royal one evening -coming out of a gambling-house said to be owned and run by one Moses -Flood.” - -“Ha! Moses Flood, eh?” muttered Nick, with a curious smile. - -“It must have been a mistake,” continued Gilsey, with augmented feeling. -“Kendall is not a man of evil inclinations. It is not in his nature to -have formed any relations whatever with a scoundrel who gambles for a -living, and who runs a resort where——” - -“Stop just a moment, Gilsey,” interrupted Nick, with an odd little -laugh. “A man of your limited experience is very prone to misjudge men -out of his own circle in life.” - -“What do you mean, Nick?” - -“Just this, my dear Gilsey,” said Nick, more seriously. “I know Moses -Flood even better than I know you. Understand me, now, I do not advocate -gambling, nor do I defend him as a gambler, for such he certainly is, -and in that respect he is an outlaw and a man to be shunned. I am -opposed to gambling of all kinds, whether done with cards, or in a -pool-room, or on a race-track, or in the stock exchange.” - -“Why, certainly, Nick, I already know that,” exclaimed Gilsey, with a -surprised expression in his gentle, blue eyes. “But what do you imply of -this rascal?” - -“Merely this,” smiled Nick. “Aside from his vocation, which in every way -I despise, Moses Flood is not a rascal. I know what I am talking about, -Gilsey. Flood is a man whose word is as good as any man’s bond. He is as -square a man as ever stood in leather. If he wanted to borrow half my -fortune till to-morrow, with no better security than his word alone, he -could have it, and I should sleep soundly to-night, knowing that he had -it.” - -“You surprise me, Nick. I should not have formed that opinion of him.” - -“Oh, I am but incidentally setting you right as to the man,” added Nick. -“He is not a ruffian, nor is he a rascal, save in one way. He is well -educated, a student of the sciences, and an admirer of the fine arts. -His bachelor quarters are filled with superb treasures and paintings -well worth seeing, a veritable art gallery in fact. I know that he gives -most liberally to charity, moreover, and I am informed that no man was -ever enticed into or intentionally cheated in his gaming-place, which is -open only to the very wealthy and most exclusive of our men about town.” - -“Still, if he——” - -“But that’s enough for Flood, my dear Gilsey. If your man Kendall has -been one of his patrons, I shall know it before midnight. At nine -o’clock to-morrow morning I will meet you here, or communicate with you -by telephone.” - -“And you expect——” - -“That I shall then have located Kendall? Most decidedly I do, Gilsey. -Trust me to be discreet, however, and to have your wishes well in mind.” - -“A thousand thanks, Nick. I knew you would help me out.” - -“Surely, old friend,” said Nick, as they shook hands. “Let the case rest -until morning. The few hours will make no great difference one way or -the other. Be here at nine to-morrow morning, and you shall know -the—well, let’s hope it will be, not the worst, but the best.” - -“Amen to that!” said Gilsey fervently. - -It was three o’clock when Nick Carter left the Trust Company building -and emerged into Forty-second Street. - -As a matter of fact, the case did not appeal very strongly to the famous -detective. His regard for Gilsey, much more than any feeling of interest -in the affair, had led Nick to undertake the task imposed. - -As to the case itself, it then presented no unusual nor especially -interesting features. If Kendall had been gambling, as Nick was then -inclined to suspect, it was very possible that he was an embezzler, and -had already fled from the country. Yet Nick decided that he would be -governed by Gilsey’s wishes until the following morning. - -Contrary to his anticipations, however, despite that Nick Carter was -quick to see all the possibilities of a case, that into which he had now -entered was destined to prove one of the most curious and absorbing, as -well as most intensely exciting, that he had ever known. - -Nick’s first move for locating Kendall that afternoon was characteristic -of him. He turned to none of the avenues of information to which the -ordinary detective usually turns. Instead, he hastened to the Grand -Central Station and boarded the first train for Fordham, his destination -being the rectory occupied by the learned divine, Doctor Leonard Royal. -Nick reasoned that if Harry Royal had visited Boston with Kendall, and -Dora Royal was in love with him, either the clergyman or his daughter -could give him the information he desired. - -As he approached the rectory, however, Nick met with a startling -surprise. It was a fine old place, somewhat isolated, and was surrounded -with no end of great shade trees, clusters of shrubbery, and high -hedges. The dwelling itself, occupying the middle of the large estate, -was a commodious wooden house, with deep verandas and innumerable -gables, and with a huge glass conservatory on the south side. - -Peering through the high hedge adjoining the side street as he -approached, Nick halted, with a muttered exclamation of surprise. Two -men, one of them the elderly rector, were just entering the outer door -of the conservatory. - -The rector’s companion was none other than—Moses Flood, the gamester! - -“He here!” murmured Nick. “What the dickens does this signify? He is the -last man I would expect to see visiting this clergyman. If Gilsey’s -brother banker was right, there may be much more in this case than I -anticipated. The way looks easy, and I guess I’d better learn what -brings Moses Flood out here.” - -Having worked his way through the hedge, Nick crossed the grounds, -carefully avoiding observation from the house, and presently darted -under a cluster of lilacs close to the side wall of the great glass -conservatory. - -There he could plainly view the scene within, and he presently found a -break in one of the glass panes which enabled him to overhear all that -was said—an interview that caused him to open his eyes still a little -wider. - -The elderly rector was seated in a rustic chair, and his benignant -countenance evinced considerable perturbation and distress. - -Moses Flood, however, was standing beside a small wooden table near-by, -and as the story progresses he is to figure so strongly and strangely -that he deserves a careful description. - -He was about forty-five, tall and well built, inclining somewhat to -stoutness. His wavy hair was tinged with gray, his head finely poised, -and his smoothly shaven face strikingly strong and attractive. His -features were clean cut and pale, his brow broad, his nose straight, and -his lips noticeably thin and firm. His eyes were gray, as sharp and cold -as steel, yet capable of remarkable expression. Obviously, it was the -face of a man of superhuman will, and one rather inclined to quiet -reserve and studious habits. - -He was scrupulously dressed. His black Prince Albert fitted like a glove -and came nearly to the knees of his pearl-gray trousers. His shoes were -small and carefully polished, and his silk hat, on the table beside him, -was of the latest style. His only jewelry was a small, piercingly -brilliant solitaire in his black satin tie. From head to foot he was -without a sign of dust or blemish. - -This was the man whom Nick Carter had declared to be a rascal in only -one way, and Nick fully appreciated that gaming was not confined to -cards alone, and for many of his estimable qualities Nick rather admired -Moses Flood. - -The drift of the interview between the two men almost immediately gave -Nick Carter his cue. - -“You must hear me patiently,” Doctor Royal was tremulously saying. “I do -not forget the past few months, Mr. Flood. I recall with profound -feeling your many personal attentions to me, your liberality for -charity, your almost princely generosity for the poor of my parish, and -it is painful to me beyond expression when I realize how terribly I have -been deceived.” - -Flood stood as motionless as a man of marble, and nearly as pale; yet -his grave, strong face never once changed in a way to betray his secret -feelings. - -“You feel, then, that you have been deceived?” said he inquiringly, with -a peculiarly deep yet penetrating voice, then imbued with kindliness. - -“Dreadfully deceived,” replied the rector sadly. “Of my daughter, and -the love for her you have just expressed, I cannot now speak.” - -“Good God!” muttered Nick, under his breath. “Flood is in love with the -girl here.” - -“Of my son Harry,” continued the rector, “who of late has been much -absent from me while in college—ah, it breaks my heart, as it would that -of his loving sister, to know that he places among his friends a man of -your calling.” - -“This is the deception to which you refer, Doctor Royal?” - -“To what else, sir? I cannot forget that it was my dear boy who brought -you here, and only to-day, when I had begun to regard you with almost -brotherly affection, have you voluntarily told me the truth. You were -represented to me to be in the ivory business. Alas! I now can see the -significance of that. But I had all faith in my son, and looked for no -such duplicity.” - -“Naturally not,” said Flood simply. - -“You have been a frequent visitor here, and have won the esteem of all -my house, and God only knows how pained I am to learn the truth that -must forever sever our friendship.” - -There were tears in the rector’s aged eyes, but Flood never moved nor -changed. - -“May not a gamester be a true friend?” he asked gravely. - -“Not a worthy one—never!” - -“You feel sure of that?” - -“Absolutely.” - -“Then you consider me a knave?” - -“Your vocation brands you as one.” - -“I will not undertake, Doctor Royal, to defend my vocation,” said Flood, -with indescribable gentleness. “It would be vain for me to try to show -one of your cloth that but very little moral difference exists between -my methods and those of numberless institutions countenanced -complacently both by law and society——” - -“There can be no extenuation——” - -“Hear me, please! I came here at your son’s solicitation, rather against -my own will, and I believed my first visit would be my last. Fate -decided otherwise. I met your only daughter—— Nay, sir, do not shudder! -I have never yet spoken to her one word of love.” - -“God forbid!” - -“If her love were to have been given to me, it was my plan to relinquish -my present business and turn to one honorable in the eyes of all. I -first came to you, Doctor Royal, and told the whole truth. Believe me, -despite your censure, even a gamester may love nobly. But no more need -be said. I shall respect and be governed by a father’s will and wishes. -Your manner and words show me that under no consideration can you deem -me worthy.” - -“No longer worthy of my roof—much less my daughter!” answered the -rector, trembling, and in tears. - -Despite that Flood’s pale face remained as calm as stone, Nick, with his -keen discernment, saw that the man was suffering beyond description, -and, in a way, the kind-hearted detective pitied him. - -“Not of your roof? Ah, well, let it be so,” replied Flood, taking his -hat from the table. - -Doctor Royal rose, trembling, to his feet. - -“Under the circumstances I cannot permit you to come here again,” said -he brokenly. “I shall send for my son, and I hope soon to know the whole -truth. God help me, sir, my two children are all I have in this life; -and my daughter—I do not speak in judgment—a man like you can have no -place in her pure, young heart.” - -Flood bowed with indescribable composure. - -“Yet a man like me, Doctor Royal, may be capable of a great love, and -possibly capable of great self-sacrifice. No more, sir. I bid you good -day.” - -“Stay!” pleaded the rector, deeply agitated. “There is still another -reason why my daughter could not consider any proposal from you.” - -“Another reason?” - -“She is already engaged.” - -“Engaged!” Flood echoed, starting slightly. - -“It is not yet announced,” faltered the clergyman. “Had I known the -nature and depth of your feelings, however, I would have told you -earlier. But Mr. Kendall desired it kept quiet for a time, and——” - -“Kendall?” - -“Cecil Kendall—you have met him here once, I believe. He is an exemplary -young man. In all ways worthy of my Dora.” - -For the first time the features of Moses Flood appeared to get the -better of his iron will. His hand stole over his heart, his lips -contracted and twitched convulsively for a moment, and his voice choked -in his throat. - -“Does she, your daughter, love Cecil Kendall?” he asked. - -“Devotedly.” - -“Are you—are you—sure of that?” - -“Positively, sir. It would break Medora’s heart if any ill befell Mr. -Kendall, or if——” - -“Please, sir,” interposed Flood, with cheeks utterly void of color. “You -mean well, sir, and have not spoken unkindly. I shall not forget it, nor -that you are the father of one more dear to me than life. I bid you -adieu.” - -He bowed, put on his hat, then passed out of the conservatory by the -door they had entered, and strode across the broad grounds and into the -quiet and secluded street. - -The rector tottered toward a door leading into the side of the house. - -He had barely reached it when, from behind a mass of shrubbery near-by, -Nick Carter heard a mingled moan and sob that caused his heart to swell -with sudden apprehension. He darted to the spot, and beheld a girl -reeling, half fainting, with her face buried in her hands, and her -pretty figure shaken through and through with welling sobs. - -One glance told Nick it was the rector’s daughter. - -With a bound he reached her side, taking her by the arm, while his own -kindly face revealed a mingled solicitude and apprehension. - -“Hush, hush, my dear girl!” he cried softly. “You, too, have overheard, -and you have met with a grievous trouble. Turn to me in this hour, -and—hush! don’t let your father hear you. There may be a silver lining -to the blackest cloud, my child. Let me be your friend in this hour of -your grief.” - -The startled girl stared at him through her flooded eyes, and by the -dropping of her hands revealed a face as sweet and innocent as that of -an angel. - -Meantime, Moses Flood was hastening to the city, where, later in the -day, as he was approaching his famous gambling resort, he encountered on -the street a woman who unceremoniously accosted him. - -The woman was Belle Braddon, arrayed in elaborate street attire. - -“Hello, Mose!” she exclaimed familiarly, with an arch glance and smile. - -Flood was not in a mood to be pleased with her familiarity, nor even to -resent it. - -“Hello, Belle,” he replied, bowing gravely. - -“Oh, I say!” she quickly added, drawing nearer, with voice lowered. -“You’d best look out for a bolt from the blue. One of your players is in -hot water.” - -Flood’s cold, steel-gray eyes took on a look of interest. - -“What player, Belle?” he slowly demanded. - -“Confidentially, mind you, dear fellow!” - -“Surely.” - -“I refer to Cecil Kendall,” whispered the girl. - -“What of him?” - -“Gone lame. Short in his accounts.” - -“What?” - -Flood’s teeth had met with a snap, and his eyes were beginning to blaze. - -“Oh, I know what I’m saying,” Belle Braddon pointedly continued. “I’m in -the same office with him, you know. When it’s up to me to get wise to -all that’s going on, I come mighty near doing it.” - -Moses Flood was calm again—strangely, preternaturally calm. - -“Do you know how much he is short?” - -“Only ninety thousand dollars!” exclaimed the girl, with a leer. - -“What is being done about it?” - -“Not much as yet, Mose.” - -“Tell me what.” - -“Oh, Gilsey wants to locate Kendall as quickly as possible, and has -called in Nick Carter to do it for him.” - -“The dickens! Nick Carter, eh?” - -“Gilsey evidently thinks that Kendall believes he has left his tracks -covered during his absence, and means to try to carry the deficit a -while longer undetected. Gilsey is wise to it, though, but I reckon -nothing will be done for a day or so.” - -“Is that all you know about it?” - -“That’s all now, Mose,” laughed the girl, with a wink. “Isn’t that -enough?” - -Flood nodded. - -“Quite enough,” said he oddly. “Belle, dear, keep this to yourself till -I give you permission to open your lips about it, will you?” - -The girl colored deeply when thus addressed, and slipped her hand into -his. - -“Sure thing,” she answered fondly. “You know I’d do anything for you, -Mose.” - -“Do this, then, will you?” - -“Trust me.” - -“Not one word about it.” - -“I’m as dumb as an oyster—for your sake, mind you!” - -“I’ll not forget that part of it, Belle,” said Flood pointedly. - -Then he turned and moved on—and his face was a study for an artist. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - THE TIGER’S CLAWS. - - -“Last turn! Four for one if you call it right!” - -The monotonous voice of the cuekeeper, announcing with hackneyed phrase -the alluring possibility, broke the strained silence of an elaborately -furnished room. - -It was a room on the second floor of the famous gambling resort owned -and conducted by Moses Flood. It was that particular room in the house -in which King Faro held sole sway. - -The house was in a fashionable street, and had an attractive exterior. -No layman would have dreamed that it masked a lair of vice. It was a -wolf in sheep’s clothing. - -It was one of a superb block of brown sandstone residences within a -stone’s throw of Fifth Avenue, with a broad flight of carved steps -leading to the front door. The elegant stained windows of this front -door, as well as those of the lower rooms, were protected with strong, -iron gratings, that thieves might not break through and steal. - -Incidentally, the police also were thus excluded—unless they came with a -warrant. In that case, even, which a wardman was liberally paid to -prevent, they would have “found nothing.” It takes time to read a -search-warrant—all the time that would be required to effect a -transformation scene within. Such are the precautions taken by vice. - -Entrance could be had only with the sanction of a burly attendant -constantly at the front door, and by means of the magic talisman of -previous acquaintance, or the voucher of a known and reliable friend. -One entering from the street would have seen only a superbly furnished -hall, with sumptuous parlors adjoining, and a library and smoking-room -beyond. - -To see more, one must go higher. - -The tiger lurks on the floors above. - -To one only of the upper rooms is attention here invited—the room -already mentioned. - -It was large and richly furnished. A heavy Wilton carpet covered the -floor. Massive walnut chairs stood a little away from the beautifully -frescoed walls, and the ceiling, done in exquisite colors, and so as to -produce the effect of height, revealed a lavish expenditure of money. It -might have been a room in a king’s palace. - -Rare paintings adorned the walls. A large sideboard, rich with silver -and cut glass, stood at the back of the room. Costly ornaments occupied -shelves and niches here and there. - -The door leading to the main hall of the house was closed and heavily -barred. It had in one panel a “peek,” so called, with a moving slide, -through which an attendant could look into the hall. This was another -precaution taken by vice. - -At the front of the room was a long, baize-covered table, on which was a -faro layout, the various suits painted in natural colors on enameled -cloth. It was the tiger, courted while feared. It should have been -called the snake, for it fascinated before it killed, rendering -powerless the victims it lured to destruction. - -Back of the table sat the dealer, who played his luck against all -opponents. His duties were arduous. He sold the stacks of ivory chips, -handled all the money, shuffled and dealt the cards from the silver deal -box before him, and took or paid all bets. He seldom spoke unless -addressed. His brain was active, his eyes alert, his hands busy; but his -face, whether he won or lost, evinced no emotion. - -In a chair to his right, and somewhat above the table, sat the lookout. -His duty was to see that the dealer made no mistakes. The lookout thus -protects the house. The players have no protection. They who “buck the -tiger” must look out for themselves. - -At one end of the table sat the cuekeeper. In front of him on the table -lay the cue-rack, a small wooden frame, pierced with wires, on which -movable buttons indicate the cards already dealt and those still -remaining in the deal box. - -The cuekeeper in a faro-bank is every man’s menial. The losers curse -him; the winners sometimes tip him. The cuekeeper in this place was a -humpback, named John Green. He more frequently was called Humpty. All -cuekeepers are malformations; the longer they live, the worse they -become. - -On a couch at one side of the room a young man lay sleeping. It was the -deep, dead sleep of intoxication. Yet he was well clad, and his boyish -features indicated culture and refinement. His name was—Harry Royal. - -The companion with whom he had entered this place some hours earlier was -seated at the gaming-table, in a chair directly opposite the dealer and -amid several other players. He was a tall, fair man, and his knit brows, -his pressed lips, his glowing eyes, and tremulous hands, indicated his -intense interest in the game then in progress. - -He appeared quite collected, however, and placed his bets promptly, like -one playing a system. He was setting a rapid pace, too, if one might -judge from the stacks of chips in front of him. Yet he plainly was not a -winner. The ugly light in his frowning eyes was convincing evidence of -that. - -Such was the place, and the employment of its several occupants, which -Moses Flood was at that hour approaching. - -The May day was drawing to a close, and the dusk of early evening had -begun to fall. - -The cuekeeper repeated his announcement: - -“Last turn! Four for one if you call it!” - -The man last described glanced at the cuekeeper: - -“What’s in, Humpty?” he demanded. - -“A cat-hop, Mr. Kendall—two kings and a seven. He’s got to show a king -first, hasn’t he?” replied the humpback, with a weird smile stealing -over his broad, unpleasant-looking face. - -“It’s two to one he does,” growled Kendall, as the dealer briefly paused -before making the turn. - -Kendall placed a hundred to win on the seven, coppered the king for a -like amount, and called the turn for fifty. - -Several other players, most of whom were wealthy bloods about town, men -who would have given thousands rather than have been caught in Flood’s -gaming-house—these men also had placed their bets. - -“All ready?” queried the dealer indifferently. - -“Let her come, Mr. Bruce,” said one impatiently. - -Tom Bruce, a dealer who had been in Flood’s employ for several years, -deftly pushed the cards from the box. - -He showed a seven, and then two kings. - -Cecil Kendall had lost two hundred and fifty dollars on the turn. - -For the bare fraction of a second he shrank, shuddered visibly, and his -drawn features took on a deathly pallor and the haggard look of secret -despair. - -“Curse the infernal luck!” he growled audibly. “Will it never change?” - -The lookout, a man named Nathan Godard, also in Flood’s employ, smiled -faintly. - -“What’s the trouble, Kendall?” he asked, in bantering fashion. “Can’t -you get ’em down right?” - -“I didn’t get those bets down right, that’s evident,” snarled Kendall -bitterly. - -“So I see.” - -“What you don’t see, Godard, isn’t worth seeing.” - -“Oh, is that so? You must be a loser, Kendall.” - -“About eighteen hundred.” - -“Ah, well, don’t let it bother you,” laughed Godard, a bit maliciously. -“You’re not playing for your life.” - -Kendall evidently did not like the interference, nor the tone in which -the last remarks were made. He glanced sharply up at the rather -unprepossessing face of the speaker, and retorted curtly: - -“No, not for my life, Nate Godard! But I’m playing for something as dear -to me as life.” - -“A fortune, eh?” grinned Godard, not in the least disturbed. - -“No, not a fortune,” snapped Kendall. - -The dealer glanced across the table at him, still shuffling the cards -for the next deal, but he said nothing. - -Godard, however, could not resist voicing the thought that arose in his -mind. - -“Well, if you’re playing for something more dear than either life or -fortune, Kendall, you’re taking infernally long chances,” said he -pointedly. “Honor is something not wisely staked upon a faro layout, and -if——” - -In an instant Kendall was upon his feet, ghastly with passion. - -“Who spoke of honor?” he cried furiously. “Do you dare imply that I——” - -Clang! - -The bell on the hall door had rung sharply. - -It rang an immediate knell to the brief disturbance. - -It brought a moment of absolute silence, in which every eye was turned -swiftly toward the door. - -Humpty Green, the malformation, leaped up from his chair and ran to the -peek. One glance was sufficient. He closed the slide, then threw both -hands above his head with a grotesque gesture of warning. - -The eyes of all were upon him. His lips moved, but his voice, was -silent, yet all received the mute message he conveyed. - -“Hush! It’s the boss! It’s Moses Flood!” - -Then he removed the heavy bar and opened the door. - -Moses Flood, with face as calm as a sea of ice, gravely entered the -room. - -He was followed closely by two men, both of whom were in disguise. - -One was the famous New York detective’s chief assistant, Chick Carter. - -The other was Nick Carter, the great detective himself. - -The humpback closed the heavy door and replaced the bar. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - A FRIEND IN NEED. - - -Before depicting the thrilling episodes that followed the entrance of -Nick Carter and Chick into Moses Flood’s gambling-house, it is -necessary, in order that Nick’s conduct may be better appreciated, to -revert to his meeting with Dora Royal near the rectory conservatory, and -present the remainder of the interview. - -That the girl had overheard all that had passed between Flood and her -father, and that her discovery of the gamester’s vocation came upon her -with a shock that overwhelmed and crushed her, were at once painfully -apparent to Nick, who quickly interpreted the true significance of her -touching grief. - -It awakened a feeling of sympathy in the kind-hearted detective, -moreover, together with a desire to befriend the girl, if possible, with -which aim in view he gently drew her back of the conservatory and out of -sight from the windows of the house. - -Having made sure that they were safe from the eyes and ears of others, -Nick brought all his kind influence to bear, and soon succeeded in -getting Miss Royal into a more composed state. - -She was barely twenty, an innocent and artless girl, obviously unused to -the ways of the world, and that her secret heart had been won by the -strong and magnetic nature of Moses Flood, while she was entirely -ignorant of his vocation, did not in the least surprise the detective. -How he could now serve her best, however, was Nick’s immediate and chief -consideration. - -“Now come, Miss Royal, I want you to confide in me,” said he, in a -kindly and impressive way. “You are in trouble, and need a good friend, -one who knows all the ways of the world, and just what is of true value -in it. I shall have only your happiness and welfare at heart, I assure -you, and very possibly I can do more for you than you imagine. Come, -now, and confide in me.” - -The girl heard him like one in a dream at first, but Nick had an -influence at such times that was quite irresistible, and Dora Royal soon -began drying her pretty eyes. - -“But you are a stranger to me, sir,” she protested, in charming -uncertainty. “I never saw you before——” - -“Well, well, so I am, and I hope you’ll excuse me,” laughed Nick, in a -way to further reassure her. “I felt so moved by your grief that I -really forgot to be conventional. Here is my card, Miss Royal. Perhaps -you know me by name.” - -“Are—are you the famous detective?” faltered Dora, with glistening eyes, -raised from the card to seek his. - -Nick laughed again, and his smile proved to be contagious this time, for -the drawn lips of the girl began to relax a little. - -“I am Nick Carter, the detective,” he replied. “How great I am I leave -others to say. I certainly should feel that I had done something worthy, -Miss Royal, were I to succeed in restoring all you now feel to be lost -to you. Who knows but I may, eh?” - -“Oh, Detective Carter, do you think so?” - -“Possibly.” - -“But how? If——” - -“Nay, let’s get at this in proper order, that there may be no -misunderstanding,” interposed Nick, smiling. “First, let me know that -you desire me for a friend, and that you feel you can trust me.” - -“Indeed I do, sir. Your name alone is sufficient.” - -“Will you rely blindly upon my judgment, and consent to follow my -advice?” - -“Willingly, sir,” bowed Dora. “I am sure it will be good advice.” - -“Never anything else,” declared Nick heartily. “Will you also confide in -me?” - -“I think so, sir, if you require it.” - -“Oh, I shall not ask you to tell me very much that I do not already -know,” said Nick, with a sort of paternal fondness. “How did you happen -to overhear the interview yonder? I’m sure you did not deliberately play -the eavesdropper.” - -“Indeed, no; I would not have done that.” - -“You were——” - -“I was reading in the shade of the shrubbery near-by, and when they -began speaking——” - -“You literally could not move, eh?” Nick again interposed. “Ah, well, I -saw that the disclosure quite overwhelmed you, and perhaps it was all -for the best.” - -“Best, sir? Oh, how can that be? If Mr. Flood is as bad as—as——” - -“As your worthy father really implied, he would be a very bad man, -indeed,” laughed Nick quietly. “But your good father is both right and -wrong, Miss Royal. There are far worse men than Moses Flood, my dear -girl; and if he were to throw up his miserable vocation, which he -intimated he intended doing for your sake, he would be a man whose hand -I would grasp as a friend and brother.” - -“Oh, Detective Carter, do you say so?” - -“And who knows, Miss Royal, but that we yet may lead him to do so, and -your father into regarding the matter in a rather different light.” - -“Oh, if we only could!” - -“But do not enthuse too quickly, my dear,” laughed Nick. “The job is yet -to be done, as we detectives say, and the task must be yours and mine -alone. No third party must be admitted to our secret, mind you.” - -“Trust me, I will do whatever you advise,” declared Dora, now quite -aglow with reawakened hopes. “I am sure you mean to be my friend, -Detective Carter, and I will trust you blindly.” - -“I think you will never regret it,” bowed Nick, gently pressing the hand -she impulsively had given him. “You need not tell me that you love Mr. -Flood, for I already know it.” - -“Ah, sir, he has been so kind and generous; so attentive to us all, and -so gentle and dignified——” - -“Well, well, never mind that,” smiled Nick. “All that is like Mr. Flood. -Tell me, however, if any one else suspects your affection.” - -“Oh, no, sir. Indeed, no!” - -“So I inferred.” - -“I have kept it all to myself.” - -“But what of Mr. Kendall? I think your father told Flood you were -engaged to him.” - -Dora blushed a little, and appeared confused for a moment. - -“Really, sir. I have no deeper feeling than that of esteem for Mr. -Kendall,” she presently replied. “I greatly fear that my father drew -upon his imagination somewhat, and merely aimed to insure the end of Mr. -Flood’s visits.” - -“Oh, very likely,” nodded Nick. “Yet you would have let Flood go without -disabusing him?” - -The girl turned and pointed toward the house. - -“My father is an aged man, sir, and I have been taught to be dutiful and -obedient,” said she, with charming simplicity. “I saw him in tears when -he dismissed the man, who, without knowing it, has won my love. I could -do no less than remain silent, sir, and abide my own time.” - -“You’re a good girl,” said Nick gravely. “I shall do all I can, Miss -Royal, to turn matters in your favor. Meantime, however, should anything -happen and you need advice, I want you to come to me, or send for me, -and I will come to you. It may be greatly to your advantage to do so, -rather than to go to another.” - -“Then, sir, I surely will do so.” - -“Without fail?” - -“Without fail, Detective Carter. I will appeal to you only.” - -“Very good,” bowed Nick. “Now, one thing more, and I then must leave you -for the present. When was Mr. Kendall last here?” - -“Nearly a week ago, sir.” - -“He is away?” - -“He is in Boston, sir; and my brother is with him,” said Dora. “But we -expected Harry to return this morning.” - -“Possibly he has been unavoidably delayed,” said Nick, now convinced -that none at the rectory could give him the information he wanted. - -“I imagine that is so, Mr. Carter,” replied the girl. - -Nick deferred his departure only to add a few words of advice and -instruction, then made his way out of the grounds and returned to the -city. He left Dora Royal, if not the happier because of his visit, at -least encouraged by his kindly assurances. There was nothing new or -strange in this interest thus exhibited by Nick. It was second nature to -him to try to serve those he found in distress, particularly in such a -case as this. - -On arriving in town Nick hastened to his residence and there had a talk -with Chick, his chief assistant, to whom he imparted the whole story. - -“I wish to locate Kendall this evening, if possible,” said he, in -conclusion. “There’s a bare chance that we may find him at Flood’s -gambling-house, or there get a line on his whereabouts.” - -“Just as likely as not,” nodded Chick, in genial assent. “Why not go up -there, Nick?” - -“That is my intention.” - -“Want me?” - -“You may as well come along. There may be something doing.” - -“Good enough! What disguise, Nick?” - -“The usual one, Chick, and I’ll slip into my make-up as Joe Badger.” - -“I’ll be ready as soon as you are, Nick.” - -In their pursuit of criminals it frequently became necessary for the -Carters to visit the gambling-houses about town, both high and low. The -presence of a detective, however, if known as such, is always -objectionable to the proprietors of these places. For which reason both -Nick and Chick had each a disguise in which, at such places, they were -supposed to be men addicted to gaming, and were freely given admission. -With the opening of any new house of this character, both at once -cultivated the acquaintance of the managers, and thereafter visited the -place only often enough to keep up appearances, or when in search of -some crook. - -Nick frequently had been in Flood’s sumptuously furnished house, where -he was known as Badger, and none dreamed of his being a detective, not -even Flood himself. - -It was about seven o’clock that evening when Nick and Chick approached -the gambling-house, and as luck would have it, they encountered Flood -just as he was entering. - -“Good evening, Mr. Badger,” the gamester said politely, as the three men -mounted the steps. - -“How are you, Flood?” rejoined Nick. “You remember my friend here, Tom -Cory? He was here with me about a month ago.” - -“I do not recall his face,” smiled Flood gravely. “Possibly I was absent -at the time. Glad to meet you, Mr. Cory. Any gentleman recommended by -Mr. Badger is always welcome here. Come in, please.” - -And Flood shook Nick by the hand, while the attendant at the street door -closed the heavy portal behind them. - -Thirty seconds later the clang of the bell silenced the disturbance at -the faro table, as previously described, and the three men entered the -tiger’s lair. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - A TURN OF LUCK. - - -The effect of Moses Flood’s entrance into his gambling place was -magical. It was as if a king had come into the presence of half-a-dozen -squabbling courtiers. - -Godard shrank back in his lookout chair and relapsed into silence. The -several players who had risen in the brief excitement resumed their -seats with an air of unconcern, and the dealer continued his shuffling -of the cards. - -“What’s the trouble?” Flood quietly demanded. - -He halted for a moment, erect and motionless, with his piercing eyes -bent darkly on the scene. - -“Nothing much, sir,” rejoined the humpback, as he dropped the bar across -the closed door. “A bit of backcap, that’s all. It’s over now.” - -“It had better be,” was the significant response. - -Flood’s keen eyes had taken in the situation, yet his coldly -dispassionate countenance masked his feelings as with a veil of ice. He -passed back of the table, gravely greeting the several players, then -paused to gaze down at the sleeping youth on the couch. - -“Did he come in with you?” he asked, turning soberly to Cecil Kendall. - -“Yes,” replied the latter, with a faint smile crossing his pale face. -“We have been over to Boston. Only returned this noon.” - -“He has been drinking heavily, hasn’t he?” - -“Rather.” - -“Wayward fool!” - -“I tried to dissuade him,” muttered Kendall. “He’s in no shape to go -home, so we dropped in here.” - -Flood’s face was clouded with a censorious frown as he turned away to -place his hat on a rack near-by. - -Godard had made no further remarks, but sat staring oddly at Kendall, -who now appeared to ignore him. - -The humpback had resumed his position at the end of the table, with his -legs curled under him in his chair, with his ungainly head drawn down -between his shoulders, and his attention directed upon the movements of -the dealer, who had thrust the cards into the box and was about to start -a new deal. - -Just then, however, Moses Flood approached him from behind and detained -him with a significant touch on the shoulder. - -Bruce did not commence to deal. - -“How are they coming, Kendall?” Flood quietly asked, with a glance at -the former’s chips. - -“Rocky,” said Kendall, with a sickly smile. - -“That so?” - -“Win these, Mose, and you have my pile. I shall be down and out, in more -senses than one.” - -Flood knew too well what he meant, yet his countenance did not change by -so much as a shadow. He addressed the dealer, saying gravely: - -“Go and get your supper, Tom, and I will deal while you are out,” said -he. “I shall wish to be away for an hour or two after you return.” - -“All right, sir.” - -“You, Godard, may rearrange that sideboard, if you will. It looks as if -it had been struck by lightning. The cues can declare it if I overpay.” - -“Not much danger of that, Mr. Flood,” smiled Godard, as the two men at -once complied. - -Flood made no reply. He wheeled the lookout’s chair a little to one -side, as if it was in his way. In fact, however, he wanted no one in it -during the next half-hour. - -Then he took the dealer’s seat at the table, that which Tom Bruce had -vacated. - -“You may draw the curtains back of me, John, and close the window. I -feel a draft,” said he, addressing the cuekeeper. - -He never called him by his nickname. In his sight the deformed man’s -affliction was great enough as it was. This showed of what the nature of -Moses Flood was capable. - -He had removed his coat and opened his vest. He was rather slow in his -movements, and not without an object. He had been on fire within. He now -was cooling down. He was setting his nerves to the extraordinary task he -saw before him. - -As the humpback left the window, Flood turned as if to see that it was -closed. For the moment his face was averted from the several players. -Only Humpty Green could see it, and he caught from Flood’s eyes a flash -that thrilled him through and through. It was a magnetic telegram, an -unuttered command. It was understood, and the cuekeeper was startled; -but even the cuekeeper in a faro-bank commands his emotions. Without a -change of countenance he resumed his seat. - -Meantime, Nick Carter and Chick had sauntered over to the sideboard, -then dropped into two chairs near the wall, where they sat, quietly -talking and pretending to be sizing up the game. - -“There’s your man, all right,” murmured Chick, when Kendall’s name was -mentioned. - -“Yes,” nodded Nick. “That is about what I expected.” - -“Are you going to arrest him?” - -“Not at present. I’m not sure that he is guilty of embezzlement, and -Gilsey wished to give him till to-morrow to report at the bank.” - -“You’ll keep an eye on him, eh?” - -“Rather.” - -“Yet——” - -“Wait a bit,” muttered Nick. “By Jove! there’s something out of the -ordinary going to come off here.” - -“Think so?” - -“Look at Flood’s face. It’s as colorless as marble.” - -“So ’tis, Nick.” - -“There is something in the wind. He has got rid of his dealer and sent -his lookout from the chair. By all that’s good and great, Chick, I -believe he’s up to some extraordinary move.” - -“You’ll wait to see?” - -“I should say so.” - -None of this was overheard by others, and the two detectives gave no -sign of observing anything unusual. It took Nick’s keen eyes and broad -experience, moreover, to detect in Moses Flood the slightest indication -of what he had in mind. - -Flood had reverted to the table, and the light again fell full on his -face. It was pale, yet composed; stern, yet not evil; expressive, yet -changeless. - -He was thinking of the girl to whose hand he had aspired, of the rector -whose censorious words still were ringing in his ears; and he was -thinking, too, of the wretched man seated opposite, a man who had fallen -lower and sinned deeper than he had ever done. - -He was about to do what only one man in millions would have done. He -believed what the rector had told him, that Dora Royal loved this man, -who, were his sin to be brought home to him, would become a criminal at -law and an outcast of society. - -For the sake of the girl, and to preserve her happiness, Moses Flood, -looking for no return, not so much even as a smile of gratitude, was -about to secretly sacrifice a goodly part of his fortune upon the altar -of his own hopeless affection. - -He had spoken the truth, this man, when he said, “Even a gamester may -love nobly, and be capable of great self-sacrifice.” - -Yet his face was a mask, hiding the emotions within. - -One man only among all his observers could read it aright—Nick Carter. - -Flood laid aside the deal box lately used, and took another from a lower -drawer of the table, of which he alone had the key. - -The box appeared to be precisely like the other—but it was not. With -slight manipulation, the dealer could lower an invisible plate within, -thus widening the slot through which the cards were dealt, allowing the -passage of two cards instead of one. The mechanism could not be -discovered, except with close examination, and even then a novice would -not detect it. - -“What’s the matter with the other box?” demanded a player, at once -betraying a gambler’s suspicions. - -“Nothing that I know of,” said Flood coldly. “Why do you ask?” - -“Well, for no reason. I wondered why you shifted, that’s all.” - -“Because I wanted to,” said Flood. “I prefer to work with my own tools. -Are you suspicious? If so, you are not invited to play.” - -“That’s true enough.” - -“If my word is of weight with you, however, you may be sure that a false -card was never dealt in this place, to my knowledge.” - -And he spoke the truth. - -“The game is strong enough without it,” smiled Kendall, over whom, as -over all, Moses Flood seemed to exercise a strangely magnetic influence. - -The latter made no reply, but took from the same drawer a deck of cards -bound with a rubber, which he deliberately removed and threw to the -floor. They were well seasoned, and of a rare and expensive quality, and -unique design. They were of the kind known as “crazy backs.” - -Nick Carter recognized them the moment his gaze lighted on them. He -leaned nearer to Chick and whispered quietly: - -“I begin to suspect what’s coming off here, Chick. That’s a brace box, -for a hundred.” - -“The dickens! Do you think so?” - -“I do, indeed. And that deck of cards he has just brought up, Chick, is -a deck of strippers.” - -“What are strippers, Nick?” - -“Cards used for dealing one kind of a brace game,” whispered Nick. “They -are cut just the least bit wider at one end than the other. The narrow -ends of the cards forming the middle of the layout are turned one way in -shuffling, and those comprising the ends of the layout are turned the -other.” - -“What’s the idea of that?” - -“Simple as two and two,” replied Nick softly. “After shuffling the deck, -the dealer takes the wide end of the cards between his thumbs and middle -fingers, and with a movement so rapid as to defy detection, he strips -them apart. Then he holds in one hand the cards corresponding to the -ends of the layout, and in the other those comprising the middle. After -putting them together, and placing them in the box, he knows almost to a -certainty which cards are to win and which to lose throughout the deal.” - -“The devil you say!” muttered Chick. “Then there must, indeed, be -something coming off here.” - -“Wait and see.” - -Now, a word concerning the brace game Nick had partly described. Suppose -that a player bets heavily upon an end card of the layout to win. - -The dealer sees that the bet is placed correctly, and for him to win the -amount wagered it is necessary for him to reverse the combination of the -cards. What does he do? He presses down on the secret plate in the box, -and in making the turn, instead of dealing two cards, a winner and a -loser, he deals three, and so adroitly that the deception is not -observed. This reverses the combination, and the player referred to must -lose. It is called “taking a card.” - -But it is necessary, also, that the cues should show correctly at the -end of the deal. The cuekeeper watches the dealer attentively. The -latter, after taking a card, signs by prearranged signals to the former, -who raps once with a chip against the side of the cue-rack, which -signifies that the card taken is recorded, and at the end of the deal -the cues are right. - -Sometimes the cards are marked also, that the dealer may know each turn -before making it. This is called “dealing at sight.” - -What is all this that has been described? It is one way by which men -thrust their hands into their brother’s pocket and rob him. It is more -ignoble than stopping one in the darkness, and commanding him, at the -point of a weapon, “Stand and deliver!” It is one of the methods by -which is dealt the perfidious “brace faro!” - -Such was the box and such the cards which Moses Flood had placed on the -table before him. - -The goggle eyes of Humpty Green began to open wider, his ungainly face -to grow pale and grave. He had never known of such in the place, but the -master had commanded and the menial would obey. He drew his chair closer -to the table. - -Amid that momentous silence which invariably marks the opening of a new -deal, Moses Flood, his pale features fixed like marble, his eyes -steadfastly intense, his white hands nerved to their performance, began -to shuffle the cards. His movements were rapid and graceful. In the -flash of an eye he had stripped the deck asunder, cut it, and placed it -in the box. A six showed at the top; the ends of the layout were -winners, the middle losers. - -Flood sat back in his chair and waited the placing of bets. With an -experienced eye he sized Kendall’s remaining chips; there were about six -hundred dollars’ worth. The other players were wagering small amounts, -and he gave them no attention. His mind was upon the man directly -opposite. - -Kendall’s hand trembled when it placed his first bet. He went on to the -six to lose. He believed that he alone of all the world knew his dire -need of winning. - -This bet was wrongly placed, and Flood knew it, yet made a turn. There -was no decision, but a king had showed winner, and Kendall coppered the -next. In a spirit of antagonism he was bucking the cards. - -Moses Flood leaned forward and glanced down upon the box. He could see -the edges of the three top cards. They were marked by small, red dots, -invisible to the players. Suddenly he made the turn. It was done like a -flash. His forefinger touched for an instant the left lower corner of -the box, and the silence was broken by the quick, responsive rap of the -cuekeeper. He had taken a five. The cue was marked up, and the -combination was reversed. - -Cecil Kendall had won his first bet—and the face of the humpback was a -study; for, by taking the card, the dealer, contrary to all precedent, -had forced himself to lose! - -Humpty Green decided that Moses Flood had made a mistake. - -The good luck seemed to encourage Kendall. He placed another bet—and -won. He doubled the amount, and won again. He moved bet and payment to -the corner of a card, and said in tones tremulous despite him: - -“That goes both ways.” - -He whispered the turn—it was followed by a rap from the cuekeeper. - -The latter’s face was now livid from uprising excitement, and his eyes -like glowing coals. There could be but one meaning to what he saw—Moses -Flood was indeed dealing a “brace game,” but he was dealing it against -himself, and forcing Cecil Kendall to win! With form quivering in his -chair, the menial looked at the master. He might as well have looked at -the ceiling. - -To Kendall it seemed like the interposition of fate. The spirit of -fortune inspired him. He observed that his last bet topped the limit, -yet he had not been stopped. - -“How high can I go?” he asked suddenly, looking up at the dealer. - -“Till I call you down,” answered Flood, with unmoved countenance. - -“Look out, or I’ll break you,” laughed Kendall nervously, his face -flushed, his eyes glowing. - -“You cannot break me,” replied Flood, with calm gravity. - -“How much can I win?” - -The question came with strangely abrupt eagerness. - -“Ninety thousand dollars,” was the nonchalant rejoinder. - -A momentary pallor swept over Kendall’s face at the mention of the sum, -and his glittering eyes flashed for an instant on Flood; but the -latter’s countenance, void of insinuation, was as cold and calm as a sea -of ice. The player’s brow darkened slightly, and his lips became drawn -in the intensity of his mental action. Had he known what the humpback, -shaking in his chair, knew at that moment, he would have won the sum in -half-a-dozen turns. - -“God!” he cried to himself. “What would that be to me! it would place me -on my feet again! It would make me a man again—a man worthy of life and -of her! God above, is it possible to win it?” - -He saw a possibility, one chance in a hundred, and took it. He was well -worthy his reputation of a high-roller. Down he went upon the layout -with his chips; now betting one, now two, now three hundred dollars on a -card. - -The chips before him gathered like Arctic snow. One, two, three thousand -dollars was passed—and yet he won. His face burned as from fever. He was -on fire within. He could scarcely comprehend what was taking place, but -that it was was sufficient; and a fervent hope, banishing sober -contemplation, urged him on. He pressed his bets from two to three, and -from three to five hundred, yet Moses Flood never spoke. He was glad to -see him do so, for the other players, astounded by the seeming run of -luck, were beginning to follow Kendall. - -The silence, oppressive in its intensity, was broken only by the -occasional rap of the cuekeeper and the labored breathing of the -sleeping youth upon the sofa. - -“Last turn,” said the humpback suddenly, his voice deep and husky in his -throat. “An ace, five, and seven in.” - -Then, for the first time during the deal, did Moses Flood glance at the -cue-rack, and raising his eyes, like stars in his stoical face, he gave -its keeper a look of such intensity that the fellow fairly shuddered in -his chair. It was a command of silence which he dared not disobey. - -Cecil Kendall placed his bets, and Flood made the turn. - -The cues were right, despite the fact that six cards had been taken, and -the humpback breathed a sigh of relief. - -Something like an exclamation of triumph, half suppressed, broke from -Kendall’s lips. He had called the turn and emptied the check-rack. - -The recreant cashier of the Milmore Trust Company had won twenty -thousand dollars on the deal. - -He had experienced a wonderful turn of luck. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - A STARTLING SEQUENCE. - - -As the deal ended, a deep sigh of relief rose from the several players -at the table, as from men long submerged in water. Their suppressed -excitement had been intense, fairly painful at times, and this halt -between the deals was a welcome respite. - -Except Moses Flood and the deformed cuekeeper, only one man in the room -saw what Moses Flood was doing. Before the deal was half out, Nick -Carter detected the gamester’s design, as well as the marvelous -dexterity with which it was executed. And Nick readily guessed, too, the -true occasion for it. Once more he leaned nearer to Chick and said -softly: - -“Do you see what Flood is doing?” - -“I see that Kendall is winning,” whispered Chick. - -“Like a race-horse. You are witnessing a bit of unselfish work that -places Flood in a class all his own,” murmured Nick, with some feeling. - -“What do you mean?” - -“He is dealing so as to insure himself a loser, and forcing Kendall to -win.” - -“The deuce you say!” - -“Mark me, Chick,” added Nick. “He will make Kendall win a sum sufficient -to square him at the bank—ninety thousand dollars.” - -“Good God!” muttered Chick. “Do you think so?” - -“Wait and see.” - -“What will you do about Kendall in that case?” - -“I shall be governed by what I observe,” whispered Nick. “Be careful to -give no sign that we are wise to anything. This is one of the most -extraordinary episodes I ever witnessed.” - -“But what object can Flood have in——” - -“Hush! I can guess what it is, and for all the world I would not get in -his way. I will explain it to you later. No more now, Chick. They’re off -again.” - -Flood again had shuffled and stripped the cards, then placed them in the -deal box. Looking at his coldly stoical face, one would have said that -he was utterly unconscious of his losses. - -“You have emptied the chip-rack, Kendall,” said he deliberately. “Count -me back twenty thousand dollars’ worth of your chips. I will note the -sum, and pay you at the end of your play.” - -He had no fear that the player would quit on the strength of such a -proposition. He knew him too well—and his dire need to win more. - -“Suppose my good luck continues?” said Kendall doubtfully. - -“Ah, that is not likely,” said Flood calmly. “But you shall have all -that you can win. I think you know me to be a man of my word.” - -Kendall would have preferred to have the money, but he offered no -further objection. He returned the chips desired, and Flood made a -memorandum of the amount. - -Then the next deal began. It was a repetition of the former, save that -now and then, in order to keep the other players in check, Flood was -compelled to let Kendall lose. But the latter won heavily on the deal as -a whole, his bets being pressed to four figures, and when the final turn -was made he had forty-five thousand dollars due him from the bank. - -The intense strain to which Moses Flood was subjecting himself was -beginning to tell on him. His teeth were hard set. The muscles of his -jaw were rigid, and the veins about his temples were purple and swollen. -The pupils of his dilated eyes were like points of electric light. - -Despite his efforts to the contrary, other players were beginning to win -by his manipulation of the cards, and Flood felt that the play must be -brought to an end. As he dealt the cards and put them in the box for the -third deal, he decided upon the surest and speediest method. He sized -the chips in front of Kendall, then made a rapid turn. - -One double was in the box. Kendall staked a thousand. - -He won his bet fairly, and Flood lost six hundred to the other players. -He bit his lip as he paid the bets. - -Then he glanced down at the next turn to come, and saw that Kendall was -destined to lose. The outsiders also were upon the card to win, -following fortune’s favorite. Moses Flood could have won all the bet by -making an honest turn. Instead, he took a card—and lost all. - -He paid the bets without a change of countenance—then sat back in his -chair. - -“With this memorandum and the chips in front of you,” said he, looking -across at Kendall, “I owe you forty-five thousand dollars. You may bet -the entire amount on a case card.” - -“What’s the objection to continuing as we’re going?” cried Kendall, -aghast at the offer. “I’m doing well enough as it is.” - -Flood’s cold features underwent no change. - -“You may make the bet suggested, Kendall, or come down to the limit,” he -said firmly. - -“You cannot get even by that,” growled Kendall sullenly. - -“Nor can you win so rapidly.” - -“Your proposition goes, does it?” - -“What I say in this place always goes.” - -Kendall sat silent for several moments. He already had won half of the -sum he so direfully needed, but he could not believe that fortune would -favor him much longer. He was a ruined man when he entered the place, -and with only half the desired sum he still was ruined. To win the bet -suggested meant to him—redemption. There was no alternative but to -accept the offer. - -Flood knew absolutely how Kendall would size up the situation, that he -would take this one chance to square himself. He was not surprised, -therefore, when the latter cried hoarsely: - -“I’ll make the bet!” - -“Give me all of your chips,” said Flood calmly. - -Kendall stacked them upon the layout. - -Flood transferred them to the chip-rack, then tossed a marker, a small, -square piece of ivory, across the table. - -“That goes for forty-five thousand, Kendall,” said he. “Bet it on any -card you please.” - -A hush like that of a death chamber fell over the room. - -A fortune was to hang on the turn of a single card. - -Not another man placed a bet. - -The color of the marker, white, seemed to give nerve to Cecil Kendall. -If it had been a black one, he would have shrunk and hesitated. As it -was, he played a three-time loser to win, tossing the marker upon the -card, and then sat back in his chair, half fainting, and waited the turn -that was to decide his fate. - -The excitement was intense, utterly indescribable, yet not a sound broke -the deathly stillness. - -Moses Flood alone appeared to be calm—but the condition was external -only. He leaned a little forward, that he might look down on the box on -which every eye was focused, and anticipated each coming turn. - -He made one turn and there was no decision of the enormous bet. He then -made another, a third, a fourth, and still there was no decision. - -Then he hesitated. - -Kendall was breathless. His eyes were fixed, staring wildly at the deal -box, and his teeth were chattering. He was like a man yearning for -pardon even under the muzzles of guns that hung upon the command to -fire. - -Could he endure the suspense? Would reason sustain the strain? Or would -he suddenly reach forward and withdraw the bet? - -Looking down upon the deal box, Moses Flood saw the coming turn. - -He saw that Kendall was fated to lose his bet. - -Despite his iron will, Flood began to tremble. To accomplish his sublime -object, he was obliged to take a false card. Could he do it in his -present state and under the glance of every eye? He ground his teeth, -knit his heavy brows, and the blood in the arteries of his neck seemed -as if to burst its confines. - -Still he hesitated—then the gong on the door broke the awful silence. - -Every eye turned involuntarily toward the bell. - -Flood’s hands moved with lightning like rapidity. They took the false -card undetected. The turn was made—and Cecil Kendall had won! - -He leaped to his feet, caught blindly at his chair, then cried wildly: - -“No more! Not another bet! Not for life itself will I make another bet!” - -Flood rose, with face fairly transfigured, and pointed to the sleeping -man on the couch. - -“Peace!” he sternly commanded, with a voice that silenced all. “Do not -wake young Royal. He is in no shape to go home to his father and -sister!” - -Nick Carter leaned over and gripped Chick hard by the wrist. - -“By all the gods, Chick,” he muttered huskily, “from this hour my money -goes on Moses Flood!” - -It was not strange, this feeling on the part of the great detective, for -he, at least, knew what Moses Flood had done, and why he had done it. - -“Let there be no disturbance here,” said Flood, now quite calmly. “John, -go and answer the bell. And you, Mr. Kendall, come into my private room, -and I will pay your winnings.” - -Kendall tried to speak, but his voice died in his swelling throat. - -The man who had rung the bell was the returning dealer, Tom Bruce. - -Flood beckoned him to the table. - -“Continue the game, Mr. Bruce,” said he gravely. “Gentlemen, I do not -wish the episode of this evening to be noised abroad, and those of you -who are my friends will govern yourselves accordingly.” - -“Oh, we’ll keep mum about it, Mose!” cried several promptly. - -As Flood passed the humpback, who was replacing the bar on the door, he -laid his hand on the man’s shoulder and said softly: - -“Not a word of this, John, for your life!” - -“Trust me, sir!” - -Moses Flood knew that he could trust him, and he believed that no other -man on earth knew what he had done there that night. He locked the brace -deal box in the drawer from which he had taken it, but kept the deck of -strippers in his hand when he led Cecil Kendall into his private room. - -As the door closed upon the two men, Nathan Godard sauntered nearer to -Bruce and said carelessly: - -“I’m going out to supper, Tom. I have one or two errands to do, and may -be out a bit longer than usual.” - -“All right, Nate,” nodded Bruce, who had taken his seat at the table. -“Do not hurry back, as the boss said that he was going away.” - -“I’ll return in about an hour,” added Godard. - -Then he took his hat and departed. - -Neither Nick Carter nor Chick observed him. - -The eyes of both were fixed upon the closed door of Flood’s private -room. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - THE WAGES OF SIN. - - -In the private room to which he had led him, Moses Flood paid Kendall -his winnings. As he took a portion of the funds from a huge safe in one -corner, he said coldly: - -“I must give you part of the amount in government bonds, Mr. Kendall.” - -“Anything—anything easily convertible,” faltered Kendall, half choked -with emotion. - -He could hardly realize what had befallen him, that he really had won -all that he required to rectify his deficit at the bank, and that he -then and there was to receive the money that would save him from flight, -a defaulter’s last resort, or the shame of a convict’s cell. - -He feared each moment that he would awake, that he would find it all a -dream, and behold again the soul-sickening image of his dreadful crime -leering at him with mocking eyes. - -“The package will be quite bulky, and I will loan you a small -portmanteau,” said Flood, placing the satchel mentioned and several -bundles of bank-notes and bonds upon the table. - -Kendall tottered nearer, then suddenly gave way to sobs and covered his -face with his hands. - -“Oh, God! God above!” he cried brokenly. “Flood, you do not know, you -cannot know, what this means to me!” - -Moses Flood drew himself up and laid his hand on the speaker’s shoulder. - -“Kendall,” said he, with grave austerity, “you are not rightly tempered -to be a gamester. Take the advice of a gamester, however, and for the -sake of those who love you, if not for your own, never again face a faro -layout or play a card for money.” - -“Never, never, so help me God!” cried Kendall, with uplifted hands. - -“If you adhere to that vow, I shall not feel to-night that I have -suffered any loss,” said Flood, with a strange light upon his white, -forceful face. - -Then he tossed into the satchel the deck of cards with which he had -dealt the game. - -“I shall give you those cards also, Kendall,” said he oddly. “They are -the ones I have been using. Keep them until I come and demand them of -you. Some day you may know why I ask you to do this. Some day I may wish -to recall to your mind what I to-night have—— Ah, but it does not -matter.” - -“I will keep them,” declared Kendall fervently. “God hearing me, I will -keep them.” - -Flood had already closed and tightly strapped the satchel, which he now -hastened to place in Kendall’s hand. - -“I pledge my word that the amount is right,” he said, with some feeling. -“Now go as quickly as you can, and remember your promise! Go—go—and -remember!” - -Still profoundly agitated, Kendall hurried from the room, ignoring all -observers, forgetful even of his sleeping friend upon the couch, and -thus hastened alone from the house and sought the cool air of the early -evening. - -Nick Carter saw him emerge from the room, and Chick leaned nearer, -saying softly: - -“Shall I shadow him, Nick?” - -The famous detective shook his head. - -“No, Chick,” said he quietly. “There is no need of it.” - -“Do you think so?” - -“I feel assured. The man’s face tells the story. He is, indeed, short at -the bank, but he will use this money to make good the deficit and -conceal his crime. I am as sure of it as if I saw it done.” - -Nick was entirely correct as to Kendall’s intentions, and, recalling -Gilsey’s instructions, he saw no occasion to go beyond them. He was -thinking, too, of Dora Royal, of the promise he had made her, and of -what Flood that night had done, believing it to be for her sake. Now, -feeling sure of his man, Nick would not for the world have perverted the -design and desires of Moses Flood. - -The latter again appeared upon the scene while Nick was speaking, and at -the same moment the sound of a heavy fall started all hearers. It was -almost immediately followed by a maudlin laugh, and the man who had been -so long sleeping on the couch was seen rising unsteadily from the floor -beside it. - -“Ha, ha! I reckon I fell out of bed,” he cried, in half-drunken tones, -as he gained his feet and stared with dazed eyes toward the group of -players at the table. - -Though nearly twenty-three Harry Royal looked to be little more than a -youth. When sober, he was a handsome fellow, yet his features indicated -a weak and yielding nature, and he was no sooner loosed from the -restrictions of his home life to attend college than he proved an easy -victim to the temptations which had brought him to his present -condition. - -“How are they coming, Kendall?” he continued, swaying unsteadily and -failing to observe that his friend had departed. “Are you winning our -expenses? Have you——” - -Then he caught sight of Flood approaching, and he reeled toward him with -extended hand, crying boisterously: - -“Hello, Mose, old man! Glad to see you, on my word I am.” - -“And I am sorry to see you, Royal, in this condition,” Flood gravely -rejoined. - -“Faugh! Cut that out, Mose,” cried Royal, flushing slightly and shaking -his head to clear it of the cobwebs. “It’s only now and then, old man. -We are just back from Beantown, Kendall and I, and winding up a devil’s -own racket.” - -“So it appears.” - -“We painted Boston crimson, Mose, on my word. I say, Kendall, how are -the cards winning? I’m in with this play, old chap, win or lose. -Partners——” - -“What!” - -The words broke involuntarily from Flood, with a look of sudden dismay, -but the humpback hastened to cry: - -“No, no, Mr. Royal, you’re not! Kendall went broke on your mutual play, -I give you my word. You were not in with the last—you were asleep when -he——” - -“You lie! I am in with him!” Royal angrily interrupted. “Where has he -gone? The devil take him, he treats me like a schoolboy. I say I was in -with his play. Did he win? Tell me, did he win?” - -Before Flood could respond, one of the players cried a bit derisively: - -“No, I guess not, Harry! Only a cool ninety thousand!” - -The face of Harry Royal grew dark as a thunder-cloud. He at once -suspected that Kendall had proven false, and was bent upon cheating him -of a part of the winnings, an idea somewhat warranted by the latter’s -apparently secret departure. The possibility of thus being wronged -seemed to arouse the very worst passions of which the intoxicated young -man was capable. With a scream of rage, he darted to the couch and -seized his hat. - -“Ninety thousand—and I’ve heard him say he meant to jump the country!” -he cried wildly. “I’ll have my share of it, Mose. Do you hear me—I was -in with his play! He means to do me—curse him; but I know where to find -him! I’ll have my half, or I’ll have his life!” - -“Peace!” thundered Flood, with terrible sternness. “Do you know where -you are and what you are saying?” - -“Let go—let go my arm!” frothed the frenzied youth, struggling furiously -in the other’s grasp. “You don’t know him as I do. I know where to find -him—he has an appointment to-night with my—— Let go, I say! If he is not -at the rectory, he means to swindle me. Let go, Mose; or I’ll strike -you! I will have what’s coming to me, or I’ll have his life!” - -With the infuriated words ringing from his lips he wrenched himself -free, and before he could be prevented he had thrown down the bar from -across the door and fled like a madman down the hall stairs. - -“Wayward fool!” exclaimed Flood, thoroughly disgusted, yet anticipating -no serious results from the passionate threats. “He is a crazy ass when -in liquor.” - -“I should say so.” - -“Bruce, I am going out for about an hour. If he returns before I come -in, ask him to wait for me. I have a few words of advice for his foolish -ears.” - -“Very well, sir.” - -A strange place is a faro-bank. The excitement had passed, and the game -was again in progress. Not a man had moved from his seat at the table. - -With features in no way betraying his feelings, Moses Flood put on his -coat and hat, took a heavy, ironwood cane from a stand in one corner, -and signed for Green to accompany him to the door. On the threshold he -paused for a moment, fixing his piercing eyes upon those of the -humpback, and said, barely above his breath, yet with indescribable -intensity: - -“Remember, John! Not one word!” - -“Never, sir; so help me God!” - -Then Flood was gone, and the door closed with a bang. - -Five minutes later Nick Carter, who had not deemed it worth his while to -interfere, which step might have suggested his identity, signed for -Chick to accompany him, and they left the place together. - -“There was nothing more for us there,” remarked Nick, as they headed for -home. “If ever a man in a bad corner made a lucky play, Kendall has made -one this night.” - -“I’m blessed if I can see through it!” said Chick, perplexedly. “What -has come over Flood that he should do such a thing as that?” - -“The sentiment which quite often brings out the very best part of a -man,” replied Nick gravely. - -“Love?” - -“Precisely.” - -“But——” - -“Wait till we get home, Chick, and I will then explain.” - -“Good enough,” laughed Chick. “I reckon I can wait.” - -Seated together in the library of Nick’s residence, half-an-hour later, -the latter took up the subject where he had dropped it on the street. - -“Love, that’s it,” said Nick, lighting a cigar. “And it’s just what I -would have expected of Mose Flood. He’s as odd a man as stands in -leather. As grand a man, too, barring his one deplorable vice.” - -“He has a legion of friends, Nick, there’s no doubt of that,” observed -Chick. “You say that he is in love with Doctor Royal’s daughter, eh? Was -that what led to his move of to-night?” - -“Exactly,” nodded Nick. “There’s a curious side to the affair, however. -Flood has never told the girl of his love, and he has no idea that she -cares for him. He took the rector’s word for it this afternoon that she -loves Kendall and is engaged to marry him.” - -“Well?” - -“In some way, Chick, he must have learned that Kendall is short in his -accounts to the tune of ninety thousand dollars.” - -“So he forced Kendall to win that amount, knowing that he would use it -to square himself? Was that it?” - -“No doubt of it.” - -“But why did he not give Kendall the money openly, without compelling -him to make a play for it?” - -“For several reasons, all characteristic of Moses Flood. First, he aimed -to insure that Dora Royal should never learn of Kendall’s crime, or that -he had saved him in this way for her sake. He does not want the girl to -feel under obligations to him. Possibly he feared that she might object -to her lover’s accepting money from a gambler, even to keep him out of -jail. Second, he aimed to spare Kendall the shame of knowing that his -crime had been discovered, or was at least suspected. So he forced him -to win the money, instead of giving it to him openly.” - -“By Jove! that was good of him.” - -“It was just like him, Chick. He has saved this man for love of that -girl, and it cost him ninety thousand dollars to do it, with never a -possibility that his magnanimity would be discovered, or that a word of -gratitude would ever be given him. Chick, such a man as that is worthy -of any girl, whether she’s a clergyman’s daughter or not.” - -“And I hope he gets her,” cried Chick bluntly. - -“We shall see,” smiled Nick significantly. “I reckon I yet may have a -finger in this pie.” - -“I now see why you did not wish to arrest Kendall.” - -“Surely not, Chick. I am convinced that Kendall will use that money to -adjust his affairs at the bank. Feeling sure of that, I determined not -to pervert Flood’s lofty design, on which he had plainly set his heart.” - -“His cuekeeper must have known what came off?” - -“The humpback?” - -“Yes.” - -“That is true,” admitted Nick, “but Flood evidently knows that he can -trust him to say nothing about it. Furthermore, Chick, the cuekeeper is -probably entirely ignorant of Flood’s motive.” - -“No doubt of it.” - -“There is one feature of the case,” added Nick, rather more grimly, -“concerning which I am very much in the dark.” - -“What is that, Nick?” - -“How the dickens did Flood learn that Kendall was short at the bank?” - -“By Jove! that’s strange.” - -“I reckon we have not heard the last of the case, Chick, and that -something serious may yet result from it. There is no evading one fact, -however. Flood has a heart as big as that of an ox, since he would thus -save a man for the sake of a girl he himself loves, instead of jealously -knocking his pins from under him. In days to come I’ll not forget this -in Moses Flood.” - -The very next morning, which was sooner than Nick expected, his -prediction concerning the outcome of the case was startlingly verified. -He was seated with Chick in his office, about eight o’clock, when a -district telegraph boy brought in a message. Nick tore it open and read -it, then leaped involuntarily to his feet. - -“What is it, Nick?” demanded Chick impulsively. - -“The wages of sin is death!” cried Nick, with thrilling accents. “This -message is from Dora Royal, asking me to come at once.” - -“For what?” - -“Cecil Kendall was found murdered in the rectory grounds this morning!” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - BY WHOSE HAND? - - -Recalling the promise given Medora Royal, and now feeling a decided -interest in the case itself, Nick Carter at once hastened to Fordham, -and approached the rectory just before nine o’clock. - -The news of the crime had spread, and at one of the side gates a curious -crowd had gathered, restrained from entering the grounds by one of the -local police. - -Near the house, and at some distance from the street, was a group of -men, including several officers and a physician, also the rector -himself, all apparently interested in the doctor’s examination of a body -lying upon the ground at their feet. - -That Doctor Royal was among them, rather than in the house, suited Nick -to the letter. Slipping into a disguise, that he might not thus early be -identified with the case, Nick hastened to the adjoining cross-street on -which the dwelling fronted. There he encountered none to oppose his -entrance, and he strode quickly up the long gravel walk and rang the -door-bell. - -The summons brought Dora Royal to the door, and Nick, observing her -shrink with surprise, quickly made himself known. - -“I come in response to your telegram, Miss Royal.” - -“But you are not Mr.——” - -“Oh, yes, I am,” interposed Nick significantly. “I do not wish to be -recognized by others, however. I want a word with you alone, that I may -add to the instructions I gave you yesterday.” - -Now convinced of his identity, Medora Royal hastened to admit him to a -reception-room, the door of which Nick quietly closed. - -“Our interview must be very brief, Miss Royal, for I wish to have a look -at the evidence out yonder before it is seriously disturbed,” said he, -declining a chair. “First, however, state anything that you know of the -affair.” - -“I know but very little, sir, save that it is most dreadful,” said the -girl, pale and agitated. - -“That is true, Miss Royal, but I wish to get at the superficial facts as -quickly as possible.” - -“If you will question me, sir, perhaps I more readily can——” - -“I will do so,” interposed Nick, appreciating her nervous excitement. -“Tell me when and by whom the body was discovered?” - -“About eight o’clock, sir, and by a young man who is employed here as a -gardener.” - -“It is that of Cecil Kendall?” - -“Alas, yes.” - -“Dead?” - -“For many hours, surely. He appears to have been killed with a——” - -“Wait for my questions, please,” said Nick. “Was Kendall here in the -house last evening?” - -“He was not.” - -“Who was here?” - -“Only my father, myself, and two servants,” replied Dora. “We all -retired soon after nine o’clock.” - -“What of your brother?” - -“He has not yet returned from Boston. That is, sir, unless—unless——” - -“Unless what, Miss Royal?” - -“Unless he arrived in New York yesterday, and remained at his room in -the city.” - -“Very probably that is what he did,” nodded Nick, both to relieve the -girl and conceal his own misgivings. “Where is his room in town, Miss -Royal?” - -“At the Carleton Chambers. He prefers to keep a room there, rather than -come out each night from college.” - -“I see,” bowed Nick. “Now tell me, has your father said anything to you -about his interview with Moses Flood?” - -“Not one word, sir.” - -“And you have had no callers here since yesterday afternoon?” - -“None, Detective Carter.” - -“Kindly do not mention my name, Miss Royal,” smiled Nick. “Even the -walls may have ears.” - -“I will be more guarded, sir.” - -“And if you are still willing to follow my advice, I wish to add to my -instructions,” said Nick, now having learned the important facts which -she could impart to him. - -“I am more than anxious to do so,” Dora answered feelingly. “Your -immediate response to my telegram convinces me that you have my welfare -at heart, and I will be rigidly governed by your instructions.” - -“It will ultimately prove to your advantage,” said Nick earnestly. “I -shall leave no stone unturned to bring about that which is dearest to -you. This murder, however, if such it is, threatens to create serious -complications, and it will very possibly circumstantially incriminate -innocent parties.” - -“Oh, oh, is it possible?” - -“Let come what may, Miss Royal, I want you to trust the case entirely to -me, and do exactly what I advise.” - -“Indeed, sir, I will.” - -“Under no circumstances are you to mention me in connection with the -case, nor disclose our relations.” - -“I will not.” - -“Furthermore, whatever happens, or whoever appears to be involved, you -must volunteer no opinion of the case. If you are questioned, however, -answer precisely the same as if you had not overheard your father’s -interview with Moses Flood, and as if you and I had never met. Will you -do this?” - -“I certainly will.” - -“Then you may safely leave all the rest to me,” declared Nick warmly. -“By whom did you send the telegram this morning?” - -“By our chambermaid.” - -“Does she know to whom it was addressed, or of what it consisted?” - -“Neither, sir. I sent it to the telegraph office under seal.” - -“Very good,” said Nick approvingly. “Be equally guarded in the future, -or till I further advise you. This must be all for the present, Miss -Royal, as I wish to make a few investigations outside. I will leave by -the front door and pass around the house, that our interview here may -not be suspected.” - -“But how am I to repay you, or thank you for——” - -“By following my instructions to the letter,” Nick gently interposed, as -he led the troubled girl into the hall. “Keep them constantly in mind -and trust me to be constantly alert to your interests. No more now, Miss -Royal. You shall hear from me later.” - -The last was said at the open door, and with the final word Nick nodded -and smiled encouragingly, then left the veranda and quickly made his way -around the house. - -The interview had occupied but a very few minutes, and as Nick -approached the group of men gathered near Kendall’s body, the physician -was just about concluding his examination of the remains. - -With a few rapid glances Nick took in the superficial evidence bearing -upon the crime. The body lay upon the greensward to the right of a -gravel walk leading around the house, and nearly midway between the walk -and the library windows. The plot of grass between the walk and the -house was about ten feet wide, and Nick promptly deduced one important -point. - -“There is no door on this side of the house, nor any direct approach to -one from either gate,” he quickly reasoned. “Evidently Kendall came -around here to peer through the library window before entering the -house, and was struck down as he approached, or while quietly -withdrawing. For some reason he must have aimed to learn who was -within.” - -A glance at the gravel walk and the greensward near-by, however, gave -Nick no clue. If Kendall’s assailant had left any telltale footprints -behind him, both his own and those that might have revealed the -movements of his victim had been obliterated by the heavy tread of the -several men gathered about the murdered man. - -The body evidently lay where it had fallen, with arms outstretched and -face upturned, gory and ghastly in the morning sunlight. The skull had -been fractured by several blows with a heavy weapon, obviously a -bludgeon of some kind, and from the shocking wounds the blood had oozed -over the brow and hair of the stricken man, forming a sickening pool in -the matted grass on which his head rested. - -“Clad just as he was when he left Flood’s gambling-house,” thought Nick. -“He must have come directly out here. There’s no sign of the satchel, -however, in which he had brought away his winnings. It looks as if the -motive was robbery.” - -And Nick recalled the frenzied threats of young Harry Royal, but decided -it was too early in the game to draw any reliable conclusions. - -Nick reverted almost immediately to the physician, who had risen while -wiping his soiled hands, and now addressed his several companions. Three -of these were officers of the local police, among them Captain Talbot, -of the precinct station, and one was a plain-clothes man from the -central office, Detective Joe Gerry. - -Nick knew all of them very well, and they him, yet for the present he -preferred to hide his identity. - -“A case of murder, Detective Gerry, that’s what it is,” declared the -physician, turning to the central office man. “The question is, By whose -hand was the crime committed?” - -“How long has he been dead?” demanded Gerry bluntly. - -“About twelve hours.” - -“That would be since nine o’clock last evening?” - -“That hits very near to it,” replied the physician. - -“You are sure of this man’s identity, Doctor Royal?” - -“Positively,” cried the rector, obviously much agitated. “He has been a -frequent visitor here. I cannot comprehend how such a fate could have -befallen him.” - -“I’ll admit that the motive appears to be obscure,” replied Gerry, -staring down at the body. “It cannot have been robbery, for neither his -jewelry nor his pocketbook has been taken. No, no, the motive cannot -have been robbery.” - -“You’ll change your mind, Gerry, when you learn that this man won ninety -thousand dollars just before coming out here,” said Nick to himself. - -“Are some of your men searching the grounds for evidence, Talbot?” -inquired Gerry, turning to the captain of police. - -“Yes, several of them,” nodded Captain Talbot. - -The detective reverted to Doctor Royal. - -“Were you at home last evening?” he demanded. - -“I was,” bowed the rector. “Both my daughter and myself.” - -“Did you have any callers?” - -“None, sir. We were alone all the evening.” - -“In what part of the house?” - -“In the library, sir, from dinner until after nine o’clock.” - -“Where is the library located?” - -“These are the windows, sir, right here.” - -“Oh, ho!” exclaimed Gerry. “Is that so? It looks as if this man had -designed to peer into them, and had been caught in the act, if not done -up for it. Possibly we may find a motive for the crime by looking a -little deeper. You say that this man Kendall was a friend of your -family?” - -Nick Carter saw what was coming, yet he made no move to head it off. His -immediate design was only to observe the trend of the case, and then -shape his own course accordingly. - -Doctor Royal grew even more pale upon hearing the remarks of the central -office man, and he fell to wringing his hands with a sort of nervous -apprehension. He was thinking of his son, who for several days had been -absent with Kendall, and had not yet returned. - -Yet there lay Cecil Kendall, slain by the hand of an assassin, and the -unaccountable absence of Harry Royal still remained to be explained. - -The mystery of it all dismayed the worthy clergyman, yet, despite his -desperate misgivings, he nerved himself to answer quite firmly: - -“Yes, sir, Mr. Kendall has been a friend of my family for several -years.” - -“Were you expecting a visit from him last evening?” asked Gerry, with a -keen eye to the rector’s perturbation. - -“I cannot say that I was.” - -“Has he called here frequently?” - -“Quite so.” - -“Come, come, Doctor Royal, what were his precise relations here?” -demanded Gerry suspiciously. “You appear averse to letting go of -something. If you know of any facts that may shed a ray of light upon -this case, let’s have them at once. I’m sure that you personally can -have no reason for hiding anything.” - -“By no means,” cried Doctor Royal, with extreme nervousness. “I would -give the world to know the truth of this dreadful affair.” - -“What of Kendall, then, and his relations here?” - -“Well—really—as a matter of fact, he was in love with my daughter,” -faltered the rector, trembling visibly. “In a word, Detective Gerry, he -was about the same as engaged to her.” - -“Oh, ho! Then it’s barely possible that jealousy led some party to kill -him,” cried Gerry, quickly snapping up the clue. “Has your daughter any -other admirer who might be guilty of this?” - -“I—I—really I can name no one who——” - -“Stop a bit!” cried Captain Talbot abruptly. “Here comes Kelly on the -run. By thunder, I believe he has the weapon with which the crime was -committed!” - -Every eye was quickly turned in the direction indicated. - -Along a path leading around the stable and to a gate at the rear of the -extensive grounds a policeman was hurriedly approaching, holding above -his head what appeared to be a stout stick. As he drew near, however, it -was seen to be a heavy cane, highly polished, and with a round silver -head. - -“What have you there, Kelly?” cried Detective Gerry sharply. - -“See for yourself, sir,” replied the officer. “I found it thrust beneath -a lot of brushwood under the wall at the rear of the grounds.” - -The detective uttered a cry as he seized it. - -“Good God! it’s covered with blood,” said he. “And see! here are bits of -scalp and hair dried on the side and head of it.” - -“His hair!” cried Talbot, pointing to the lifeless man near-by. - -“No doubt of it—not a shadow of doubt!” exclaimed Gerry. “It’s the -weapon with which the deed was done.” - -Even Nick Carter was a little startled, as well as a good deal puzzled. - -For Nick had almost instantly recognized the cane. It was the same that -Nick had seen Moses Flood take from a rack just before leaving his -gambling-house at half-past eight the previous evening. - -Over the face of Doctor Leonard Royal there had come an expression not -easily described. It was that of sudden and overwhelming relief, mingled -with convictions and a bitterness that scarce had bounds. He no longer -was restrained by apprehensions concerning his son, and the latter’s -unaccountable absence, for he now believed that he read aright the -appalling evidence before him. With a cry of bitter condemnation he -sprang forward and laid his hand on Detective Gerry’s arm. - -“Oh, the knave! the knave!” he exclaimed, in tones that startled all -hearers. “I now see it all. I should have known it—I should have known -it!” - -“Good heavens, Doctor Royal, what are you saying?” demanded Gerry, -involuntarily drawing back. - -“That cane—it belongs to Moses Flood,” cried the rector, pointing wildly -at the gory stick. - -“To Moses Flood!” - -“I have seen him carry it countless times,” cried the excited clergyman. -“You are right—you are right! Jealousy was the motive for this crime. -The cane belongs to Moses Flood, and only yesterday——” - -“Do you mean Moses Flood, the gambler?” interrupted Gerry, in tones that -began to ring with exultant convictions. - -“The same—the same!” cried Doctor Royal. “Only yesterday I scornfully -refused him the hand of my daughter, and told him she was already -engaged to Cecil Kendall. Jealousy must have been the motive. Flood must -be the guilty party. Only yesterday I——” - -“By heavens, then, Flood is the man we want!” exclaimed Gerry, again -interrupting the pale and excited rector. - -Nick Carter could see only too plainly the result of the discoveries -made there that morning, and he did not wait to hear more. - -“Flood, eh?” he said to himself. “Not by a long chalk. Cane or no cane, -Moses Flood never killed this man. It’s plainly time for me to get in a -bit of lively work, and head off this man Gerry. He’ll now go at the -case like a bull at a gate.” - -As he turned from the scene, bent upon hastening away, Nick caught sight -of a white, frightened face at one of the library windows—the face of -the girl from whom he had recently parted, and who plainly had seen and -heard all. - -Darting around a corner of the house, Nick rapped smartly on one of the -side windows. The sound quickly brought Dora Royal to him, and he signed -for her to raise the sash. - -“Do not be alarmed,” he then cried softly. “Your face will betray you -unless you conceal your feelings. Did you hear all that was said out -there?” - -“Yes, yes, every word,” moaned the girl breathlessly. “Oh, oh, it cannot -be possible! He never did it—he could not have done it!” - -“Take my word for that, Miss Royal, and suppress your fears,” Nick -hurriedly answered. “Let the evidence be what it may, never believe that -Flood committed that crime. I have no time for more. Be guarded, -constantly guarded, and follow my every instruction to the letter.” - -“I surely will, sir. And you?” - -“I’m off to queer the move against Moses Flood.” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - UNDER OATH. - - -“That’s what I propose to do, Chick.” - -“Go to the bottom of it, Nick?” - -“Plumb to the bottom,” declared the famous detective. “I am now in the -case in dead earnest, Chick, and I’m going to know who killed that man -Kendall or lose a leg in the attempt.” - -“I’ll wager you’ll retain both legs,” laughed Chick. - -“I gave my word to that Royal girl when I believed there appeared -nothing very serious in the way of making good my promise, and now that -I find myself confronted with the most serious of all problems, I’m -blessed if I’ll throw up the sponge. I’ll ferret out the truth, the -whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You hear me!” - -Chick laughed again, and he was by no means blind to the grim -determination reflected in Nick’s face, nor to the feelings with which -his words were imbued. - -It was less than an hour since Nick left the scene of the murder -committed the previous night, and he had hurried home to rejoin Chick -and inform him of all he had seen and heard. - -With Nick Carter to think was to act, yet despite his hurried return -from Fordham, and the fact that he was now very definitely actuated, -Nick was not a little puzzled by the conflicting evidence of the case. - -It was this evidence that he was discussing with Chick, which had led to -the foregoing digression, while Nick was rapidly putting on the same -disguise that he had worn in Flood’s place the previous evening. - -“It appears plain enough that Flood went out there last night after -leaving his faro-bank,” Nick grimly continued. “You saw him take that -cane just as he departed, and I can swear it to be the same that was -found this morning.” - -“It cannot have gone out there of itself,” remarked Chick. - -“But why Flood went out there again, after having been turned down by -the rector, and making that big losing to Kendall, is more than I can -conjecture.” - -“You heard young Royal’s threats in the faro-bank,” said Chick. - -“Certainly I heard them.” - -“Possibly Flood feared that the drunken scamp meant to execute them, and -he may have gone out there to prevent him.” - -Nick quickly shook his head. - -“Well enough reasoned, Chick,” said he, “but your theory hasn’t feet to -stand on.” - -“Why not?” - -“In the first place,” replied Nick, “Flood attached no serious -importance to Royal’s threats, and barely gave them a second thought. -His face showed that; also that his mind was intent upon some other -matter.” - -“I’ll admit that he appeared so.” - -“Furthermore,” added Nick, “he had only Royal’s maudlin intimation as to -where Kendall might be found, and he would not have banked so heavily on -them as to have traveled post-haste to Fordham.” - -“Possibly not, Nick.” - -“He must have gone directly out there, however, for it was after eight -o’clock when he left the faro-bank, and we have the physician’s word for -it that the murder was committed about nine o’clock.” - -“That’s true.” - -“No, no, Chick, some other motive took Flood out to Fordham last night, -and only the devil himself could guess just what occurred there.” - -“You don’t believe that he killed Kendall?” - -“Not by a long chalk!” - -“I’d wager all I possess against that.” - -“But what about young Royal?” - -“He’s an open question.” - -“Do you think he did it?” - -“It’s barely possible, yet it is too early in the game to think -profitably,” replied Nick. “There’s something I want you to do.” - -“Name it.” - -“Royal keeps a room at the Carleton Chambers. Do you know where they are -located?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then into a disguise, in order that we may not appear in the case as -yet, and go up there,” continued Nick. “If you can find Royal, question -him as to where he went last night after leaving Flood’s place, and see -what you can gather from his answers and his bearing.” - -“Trust me for that, Nick. But suppose he is away?” - -“Then quietly ascertain, if possible, whether he occupied his room there -last night, and at precisely what time he came in.” - -“Is that all?” - -“All for the present, Chick, as far as he is concerned. That central -office sleuth, Gerry, will get after him soon enough, as well as after -Flood, and I wish at present to keep a bit in the background.” - -“Gerry will soon learn all about Kendall’s winning that money.” - -“No doubt, Chick, but he’ll not discover that Flood lost it voluntarily. -You and I and that cuekeeper are all that know about it, and the -humpback will keep his mouth closed. I’ll wager that Flood has insured -that.” - -“But the evidence against Flood is decidedly incriminating,” declared -Chick. “Gerry will probably land him this very morning.” - -“I don’t think so,” smiled Nick oddly. “I’m going to get in the way of -Mr. Detective Gerry.” - -“Oh, ho, that’s your game, is it?” - -“That’s the beginning of it,” replied Nick, more gravely. “I’m -convinced, despite the evidence against him, that Flood had no hand in -this crime. Before I can proceed to an intelligent investigation of it, -however, I must learn just where Moses Flood stands, and what attitude -he will take when informed of the murder.” - -“I see,” nodded Chick. - -“He may deny any knowledge of it, or claim that he was not——Ah, but -what’s the use of trying to anticipate Flood’s conduct?” Nick bluntly -demanded. “A man who would do what he did last evening, Chick, would -hesitate at nothing that served his purpose. He’s as difficult to read -as—as——” - -“As yourself,” supplemented Chick, with a laugh. - -“Possibly even more difficult,” smiled Nick, as he completed his -disguise. “At all events, Chick, I’m not quite sure that I want Flood -arrested, and so I’m going to get in Gerry’s way until I can learn how -the land lies.” - -“Do you think Flood will inform you?” - -“I don’t think that he will, but I believe I can gather something from -an interview with him,” explained Nick. - -“I see.” - -“He’ll not suspect me, in this disguise, of being other than a fellow -gamester, and I have already shaped my course with him. Meantime you -investigate young Harry Royal, and meet me here at noon.” - -“Leave that youngster to me,” nodded Chick, as they prepared to depart, -in company. “By the way, Nick, have you communicated with Gilsey, of the -Trust Company?” - -“I have telephoned him only that Kendall was in Flood’s place last -evening,” replied Nick. “I could not well inform him of the murder -without disclosing that I had been out there. He’ll get the news of that -soon enough, however. As the case now looks,” added the detective, as -they were about parting at the street corner, “I think we may have some -warm work before we see the end of it.” - -“Let it come, Nick. I reckon we can take care of it.” - -“We’ll give it a try, at all events. See me again at noon, Chick.” - -“Sure thing.” - -It happened that morning that Moses Flood arrived at his gambling-house -less than ten minutes in advance of Nick Carter. It was an hour, -moreover, when there was rarely any business, and Flood found the house -deserted by all except the attendant at the street door and the deformed -cuekeeper on the floor above. Both were engaged in putting the place in -order after the night game. - -Flood at once mounted the stairs and entered the chamber previously -described. At that hour, however, the room presented a vivid contrast. -It was like looking at the bare stage of a theater seen by daylight. -There was no game going, no excited players, no glare of electric -lights, no clicking of ivory chips, no signs of apprehension, no -precautionary measures. For the door of the room stood open, and John -Green, the humpback, was engaged in wiping the glassware on the -sideboard. - -Flood appeared pale and haggard, like one who has passed a sleepless -night; yet he was neatly dressed, as was always the case, and carried -himself with habitual dignity and composure. - -“Good morning, John!” said he, with a sharp glance about the room. - -The face of the humpback lighted perceptibly, yet a certain anxious look -in his tired eye betrayed his secret misgivings. - -“Good morning, Mr. Flood!” he replied, a bit huskily. “You’re down -early, sir.” - -“Somewhat. Who has been here this morning?” - -“Only Nate Godard, sir. He looked in for a minute, then said he had an -errand down-town.” - -“No one else has called?” - -“Not a soul, sir.” - -Flood suppressed a sigh of relief; yet, despite the assurance given him, -his eyes again swept sharply about the room. - -“What time did the game stop last night?” he asked. - -“Just about midnight, sir. There weren’t many around after—after——” - -“After I made my big losing?” queried the gambler, with a faint smile -crossing his pale face. - -“Aye, sir; that’s what I had in mind,” replied Green, with grave -humility. - -“Did young Royal show up again?” - -“No, sir.” - -“You saw what I did, John?” - -“How could I help seeing it, Mr. Flood? I had to mark up the cues when -you signed a card taken.” - -“Did I do the job well, John?” - -“Sure, sir—well’s no name for it!” cried the humpback. “On my word, sir, -I was the most surprised man that ever sat shaking in a chair.” - -“There was nothing for you to fear.” - -“Mebbe ’twasn’t all fear, sir.” - -“Be not surprised at anything I may do,” added Flood moodily. “Was any -person wise to the play?” - -“Never a one, sir,” declared Green, with emphasis. “All hands thought -the losing was on the level. Not a man save us knows what you did, Mr. -Flood. I’d stake my life on that.” - -“For your life, then, John, keep the secret!” cried Flood, laying a -heavy hand on his startled hearer’s shoulder. “Give me your word, your -oath, man, that you’ll keep it, let come what may!” - -“My oath ’tis, sir, then!” cried the humpback, with his hand -impressively raised. “So help me God, sir, I’ll keep the secret!” - -“Nor reveal it under any circumstances?” - -“Never, sir, until you say the word.” - -“For reasons of my own, John, I wish——” - -“Oh, dash your reasons, sir!” came the impulsive interruption. “Your -wish is enough for me. I’ve not forgot ’twas you who took me out of the -streets and put me in the way of a decent living. I told you last night -you could trust me. And I tell you now, sir, I’ll let go my life if need -be to hide what you did last night.” - -Flood dropped his hand from the man’s shoulder and took that of the -speaker. - -“I know that I can trust you, John,” said he slowly. “My only fear was -that you might disclose the truth for my sake, should serious -circumstances involve me.” - -“Not I, sir, if you say not.” - -“Understand me, John,” and Flood’s resonant voice grew strangely hard -and grim. “I am now playing against a tough and hard game, the hardest a -man ever has to face, and one that may bring me between life and death.” - -“Good God, sir!” - -“Nay, don’t start and grow pale. I know what I’m about and what I am -saying. Mark well my words, and remember your vow. Under no -circumstances, not even to save my neck from a hangman’s noose, are you -by word or sign to betray my secret.” - -The face of the humpback was the color of dead ashes, and its expression -one never to be forgotten. Yet he again raised his hand and fervently -answered: - -“Never, sir, God hearing me!” - -“If I ever wish the truth disclosed, I will inform you. Till then, let -come what may, be silent—always silent!” - -“Trust me, sir, my lips are sealed.” - -“And if the gratitude of a man of my calling is worth anything,” added -Flood, with a strange light sweeping over his hueless face, “if a -gambler’s appreciation, a gamester’s thanks——Hush! Not a word! See who -rang——” - -A single note from the bell on the street door had sounded through the -quiet house. - -It caused Flood to start as if stung. His countenance changed like a -flash. His features became hard as flint, and his eyes, in which were -reflected the sad memories evoking his grateful words, took on a light -like that cast from a blade of polished steel. - -The humpback darted into the hall and peered down the stairs. - -The attendant was just opening the street door. - -Nick Carter, in the disguise of Joe Badger, stood on the steps. - -“Hello, Peters!” he exclaimed familiarly, “is Moses Flood about?” - -The goggle eyes of the humpback swept round to meet those of the -gamester, standing as rigid as stone in the adjoining room. - -“It’s only Joe Badger, sir,” he whispered hoarsely. - -Again that fleeting expression of relief swept over Flood’s white face. - -“Badger—at this hour!” he muttered darkly. “What does he want?” - -“He says he must see you, sir.” - -“Must?” - -“That was the word, sir.” - -“Must! Ha! What matters? Let him come up.” - -The humpback called down the stairs: - -“All right, Peters! Let him come up!” - -And Nick Carter quickly mounted the stairs. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. - - -Though not particularly elated over having located Flood so promptly, -Nick Carter felt considerable satisfaction in that he had accomplished -it before Detective Gerry, who, he expected, might arrive upon the scene -at any moment. That Flood’s arrest would immediately follow, unless Nick -saw fit to prevent it, the detective had not a doubt. - -The settled paleness of Flood’s clean-cut, forceful features when Nick -entered the room was the only outward sign of his recent brief -excitement. He greeted the disguised detective with a careless nod, -saying indifferently: - -“Good morning, Badger. What brings you here at this hour? There’s seldom -anything doing before noon.” - -“I know it, Mose,” replied Nick, with a glance about the room to learn -who was there. “I did not come to make a play.” - -“For what, then?” asked Flood, smiling curiously. “Merely to make a -social call?” - -“Not exactly that, either,” returned Nick. “I want a few words with you, -Mose.” - -“With me, eh? Well, Badger, here I am; so you may out with them.” - -“If it’s all the same to you, Mose, I’d prefer to see you alone.” - -Flood began to suspect that his caller wished to borrow some money, an -experience to which he was by no means a stranger, and a look of less -concern rose to his face. - -“You may come to my private room, Badger,” said he, leading the way, and -closing the door after they had entered. “Sit down if you like. Now, -what can I do for you? Are you strapped, or running low?” - -It was the same room in which Flood had paid Kendall his ninety thousand -dollars, and, incidentally, included the deck of strippers with which he -had dealt himself a loser. - -Nick glanced about the finely furnished room, then took a chair near the -table. - -“No, Mose, I am not here to ask a loan of you,” said he, smiling. “I -suppose I could have it, however, if I wished one.” - -“I think it likely, Joe,” said Flood, sitting carelessly on a corner of -the table. - -“That’s like you, Mose,” remarked Nick, ready to note any change in the -face of his hearer. “Well, I’m not here for that. I call with another -object.” - -“What object?” - -“I have just come down from Fordham. I live out that way, you know.” - -Flood started slightly and his dark brows drooped ominously. - -“From Fordham?” said he, with eyes searching Nick’s. - -“Exactly,” nodded Nick. “You’ve not heard the news, I take it?” - -Yet Nick was already convinced that he was right in his suspicions, and -that Flood already knew of the murder. To learn what attitude he next -would take was Nick’s immediate motive, on which his own course -necessarily would depend. - -“To what news do you refer, Joe?” Flood coolly inquired. - -“It’s about that chap who made a big winning here last night. I was -present at the time, you remember.” - -“Yes, I remember. But what about him?” - -“Dead!” said Nick tersely. - -“Dead!” echoed Flood, with well-feigned amazement. - -“Murdered,” added Nick. - -“Murdered! Impossible!” - -“It’s a fact, Mose.” - -“When and where?” - -Though he now saw that Flood had already resolved upon some fixed line -of conduct, Nick was determined to drive him to the wall. - -“He was killed about nine o’clock last night, Mose, near the house of -Doctor Royal, the Fordham rector.” - -“You amaze me! Cecil Kendall dead! Are you sure of this, Badger?” - -“Rather,” nodded Nick. “I saw the body myself. He was found near the -library windows, stiff as a poker, with his head crushed in with a -club.” - -“Dreadful! Horrible!” - -“So ’tis, Mose, but there’s no doubt about it,” continued Nick, watching -him as a cat watches a mouse. “They are dead sure it is a case of -murder.” - -“Whom do you mean by they?” - -“Detective Gerry and the police. They are out there looking for -evidence.” - -“Gerry, of the central office?” - -“The same.” - -“God above!” exclaimed Flood, playing his part to perfection. “I can -hardly believe this, Badger.” - -“You’ll find it’s true, all right,” declared Nick. “The poor devil’s -winnings didn’t do him much good, Mose. I reckon robbery was the motive, -for the satchel is missing which you loaned him to take away the stuff.” - -“How do you know I loaned him the satchel for that purpose?” Flood now -demanded, with a harsh ring creeping into his heavy voice. - -“Oh, I merely guessed at that, Mose; and it looks likely enough. You -heard young Royal’s threats, too. Mebbe he was the chap who did it.” - -Flood sprang down with an oath. - -“Not on your life, Badger!” he cried vehemently. “Royal’s threats were -the ravings of a drunken boy. He cannot have done it. It isn’t in him to -have done it. For your life, Badger, if you’re a friend of mine, don’t -ever hint again that Harry Royal committed this crime.” - -A curious gleam showed for an instant in Nick’s keen eyes, but he gave -no expression to the thoughts that occasioned it. - -“You’ve got no better friend than I am, Mose, you can gamble on that,” -he declared significantly. - -“Possibly not.” - -“It’s only because I wish to do you a good turn that I am here.” - -“Do me a good turn!” echoed Flood, with eyes now glowing suspiciously. -“What do you mean by that, Joe Badger?” - -“Can’t you guess what I mean, Mose?” - -“By no means.” - -“You ought to.” - -“Well, I can’t,” cried Flood, with rising resentment. “Speak plainly. -What do you mean?” - -Nick now drew forward in his chair and replied with lowered voice and -more impressively. - -“I’ll tell you what I mean, Mose,” said he. “I was on the spot when this -trick was turned and I heard all that was said. Gerry has found the -weapon with which Kendall was killed. There’s no doubt about it!” - -“Well, what of it?” demanded Flood, in perplexity too genuine to be -doubted. “Suppose they have found it? What’s that to me?” - -“Much!” - -“Why so?” - -“The weapon, Mose, was a heavy ironwood cane, the same which you carried -when you left this house at eight o’clock last evening. The murder was -committed one hour later.” - -Despite the rigid control he was imposing upon himself, which was -plainly obvious to Nick’s keen discernment, Flood now started slightly -upon hearing the detective’s disclosures. Nick saw at once that he had -brought the gamester at least one item of news, and that Flood, whatever -he knew of the crime, was ignorant of the means employed. - -In an instant, however, though his face grew even more pale, Flood again -had his feelings under rigid control. - -“Are you sure of what you are saying, Badger?” he slowly demanded, with -voice grown strangely hard. - -“Dead sure of it, Mose.” - -“That Kendall was killed with the cane you describe?” - -“The evidence is conclusive. It is an ironwood cane with a large silver -head.” - -“That’s like mine.” - -“It was found hidden under some brushwood near the rear wall of the -grounds,” continued Nick. “It was covered with blood; and bits of scalp -and hair, plainly those of the murdered man, had cleaved to it.” - -Flood heard him without moving from his seat on the edge of the table, -and with never a change in his set, white face. - -“This is strange, Badger, on my word,” he said firmly. - -“There is another bad feature, Mose.” - -“Still another, eh? And what is that?” - -“The cane was identified by Doctor Royal as belonging to you,” said Nick -pointedly. - -“That so?” - -“He declared that he had seen you carrying it many times, and that gave -Gerry the clue for which he was seeking. He said that you must be landed -without delay. He may arrive here at any moment to arrest you.” - -Still Flood neither moved nor changed. - -“Let him come,” said he, with icy indifference. - -“You’ll stand for it?” - -“Yes.” - -“You’ll not attempt to escape?” - -“No.” - -“Why not?” - -“Because I prefer to face the music. Don’t ask me why. That’s my -business.” - -Nick began to see his way more clearly. Had Flood imagined for a moment -that his visitor was Nick Carter, he would have appreciated the -difficulty of hiding his true feelings and designs, and quite possibly -have proceeded differently. As it was, Nick was steadily getting at the -truth; yet he still had much to learn, and he saw that Flood had -resolved upon some fixed design which he by no means would voluntarily -disclose. - -Nick was equally determined to discover of what the design consisted, as -well as the motive for it, and he now pressed home the weapon he knew -would wound deepest, and possibly evoke a self-betrayal. With a grave -shake of his head, he slowly answered: - -“True, Mose, it is your business. But I told you just now I was as good -a friend as you have, and when Gerry spoke of arresting you I hastened -here to head him off and warn you of your danger.” - -Flood relaxed a little, as if he appreciated the service mentioned, and -gravely answered: - -“That was very good of you, Badger, and you meant well. But I am not a -man to run when danger threatens. I’ve been up against it too many -years.” - -“You’ll let them arrest you, eh?” - -“I shall make no move to prevent it.” - -Nick’s grave voice took on a subtle ring. - -“On the contrary, Mose, I think you will.” - -“You think I will!” exclaimed Flood, with a dark frown. - -“Precisely.” - -“Why do you say that?” - -“Because it does not suit me, Mose, that you shall be arrested for -Kendall’s murder.” - -“Not suit you! Why so?” - -“For a very good reason. If robbery was the motive for the crime, I -happen to know that you did not commit it.” - -“What do you mean?” Flood hoarsely gasped. “How do you know it?” - -“Because no man would kill another for money voluntarily lost to him -within an hour,” cried Nick sharply. “I was wise to your play last -night. I saw you deal a very clever brace game, and yet you made -yourself a loser. With a deck of strippers you forced Kendall to win the -money for which he afterward was slain—but not by you, Moses Flood! I’ll -stake my life upon that, let the evidence be what it may. You——” - -“Your life! God above, Badger, if you value that life, listen to me!” - -Nick’s rapid verbal thrusts had accomplished just what he had expected. - -Yet the change that had come over the gambler was one to have startled -and alarmed most men. As he heard the words that told him his secret was -known to another, Flood became ghastly white, sat silent for a moment, -then suddenly sprang down from the table, gave utterance to the -interruption noted, and seized Nick by the throat. - -“You are mad—mad!” he fiercely continued, with eyes blazing and his -voice choked with rage. “I did nothing of the kind. My loss was on the -level. If you ever breathe another word of this, Joe Badger, I’ll -throttle your life from your body. I tell you——” - -“Let go, Mose, or you’ll have done it here and now!” cried Nick, -struggling to his feet and throwing off the impassioned man. “I know -what I saw last night——” - -“You lie! You lie!” - -“And I’m out to learn the truth, Mose, the whole truth——” - -“Stop! Hark you!” interrupted Flood, livid with passion. “I say you are -wrong—wrong—wrong! If you ever again assert that I dealt a false card -last night, so help me Heaven, I will——” - -Clang! - -Again the street door-bell rang loudly through the house. - -Flood instantly dropped his hand from Nick’s collar, abruptly terminated -the threat he was about to utter, then turned like one electrified and -sprang to open the door of the outer room. - -The humpback, with eyes starting from his head, appeared on the -threshold. - -“God in Heaven!” he cried hoarsely, with his uncouth face convulsed with -alarm. “It’s Detective Gerry, of the central office.” - -Nick saw and heard, and his bearded features took on a look of sudden -passionate resolution. With a bound he reached the gambler’s side and -threw him back toward the table, at the same time crying, with terrible -sternness: - -“Hark you, Flood! Not a word! You must escape! Your arrest must be -prevented! Leave this detective to me!” - -Nick Carter’s influence at such a critical moment was irresistible. -Moses Flood, scarce knowing why, recoiled from the terrible look on the -detective’s face, and Nick instantly strode into the outer room, closing -the door behind him. - -The humpback was already darting to secure the heavy door leading into -the hall, with a view to preventing Gerry’s entrance. - -Before this could be accomplished, however, the central office man, who -had bounded up the stairs, and saw the swinging door, hurled himself -forcibly against it and came nearly headlong into the room. - -“Oh, I say, Gerry!” cried Nick coolly, “what’s the meaning of this?” - -Gerry glared at him, as he recovered his equilibrium, but failed to -recognize him. Whipping out a document from his pocket, he cried -sharply: - -“It means that I have a warrant here for the arrest of Moses Flood. -Where is he?” - -“Arrest of Flood, eh?” rejoined Nick, with a derisive laugh. “Why the -devil didn’t you come in on horseback to serve it?” - -Gerry, who was an impulsive fellow, though a very capable officer, -resented the remark with an ugly snarl. - -“None of your durned business!” he cried angrily. “I’d have come in an -automobile if I’d wanted to.” - -“You might have come in a balloon, Gerry, for all I should have cared,” -retorted Nick. - -“Oh, is that so?” - -“Flood’s not here, as you may see for yourself. It’s a bit early for him -to show up. Come down at this hour of the night, Gerry, and you’ll find -him. There are but few of us owls out in the sunlight.” - -“Evidently you’re looking for trouble, mister,” snapped Gerry, with a -threatening nod at Nick. “I happen to know that Flood is here, for -Peters said so at the street door. He’s not so far away but that——” - -“Stop a bit!” - -“Not I!” thundered Gerry, drawing a revolver. “If you interfere with me, -my man. I’ll let daylight into you.” - -And before Nick could prevent him the central office man sprang aside, -bounded to the door of Flood’s private room, and violently threw it -open. - -One glance into the room was sufficient. - -Even Nick Carter was startled and momentarily amazed. - -For the private room, despite that the windows were thirty feet above -the ground, and only one door visible, was found to be vacant. - -Moses Flood had vanished as mysteriously as if the walls of the room, or -the floor itself, had opened and swallowed him. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - NEW CLUES. - - -As Gerry drew back, amazed at not finding Flood in his private room, -Nick caught one swift, significant glance from John Green, the humpback, -whose face had lighted like that of nature after a summer shower. - -The glance spoke even louder than words, and it told Nick what he -already had begun to suspect—that a secret door existed, concealed in -one of the walls of the room, by which Flood had easily made his escape. - -That he had decided to do so, moreover, suited Nick to the very letter; -and, with a cautionary wink at the humpback, he observed derisively: - -“You’re down on a dead card, Gerry, that’s plain enough. I told you that -Flood was not here, and as you now may see for yourself.” - -“But Peters informed me——” - -“What Peters told you is of no consequence,” interrupted Nick. “It is -half-an-hour since Peters admitted him, and Flood has gone out -meantime.” - -Much to his own satisfaction, Nick now felt tolerably sure that he spoke -the truth, and that Flood had for some reason changed his mind and -resolved to evade arrest. With a keen insight that was eminently -characteristic of him, moreover, when measuring men’s motives from their -conduct, Nick already suspected the occasion of the gambler’s change of -mind. - -Nick did not defer his departure, therefore, merely to have further -words with Gerry. Leaving the latter to take what action he pleased, he -bestowed upon the humpback a wink that plainly advised a discreet -silence, then coolly marched down the stairs and out of the house. - -He had accomplished more than superficially appears, as will soon become -obvious, and had paved the way for another curiously artful move. - -It was nearly noon when he left the gaming-house, and having removed his -disguise at an opportune moment Nick next headed for the Milmore Trust -Company, to have a word with President Gilsey. - -Just as he was approaching the bank building, however, he saw a flashily -clad young lady emerge, none other than Gilsey’s stenographer, then -about going to her lunch. - -The instant Nick saw her he was struck with an idea, and, as previously -remarked of Nick, to think was to act. He quickly intercepted the girl, -to whom he said a bit curtly: - -“You are Miss Belle Braddon, aren’t you?” - -Belle arched her brows, stared at him for a moment, then pursed her red -lips, and replied: - -“Yes, that’s my name. But, really, I don’t recall you, neither your face -nor your name.” - -“Oh, yes, you do,” said Nick, with a rather impressive nod. “You just -think a bit, and you’ll presently speak it.” - -“Dear me, is that so?” queried the girl, in tones of insolence. “Ah, now -that I look again, I believe I do. You are Detective Carter, are you -not?” - -“Right!” - -“I saw you in Mr. Gilsey’s office yesterday, did I not?” - -“Right again, Miss Braddon. And there’s a question I wish you to -answer.” - -“Indeed?” - -“Why did you tell Moses Flood that Kendall was short in his accounts?” - -Nick asked the question in a way that sent the color from the girl’s -cheeks, and her eyes betrayed that he had hit the nail on the head. - -Yet Miss Braddon flushed hotly after a moment and curtly said, with a -resentful frown: - -“I did nothing of the kind.” - -“Yes, you did.” - -“I did not! Why do you say so?” - -“Because I know that Flood learned of it, and you’re the only person, -except Mr. Gilsey, who could have told him. Now, why did you tell him?” - -Belle Braddon shrugged her shoulders, hesitated for a moment, and then -indulged in a low, mocking laugh. - -“Your assertion is really too absurd, Detective Carter,” she glibly -replied. “To begin with, I did not know that Kendall was short in his -accounts; and to end with, I have not seen Moses Flood for a week. You -think I’m lying, eh?” - -“Well——” - -“Oh, I see that you do, so don’t deny it. Come round and call on me some -evening, Detective Carter, and we’ll talk it over—or have a game of -ping-pong, if you prefer. I mustn’t be seen talking too long with a man -on the street. It’s not good form, you know; so I’ll bid you good-by.” - -With which Miss Braddon gathered up her skirts, gave Nick a nod and -smile of the chip-on-my-shoulder type, then tripped away without a look -behind her. - -Nick knew that she had lied, but it served his purpose to let her go. -Yet he grimly said to himself as he entered the Trust Building: - -“Don’t be too sure that it’s not au revoir, young lady, instead of -good-by. I now suspect you of cutting in this affair a figure bigger -than a cipher.” - -Nick found Mr. Gilsey in his private office, dismayed by the news he had -received, not only of Cecil Kendall’s murder, but also of the latter’s -recent career, plainly indicating that the deficit at the bank was a -deplorable probability. - -“I now have experts at work on the books, Detective Carter, and we shall -soon know the worst,” said he, after their greeting and a brief -discussion of the crime discovered that morning. - -“I am like a man in a nightmare,” he added. “I can scarcely realize what -has occurred, and hardly know where I stand.” - -“That’s not to be wondered at,” said Nick. “The situation is serious -enough surely, but I shall continue my work on the case and do the best -I can with it.” - -“You have said that Kendall won a large sum of money last night, of -which he was robbed. Do you think there is any possibility of recovering -that money?” - -“I certainly shall try to do so, Mr. Gilsey.” - -“I hope you may succeed.” - -“I shall make every effort, sir. There are several questions I wish you -to answer, and I must then hasten away upon other work bearing on the -case. To begin with, Gilsey, has Kendall been observably friendly with -your private stenographer, Miss Braddon?” - -Gilsey looked surprised for a moment, then answered: - -“Why, yes, I think that he has been. They have frequently lunched in -company, and I have heard of them at the theaters together. I cannot, of -course, say to what extent their intimacy has gone.” - -“It does not matter particularly,” replied Nick. “You stated yesterday -that she lives with her uncle.” - -“Yes.” - -“Who is he?” - -“He is one of our depositors. His name is Godard—Nathan Godard.” - -“Oh, ho! Flood’s lookout at the faro-bank!” Nick exclaimed to himself. -“By Jove! this affair is shaping itself up in a new light. I begin to -scent a rat.” - -With no betrayal of his momentary surprise, however, Nick presently said -aloud: - -“How large a deposit does Godard carry here?” - -“Several thousand dollars at times.” - -“Flood’s money,” thought Nick promptly. “Deposited in Godard’s name.” - -“It is comparatively small now, however, amounting to only a few hundred -dollars,” added Gilsey. “Surely, Carter, you do not suspect my -stenographer or her uncle of having any part in these crimes?” - -Nick did not tell him what he suspected. Instead, he said gravely, as he -took his hat to depart: - -“I am not prepared to make any statement, Mr. Gilsey. I have, however, a -bit of advice to give you, which I wish you to promptly follow.” - -“And what is your advice?” - -“Get rid of your stenographer with the least possible delay, Mr. -Gilsey.” - -“Good heavens!” - -“When she returns from lunch, sir, discharge her immediately, and -without a recommendation,” added Nick. “If she asks you why you do so, -inform her that Nick Carter advises it! Nay, even more than that, tell -her that I command it.” - -“But——” - -“There are no buts, Gilsey,” protested Nick emphatically. “Either do -this, and do it this very day, or up go my hands and I drop the whole -case. I do not give such instructions as these without an object. When -the time comes, Gilsey, you shall know why I insist upon this.” - -Gilsey did not fancy the expression on Nick’s face, and he wisely pulled -in his horns. - -“Why, certainly, Carter, if you put it in that way,” said he. “I will -discharge Miss Braddon the moment she returns.” - -“Very good.” - -“But I fail to see——” - -“You will see at the proper time, Gilsey, take my word for that,” -interrupted Nick. “Now, there is one more thing.” - -“Well?” - -“Write Nathan Godard at once, and instruct him to withdraw his deposit. -Give him no reason, mind you, but insist upon his closing his account -here.” - -“Well, well, this is a curious proceeding——” - -“He’ll not think so, Gilsey,” Nick again interrupted significantly. -“He’ll comply without an objection, take my word for that. Look to it, -Gilsey, and leave all the rest to me. I’ll turn a trick for you of some -importance, old chap, before this case ends. But no more on that subject -just now. I must be off at once.” - -Leaving the banker to stare and wonder, Nick hastened from the building -and headed for home. - -“Nathan Godard, eh?” he grimly soliloquized, as he walked briskly away. -“Uncle to Belle Braddon, eh? And she has been hand and glove with -Kendall, eh? - -“Why, it’s as simple as two times two. The girl is queer from her feet -up, a clever crook, secretly a capper for the game at Moses Flood’s. As -likely as not, Mose does not know of it, but I’d go my pile that Godard -has been using the girl for a decoy. - -“It’s a hundred to one that she started Kendall on the down grade and -lured him into Godard’s clutches. When a girl of her stamp works at a -respectable vocation, it is invariably with an evil design. From the day -she sought employment in that bank, the jade had Kendall marked for her -secret prey; and Godard opened an account there only to give things a -better look to the poor devil. - -“Well, well, he has danced his dance and has now paid the price. His -blood is on some man’s hands, and I must learn whose. Luckily, I now -know some hands that are still clean, despite the mass of evidence to -the contrary. Unless I am greatly mistaken, I shall give that central -office sleuth, Gerry, a queer feeling before this case goes upon -record.” - -Thus musing, Nick hastened home, where he found Chick just returned from -the Carleton Chambers and a call upon young Harry Royal. - -“Well, what did he have to say for himself?” asked Nick, the moment he -entered. - -“He spoke fairly enough,” replied Chick, laying aside his cigar. “He -says he did not go to Fordham last evening, but went directly from the -faro-bank to his room in the Carleton Chambers.” - -“He’s a liar!” exclaimed Nick, frowning. - -“Ah, you’ve struck a clue, eh?” - -“A thread, Chick—merely a thread. Yet I’ll wager I know to what it -leads. I’ll not delay to explain, for I want a crack at that young man -myself. Did you leave him at his lodgings?” - -“Yes, less than half-an-hour ago,” nodded Chick. “I think you’ll find -him there, for he appeared badly knocked out, and said he was as sick as -a dog.” - -“The result of a week’s debauch,” growled Nick censoriously. “It serves -him right. Did you inform him of Kendall’s murder?” - -“He had already heard of it, Nick, and that Flood is suspected of the -crime.” - -“H’m! So the news has spread, eh? Well, I’ll soon settle that chap’s -breakfast. I want a bout with him before others can get in a blow. Just -wait a bit, Chick; I want your opinion of a disguise.” - -Nick hurried from the room and Chick resumed his cigar. At the end of -ten minutes the former returned, yet one would never have known him. - -His figure was slightly padded, his brows darkened, his lower features -heavily bearded, and he was tastefully clad in a suit of black, with a -generous display of immaculate shirt-front and a piercing solitaire -stud. - -Barring the heavy beard, Nick at that moment was a counterfeit -presentment of—Moses Flood. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - DRIVEN TO THE WALL. - - -To strike while the iron is hot, to seize upon every clue while it was -fresh, to be alert for the least sign, the slightest word, the fleetest -glance, that might even remotely suggest the key to a mystery, and then -to quickly follow every thread, however finely spun, and discover -whither it led—all this was characteristic of Nick Carter, and to it he -owed much of his success. - -Few detectives, however, though of the shrewdest, would have discerned -the spider-web clues which Nick had that morning detected, or have been -able to turn them to the best advantage. - -It required a man of Nick Carter’s superior art to execute the delicate -and superlatively crafty move that took him to the Carleton Chambers. - -The room occupied by Harry Royal was on the third floor front, and the -occupant was alone when Nick, disguised as described, rapped sharply on -the door. - -For fully a minute there was no response from within. - -“Fear!” said Nick to himself. “The terror born of conscious guilt is -upon him. He dreads every sound, fears every visitor, yet dares not -leave his chamber. Solitude and secret dread are preferable to the voice -and eyes of an accuser.” - -Nick rapped again, louder. - -Then a step within echoed the sound, and the door was finally opened. - -Harry Royal, sober enough now, and as white and haggard as if from a -long illness, appeared on the threshold, his boyish figure clad in a -long, loose house robe. - -Nick fell as cleverly as an actor into the part he designed to play. - -“Hush!” he instantly whispered, with startling intensity. “I see that -you’re alone! Not a word till I am under cover! Let me come in.” - -“Who the devil——” - -“First let me come in,” persisted Nick, fairly forcing his way into the -room. “I may be seen here, recognized, arrested on the spot. It’s for -your sake I am here, Harry Royal, as well as my own. Now close the door -and lock it. I am taking long chances for these few words with you.” - -The terrible fear of arrest expressed and displayed by Nick, even more -than his feigned voice of the gamester and the latter’s almost habitual -attire, suddenly suggested to Royal the possible identity of his -disguised visitor. - -“Good heavens!” he exclaimed under his breath. “Is it you, Mose Flood?” - -“You’d not ask that question were I to doff this disguise,” replied -Nick, with bitter asperity. “Have you locked the door? Don’t open it, -then, for man or devil, without first giving me time to hide. I am -wanted for murder! Do you hear? I am wanted for murder!” - -With a mighty effort Royal had pulled himself together, yet his hueless -cheeks and dilated eyes, burning as if with fever, betrayed his -consternation and dismay. He tottered to a chair near the table and sank -into it as if his limbs refused longer to support him. - -“Good God, Mose, what brings you here?” he hoarsely demanded. - -“I’ll soon tell you, have no doubt of that,” rejoined Nick, with -threatening significance. - -While he spoke he drew a chair to the opposite side of the table, so -placing it that the light from the window should not fall upon his face -and possibly reveal his deception. - -Then he sat down, fixed his frowning eyes upon the face of the cringing -young man opposite, and said sternly, still cleverly imitating Flood’s -resonant voice: - -“Well, what have you done with it?” - -Royal caught his breath, gripped hard at the arms of his chair for a -moment, then answered, in tones of intense amazement: - -“Done with what, Mose?” - -“The money.” - -“What money?” - -“A fine question!” sneered Nick, with a terrible display of suppressed -passion. “What money, indeed! The money of which you robbed Cecil -Kendall, after beating out his brains under the windows of your own -home.” - -Royal was as white as a corpse, yet by a mighty effort of will he -governed his agitation, and found voice with which to reply. - -“You are mad, Mose—stark mad!” he cried hoarsely. “I did nothing of the -kind.” - -“You lie!” hissed Nick ferociously. “I saw you out there. I saw you do -it—or just after you had done it. Don’t lie to me, Royal. You may blind -others with a lie, perhaps, but you can’t blind me. I say I saw you do -it, or at least saw you just after you did it.” - -A look of utter despair had settled on Royal’s bloodless face, and he -was trembling from head to foot. Yet in his staring eyes there was a -look of misery and mute appeal that words could not describe. - -“On my word you are wrong, Mose, utterly wrong!” he cried piteously. “I -did not do it. I have not got the money.” - -“You have! I say I saw you!” - -“You did not see me do it. You did not see me kill him, for I did not do -it.” - -“I saw you out there,” reiterated Nick, with augmented vehemence. “If -you deny the truth to me, that I saw you out there last night, I’ll -throttle you where you sit.” - -Royal breathed hard and heavy, as if he already felt a hand at his -throat. His staring eyes appeared held by Nick’s intense gaze, and the -latter’s stern and threatening face awed and terrified him. For thirty -seconds he hesitated, then faltered brokenly, like a man whose abject -fear drove him to admit the truth. - -“Well—God help me, Mose, what shall I do? I—I confess that I was out -there, Mose; but, on my oath, I did not kill Kendall. I swear to Heaven, -Mose, I did not.” - -Nick felt a thrill of satisfaction. He had scored one important point -and verified one of his suspicions—that Royal had gone to Fordham after -leaving the faro-bank, despite having denied it to Chick. - -Nick now let up a little on his terror-filled victim. Yet, without -betraying his secret satisfaction, he sternly replied: - -“You say you did not kill him, but I have only your word for it.” - -“My oath, Mose!” - -“Silence! Silence, and hear me!” - -“I am listening, Mose. For God’s sake, don’t be so harsh. I have trouble -enough, Heaven knows. I am a wreck of myself and know not where to turn. -I am listening, Mose.” - -Nick rather pitied the misguided fellow, yet his pity did not deter him -from playing his shrewd game to a finish. He leaned nearer over the -table, saying with unabated severity: - -“Hark you, then! You’ve not forgotten your threats made in my place last -night. I heard them, and knew of what a drunken fool is capable. So I -hastened out to Fordham to head you off from any crime. God forgive me, -I arrived too late. I arrived only to see you——” - -“You did not see me do it, Mose, so help me Heaven!” Royal hoarsely -interrupted. - -“I saw enough,” cried Nick, with terrible significance. “Miserable young -man that you are, you have left me but one course. Don’t you see what I -am doing? Don’t you see where I stand?” - -“Where you stand?” echoed Royal, white and staring. - -“Have you no brains?” continued Nick, with augmented feeling. “You know -that I revere your father, that I love your sister. Don’t you see, -misguided boy, that, for their sake, to spare them the awful shame and -sorrow of beholding you a criminal, I have taken your guilt on my own -shoulders? Don’t you see it, blind man, that for the sake of their peace -and happiness, not for yours, I am inviting suspicion and taking even -the hazard of the electric chair?” - -Nick Carter, incomparably shrewd in his discernment and deductions, was -indeed impersonating Moses Flood to the very letter. That the motives -just expressed were the real motives actuating Moses Flood in his recent -conduct, Nick had not a doubt. - -For a moment Royal stared at him like one who could not speak. Then the -meaning of what he had heard, and the overwhelming self-sacrifice so -vividly pictured, seemed to dawn upon him with full force. It did even -more, just as Nick had expected. It brought to the lips of the unhappy -young man the words of gratitude and the much more important disclosure -of the whole truth, which Nick Carter from the first had but aimed to -evoke. - -With countenance changing, with eyes lighting perceptibly, Royal -presently said, more calmly: - -“Can I believe my ears? Do you mean, Moses Flood, that you had no hand -in that crime, and that your present conduct is inspired by the -sentiments you have expressed?” - -“I never speak idly, boy,” cried Nick impressively. - -“Then, God hearing me, my father and sister owe you a debt of gratitude -that words cannot repay,” declared Royal fervently. “I will not speak of -my own feelings, save to repeat that you are wrong, absolutely wrong; -for I am ignorant as you concerning who killed Cecil Kendall.” - -Nick believed him, yet he grimly shook his head. - -“You still doubt me,” cried Royal quickly, now eager to explain and set -himself right. “Wait a moment, Mose. I don’t deny that you have grounds -for suspicion, after the threats I made and what you may have seen at -the rectory. But let me explain.” - -“I am listening.” - -“My threats were but foolish ravings, Mose, on my word, I had no -intention of executing them, but I determined to have what I thought was -my part of Kendall’s winnings.” - -“Well, what did you do about it?” - -“After leaving your place, Mose, I did go to Fordham,” said Royal, with -nervous haste. “I knew that Kendall had an appointment with my sister, -and I expected to find him at the rectory. The journey out there in the -fresh night air, however, served to cool my blood and bring me to my -senses. On entering the rectory grounds I realized that I was in no -condition to meet my father, from whom I have concealed the wild and -foolish habits into which I have lately fallen. As true as Heaven, Mose, -I am done with them from this hour.” - -“What did you do out there?” demanded Nick, with feigned incredulity. -“Come to that.” - -“Instead of entering the house,” Royal hastened to reply, with increased -earnestness, “I went to look through the library windows, to see if -Kendall was in the house.” - -“And then?” - -“Then,” echoed Royal, with a gasp and shudder, “then I stumbled on -Kendall’s dead body, not ten feet away from the library window. My God, -Mose, you cannot imagine my horror and my dreadful alarm. The desperate -threats I had made in your place suddenly recurred to me. I saw myself -under arrest for the crime. I was like a man in a hideous nightmare, and -I did only what men do in such a frenzy of terror and dismay.” - -“What was that?” - -“I fled like a madman from the spot and returned to the city. Avoiding -observation, Mose, and stealing into this house by one of the side -doors, I came here to my room. I have not since been out of it. I have -not dared to go out. I have been waiting here, in abject fear and -trembling, for the worst that may come. I know I am a coward Mose—a cur -and a coward; but, so help me God, I have told you the whole truth!” - -“I believe you, Royal,” said Nick. “But you have overlooked one very -important fact.” - -Royal started at the change of tone, and again grew deathly pale. - -“What fact, Mose?” he faintly gasped. - -“You have confessed yourself, not to Moses Flood, but to Nick Carter, -the detective.” - -And Nick grimly removed his heavy beard while he spoke, and rose -abruptly to his feet. - -For the bare fraction of a second Harry Royal hung fire under his sudden -stress of alarm and excitement. He sat like a man momentarily dazed, -with his hueless features drawn and twitching convulsively, and his wild -eyes half starting from his head. - -Then with a half-smothered scream of dismay he ripped open the table -drawer at which he sat and snatched out a revolver. - -Before Nick fairly realized it, so rapid and quick was the move, he -found himself with the weapon leveled pointblank at his head. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - NICK CALLS THE TURN. - - -“You throw up your hands, Carter, and listen to me!” - -This was the command that came from Harry Royal as he leveled his -revolver at the detective’s head. - -Nick promptly obeyed. - -The shrewd detective, however, was laughing in his sleeve. He had -learned from long experience that there is little to be feared from a -man who pulls a gun and does not instantly fire. In nine cases out of -ten the act is only a bluff. - -“I’ll not be arrested, Carter, I’ve made up my mind to that,” Royal -hoarsely cried. “Death is preferable to the disgrace and horror of a -prison cell. I don’t intend to harm you, but I swear I’ll shoot myself -if you attempt to arrest me.” - -Nick was smiling now. - -“You evidently take me for a foe, Royal,” said he genially. “Instead, my -boy, I am as good a friend as you have in the world. Put up that toy, -Royal, and prepare to go with me.” - -“Not——” - -“Oh, no, not to the Tombs,” interrupted Nick heartily. “I know that you -are innocent of any crime, and I am here only to serve you to the best -advantage, as well as others who are dear to you. I want you to go to my -residence with me, and for the present remain concealed there.” - -“For what reason?” demanded Royal, struck with surprise and gradually -dropping his weapon. - -“Oh, I cannot delay to explain,” laughed Nick, in friendly fashion. -“I’ll do so later, however. What I most fear, just now, Royal, is that -Detective Gerry, of the central office, may show up here at any moment. -Take my word for it, my boy, he’ll land you in the Tombs in short order, -and that’s what I wish to prevent.” - -“Do you mean this, Carter, that you are really my friend?” - -“Try me and see,” laughed Nick. “They who know me well will tell you -that I never lie like this.” - -Royal sprang to his feet and held out his hand. - -“I’ll take your word for it,” he impulsively cried, with his boyish -countenance fairly transfigured. - -“Good for you,” nodded Nick, shaking him warmly by the hand. “You’ll -never regret it.” - -“I will go with you when and where you please.” - -“Good again.” - -“Yet I’m infernally mystified——” - -“Oh, I’ll explain all a little later, my boy.” - -“Then we’ll dust from here at once, sir, for Gerry——” - -“Stop a bit,” said Nick. “Not too fast. I wish it to appear that you -have fled, as you very likely would have done if you were guilty of -Kendall’s murder. No, no, don’t stop to question me. I’ll make it clear -enough to you by and by.” - -“Very well, sir,” cried Royal, now glad enough to comply. “You just tell -me what to do, Detective Carter, and I’ll do it.” - -“First put things in shape here, as if you had hurriedly departed,” said -Nick. “It will be very easy for Gerry and the police to assume that you -had some hand in the crime, and that you have now jumped the country. -I’ll loan you this disguise, that you may not be recognized as we go -out, and then we’ll make a bee-line for my residence. Once there, my -boy, we may discuss the situation without fear of intruders. Come, come, -look lively. The sooner we are away, lad, the better.” - -Not much time was required for preparing the indications of hurried -flight which Nick wished the room to present, and at the end of a -quarter of an hour the two men left the Carleton Chambers building, -Royal in the disguise with which Nick had provided him, and together -they at once proceeded to the detective’s residence. - -Upon entering his office with Royal, Nick met with a slight surprise, -not entirely unexpected, yet not anticipated quite so soon. - -With a significant wink, Chick received him with the remark: - -“There’s a man in the library, Nick, waiting to see you.” - -Nick took the cue given him, saying inquiringly: - -“Not——” - -“Exactly!” - -With a smile of genuine satisfaction, Nick turned to Royal and said: - -“Take off that disguise, my boy, and conceal yourself back of yonder -door.” - -“For what, sir?” asked Royal, perplexed and surprised. - -“I expect something to be said here that I wish you to overhear.” - -“Very well, then.” - -“Not a word, mind you, nor a move of any kind, until I give you -permission.” - -“Trust me, sir, I’ll be silent.” - -“Conceal yourself at once, then,” said Nick. “Now, Chick, bring in the -caller.” - -Chick departed to the library, returning at the end of a minute. - -He was accompanied by—Moses Flood. - -Nick had discarded his black coat, having put on an office jacket, and -he was found seated at his desk. - -“Ah, Moses, how are you?” said he, looking up with an innocent smile -when the noted gambler entered. - -Flood was as carefully dressed as usual, and appeared remarkably -dignified and composed. Yet his face was very pale and his mouth -noticeably firm. - -“Fairly well, Nick,” he gravely replied, accepting the chair to which -Nick graciously waved him. “I am glad you have returned. I have been -waiting to see you.” - -“Waiting long, Mose?” - -“About ten minutes. No, don’t go, Chick. My business is not private. I -prefer, in fact, that you also should hear what I have to say.” - -“All right, Mose,” laughed Chick, taking a chair. “Just as you wish.” - -“What can I do for you, Flood?” inquired Nick. - -The gambler cleared his throat before he replied, then said, with grave -feeling: - -“To begin with, Nick, despite that our vocations in life have been -decidedly opposed, and mine not one to be proud of, we have never had -any conflict that I can recall, and I feel rather justified in saying -that we are fairly good friends.” - -“Quite so, I’m sure,” said Nick simply. - -“Well, I wish to state, Nick, that I have played my last card. Whatever -the morrow has in store for me, whether good or ill, fortune or -misfortune, I never again will gamble in any way as long as I live. I am -done with it forever.” - -Nick promptly extended his hand and took that of the speaker, giving it -a grip that made Flood wince. - -“I’m a thousand times more than glad to hear you say this, Mose,” he -cried; “and I know that your word, when you give it thus, is as good as -any government bond. I’m rejoiced to be the first to take your hand upon -it; and, as far as friendship goes, Mose, you have no better friend in -the world than Nick Carter.” - -Flood’s outward composure, which was absolutely marvelous at times, -remained as marked as when he sat dealing cards which made him nearly a -hundred thousand dollars loser, for the sake of a girl’s happiness whose -hand had been denied him, and to whose love he believed he had no -earthly hope. - -“I believe you, Nick,” said he gravely. “And I thank you.” - -“Such a man as you, Mose, can make his mark in any path in life, and a -brilliant mark, too,” added Nick. “I see a grand future for you now, and -I say heartily, God speed it.” - -Flood shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled faintly. - -“Don’t be too sure of the future, Nick,” said he. “At all events, -however, free me from one thought.” - -“Namely?” - -“That I am led to this renunciation of my business by any fear or -thought of the future,” said Flood, with profound feeling. “Now, Nick, -having declared my better resolutions, I will come to the chief point -and tell you why I am here.” - -“I am all attention.” - -“I presume you have heard the news, Nick?” - -“You refer to that murder out in Fordham?” - -“Precisely.” - -“Yes, Mose, I have heard of it.” - -“Well, Nick, I have come here to give myself into custody,” said Flood, -with unaltered quietude. “You being a good friend, and a man I have -always admired, I preferred to have you take me in rather than one of -those infernally meddlesome sleuths of the central office. Nick, I yield -myself your prisoner.” - -To say that Chick Carter was startled and surprised is putting it -tamely. - -Nick, however, was not in the least surprised. He had, with -extraordinary shrewdness, and for reasons presently to appear, expected -nothing less. - -“My prisoner, eh?” said he, smiling, with a curious twinkle in his eye. -“For what, Mose?” - -“For the murder of Cecil Kendall,” said Flood quietly. “I confess to -having committed the crime, Nick, and you may run me in as soon as you -please. The sooner the better.” - -Nick sat back in his chair, elevated his heels to the edge of his desk, -then said complacently, still oddly smiling: - -“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Flood, but I really cannot accept your -magnanimous offer.” - -“Not accept it!” - -“No, Mose.” - -“Why not?” - -“Because, Mose,” laughed Nick, “my reputation as a detective is -involved. When I run a man in for committing a crime I always make it a -point to run in—the right man!” - -Flood half started from his chair, then controlled himself with a -violent mental effort. - -“What do you mean by that, Nick?” he demanded, frowning darkly. - -“Just what I say, Mose.” - -“You think I am not the right man?” - -“I know you are not.” - -“But my confession——” - -“Your confession has no weight with me, Mose,” interrupted Nick -decidedly. - -“No weight! Why not?” - -“Because you are making it to shield another.” - -“Another?” - -“Harry Royal.” - -“Why do you say this?” - -“Because you are in love with his sister, Mose, and you went to Fordham -last evening to see her,” cried Nick. “Instead, you saw Harry Royal near -Kendall’s dead body, and you now believe that he committed the murder. -So you are taking his supposed crime upon your own shoulders, for the -sake of Medora Royal and her father, with even greater sacrifice than -when you purposely dealt cards which made you a loser to the amount of -ninety thousand dollars, to set Kendall on his feet, merely because you -thought Dora Royal loved him.” - -Before this was half uttered Moses Flood was upon his feet, as white as -the collar at his pulsing throat and with eyes burning like living fire. - -“Are you man or devil, Nick Carter, that you know these things?” he -cried, with lips convulsively twitching. - -Nick laughed aloud. - -“Man, Mose,” he replied; “and I’m sometimes known by the name -of—Badger.” - -Flood drew back with a start. - -“Badger—you’re not Joe Badger!” - -“Rather!” - -“Whom I saw this morning?” - -“None other.” - -“Who was at my place last night?” - -“Precisely.” - -“Oh, my God, I see it all now!” - -“Steady, Mose!” cried Nick. “Not too fast. Not quite all. You fail to -see what you yourself have once declared—that it was not in young Royal -to have killed his friend.” - -Flood caught his breath as he comprehended the significance of the last -remark, and he sprang toward Nick like a man electrified. - -“You don’t mean—you don’t mean, Nick, that he is guiltless?” he cried, -as if in a frenzy of suspense. - -“Exactly.” - -“Can you prove it? Can you prove it? I’ll give you my fortune, Nick, if -you can prove that.” - -“We shall see.” - -“But——” - -“Come forth there, from behind the door,” shouted Nick. - -And Harry Royal, deeply moved by what he had heard, with tears in his -eyes and sobs shaking him, strode out from his concealment. - -Flood reeled a little, staring, gasping for breath, then raised his -hands and pointed to the young man he had so unselfishly served. - -“But I saw him—I saw him above the body!” he cried wildly. - -“I discovered it only by chance, Mose, on my word.” - -“But the satchel—you had in your hand the satchel with the money——” - -“No, no, on my life, no!” screamed Royal. “It was my own, the satchel I -had brought from Boston. I had it when I left your house. I know no more -than you of the killing of Cecil Kendall.” - -Flood threw back his head with a cry of relief too great for words, and -Nick Carter laughed deeply and sprang up to grasp him by the hand. - -“You are one man in ten million, Mose, who would thus lay down his life -for the love of another,” he cried warmly. “Calm yourself, old chap. I -told you I was a friend on whom you could rely.” - -Flood gazed at him with glistening eyes. - -“Before Heaven, Nick, I owe you a debt I can never repay,” said he, with -much emotion. - -“Pshaw,” laughed Nick heartily. “As you men say who writhe under the -tiger’s claws, as you lately have been writhing, Mose, I have merely -called the turn for you. Run you in, eh? No, no, my man, not I. When I -make a move of that kind I want the right man. To get the bracelets on -him—that’s the work that still lies before me. It may prove to be the -most difficult and dangerous of all. The relations of you two men—humph! -the adjustment of them was easy.” - -Even thus indifferently could the great detective regard the clever work -by which he had verified many of his suspicions through bringing these -two men together. - -The explanations that presently followed served to greatly clear the -situation, despite that they offered no clue to Kendall’s assassin. - -Harry Royal’s story, as previously told to Nick, was entirely true. - -As regarded Flood, it appeared that he had driven to Fordham in a buggy, -in the body of which he had placed his cane. Wishing to secretly have a -last interview with Dora Royal, he had hitched his team at the rear -gate, then crossed the rectory grounds to try to see her. As he -approached the house, however, he saw Royal by the light from the -library windows, crouching above the body of Kendall, who must have been -slain but a brief time before. - -Before Flood could accost him, Royal leaped up and fled at the top of -his speed. After the threats the latter had made, Flood felt sure he had -committed the murder. Overwhelmed by the discovery, he had at once -driven back to town and put up his team, entirely forgetting the cane -which he had when starting out. - -During the night he resolved upon the magnanimous course he would adopt, -just as Nick had suspected. Next morning, however, when confronted by -Badger, he discovered that the latter knew far too much and must be -silenced. Hence the interruption of Gerry during their interview led -Flood to escape by a secret door, with the intention of afterward -seeking Badger, to buy his silence. Not knowing where to find him, -however, Flood finally decided to clinch matters by giving himself up to -Nick Carter and flatly asserting that he had committed the crime. - -While simple enough in a way, Nick’s deductions from the conflicting -circumstances were exceedingly clever. The passionate indignation of -Flood, when Nick intimated that Royal might be the guilty party, at once -convinced the detective that that was Flood’s own opinion. Nick -instantly decided, therefore, that Flood must have been at Fordham that -night, and very likely had seen Royal in some incriminating situation. - -Believing that Royal would lie about the matter if questioned by a -detective, Nick decided that he could learn the exact truth by -personating Flood for that purpose. Hence the curious and effective ruse -he had adopted. - -Such, in brief, were the explanations which greatly cleared matters, and -the gratitude of Royal for the heroic part assumed by Moses Flood may be -easily imagined. - -Added to this, moreover, when Nick quietly disclosed to Flood the true -sentiments of Medora Royal, and the misleading statement made by her -father, along with the probability that the past would be forgiven and -Flood’s suit favorably considered, the situation, at least in so far as -Flood was concerned, became changed indeed. - -“But,” Nick emphatically declared a little later, “there is one fact not -to be ignored. The murderer of Kendall still is at large, and he must be -found.” - -“I should say so,” cried Chick. “By Jove! I don’t see that we are any -nearer that than at the outset.” - -“Possibly not,” admitted Nick, smiling oddly. “But I have an idea that -we shall finally land him.” - -“Have you any suspicion, Carter, or formed any plans?” inquired Flood, -with countenance evincing the happiness Nick had brought him. - -Nick looked a bit grim and threatening when he replied. - -“Suspicions, no,” said he. “Plans, yes.” - -“Namely?” inquired Chick. - -“This work is for you and me alone, Chick,” said Nick decidedly. “For -the present, both Flood and Harry Royal must remain concealed here.” - -“What’s that for?” - -“I wish to have it appear that they have fled, as if both of them were -parties to the murder. This will serve us in two ways.” - -“How so?” - -“First, it will set Gerry and the police on a wild-goose chase, and -leave the way open to our work and investigations.” - -“That’s true, Nick,” nodded Chick. “A good scheme, too.” - -“Second,” added Nick, “it will tend to relieve the real criminal of -immediate apprehensions, and convince him that he is not suspected. That -will make his detection all the easier for us.” - -“No doubt of it, Nick.” - -“Now draw up your chairs, all of you, and I will outline my plans. The -most important work, and undoubtedly the most hazardous, still remains -to be done.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - TWO BAD EGGS. - - -Nearly a month passed before the scheme devised by Nick Carter, by which -to run down Cecil Kendall’s murderer, was productive of any startling -results. - -Yet the month was not without incidents worthy of note. - -The chief mystery was the disappearance of Moses Flood and Harry Royal. -The wiseacres of the central office promptly declared them the -murderers, also that they had fled to escape arrest, but neither -detectives nor police were able to locate them. - -Nick had, however, quietly relieved the minds of Royal’s father and -sister, confiding to them his secret, and insuring their silence and -discretion. - -Flood’s gambling-house, when his prolonged absence seemed probable, was -at once taken possession of by his former lookout, Nathan Godard, by -whom it was run as usual for a fortnight. - -During that time Nick quietly learned several facts. He discovered that -Godard had long occupied the adjoining house, where he dwelt with his -niece, Belle Braddon, and a housekeeper. He learned, moreover, that -Godard was a greedy and unprincipled fellow, a ruffian when in liquor, -and a man generally disliked and distrusted. - -Added to this Nick learned one very pertinent fact—that Godard had left -the faro-bank immediately after Kendall had made his big winnings, and -that he did not return for more than an hour. - -This was a very important point, for Nick had reasoned that the crime -must have been committed by some person who knew that Kendall had won -the money. As the crime was committed within an hour afterward, -moreover, it obviously appeared to be the work of some person who had -seen the money won. - -Nick put two and two together, and decided that Nate Godard was the man -he wanted. To fix the murder upon him, however, was not an easy task. - -Keeping his suspicions and movements well concealed, however, Nick went -at it by beginning secretly to persecute Godard, worrying him as a cat -worries a mouse. - -At the end of two weeks he had the gambling-house raided by the police, -the furniture seized and removed, and the house closed up. - -Five days later he learned that Godard was secretly dealing a faro-game -in his own house, to which only a few of his intimate and trusty friends -were admitted. - -Nick gave the police a tip, and the place was successfully raided the -next night, and all the paraphernalia seized and confiscated. - -Godard’s feelings over these several episodes, as well as those of his -niece, Belle Braddon, appeared in their talk at breakfast the following -morning. - -“I’m cursed if I can understand it,” snarled Godard, across the table. -“Twice in two weeks I have been raided, involving the loss of several -hundreds of dollars. Worse even than that, the devil take it, my game -has been going behind at an alarming rate. Bad luck of the worst kind -appears to have struck me.” - -Godard’s face was flushed, grim, and ugly, and his voice by no means -clear. That he had been drinking was obvious, as had been more than -usually noticeable for nearly a month. He had the look of a man with a -mental burden not easily carried, and secret apprehensions not pleasant -to endure. - -The girl across the table, far more attractive, yet not less evil than -he, shrugged her shapely shoulders and indulged in a low ripple of -laughter. - -“You’re only getting what’s coming to you, Nate,” she glibly replied. - -“What do you mean by that, Belle?” - -“You’d no business to turn such a trick as you turned. It was too long a -chance.” - -“Silence! Silence, I say!” Godard quickly snarled, with an uglier frown. -“What need to speak of that?” - -“Bah! there’s none here to be feared.” - -“Mebbe not, but I’ll not have it talked about,” declared Godard. “You’ve -got your share of the blunt, all you deserve, and the least you can do -is to keep your mouth closed.” - -“It’s closed all right, Nate, when there’s any danger about,” retorted -Belle pointedly. “Have no fear of me. I’ll never give you away. But such -tricks as that always bring bad luck, Nate.” - -“Not always,” growled Godard, less sullenly. “What I can’t understand is -why the police have made such a mark of me.” - -“That so?” - -“To raid me twice within a week—that’s pressing things over the limit. -It’s not usual with the infernal bluebottles, and I’m cursed if I can -fathom it.” - -“Can’t you guess who has tipped them to do it?” inquired Belle. - -“Of course I can’t,” cried Godard. “If I could I would put an end to -these persecutions, even if I had to turn him down to end them.” - -“Put out his light, eh?” - -“Yes, I would!” - -“And you can’t guess who?” - -“No! I wish I could.” - -“Well, I can, Nate,” declared Belle, with an unpleasant smile. - -“Who?” demanded Godard, with interest. - -“The same man who had me fired out of my job.” - -“Not Nick Carter?” cried Godard, with a start. - -“That’s who, Nate.” - -“I don’t believe it.” - -“I do.” - -“For what reason?” - -“Because, Nate, he either has some personal grudge against you and me, -or else he suspects——” - -The girl stopped, yet stared significantly at her hearer. - -Godard dropped his spoon and began to grow pale. Yet the frown of his -beetling brows became darker, and the light uglier in his evil eyes. He -muttered an oath after a moment, then added, through his teeth: - -“If I thought that——” - -“What would you do?” queried Belle, with sinister significance. - -“What wouldn’t I do,” snarled Godard, with sullen ferocity. “I’d do -anything that would insure wiping him out of my path.” - -The girl laughed, a coldly, cruel laugh that contrasted vividly with the -man’s harsh voice. - -“Nick Carter is not an easy man to wipe out,” she replied. - -“I know that as well as you, Belle.” - -“You’d do anything to accomplish it, eh?” - -“That’s what I would,” cried Godard decisively. “The play would be -limited to two persons, Belle, if what you think is true. It would be -him or me, and I’m cursed if I’d have it me if I could help it. Why do -you think of him?” - -The girl dried her lips and tossed aside her napkin. - -“Because I don’t fancy the way things are going any better than you do, -Nate,” she replied bitterly. “It was Carter who threw me out of my job -at the bank, for which he could have had no earthly reason, barring that -he suspected me of having worked Kendall for a fish and lured him where -you could shove him into a corner. Carter doesn’t like me for a cent, -and maybe he likes you none the less for being my uncle. Possibly he -suspects you because of it.” - -“But he can have no evidence——” - -“Bah! No man ever knows what evidence Nick Carter possesses,” Belle -curtly interrupted. “When he gets after a covey, about the first the -poor devil knows of it, Nate, he is down and out for keeps, with bangles -on his wrists or a hemp tie in place of a silk one. Don’t bank on what -Nick Carter doesn’t know. If you are up against him, and any reason -exists for his being after you, there’s but one safe course—and even -that is a long chance against such a man as he is.” - -“What course is that?” - -“Take the bull by the horns, Nate, and either put the detective to sleep -or go under yourself in the attempt. That’s the only way to deal with -Nick Carter.” - -Godard sat silent for several moments, weighing in his own mind the -desperate possibility suggested. He could not believe that he was -suspected of the crime for which the detectives and the police were -searching the country after Moses Flood and Harry Royal, yet the words -of his niece had alarmed him, and opened his eyes to the bare -possibility of a frightful peril. - -Presently he roused himself, and stared across at the girl. - -“What would you do about it?” he sullenly asked. - -“Just what I have said,” replied Belle bluntly. - -“Try to turn him down?” - -“Yes.” - -“If I was sure that he had any designs against me——” - -“Faugh!” interrupted the girl. “There are facts you shouldn’t lose sight -of, Nate. In the beginning he was on this case in Gilsey’s employ. Do -you imagine Gilsey has let him drop it? Not by a long chalk.” - -“Well, what of that?” - -“This is it,” cried Belle, who was rather a clever logician. “Is Carter -making any attempt to round up Flood or that fool of a Royal? Not one, -my word for it. He’s letting the central office screws scurry their legs -off on that scent. None of that for Nick Carter, mind you. What’s the -natural conclusion, eh? Merely this—Carter doesn’t suspect Flood, -despite the evidence. Yet if he is still on the case, he must suspect -somebody, and that somebody may be—the right man!” - -Godard’s evil face grew darker with every word that had fallen from the -girl’s lips. - -“The devil!” he snarled, as she pointedly concluded. “I hadn’t thought -of it in that way. By Heaven, it may be true, as you say.” - -“I should proceed as if it was, Nate, if I were you.” - -“Try to land him?” - -“Precisely.” - -“How can it be done?” - -“That’s for you to determine.” - -“I don’t fancy the job.” - -“Not as well as knocking out a half drunken fellow with ninety thousand -dollars in his kit, eh?” laughed Belle Braddon. “I say, Nate, what would -there be in it for me if I could do the job for you?” - -“Turn Carter down?” - -“Yes.” - -“You mean—put out his light?” - -“Exactly.” - -“Your own price,” cried Godard eagerly. - -“Five thousand?” - -“Yes.” - -“In cold cash?” - -“The very day it is done.” - -“That’s good enough for me,” returned Belle, with a gleeful shrug of her -shoulders. “I can use the dust all right, Nate, and I’ve thought of a -way by which I can do the job.” - -“Or get done yourself in attempting it.” - -“Oh, you let me alone to look out for myself,” sneered Belle, with a -series of significant nods. “I cut my eye-teeth a long time ago, and -it’s a cold day when I cannot hoodwink a man.” - -“That’s no pipe-dream,” growled Godard. - -“And I’ll do the job for the price mentioned, Nate—cash on delivery,” -added the unprincipled jade. “I must do it at my own time and in my own -way.” - -“I care not when or how, Belle, so long as it’s done.” - -“Trust me to do it, then.” - -“Do you require any help?” - -“I should say not!” exclaimed the girl quickly. “When I tackle anything -of this kind, I play a lone hand. I want no partner who some day may -squeal. It’ll be all or nothing for me.” - -Nothing could have suited Godard better, for he was essentially a -coward, and the simple thought of meeting Nick Carter in a life or death -encounter sent chills up and down his spine. - -“I shall require one thing, however,” said Belle. - -“What is that?” - -“This house must be vacated and all the stuff removed. Then I must have -the key of this house, also of the one next door.” - -“Flood’s old place?” - -“Yes.” - -“What sort of a job are you cooking up?” growled Godard suspiciously. - -“That’s my business, Nate,” returned the girl. “I shall do it in my own -way, or not at all.” - -Godard saw that she meant it, and he had no idea of letting her offer -slip by. - -“I’ll vacate the house this very day,” said he promptly. “I’ll move our -stuff down to the shore house, and open a game there on the quiet. That -will throw the cops off my track for a time.” - -“Very good.” - -“When will you do the job?” - -“As soon as I can arrange to have it come right,” replied Belle -thoughtfully. “Not this week, however. I have engagements for two -evenings with that yellow-haired Dakota chap, whom I caught on to at the -Waldorf last week. He has money to burn, barrels of it, and I must get -my little bit.” - -“Why the deuce haven’t you run him up against my game?” demanded Godard. - -“He never plays, Nate,” said Belle quickly. “I tried it, on my word I -did. But he doesn’t know one card from another. He says he has an uncle -out West, however, a big cattle ranchman, who is a fiend at faro.” - -“H’m! I wish he’d wire his uncle to come on here. I reckon we could trim -him.” - -“I don’t think he’d consent to do that, Nate,” laughed the girl, upon -whose spirits the murderous project she had in mind seemed to cast no -cloud. “You vacate here to-day and give me the keys to both houses. Then -leave Nick Carter to me. Within a week I will turn him down, or my name -is not Belle Braddon.” - -“You shall have the keys not later than Friday, Belle.” - -“That’s soon enough,” nodded the girl, rising. “Meantime, Nate, I must -devote myself to bleeding that yellow-haired baby from Dakota. He’s as -loose as ashes with his dust, Nate, and I’ll give him credit for that.” - -“Then I guess you’ll bleed him all right.” - -“If I don’t, Nate, there’ll be something wrong with the cards,” said -Belle, with a ringing laugh. “So long, old chap! I have an appointment -with him at noon. A hot bird and a cool bottle, you know, and then a -ride in the park. But you go ahead, Nate, with the moving. I’ll have my -little job on old Nick all framed up in time, never doubt that.” - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - SECRET WORK. - - -“Well, sir, I’m here, as I agreed!” - -“That’s right, my good man, and I’m glad to see you. Take a chair.” - -The last speaker was Nick Carter. - -The first was the whilom cuekeeper in the gambling-house of Moses -Flood—the latter’s humpback friend, John Green. - -The scene was Nick Carter’s office, on the Monday afternoon following -the interview between Godard and Belle Braddon, in which the latter had -contracted to turn Nick Carter’s toes up. - -The interval was five days. - -In compliance with Nick’s genial invitation, the humpback took a seat -near the detective’s desk. - -“Well,” said Nick, “what has become of Godard since he closed his -up-town house?” - -Green laughed. - -“He’s down at a shore house which he owns. Here’s the address, sir, and -the direction for getting there. I wrote it down, thinking you might -want it.” - -Nick glanced at the scrawl on the slip of paper tendered him, and bowed -approvingly. - -“Is he dealing a game down there?” he asked. - -“Yes, sir. A small one, though, only for a few friends.” - -“Are you still keeping cues for him?” - -“I am.” - -“And who is his assistant dealer?” - -“Tom Bruce, sir.” - -“Flood’s former man?” - -“The same, sir,” nodded Green. Then he added, sadly: “’Fore Heaven, sir, -I’d give all my life is worth to know that Mr. Flood is all right, safe, -and sound!” - -“I have already told you, John, that I will insure that, providing you -follow my instructions to the letter.” - -“Oh, I’ll do that, Detective Carter, never doubt it!” cried Green -eagerly. “I’d cut off both these hands for Mr. Flood!” - -“Now tell me,” said Nick, “what is the game doing?” - -“Losing, sir; losing to beat the band. Godard has dropped nearly a -hundred thousand in the past month.” - -“Can he stand the pace long?” inquired Nick carelessly. - -“Sure, sir, I’d not have believed he could stand it till now!” - -Nick already knew where Godard had probably obtained the money -mentioned. - -“Is he still drinking deeply?” - -“Like a fish, sir,” grinned the humpback; “and, holy smoke! he’s uglier -than ten devils.” - -Nick laughed and nodded, evidently much pleased by the report. - -“Is he dealing a square game?” he next inquired. - -“Sure, sir!” cried Green. “I don’t believe Godard has got the tools for -dealing a brace game.” - -“You think he would do it, John, if he had the tools and saw a good -thing?” - -“Well, sir,” and Green grimly shook his ungainly head, “I reckon Nate -Godard would do anything for money.” - -“I guess that’s right,” said Nick. “Now, John, there’s one thing I wish -you to do for me.” - -“Count on me, sir, for sure!” - -“If Godard was to deal a brace game he would have to tell you about it, -wouldn’t he?” - -“Yes, sir; so I could keep the cues right. I’d have to mark up the cards -he took crooked, you see, or there’d be a holler from the players at the -end of the deal, when the cues showed wrong.” - -“I know all about it, John.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Now, hark you, my man! If Godard contemplates dealing a brace game he -will first prepare the way by giving you his instructions and secret -signs.” - -“No doubt of it, sir.” - -“Well, John, if he does that I want you to drop me a letter by the very -next mail saying that the trick is to be turned. Do you understand?” - -“Sure I do!” exclaimed the humpback; “and I’ll send the letter the -minute I know of it.” - -“Very good,” bowed Nick. “That’s all to-day, John. In leaving here be as -cautious as usual. You must not be seen, you know!” - -“Trust me, sir,” smiled Green, with a shrug. “I will slip out and away -like a shadow. You’re sure, sir, about poor Mr. Flood?” he added, as he -lingered for a moment at the door. - -“Trust me for that, John, as I trust you,” replied Nick. - -And the detective bowed and smiled pleasantly, with a genuine -appreciation of the warm and loyal heart that beat in the crooked breast -of the departing man. - -This interview with the humpback plainly indicates the shrewd line of -work which Nick was secretly doing in his attempt to verify the -suspicious by which he was actuated. - -Green had been gone but a few minutes, moreover, when a second man -familiarly entered. - -He was a stylishly clad, yellow-haired chap, with a sandy beard, parted -down the middle. He carried a cane, sported a bright-red tie, and looked -for all the world as if he had just stepped off a fashion-plate. - -It was the yellow-haired chap whom Belle Braddon had boasted of having -caught on to at the Waldorf. - -Nick looked up and smiled when he entered. - -“Well, Chick,” said he, “what’s now in the wind?” - -Chick laughed and dropped into a chair. - -“Nothing special, Nick,” said he. “All is working well.” - -“She has no suspicions of you?” - -“Not the slightest, Nick.” - -“What do you make of her?” - -“Well,” replied Chick, with a grin, “she’s a royal spender, I’ll give -her credit for that. She makes bank-notes fly like dead leaves in a -September gale.” - -“Never mind,” laughed Nick. “Let ’em go. We’ll get them back from -Gilsey. Besides, Chick, the situation will not last much longer. We are -closing in on them.” - -“You have learned something?” - -“Green has just been here and reported,” nodded Nick. “Godard is located -at his shore house. I know the place and how to get there. He is dealing -a game there on the quiet, and I have several reasons for thinking that -he is nearly on his last legs, financially.” - -“In which case, Nick, he will take any desperate chances to recover, -eh?” - -“That’s the idea, Chick, and it’s what I have been working for. Have you -said anything to his niece about the cattle-dealer?” - -“Sure thing,” nodded Chick. “I have laid that wire all right, you may -wager. I showed her a telegram yesterday, which I claimed to have -received from my Dakota uncle, stating that he would join me here -Tuesday.” - -“That’s to-morrow.” - -“I told her that he is coming on merely for pleasure, and have impressed -her with the idea that he is the highest kind of a high-roller. She -wanted to know if he ever played faro, and I told her he was a regular -fiend at it, and that I had seen him sit to lose a hundred thousand at a -crack.” - -“Very good,” laughed Nick. “That certainly ought to be strong enough. -What did she say to that?” - -“She said she knew a house where he could make a play,” grinned Chick. - -“Oh, ho! that looks promising enough,” laughed Nick. - -“I told her that would suit him to the letter, and that he would be glad -to give any square faro-game a play,” added Chick. “She said she would -fix it for us after he arrived.” - -“And we will fix them, in return, I’m thinking,” said Nick grimly. -“Green is going to notify me if a brace game is to be attempted. I’m -dead sure it will be, too, with Godard so nearly on his uppers.” - -“No doubt of it.” - -“In which case, Chick, it’s a hundred to one that he will use Flood’s -brace deal box, and resort to the same deck of strippers that Flood gave -Kendall with the money he had won. If we can catch Godard with that deck -of strippers in his possession, Chick, it will prove conclusively that -he murdered Kendall.” - -“Absolutely.” - -“He necessarily must take Green into his confidence about the brace -game,” added Nick; “and he will get rid of Tom Bruce when attempting to -turn the trick. We shall probably meet nobody there but Green and -Godard, except that jade of a niece.” - -“She will probably take us out there, Nick.” - -“We’ll go with her, all right,” laughed Nick. “You had better fix it -with her for to-morrow night, in order that we may wind up the case as -soon as possible.” - -“That will be easy,” nodded Chick. “I shall find her ready.” - -“I will show up at the Waldorf to-morrow noon and join you there,” added -Nick. “I will have a roll of money with me fit to choke a horse. Trust -Godard to venture a most desperate chance to get it. I think, Chick, we -now have the game well in hand.” - -“So do I, Nick,” replied Chick, rising. “I’m going to slip up-stairs and -have a bath, then I must go back to the Waldorf. I promised to dine with -my friend with the red-brown hair at six.” - -Nick laughed, nodding approvingly, and Chick hastened from the office. - -It was then about three o’clock. At four Nick had business up-town, and -he presently put on his street attire and left the house. - -A quarter of an hour later, as he was crossing Forty-second Street and -Fifth Avenue, he was observed by a young woman on the opposite corner. - -The moment she saw him, moreover, a gleam of malicious satisfaction -flashed in her evil eyes. - -She tripped quickly over the opposite crossing and intercepted Nick as -he reached the Fifth Avenue sidewalk. - -The young woman was Belle Braddon, out for the great detective’s scalp. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - TRAPPED. - - -Nick Carter suppressed any show of surprise upon beholding Belle Braddon -approaching. He halted, politely raising his hat, upon observing that -the girl intended to speak to him, and they met on the Fifth Avenue -corner. - -Belle greeted him with a smile and a pretty toss of her well-poised -head, saying glibly: - -“How-dy do, Mr. Carter? You haven’t been round to call on me, sir, and -play that game of ping-pong.” - -“True; I haven’t,” replied Nick, rather inclined to laugh at her piquant -audacity. - -“How many invitations do you require?” - -“Well, I can hardly say.” - -“I generally have to ask a man but once,” pouted Belle, with a playful -shrug of her shoulders. “I guess you don’t enjoy the game.” - -“Well, to tell the truth, Miss Braddon, ping-pong is not my long suit,” -laughed Nick. - -The girl joined in his laugh, saying dryly: - -“Dear me, you really can be amusing, can’t you?” - -“Yes, when I try.” - -“Try often, Detective Carter. It’s awfully becoming. By the way, sir, -there’s a question I’d like to ask you.” - -“Certainly,” bowed Nick; “understand, however, that I may not feel -called upon to answer it.” - -“Oh, you wouldn’t refuse a lady. I’m sure you wouldn’t.” - -“Well, since you feel so sure, Miss Braddon, go ahead with your -question.” - -Belle drew nearer to him, and said, with a rather sinister gleam in her -lifted eyes: - -“Why did you take such pains to have me fired out of my job at the -Milmore Trust?” - -Nick already began to suspect her of having some design that had not yet -appeared on the surface, and he decided to learn of what it consisted by -leading her on a little. - -“It strikes me, my dear girl,” said he, smiling, “that that is a -needless question.” - -“Why needless, my dear Mr. Carter?” queried Belle, in bantering tones. - -“Because you already know why I did it.” - -“I do?” - -“Yes,” nodded Nick. “Think it all over and it will probably come to -you.” - -“Oh, you did it because I told Flood about Kendall’s shortage, did you?” - -“Precisely.” - -“Well, I rather suspected it was that, Mr. Carter.” - -“Why, then, did you ask?” - -“Only to make sure, sir,” laughed Belle. “A woman’s usual reason, eh? -Ah, well! have no fear, Mr. Carter; I bear you no ill will for having -done so. Really, I rather like you for it, for it’s awfully pleasant to -be out of a job,” and the smiling jade playfully beat Nick’s arm with -one of her gloves. - -Then she quickly added pointedly: - -“But I’ve got it in for Mr. Flood, sir, just the same.” - -“That so?” queried Nick. “For what?” - -“Because he betrayed that I told you. Oh, you wouldn’t deny it, Mr. -Carter. I know well enough that he did!” - -“I never attempt to disabuse a woman who already knows,” laughed Nick, -wondering when she would come to the point. - -Belle Braddon came to it, all right, in less than a minute. - -“Yes, sir; I’ve got in for him, Mr. Carter, and some day I’ll get even -with him. By the way, sir, the central office sleuths are having a fine -hunt after him, aren’t they?” - -“A vain one, certainly,” replied Nick. - -“If they hadn’t been so hot after my Uncle Nate of late, I’d get even -with Flood by making them wise as to his hiding place,” declared the -girl, with affected bitterness. - -Then, before Nick could reply, she quickly added, as if struck with a -clever idea: - -“Oh, I say, Mr. Carter! Just to show you that I bear you no ill will, -and, in fact, rather fancy you, I’ll throw Flood into your hands, if -you’d like to get them on him for that murder out in Fordham.” - -Nick heard her without a change of countenance. He knew that she was -absolutely ignorant of Flood’s whereabouts, who at that moment was in -Nick’s residence; also, that she could have no knowledge of the latter’s -relations with Flood. - -Yet no man could have wanted better evidence that the girl had some -design which she was craftily plotting to execute. - -It was characteristic of Nick at any sign of danger to go after it, -until he discovered of what it consisted. In this case, therefore, he -decided to give Belle Braddon all the rope she wanted, or until he could -learn at what she was driving. - -Nick was too shrewd, however, to take the bait too greedily. Pretending -to be entirely ignorant of Flood’s movements, he said curiously: - -“Why do you think that I wish to lay hands on him?” - -“You are still in Gilsey’s employ, aren’t you?” - -“Well, yes; I’ll admit that I am.” - -“Then, of course, you want Flood,” cried Belle bluntly. “What’s the use -of denying it?” - -Nick no longer did so, it now being very obvious that the girl had some -object in view and cared not how she accomplished it. - -“I did not deny it. In fact, I really would like to land him,” said he, -with sinister eagerness. “Do you mean to tell me that you know where he -is located?” - -Belle winked and nodded. - -“On the level?” demanded Nick. - -“Sure.” - -“Where is he?” - -“Hiding in a house that I know all about.” - -“What price will you take for the information?” - -“What will you give?” - -“Five hundred.” - -“Done!” said Belle promptly. - -“When can we turn the trick?” - -“At once.” - -“That suits me,” said Nick. - -“There are two conditions on which I shall insist, however,” added -Belle. - -“Namely?” - -“You must be governed by my directions.” - -“I will.” - -“And let me be present when you arrest him.” - -“You shall be there.” - -“I merely want him to know that I have got even with him,” Belle -bitterly declared, in explanation. - -“It’s dead lucky that she doesn’t know what I know of Flood,” thought -Nick, a little puzzled as to her game. - -“Come on, then,” she said. “I’ll take you into the room now occupied by -Moses Flood within a quarter of an hour.” - -Nick accompanied her, and they started up Fifth Avenue. - -Belle Braddon was as bold as she was crafty, and she felt sure of -landing her man single-handed. - -The trick she was about to turn, moreover, was well worthy of her. - -She took Nick to Godard’s vacant house, of which she had the key, and -they entered together. - -Then Nick became more watchful. The empty rooms and bare floors did not -surprise him, for he knew that Godard had moved; but there was a -possibility of being assailed by hidden foes, and Nick slipped his -revolver into his side pocket, unobserved. - -He was, too, more than ever mystified. Knowing that Belle Braddon could -not possibly give him any clue to Flood, he could not imagine what -design existed under her pretensions. He was resolved to learn, -however—let come what might. - -“Come up-stairs,” said Belle, after locking the street door. “This is a -roundabout way, but it wouldn’t have done to enter Flood’s house -direct.” - -“Are you going in there?” - -“Yes,” nodded Belle. “That’s where we shall find him. He has a secret -hiding-place in there. Tread lightly on these bare floors lest the sound -reaches and alarms him. Both houses are vacant, and he should be alone -there at this hour.” - -“Good enough,” growled Nick quietly; “I’m with you.” - -“Into this room, Detective Carter!” - -Nick followed her into one of the side chambers, and the girl turned -briefly to face him. - -“Now be very quiet,” she said softly, without the slightest sign of -nervousness or apprehension. “I’m going to let you into one of the -secrets of these two houses. As a matter of fact, Detective Carter, both -of them are owned by Moses Flood. But my uncle, who was employed by him, -has been occupying this one.” - -Nick smiled and nodded. - -“In this room,” continued Belle, “there is a concealed door, operated by -pressing one of the figures in the wall decoration. It opens into a -passage leading through another door into Flood’s private room.” - -Nick instantly recalled Flood’s escape from Detective Gerry, and again -he nodded understandingly. - -“The passage was constructed,” added Belle, “for the purpose of quickly -getting the gambling implements out of Flood’s house and into this one -in case of an unexpected raid by the police.” - -“I see.” - -“The door is very cleverly constructed, you observe, so that the police -could not discover it and light upon the trick.” - -“I can see no indications of a door,” said Nick truthfully. - -“I’ll show you,” whispered Belle. “But be quiet after the passage is -opened, for Flood might then overhear us. He has a hiding-place in the -other house and there we shall find him.” - -“Good for you!” - -“Are you ready?” - -“Yes!” - -Belle Braddon turned and pressed her hand on the wall. - -Instantly a heavy iron door, decorated like the wall to which it was -most cleverly matched, swung quickly open. - -A four-foot passage was revealed, brick walled on two sides. At the -farther end of it, some five feet away, a similar iron door had swung -open, and beyond it was Flood’s private room, which Nick immediately -recalled. - -Belle Braddon raised her finger warningly, and led the way into the -passage. - -Nick followed her, wondering what he might expect in the adjoining -house. - -When both were in the passage Belle turned back and paused, whispering -softly: - -“Draw that door after you, please! Close it quietly.” - -Nick turned to lay his hand on the door. - -Like a flash Belle Braddon sprang into Flood’s private room and dashed -her hand against the side wall. - -In an instant, before Nick could raise a finger, both doors closed, with -a loud, metallic clang and with a rapidity indicating that they were -operated by powerful springs, which opened and closed both doors at -once. - -With a momentary thrill of dismay, Nick found himself alone in the -walled passage, and in darkness so profound that it could almost be -felt. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - THE GIRL AND THE CRIME. - - -It was with a feeling of some chagrin that Nick Carter realized his -desperate situation the moment the heavy iron doors of the walled -passage closed upon him, leaving him alone in the Egyptian darkness of -the tomblike place. - -Yet the trick by which he had been caught was one to have deceived any -man. Only a clairvoyant could have seen that the doors worked jointly -and under the motive of powerful springs. - -Though alert and watchful from the moment he had entered the house with -Belle Braddon, he had not looked for such a trap as this. - -Keenly suspicious, knowing in fact that the girl was up to some knavish -game, Nick had suspected that he was being led into Flood’s house with a -design to throw him into the hands of several assailants, a situation -which would have given him no concern whatever, and which he really had -been inviting in order to identify the parties to it and learn their -motives. - -Before Nick had fairly recovered from his surprise, however, he heard -the voice of Belle Braddon from Flood’s private room. It sounded dead -and muffled, much as if Nick was locked in a bank vault, yet he could -readily distinguish her words and the triumphant intonation with which -they were uttered. - -“I say, Carter,” she cried, crouching to place her lips near the crack -of the closed door, “are you there?” - -Nick instantly resumed his usual composure. - -“Yes, I’m here,” he coolly answered. - -“Throw me out of a job, will you?” screamed the girl, with a ringing -laugh. - -“I’ll do more than that for you one of these days, young lady,” Nick -cried back. - -“Yes, you will!” returned Belle derisively. “It won’t be many days -before there’ll be singing and flowers at your house, and you’ll ride at -the head of a procession.” - -“Think so?” - -“You’ll not hear any of the music, either.” - -“Don’t bank too heavily on that,” replied Nick. “I have been in worse -places than this.” - -“And got out alone?” - -“And got out alone.” - -“Well, if you get out of this one, Carter, you’ll be a bird,” cried -Belle tauntingly. “You’ll find that this is no gilded cage. How do you -like it?” - -“Oh, it’s snug and cozy all right.” - -“You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it. I’m going to leave you there.” - -“The sooner the better,” retorted Nick. “Your room is preferable to your -company.” - -“Thanks,” laughed Belle. “The sentiment is mutual. By the way, sir!” - -“Well?” - -“You may make all the noise you wish. It won’t disturb anybody, for -there’s nobody to hear it.” - -“I’m glad to know that,” cried Nick, undaunted. - -“Both houses are vacant and you are midway between them,” cried Belle, -with a cruel laugh. “You may yell your lungs out and you’ll not be -heard.” - -“I shall keep my lungs where they belong,” cried Nick, a bit -impatiently. “I shall require my voice a little later, to testify -against you.” - -“I’ll risk that, my man,” retorted the girl. “In that trap you’ll not -live more than a day or two. If you don’t suffocate you’ll starve, for -nobody will show up here for many a day. I’ll insure that.” - -“Thanks. It’s very kind of you.” - -“You’re entirely welcome,” answered Belle. “And when your body is -finally discovered here, it will be assumed that you came here alone in -search of Flood and accidentally got caught between the iron doors.” - -“Quite reasonable, I am sure.” - -“Very clever, isn’t it? You see, Carter, no one will ever be suspected -of having lured you here and lodged you in there. You are reputed to be -too clever to be caught in a trap in that fashion. It’s dead open and -shut that your death will be attributed to an accident.” - -“Providing I die here,” supplemented Nick. - -“If you don’t, there’ll be something wrong with the deck,” cried Belle, -with derisive assurance. “I’ll come to your funeral, Carter, and send a -broken column.” - -“Good enough. I’d prefer gates ajar, however.” - -“Doors ajar, you mean,” cried Belle, with a scream of laughter. -“Good-by, Carter. I’m going to leave you now. I have a date at the -Waldorf at six. I’m going to dine with a yellow-haired chappie from -Dakota.” - -“Good-by—and good riddance,” cried Nick. - -The last brought no answer. - -Belle Braddon had glided silently out of Flood’s private room and was -hurrying down the hall stairs. - -Despite her derisive laughter and the taunting remarks with which she -had mocked her helpless victim, her cheeks were as white as the knot of -lace on her heaving breast. - -The awful horror of the crime she had committed was upon her. She fully -believed that she had left Nick Carter to suffocate in the foul -atmosphere of the walled passage; or, if spared that fate, that thirst -and starvation would overcome him. - -The very hideousness of the crime shook even her callous nature and -filled her quaking soul with nameless horror. - -The nervous tremor of her feet on the uncarpeted stairs as she hurriedly -descended thrilled her with alarm, and her knees were knocking together -when she reached the lower hall. - -There she paused and caught her breath, steadying herself, then went -into one of the silent parlors, as silent as death itself, to peer -through the closed blinds into the sunlit street. - -The brighter light outside restored her nerve, and a smile of vengeful -exultation relaxed her drawn gray lips. - -“He’s as good as done for, as good as done for,” she muttered through -her teeth. “It serves him right. It was his life or that of my uncle, -and all is fair when life hangs in the balance. He would have turned -Nate down as indifferently as he did me, and he has invited only what he -has got. Let him take his medicine, then! It’s what he deserves!” - -With such reasoning as this she put the horrid crime out of her mind, -and resolved to think no more about it. - -With calmness came greater cunning. She reasoned that she might be seen -leaving Flood’s house, if she departed by the front door. Instead, she -descended to the basement. - -There she broke a window and opened the catch, to indicate that Nick -Carter, when his lifeless remains should be discovered, had entered the -house, presumably in search of Moses Flood. That he had accidentally -been caught in the walled passage she also felt sure would be assumed. -That the crime should never be brought home to her, she was taking every -precaution. - -In the semidarkness of the basement, she next tied a thick veil over her -hat, and drew it carefully about her face. - -Then she let herself out the back door, locking it after her, and stole -quickly through a narrow alley, and thus gained the nearest side street. - -Now she breathed freely again, and triumphantly hastened away. - -“Five thousand easily earned—easily earned!” she said to herself, -weighing in mind the price Nathan Godard had agreed to pay for Nick -Carter’s life. - -Belle Braddon dined that evening with her yellow-haired chance -acquaintance from Dakota, so alleged. - -Had she dreamed for an instant that she was dining with Chick Carter, -she would have fallen out of her chair in a fit. - -It was midnight when she reached home at the shore house of Nathan -Godard, and she found the large wooden dwelling enveloped in darkness. - -There was no game in progress that night. - -Belle went straight to bed—as straight as her unsteady steps would take -her, and slept soundly until morning, the heavy sleep of -semi-intoxication. - -At breakfast with Nate Godard that morning she gave him the key to the -situation—but not the situation itself. - -“You keep away from those two town houses, Nate,” she said grimly to -him, over her coffee. - -“What’s that for?” inquired Godard curiously. - -“Never mind what it’s for,” replied the girl, with threatening -significance. “You do just as I say; that was the agreement when I -undertook to accomplish this Carter job for you.” - -Godard started slightly. - -“Is it done?” he quickly asked. - -“It’s as good as done, make no mistake about that.” - -“On the level?” cried Godard, with knavish eagerness. - -“Yes, on the level,” declared Belle. “But, mark what I say, Nate, and -this goes.” - -“Well?” - -“You keep away from those two town houses for the next ten days. If you -don’t do so, Nate Godard, you later may be run down to police -headquarters, in Mulberry Street, to answer to the worst charge in the -calendar. So do what I command, or bitter trouble may be yours.” - -In his mind’s eye, so pointed were the girl’s remarks, Nate Godard -fairly could see the lifeless body of Nick Carter stretched upon the -cellar floor of one of the two houses. How Belle Braddon had -accomplished it Godard neither knew nor cared. He felt it would be a -safe gamble to follow her instructions to the letter. - -“By thunder! Belle, I believe you have brought a shift of luck,” he -exclaimed, after a moment, with a grim mingling of satisfaction and -approval. “On my word, Belle, you are one girl in a million!” - -She shrugged her shoulders, then drained her cup of coffee to its dregs. - -“Let’s hope so,” she replied. “I have another bit of news for you, too, -Nate!” - -“What is that?” - -“My Dakota chap’s uncle is coming on here to join his nephew.” - -“The devil you say!” cried Godard, half rising from his chair. - -“It’s no joke, Nate.” - -“When is he coming?” - -“I’m to meet the two of them at the Waldorf to-morrow afternoon.” - -“You mean the wealthy cattle-dealer?” - -“The same, Nate.” - -“Can’t he be induced to go up against my game here?” - -Belle Braddon’s crafty eyes took on a quizzical look at the man -opposite. - -“Suppose he can, Nate?” she answered slowly: “could you make a sure -thing of him?” - -“How much can be won?” demanded Godard ominously. - -“A hundred thousand, at the least, if you get him on the down track.” - -“Are you sure?” - -“Dead sure!” - -“And he comes from Dakota?” - -“There’s no doubt of it, Nate, not a shadow of doubt.” cried Belle. -“I’ve seen the telegram he sent to his nephew, and that simple guy -hasn’t art enough to deceive an old woman. Yes, Nate, it’s dead open and -shut that the uncle comes from Dakota.” - -Godard dropped back into his chair and fell to thinking. - -He was thinking of Moses Flood’s brace deal box, then in his own -possession. - -He was thinking, too, of a deck of strippers, also in his possession, -with which he could vary to his own advantage the turn of every card. - -In the lives of those who pursue fickle fortune through the medium of -games of chance there is no experience which so arouses a spirit of -utter recklessness as that of protracted losing. Sooner or later it -drives discretion from its seat and opens the door for hot-headed -desperation. - -Say why the moth flies madly into the flame that consumes him! Say why -the screaming sea-gull dashes out his brains against the dazzling -windows of the towering lighthouse! Say why the undetected murderer -haunts the neighborhood of his bloody crime! - -Give answer to these questions—and then you may say what frenzy of human -nature led Nathan Godard to dare self-destruction in the passionate -greed of an evil hour. - -Presently he looked up, fixing his inflamed eyes upon Belle Braddon’s -face. - -“A sure thing?” said he hoarsely. “Yes, I can make it a sure thing, -Belle, that we win his money!” - -“No slip-up, eh?” - -“Not on your life!” - -“Good!” cried Belle approvingly. “Get rid of all but your cuekeeper, -Nate, and notify the gang that there’ll be no game here to-morrow -night.” - -“And you, Belle?” - -“I will have the Dakota couple here at precisely nine o’clock.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - CLOSING IN. - - -Nick Carter did not long remain idle after Belle Braddon left him alone -in the trap she had sprung on him and made her departure from Flood’s -vacant house. - -Nick kept quiet only until he felt sure she had gone, and then he began -to take the precise measure of his situation. - -With both houses vacant, and the walled passage midway between them, -there was, as Belle Braddon had said, no possibility that he could make -himself heard by persons in the adjoining dwellings or upon the street. - -Nick gave up that idea almost at the outset. - -That help would come to him seemed equally improbable. Nick knew that -Flood would not visit his house and that Belle Braddon would insure that -no person entered the one adjoining. That any accidental intruder would -put in an appearance was next to absurd. - -Nick quickly dropped all hope of relief of that character; in fact, -nearly as quickly as he had dropped the other. - -This left him but one resource—himself. - -“I’m in here, and I must get out,” he grimly said to himself. “I was -fool enough to be caught in the trap, but I’ll try to be clever enough -to get out of it. First of all, to investigate it, for which we’ll have -a little light.” - -Nick never went without the ordinary requirements of his vocation, and -he quickly fished out of his pocket a small electric lamp, the current -of which he turned on, and immediately a flood of light dispelled the -intense darkness of his narrow quarters. - -“There, that is more like it,” he muttered. “Now to look about a bit.” - -A careful examination of the place required but a little time. - -On two sides were the bare brick walls of the passage, reaching from the -floor to the ceiling. - -At each end was the inner surface of a heavy iron door, which was as -tightly closed as that of a steel safe. Under all the pressure Nick -possibly could bring to bear upon them they were not even jarred. - -“Um! There’s no opening them by force, that’s sure!” he presently -decided. “Sheet-iron, too, over stout wood, no doubt, and securely -riveted. To break through them is also out of the question. - -“Whew! It’s getting close in here already. I shall need fresh air before -long.” - -The ceiling was two feet above his head, and brief study convinced Nick -that nothing could be done in that direction. - -Next he sounded the walls and doors with the butt of his revolver. Each -appeared to be solid, infernally solid, and Nick then fell to his knees -upon the bare floor. - -“It’s the only way,” he muttered decisively. “I must get through this -floor in some way. It must be done quickly, too, or I may become weak -for want of better air.” - -Upon his hands and knees Nick carefully examined the floor. - -It consisted of spruce boards, six inches wide, in most of which there -was no break. Presently, however, he discovered a crack where the ends -of two of the boards met. - -“Aha! this is better!” he muttered. - -With his knife he dug out the wood around the nails securing the longer -of the two boards, and succeeded in slightly prying up the end of it. - -There was another board beneath it. - -With countenance grown more grim and determined, Nick rose to his feet -and drew his revolver. - -“It’s a long chance,” he growled, under his breath. “The smoke will make -it closer than ever in here, but I must know what’s under these boards.” - -He aimed down at a spot a few inches from the end of the one he had -started, then fired. - -The report almost deafened him, and a cloud of smoke immediately filled -the place. - -The bullet tore through the floor, splitting the end of the upper board, -then plowed its way down through the frescoed ceiling of the room below. - -Nick dropped to his knees again, and peered down through the hole left -by the chunk of lead. - -As he did so a breath of fresh air filled his nostrils, and he could -discern daylight below. - -“Eureka! I’m over one of the rooms!” he cried to himself. “I’ll fool -that sly jade yet—and that isn’t all I will do for her!” - -Nick now went to work with a will. With his knife he pried up the -splintered end of the board until he could get his fingers under it. -Then he ripped up a section of it, as if it had been so much cardboard. - -To remove the remaining pieces of the upper board required about five -minutes, and Nick then tackled the one below it. - -First, he fired a second bullet, making a hole a few inches from the -former. With his knife he then hacked out the wood between the two -holes, thus enabling him to get a good grip upon the board. With his -boot heel, and at times with the butt of his revolver, he split the -plank in several places, and at the end of fifteen minutes he had the -lower board ripped out. - -Though reeking from every pore, Nick at once thrust his leg through the -aperture and down between the beams, and with his heel broke through the -laths and plastering of the ceiling below. - -That he could now effect his escape he had not the least doubt; yet it -required time. - -Nearly two hours of hard labor followed before he could hack a hole in -the floor sufficiently large for him to pass through, and it was six -o’clock before the work was done. - -Then Nick pocketed his knife and lamp, wormed himself through the -opening, and dropped into the room below. - -He found himself in the house lately occupied by Nathan Godard. - -Before leaving, Nick went to the basement and found an old broom, and -with it removed all of the rubbish that had fallen to the floor. - -“In case that jade comes here before to-morrow night, to learn if I have -survived, I’ll have this stuff out of her way, and chance that she does -not observe the ceiling,” he said to himself. “Even if she gets no sound -from that trap up there, she’ll not dare open the door. To make sure of -her movements, however, and that the trick for to-morrow night is by no -means queered, I will have Patsy shadow these two houses all day -to-morrow.” - -It was nearly dark when Nick arrived home, and he sat up until midnight -waiting for Chick to return. - -The latter had left Belle Braddon less than an hour before, and she had -been with Chick since six o’clock that evening, so Nick knew that she -had not returned to Flood’s house. - -Chick, moreover, had craftily planned with Belle to visit Godard’s shore -house the following night, taking with them the alleged uncle who was to -arrive from Dakota. - -Naturally, the uncle was Nick Carter, and the two detectives were to -meet Belle Braddon at the Waldorf the following afternoon. - -At ten o’clock next morning Nick received a telegram from Green. It -contained only two words: - -“Brace on!” - -Nick laughed exultingly when he read it, and passed it to Chick, the two -being seated in Nick’s office. - -“That does settle it,” declared the latter. “Godard is expecting us, and -has given the humpback instructions about the cues.” - -“Sure thing!” cried Chick. “Belle Braddon has fallen into the net I have -spread for her, and Godard expects to find an easy mark in my -cattle-raising uncle from Dakota.” - -“It is Godard who will be the easy mark!” Nick grimly rejoined. “One -thing is sure!” - -“What’s that?” - -“Belle Braddon will never dream that your uncle is Nick Carter.” - -“Well, hardly,” laughed Chick. “She is probably dead sure that you are -down and out by this time.” - -“I have Patsy shadowing both houses, in case she goes there. That is not -likely, however.” - -“Not at all,” replied Chick. “Women don’t fancy dead bodies, and shrink -from going where they are. Yet she’s about as bad a trickster in -petticoats as I ever met.” - -“I’ll go and tell the encouraging news to Flood and Harry Royal,” said -Nick. “Then we will get ourselves in shape for the round-up.” - -At noon that day the yellow-haired chap, who had been at the Waldorf for -nearly ten days, appeared at the famous hotel with a companion—his -uncle. - -No man, however suspicious, would have recognized Nick in the disguise -he then wore. - -His face was stained to a hue acquired only by long exposure to the -burning sun of the plains. His hair was coarse and black, and a heavy -beard concealed the lower portion of his face. Two of his teeth had been -“stopped out,” which, when he laughed, gave his mouth a peculiarly -repulsive look. His hands gave evidence of much labor, and his figure -was rounded at the shoulders and several inches below its normal height. -He was clad in a suit characteristic of the part he had assumed, and -presented, indeed, a most striking picture. - -Precisely at six o’clock, Belle Braddon, arrayed in the height of -fashion, arrived in a carriage at the hotel, where Chick received her -and took her to his suite of rooms. - -He had already cautioned her against appearing to be greatly amused by -the oddities and roughness of the Western ranchman; yet when Belle -Braddon met Nick and was introduced to him she scarcely could contain -herself. She thought for sure that she was up against a genuine Western -“Rube.” - -A sonorous bass laugh came from Nick when they were introduced, to which -was boisterously added, with a familiarity that tickled the girl -immensely: - -“So you’re the gal my Archie’s run up agin’, are you?” - -“I guess I am, sir,” Belle admitted, blushing with affected demureness. - -“Waal, to tell the hull truth, Miss Braddon, I’m durned if I don’t -ruther envy him,” declared Nick, with blunt heartiness. - -The girl laughed, shrugging her shoulders, and appearing greatly -flattered, then laid off her wrap to wait for dinner. - -It was six o’clock before the meal was served, and Nick dined and wined -the party liberally. - -During the progress of the dinner, which was served in one of the -elaborate private dining-rooms, the project of going out to Godard’s -shore house was brought up, and Nick expressed his readiness to give the -game a good, handsome play. - -“I’ve got money enough—barrels of it,” he declared to Belle, much to her -delight. “And it’s meat and drink fur me, lass, to get up agin’ a -layout.” - -“Then you shall be accommodated,” laughed Belle. - -“And I’ll not forget, gal, ’twas you who put us wise to the fun,” added -Nick pointedly. - -This looked to Belle Braddon like the promise of a reward, and she slyly -pressed Nick’s hand under the table. - -She received the reward all right—or, at least, what was coming to her. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - THE RIGHT MAN. - - -It was precisely nine o’clock when Nick Carter, Chick, and Belle Braddon -arrived at Godard’s shore house, to which they were admitted by the -humpback and conducted into the dining-room. - -Nate Godard appeared pale and somewhat intoxicated when he received -them, but his nerve quickly returned after the introductions and the -hearty responses of his visitors, and he promptly invited them to the -sideboard to have a drink. - -“Here’s your very good health, Mr. Hedge,” said he, addressing Nick by -the name he had assumed. - -“Yours, too, sir,” cried Nick. - -“So you are fond of bucking the tiger, are you, and have come out here -to give my game a little play?” - -“Fond of it’s no name for it, neighbor,” declared Nick, as he drained -his glass. “I’m a bit off color just now, though, for I haven’t set down -before a stack o’ checks for nigh a year. All the more saved up for you -to win, eh?” he added, with a boisterous display of good humor. “That -ere’s one way o’ looking at it, Mr. Godard.” - -Godard joined in Nick’s loud laugh, and Belle Braddon, who was now -making up to Nick with an eye to the future, playfully twined his arm -with her hand and cried gleefully: - -“Oh, you’re really too funny, Mr. Hedge.” - -“Thet so, lass?” - -“You make me laugh nearly every time you speak.” - -“Waal, as long as I don’t make you cry, my dear gal, there’s no sleep to -be lost, eh?” - -“No, not a wink, sir,” Belle rejoined, with a seductive glance and -smile. - -A very little of such banter as this went a long way with Nick when more -serious business was pressing, and he presently asked roundly: - -“Where’s your game, Mr. Godard? Let’s have a look at it.” - -“We can talk and play at the same time, you know,” put in Chick -agreeably. - -“You don’t do any playing, my boy,” roared Nick good-naturedly. “It’s -bad enough fur one o’ the Hedge family to be up agin’ the tiger. You -don’t set down a chip—mind that, my boy.” - -“Well, I can look on, can’t I?” grumbled Chick. “There’s no harm in -that!” - -“Sure you can look on, lad. There’s no chance to lose in looking on.” - -“Come up-stairs, Mr. Hedge,” said Godard. - -“I’m coming, too,” declared Belle, as he led the way. “I want to see how -you Westerners go at the game, Mr. Hedge.” - -“We go at it, gal, like a bull at a gate,” Nick loudly laughed, slipping -his arm around her as they mounted the stairs. - -Green already had the room brightly lighted, yet he gave no sign of ever -having seen the visitors. - -The faro-room was, barring the elaborate furnishings at Flood’s, not -unlike that previously described, and a sonorous laugh broke from Nick -Carter when he beheld the layout on the table and saw the preparations -which had been made for the game. - -“Waal, she does have a durned natural look, Godard,” he cried, in -stentorian tones. “How much can I sit to win?” - -“Your expenses, at least,” Godard significantly replied, joining in the -other’s laugh. - -Nick’s expressive eyes evinced just the least bit of disappointment when -he perceived the pack of cards laid carelessly on a chair at one side of -the table, but when Nathan Godard took his seat back of the layout, and -then produced a pack from behind the check-rack, a momentary blaze fired -their somber depths, only to wane again to a steady glow like that of -burning coals through the darkness. - -Nick recognized the deck of cards at a glance. - -It was the same deck of strippers with which Moses Flood had dealt -himself a loser and afterward strapped in the satchel with the money he -had paid to Cecil Kendall, less than one hour before the latter was -murdered in the rectory grounds. - -They were very positive evidence of Nathan Godard’s guilt, yet Nick knew -that there were other cards like them, and foresaw that even further -proof was desirable. A profound reader of human nature, as well as a man -of tremendous mental force, Nick was planning to drive the wretch -opposite to a frenzy of excitement when, at the proper time, he could -evoke from him an involuntary yet absolute self-betrayal. - -“My expenses, eh?” he boisterously replied, turning to wink at Belle, -then at the humpback cuekeeper, who had taken his seat at the end of the -table. - -“Sure thing, sir, if you get ’em down right,” laughed Godard, a bit -nervously. - -“Waal, my expenses will be suthing,” roared Nick, “if we blow in the -stuff as we did at the Waldorf. Gee whiz! but it costs suthing to eat -and liquor up in that ’ere tavern. Eh, Archie?” - -“Right you are, old man,” nodded Chick, who was seated near-by. - -“Are you in with my play, lass, or with Godard’s?” cried Nick, turning -to Belle with a great display of joviality. - -“I’m always in with the winner,” replied the girl, with a ringing laugh. - -“Oh, ho, that’s it, eh? Cunning as a kitten, aren’t you?” - -“I’m always looking out for my own interest,” grinned Belle, patting -Nick’s cheek from behind his chair. - -“Good for you, gal,” cried Nick approvingly. “Waal, Mr. Godard, across -the crick thar, give me a stack o’ chips. I’ll show you how we play the -bank on the t’other side o’ the Mississip. I dropped seven thousand in -hides in Chicago, on my way here, the which I’m out to get back. Ha, ha! -in with the winner, lass, are you?” - -While boisterously voicing the above, Nick drew from the side pocket of -his coat a huge roll of bank-notes, from which he quickly stripped off -two of five hundred dollars each, and carelessly tossed them across the -layout. - -“Gimme a stack o’ chips!” he cried noisily. - -“One stack?” queried Godard, startled by the prospect of so big a game. - -“One stack—sartin!” cried Nick. “Fifty dollars a chip, that’s good -enough fur me. Same as plug ante, what we used to play in ’49 under the -wagon-trains. What’s the limit, by the way?” - -Godard began to tremble under this show of utter recklessness. - -“You may stack them up until I call you down,” said he, speaking calmly -with an effort. - -Yet he did not feel easy. It is no small undertaking to deal brace faro, -even under ordinary conditions; and to Godard these appeared without -precedent. - -His evil heart was beating like a trip-hammer. His blood was rushing -like fire through his veins. Yet the sight of the pretended -cattle-dealer’s money served to nerve him for a time, and with jaws -fixed he began to shuffle the deck of strippers. - -“Till you call me down, eh?” roared Nick, as if in great enjoyment. -“That ought to be good enough, and it’s what I like to hear. No piking -around fur me, a chip a rip. They say it’s good luck to stake a cuss -afore beginning, so take that, my bucko, and put it in your kit.” - -“Thankee, sir!” cried the humpback, as Nick tossed him a chip valued at -fifty dollars. - -Nick nodded and laughed. - -“You’re sort of a cross atween a man and monkey, ain’t ye?” he jokingly -demanded. - -“Well, sir, I’ll not take any blue ribbons for my beauty,” rejoined -Green, laughing. - -“Ha, ha, ha!” roared Nick. “That’s the stuff, my lad! All ready, eh? -What’s to the top o’ the box—an eight?” - -Despite his show of carelessness, Nick had seen the cards shuffled, -stripped, and butted. He knew to a certainty how to place his money. He -divided his stack of chips and coppered two winners for the entire lot. - -Godard felt a thrill of exultation. - -Nick had set his money down to lose. - -The miscreant opposite was not forced to take a false card in order to -win, and he felt relieved. - -The first turn from the box brought a decision—the pretended dealer in -cattle had lost. - -“Oh, ho!” he cried, with a quick flash of his eyes. “Can you do thet, -ag’in? Let’s see you do thet ag’in!” - -Godard’s only reply was to send out another turn from the deal box. - -But Nick’s question was answered—he had lost again, just as he had -planned. - -Now he did not laugh. He jerked his chair quickly nearer the table, and -ferociously yanked out his roll of money. - -“Gimme two stacks this time!” he cried aggressively. - -“Two goes, mister,” nodded Godard. - -He raked in the bank-notes cast upon the layout, and set forth their -equivalent in chips. - -Yet he did not speak again, to add to his husky remark. He dared not -trust his voice. It was nothing short of robbery, this that he was -doing, and he felt that he could see his finish if he got caught -cheating. - -Nick looked and acted like a man who would fairly eat another, under -such a provocation. - -Then Nick went down upon the layout with every chip that he had bought. - -This time he bet to win, thus forcing Godard to take a false card. - -Nick’s object was to drive the man to a frenzy of excitement, when -discretion would be overwhelmed, and then bring a climax that would -evoke self-betrayal. - -Godard took the false card, made a secret sign, and a quick responsive -rap sounded from his cuekeeper. - -Yet he was ghastly to the lips when he glanced at Nick to see if the -deception had been detected. - -Nick saw it all right, but his countenance did not change. He saw, too, -that Godard was beginning to work under the highest kind of pressure. - -The latter raked in a thousand dollars on the turn, and the magnitude of -the possibility before him alone enabled him to maintain his nerve. - -“Can’t I win a bet?” Nick hoarsely cried, after buying for the third -time and losing. “Curse the infernal luck—can’t I win a bet?” - -“You are really getting them down a bit unlucky, uncle,” observed Chick, -with pretended sympathy. - -“So he is, dear man,” said Belle, in persuasive tones. - -They now appeared to be wasted upon the irate cattle-dealer, however. - -“Gimme some more chips, Godard,” he fiercely growled, slinging a fifth -thousand dollars over the layout. “Gimme some more chips, I say! What -sort of a dealer hev I been steered up agin’, eh?” - -“The deal is all right, sir,” stammered Godard. - -“Who said ’twasn’t? I said dealer!” snarled Nick ferociously. - -Godard’s hand shook visibly as he shoved the desired stacks of chips -toward Nick. The strain upon him was something frightful, and his brain -felt as if seared with a terrible heat. The gravity of the situation -seemed to steadily increase, and fear of what might occur was taking -ugly hold upon him. He ground his teeth together, and nerved himself to -finish the deal. - -From the top of the box to the bottom Nick did not win a bet. - -He started the second deal ten thousand dollars loser, and Godard was -trembling in his chair. - -The second deal was about like the first. - -Nick played to lose. He coppered the winning cards, and played the -losers to win. Time and time again he forced himself to call for more -chips, and each time noticed that Godard was becoming more and more -beside himself. The perspiration stood in great drops on the latter’s -face, and the arteries of his neck and brow were pulsing violently. Nick -saw that he had him nearly where he wanted him. - -Even Belle Braddon was gazing with affrighted eyes upon the dreadful -scene, hushed and pale now, with her hands pressed above her heart. - -Chick saw by the look in Nick’s eyes that the climax was approaching, -and he quietly made ready for it. - -Half-a-minute later Nick drove the knife deeper into his victim. - -The deal had come down to two turns only, and Nick knew the cues were -wrong and that Godard must take a card to right them. - -Nick forced Godard to win by stealing, and the latter’s hand shook as if -with palsy as he did it. - -A rap from the cuekeeper followed, and then the announcement: - -“Last turn!” - -Nick resolved it should be the very last. - -He placed his bet—and purposely lost! - -Then he uttered a terrible cry, as if thrilled with sudden suspicion. - -“Be the cues right? Be the cues right?” he roared, glaring fiercely at -the startled humpback. - -“Aye, sir——” - -“Then lemme see them cards!” yelled Nick, with his swarthy face awfully -distorted and his eyes blazing like fire. “Lemme see the cards. I say! -—— you, Godard, there’s suthing wrong with them cards!” - -The humpback leaped to his feet with a hoarse remonstrance, and while -Nathan Godard, ghastly as a corpse, covered the cards with his left -hand, his right went to his hip pocket. - -It was the very move Nick wanted to see him make. - -“Lemme see ’em!” he roared furiously, half rising from his chair. “I -tell you there’s suthing wrong with them cards!” - -“I think not——” - -“Lemme see ’em! Lemme see ’em, or I’ll——” - -“Let him see them, Nate!” shrieked Belle Braddon, wild lest Godard’s -frightful agitation should betray him. - -Nick reached across the layout with a terrible imprecation, and snatched -the pack of cards from under Godard’s quivering hand. - -“There’s blood on them!” he roared fiercely, with his eyes fixed on -those of the shaking man opposite. “There’s blood on them! The blood of -a man killed for money—killed for gain, and by you who now——” - -Nick got no further. - -The thrilling accusation was more than Nate Godard, in his unnerved -condition, could sustain. He saw the scheme by which he was being -duped—and he saw again the staring corpse that he had left behind him in -the rectory grounds in Fordham. - -With a single wild cry, most like a shriek, he leaped to his feet. - -“Curse you!” he yelled; “I know you now! You’re Moses Flood!” - -“You lie!” thundered Nick, tearing off his disguise. “I am Nick Carter, -the detective!” - -Belle Braddon uttered a scream that pierced the very walls of the house, -and from somewhere under her skirts snatched out a revolver. - -Chick Carter, with eyes alert to see where he was most needed, was upon -her as a leopard leaps upon a hare. - -“Not on your life, miss!” he cried, wrenching away the weapon and -forcing her into a chair. - -Nate Godard, too, had drawn his revolver, but he never again discharged -it. - -Nick swept across the table like a whirlwind, and in an instant had the -desperate man by the throat. - -Then he drew back, startled. - -Godard’s grip on his revolver had relaxed, and the weapon fell -clattering to the floor. He threw both hands above his head, like one -stricken a fatal blow, then brought both palms violently to his skull, -as if within were the seat of a dreadful pain. His distorted face -suddenly grew ghastly, with lips drawn and eyes rolling, and but for -Nick Carter’s supporting arm he would have fallen headlong to the floor. - -“He’s done for!” cried Nick to Chick, over his shoulder. - -Nick was right: one glance at the man’s death-swept face was enough. - -In the awful stress of his horror, terror, and excitement, Nathan Godard -had ruptured an artery of his brain. - -The rest, involving the subsequent fortunes of those who have figured in -these pages, may be briefly and simply told. - -Godard died within an hour, without regaining consciousness, and thus -cheated human justice, only to meet at a divine tribunal the punishment -he deserved. - -From Belle Braddon, however, whom fear of punishment now drove to a -confession, the facts were obtained that fully established Godard’s -guilt. - -He had left the faro-bank just after seeing Kendall win the ninety -thousand dollars, and when the latter emerged Godard shadowed him to -Fordham. - -As Nick Carter had shrewdly reasoned, Kendall went to peer through the -library window before entering the rectory. Godard, meantime, had seen -Flood arrive and hitch his team at the rear gate, putting his heavy cane -in the body of the buggy. - -Flood, however, wishing to see Dora Royal alone, had not gone directly -to that side of the house on which the crime was committed, but had -passed slowly around it, in the hope of attracting her attention from -one of the windows. - -Godard, meantime, secured Flood’s cane, waylaid and killed Kendall, then -made off with the satchel of money, afterward concealing the cane in the -brushwood, that the crime might be charged to Flood. - -The latter, upon coming around the house, had seen only Harry Royal, -with the results already set forth. - -Belle Braddon did not for her confession, however, escape punishment for -her evil doings. Nick promptly placed her under arrest, as an accessory -after the crime, as well as for the attempt upon his life, and she -ultimately received her just deserts. - -When the heroic part that Moses Flood had played in behalf of the Royals -was fully made known to the rector, he did precisely what Nick Carter -anticipated. Upon Flood’s renunciation of his business, which had been -entirely voluntary, Doctor Royal forgave the past and accepted him as -his daughter’s suitor. - -Flood went abroad for six months, returning as the American -representative of one of the largest silk concerns in France, and he and -Dora Royal were married that year, establishing themselves in a fine -West End Avenue residence. The two houses, which were sad reminders of -his past, Flood sold to the best advantage, and gave the entire proceeds -to charity. - -The love and gratitude of the happy couple for Nick Carter may be easily -imagined, and both were numbered among Nick’s dearest friends. - -The great detective frequently said of Flood in after years, when -recalling the incidents here depicted: - -“He certainly was the prince of gamesters!” - -And certainly it seems to be a good safe wager that Nick Carter, as -usual, was entirely right. - - - THE END. - - - - - FRANK MERRIWELL - - -Is the hero of every true American boy. Frank has had numerous -adventures which are chronicled in a manner most satisfactory to every -boy who seeks clean, vigorous literature. These books can be found only -in the Medal Library. - - Price, 10c. Per Copy - - By BURT L. STANDISH. - - - - - 150 Frank Merriwell’s School-Days. - 167 Frank Merriwell’s Chums. - 178 Frank Merriwell’s Foes. - 184 Frank Merriwell’s Trip West. - 189 Frank Merriwell Down South. - 193 Frank Merriwell’s Bravery. - 197 Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour. - 201 Frank Merriwell in Europe. - 205 Frank Merriwell at Yale. - 209 Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield. - 213 Frank Merriwell’s Races. - 217 Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour. - 225 Frank Merriwell’s Courage. - 229 Frank Merriwell’s Daring. - 233 Frank Merriwell’s Athletes. - 237 Frank Merriwell’s Skill. - 240 Frank Merriwell’s Champions. - 247 Frank Merriwell’s Secret. - 251 Frank Merriwell’s Danger. - 254 Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty. - 258 Frank Merriwell in Camp. - 262 Frank Merriwell’s Vacation. - 267 Frank Merriwell’s Cruise. - 271 Frank Merriwell’s Chase. - 276 Frank Merriwell in Maine. - 280 Frank Merriwell’s Struggle. - 284 Frank Merriwell’s First Job. - - If these books are ordered by mail, - add four cents to cover postage. - - STREET & SMITH, Publishers, New York. - - - - - “Get Acquainted With Smith’s” - The Big Three - - - MRS. GEORGIE SHELDON - MRS. MARY J. HOLMES - CHARLES GARVICE - -You are now looking at the three most popular authors in America. Ten -million copies of their novels have been sold and they are now -exclusively engaged to supply Smith’s Magazine with all their new work. - -¶Get a copy of the current number and look it over. It’s the best -published at - - TEN CENTS - - SMITH PUBLISHING HOUSE, _NEW YORK_ - - - The Biggest Line of Copyrighted Detective Literature Published - - THE MAGNET LIBRARY - OF FASCINATING DETECTIVE STORIES - -This line has become famous for its excellent stories of the detection -of crime. Of late, it has taken truly remarkable strides in the public’s -favor. The reason for this is that every book is a marvel of its kind. -They are high-class tales, not of the “blood-and-thunder” order, but -with plausible plots which hold the reader fairly captivated with -breathless expectation. Among these are the stories of the adventures of -Nick Carter and his clever assistants; of “Old Spicer,” the clever -private detective, whose exploits are among the most remarkable ever -performed by any detective. If you are in search of good, interesting -matter, a decided change from that to which you have been accustomed, -purchase a few of these titles. They will not only please and interest -you, but will give you a clear insight into the methods of the various -classes of criminals. - - PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK - - - To be Published During April - - 441—The Ring of Iron By Inspector Stark - 440—The Lure of Gold By Nicholas Carter - 439—The “L” Mystery By Dick Stewart - 438—Behind a Throne By Nicholas Carter - - To be Published During March - - 437—A King Among Crooks By J. K. Stafford - 436—Under the Tiger’s Claws By Nicholas Carter - 435—The Great Green Diamond By Inspector Stark - 434—Through the Cellar Wall By Nicholas Carter - - To be Published During February - - 433—The Human Cat By Dick Stewart - 432—The “Limited” Hold-Up By Nicholas Carter - 431—Shot From Above By J. K. Stafford - 430—Marked for Death By Nicholas Carter - - To be Published During January - - 429—On the Trail of “Big Finger” By Scott Campbell - 428—Below the Dead Line By Scott Campbell - 427—The Sign of the Dagger By Nicholas Carter - 426—The Western Ferret By Inspector Stark - 425—The Crime of the Camera By Nicholas Carter - 424—The Belrox Mystery By Dick Stewart - 423—The Terrible Thirteen By Nicholas Carter - 422—The Crimson Blind By Fred M. White - 421—A Triple Identity By Nicholas Carter - 420—The Nitroglycerin League By Inspector Stark - 419—The Bloodstone Terror By Nicholas Carter - 418—The Man Who Hid By Dick Stewart - 417—A Victim of Deceit By Nicholas Carter - 416—The Broken Pen By J. K. Stafford - 415—The Key Ring Clew By Nicholas Carter - 414—A Modern Sorceress By Inspector Stark - 413—The Four-Fingered Glove By Nicholas Carter - 412—Checkmating a Countess By Dick Stewart - 411—The Boulevard Mutes By Nicholas Carter - 410—Shadowed ’Round the World By J. K. Stafford - 409—Nick Carter’s Double Catch By Nicholas Carter - 408—Only a Headless Nail By Dick Stewart - 407—The Pretty Stenographer Mystery By Nicholas Carter - 406—The Eye of Gold By Inspector Stark - 405—The Plot That Failed By Nicholas Carter - 404—The Red Stain By Scott Campbell - 403—The Marked Hand By Nicholas Carter - 402—The Albert Gate Affair By Louis Tracy - 401—The Fatal Legacy By Louis Tracy - 400—The Living Mask By Nicholas Carter - 399—An Oath of Vengeance By John K. Stafford - 398—Under a Black Veil By Nicholas Carter - 397—A Crime Without a Name By Dick Stewart - 396—A Baffled Oath By Nicholas Carter - 395—A Kentucky Moonshiner By Inspector Stark - 394—Playing for a Fortune By Nicholas Carter - 393—The Convent Mystery By John K. Stafford - 392—With Links of Steel By Nicholas Carter - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -—Silently corrected a few typos. - -—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook - is public-domain in the country of publication. - -—Added a Table of Contents, based on chapter headings. - -—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by - _underscores_. - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE TIGER'S CLAWS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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text-align:justify; font-size:90%; } -p.biblio { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -.clear { clear:both; } -p.book { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } -p.review { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; font-size:80%; } -p.pcap { margin-left:0em; text-indent:0; text-align:center; margin-top:0; font-size:110%; } -p.pcapc { margin-left:4.7em; text-indent:0em; text-align:justify; } -span.attr { font-size:80%; font-family:sans-serif; } -span.pn { display:inline-block; width:4.7em; text-align:left; margin-left:0; text-indent:0; } -</style> -</head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Under The Tiger's Claws, by Nicholas Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Under The Tiger's Claws</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>A Struggle for the Right</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nicholas Carter</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 7, 2021 [eBook #65790]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Edwards, Stephen Hutcheson, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE TIGER'S CLAWS ***</div> -<div id="cover" class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Under the Tiger’s Claws; or, A Struggle for the Right" width="500" height="747" /> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<p class="center"><b class="large">MAGNET LIBRARY</b> <span class="hst"><b class="large">No. 436</b></span> -<br /><span class="small">A weekly publication devoted to Detective literature. -<br />March 21, 1905.</span></p> -<h1>UNDER THE TIGER’S CLAWS; -<br /><span class="smallest"><span class="smallest">OR,</span> -<br />A Struggle for the Right</span></h1> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smallest">BY</span> -<br />NICHOLAS CARTER -<br /><span class="smallest">AUTHOR OF</span> -<br /><span class="smaller">“The Great Enigma,” “Hounded to Death,” “The Price of a Secret,” “The Man of Mystery,” “Run to Earth,” “Sealed Orders,” “The Seal of Death,” “Driven from Cover,” etc.</span></p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smaller">NEW YORK</span> -<br />STREET & SMITH, <span class="sc">Publishers</span> -<br /><span class="smaller"><span class="sc">79-89 Seventh Avenue</span></span></p> -</div> -<p class="center smaller">Copyright, 1905 -<br />By STREET & SMITH</p> -<h2 id="toc" class="center"><span class="larger">CONTENTS</span></h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">I. </span>The Man and the Money</a> 5</dt> -<dt><a href="#c2"><span class="cn">II. </span>Where Tides Meet</a> 15</dt> -<dt><a href="#c3"><span class="cn">III. </span>The Tiger’s Claws</a> 31</dt> -<dt><a href="#c4"><span class="cn">IV. </span>A Friend in Need</a> 39</dt> -<dt><a href="#c5"><span class="cn">V. </span>A Turn of Luck</a> 48</dt> -<dt><a href="#c6"><span class="cn">VI. </span>A Startling Sequence</a> 63</dt> -<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">VII. </span>The Wages of Sin</a> 72</dt> -<dt><a href="#c8"><span class="cn">VIII. </span>By Whose Hand?</a> 83</dt> -<dt><a href="#c9"><span class="cn">IX. </span>Under Oath</a> 98</dt> -<dt><a href="#c10"><span class="cn">X. </span>A Mysterious Disappearance</a> 109</dt> -<dt><a href="#c11"><span class="cn">XI. </span>New Clues</a> 123</dt> -<dt><a href="#c12"><span class="cn">XII. </span>Driven to the Wall</a> 133</dt> -<dt><a href="#c13"><span class="cn">XIII. </span>Nick Calls the Turn</a> 143</dt> -<dt><a href="#c14"><span class="cn">XIV. </span>Two Bad Eggs</a> 159</dt> -<dt><a href="#c15"><span class="cn">XV. </span>Secret Work</a> 170</dt> -<dt><a href="#c16"><span class="cn">XVI. </span>Trapped</a> 178</dt> -<dt><a href="#c17"><span class="cn">XVII. </span>The Girl and the Crime</a> 188</dt> -<dt><a href="#c18"><span class="cn">XVIII. </span>Closing In</a> 198</dt> -<dt><a href="#c19"><span class="cn">XIX. </span>The Right Man</a> 208</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_5">5</div> -<h1 title=""><span class="small">UNDER THE TIGER’S CLAWS.</span></h1> -<h2 id="c1"><span class="small">CHAPTER I.</span> -<br />THE MAN AND THE MONEY.</h2> -<p>“Well, my dear Gilsey, I rather think I can land him -for you,” declared Nick Carter, with an odd smile lurking -in the corners of his keen, gray eyes.</p> -<p>“But that will not do, Nick,” protested Mr. Raymond -Gilsey, with an immediate display of apprehension.</p> -<p>“Not do, sir?”</p> -<p>“It may not be what I want.”</p> -<p>“Not what you want?”</p> -<p>“Not exactly, Nick,” and Mr. Raymond Gilsey decisively -shook his head.</p> -<p>He was a venerable banker, with a remarkably gentle -and benevolent countenance. He was the president of -the Milmore Trust Company, a banking-institution located -in Forty-second Street, the patrons of which consisted -chiefly of business firms in the immediate neighborhood, -and of wealthy women, to whom the up-town -location of the bank was a convenience.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_6">6</div> -<p>It was in Mr. Gilsey’s handsome private office that Nick -Carter was seated, one afternoon early in May, in response -to a telephone request from the banker about an -hour before. Between the two there existed a friendship -of long standing, and the celebrated detective had hastened -to respond. As yet, however, he had received but -a hint at the business for which he had been called, and -he wondered a little at the banker’s obvious misgivings, -as appeared in his remarks noted above.</p> -<p>“Please explain, Mr. Gilsey,” said Nick. “Certainly, -if there is a deficit in your cash, and you suspect—— Ah, -but stop a moment. Perhaps it will be just as well, my -dear Gilsey, if our interview——”</p> -<p>The last, spoken with lowered voice, was considered -with a significant glance in the direction of Gilsey’s -private stenographer, who sat busily engaged near one -of the office windows, and Nick’s glance was equivalent -to a suggestion that the presence of a third party might -wisely be dispensed with.</p> -<p>This third party was a young woman named Belle -Braddon, apparently about twenty-five years of age. Certain -features about her, however, which Nick’s keen eyes -were quick to notice, indicated that Miss Braddon was -in divers ways experienced beyond her years.</p> -<p>She was that type of girl quite properly termed dashing. -<span class="pb" id="Page_7">7</span> -Her figure was striking, her face handsome, with -mobile red lips, alluring blue eyes, and cheeks with a soft -tinge of color not entirely their own. She had, too, an -unusual abundance of wavy auburn hair, which was then -arranged in picturesque disorder. Regarded from top -to toe, she was decidedly noticeable, and the style of girl -to which most men are quick to respond.</p> -<p>Nick Carter, however, did not quite fancy the general -appearance of Miss Braddon, and he abruptly decided -that her absence was desirable. In response to the cue -so quietly given him, the banker glanced at the girl, and -asked:</p> -<p>“What are you now at work on, Belle?”</p> -<p>Miss Braddon started slightly, much as if her ears -had been deaf to any preceding remarks, then turned -with a gracious smile to her employer.</p> -<p>“On the quarterly reports which you dictated this -morning,” she replied, with a peculiarly clear and penetrating -voice.</p> -<p>“You may drop that for the present, Belle, as I may -change some of the concluding pages,” said Mr. Gilsey.</p> -<p>“Very well, sir.”</p> -<p>“Are my letters ready for signing?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> -<p>“You may leave them on your table. As I shall be -<span class="pb" id="Page_8">8</span> -engaged with this gentleman for some time, and will not -require you later, I will excuse you for the rest of the -day.”</p> -<p>“Ah, thank you very much, Mr. Gilsey,” cried Miss -Braddon, beaming gratefully as she arose from her -table. “That will be very nice, sir. I can do a little shopping.”</p> -<p>The banker nodded and smiled, then reverted to Nick, -and conversed with him upon casual matters while the -girl prepared to go. Apparently, Nick did not notice -her, but he nevertheless saw all that was worth noting.</p> -<p>As Miss Braddon put on a broad picture hat and her -light wrap, her expression became more grave and her -cheeks lost some of their color.</p> -<p>Twice she glanced furtively at the detective, with a -certain resentful gleam in her pretty eyes. That it did not -entirely please her, despite her effusive thanks, was -evinced in the slight curl of her red lips; yet she presently -bowed politely and departed, gently closing the office -door.</p> -<p>“An attractive girl, Gilsey, your stenographer,” remarked -Nick carelessly.</p> -<p>“Miss Braddon?” queried the banker, smiling complacently. -“So she is, Nick, and as capable and charming -as she is showy.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div> -<p>“I did not say showy,” laughed Nick dryly. “I said -attractive.”</p> -<p>“Much the same, Nick, when applied to a woman.”</p> -<p>“Has she been long in your employ?”</p> -<p>“About four months.”</p> -<p>“Of course, she came well recommended?”</p> -<p>“Decidedly so,” bowed Gilsey; then he added, with a -smile and headshake: “You professional detectives are -habitually suspicious of everybody, I really believe. -That girl is all right, Nick, take my word for it. Her -uncle, with whom she lives, is one of our largest depositors.”</p> -<p>“Ah, I see,” smiled Nick, a bit oddly. “Now, my dear -Gilsey, why have you sent for me? What can I do for -you?”</p> -<p>The banker became grave in an instant.</p> -<p>“There are two reasons, Nick, why I have appealed to -you,” said he. “First, because we are old friends, and -I know that you will do just what I require upon this -case, and no more than I require.”</p> -<p>“And your second reason?”</p> -<p>“Because I know I can safely trust you, Nick, and -that you will give no publicity to the case after having -dropped it, providing your investigations warrant dropping -it. That is more than I could expect or hope for -<span class="pb" id="Page_10">10</span> -from men of the central office, and so I have appealed -to you, relying upon our long friendship to influence -you to aid me.”</p> -<p>Nick nodded gravely for a moment, noting the profound -anxiety now reflected in the banker’s venerable -face.</p> -<p>“I certainly will do what I can for you, Gilsey, and you -may depend upon me to be discreet,” said he warmly. -“Now, what is the trouble here? You intimated that a -deficit exists in your cash.”</p> -<p>“So I did, Nick, yet I am not sure of it.”</p> -<p>“Not sure of it?”</p> -<p>“That seems strange to you,” replied Gilsey. “I can -explain in a few words.”</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>“Mr. Cecil Kendall, one of my most trusty clerks, has -been absent on a vacation for several days. During the -illness of our cashier, Mr. Knights, for nearly three -months, Kendall has been doing double his share of work. -He has handled the cashier’s end of our business, as well -as his own.”</p> -<p>“I follow you,” said Nick attentively.</p> -<p>“My own duties here are very arduous,” continued -Gilsey, “yet, as far as possible, I always keep an eye -<span class="pb" id="Page_11">11</span> -upon the work of all of my clerks. Kendall, however, -is a man of unusual ability, an expert accountant, and a -man in whom I have had the greatest confidence. His -work on the books has always been satisfactory, yet -in doing double his ordinary duties it would not be -strange if some of his work had fallen a little behind.”</p> -<p>“That is true,” admitted Nick. “Do you find that the -books are not in proper shape up to date?”</p> -<p>“Unfortunately, I cannot tell,” was the reply. “Kendall -went to Boston to attend the wedding of his brother -last Tuesday. He was to have returned this morning, but -has not yet appeared, nor sent me any word explaining -his absence. I am unable to tell in just what condition -he left his accounts. I know, however, that several large -amounts were received here during Monday, and also that -considerable was used for the payment of notes which -came due that day.”</p> -<p>“I see, sir.”</p> -<p>“It was an exceedingly busy day for Mr. Kendall,” -continued the banker, “and he worked here Monday until -compelled to leave to catch a late train to Boston. -I went home at my usual hour, about four o’clock, so did -not see him after he wound up his Monday work. -Whether he has left part of his work undone, depending -upon memoranda of which I am ignorant, I cannot -<span class="pb" id="Page_12">12</span> -say. All I know, Nick, is that he has not returned to-day, -as expected, and that there appears to be a serious -deficit in the cash accounts.”</p> -<p>“How serious?”</p> -<p>“Nearly ninety thousand dollars.”</p> -<p>“Whew! Serious, indeed!” exclaimed the detective. -“Have you no way of getting at the exact truth?”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, it can be done,” replied Gilsey quickly. “But -it would require time, and occasion a publicity which I -wish to prevent, for a day or two, at least, in the hope -that Kendall will return, or can be found, and show -that matters here are all right. In fact, Nick, I am inclined -to think they are, and that I am needlessly -alarmed; yet, for the protection of our depositors, I feel -that I must take some step at this time.”</p> -<p>“Quite properly, too.”</p> -<p>“I wish to locate Kendall as quickly as possible. I -want him here, that an explanation may be made. In -case I am entirely wrong, however, and no deficit really -exists, I do not wish Kendall to learn of my misgivings, -and that I have employed a detective, the injustice of -which would seriously and needlessly wound him.”</p> -<p>“That is very true,” admitted Nick thoughtfully. “I -now see about what you want of me, Gilsey. You wish -me to locate Kendall as quickly as possible, and send -<span class="pb" id="Page_13">13</span> -or bring him here without disclosing your doubts and -apprehensions.”</p> -<p>“Exactly.”</p> -<p>“If he is perfectly honest, as you are still inclined to -think, it should be an easy matter to locate him before -to-morrow.”</p> -<p>“Easy for one of your experience, Nick; and that is -precisely why I have called upon you.”</p> -<p>“Do you know Kendall’s Boston address?”</p> -<p>“I have already wired to his Boston friends.”</p> -<p>“With what result?”</p> -<p>“A message in reply states that Kendall left for New -York last night.”</p> -<p>“Does it state by what route?”</p> -<p>“It does not.”</p> -<p>“Ordinarily, he should have arrived here this morning,” -remarked Nick, more gravely. “There is a bare possibility, -Gilsey, that he is a victim of foul play.”</p> -<p>“I have thought of that, Nick, which also deters me -from acting too hastily, or making any immediate -charges.”</p> -<p>“Do you know whether Kendall had much money with -him?”</p> -<p>“I do not.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div> -<p>“If he had what you fear may be missing, Mr. Gilsey, -he had a good, round sum,” observed Nick dryly.</p> -<p>The banker shook his head.</p> -<p>“I cannot yet believe it,” said he gravely. “There are, -too, other parties whom I would spare the pain of knowing -that I have unjustly suspected Kendall of embezzlement, -and gone so far as to call in a detective.”</p> -<p>“What other parties, Gilsey?” inquired Nick, with -brows lifting slightly.</p> -<p>“I refer to Doctor Leonard Royal, of Fordham, the -Episcopal rector, and to his family,” explained the banker. -“I infer from what I see of the couple that Kendall is -engaged to marry the rector’s daughter, Medora Royal. -He is, too, an intimate friend of young Harry Royal, the -rector’s only son, who went to Boston with him. It happens, -Nick, that Doctor Royal and I have been lifelong -friends. I regard him as fondly as a brother. In case I -am wrong, Nick, I would not for the world have them -know that I suspect Kendall.”</p> -<p>“I see, my dear Gilsey.”</p> -<p>“In a nutshell, Nick, I wish you to locate him for me -as quickly as possible.”</p> -<p>“But not arrest him?”</p> -<p>For an instant the banker hesitated, then said huskily:</p> -<p>“No, Nick, not that. Not—not unless——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<p>“Ah, well, if any ‘unless’ creeps in, I shall know what -to do without instructions,” Nick bluntly interposed. -“Now, Mr. Gilsey, give me Kendall’s city address.”</p> -<p>“He occupies bachelor’s apartments in Fifty-ninth -Street. Here is the number. He has not been there to-day, -however.”</p> -<p>“How long since you sent to inquire?”</p> -<p>“Less than an hour.”</p> -<p>“Is he a clubman?”</p> -<p>“I think not.”</p> -<p>Nick Carter replaced his note-book in his pocket, then -arose and took his hat from the banker’s table.</p> -<h2 id="c2"><span class="small">CHAPTER II.</span> -<br />WHERE TIDES MEET.</h2> -<p>Before making his departure, Nick again turned to the -banker and said:</p> -<p>“One more question occurs to me, Gilsey. How did -you happen to discover that a deficit possibly exists in -your cash, and under the circumstances stated?”</p> -<p>“Well, it—it was a perfectly natural discovery in the -course of to-day’s business,” Mr. Gilsey faltered.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div> -<p>A subtle gleam showed for a moment in Nick’s keen -eyes.</p> -<p>“Do you know of anything, or have you ever heard -anything, which at once led you to examine Kendall’s -accounts when he failed to appear at his desk this morning?” -he demanded.</p> -<p>The banker hesitated for barely a second, and Nick -cried curtly:</p> -<p>“Come, come, Gilsey, there is something more. Let -me have the whole business, all you know, or up go my -hands and I drop the case. I thought you knew I was a -man to be safely trusted, dear fellow. Come, come, what -sent you to Kendall’s books so hurriedly?”</p> -<p>The banker colored slightly, and now hastened to reply.</p> -<p>“Well, Nick, to be perfectly frank with you, despite -that I give no credit to the statement, it was said to me -about two weeks ago that Kendall was given to -gambling.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho! Gambling, eh? Who said so?”</p> -<p>“A brother banker, Nick, whose name certainly is not -material at this time.”</p> -<p>“Well? Anything more?”</p> -<p>“I asked Kendall about it that very day, and he denied -the report and laughed it to scorn. I could not believe it -of him, Nick, and did not.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div> -<p>“What did your brother banker say, Mr. Gilsey?”</p> -<p>“Merely that he had seen both Kendall and young -Harry Royal one evening coming out of a gambling-house -said to be owned and run by one Moses Flood.”</p> -<p>“Ha! Moses Flood, eh?” muttered Nick, with a -curious smile.</p> -<p>“It must have been a mistake,” continued Gilsey, with -augmented feeling. “Kendall is not a man of evil inclinations. -It is not in his nature to have formed any -relations whatever with a scoundrel who gambles for a -living, and who runs a resort where——”</p> -<p>“Stop just a moment, Gilsey,” interrupted Nick, with -an odd little laugh. “A man of your limited experience -is very prone to misjudge men out of his own circle in -life.”</p> -<p>“What do you mean, Nick?”</p> -<p>“Just this, my dear Gilsey,” said Nick, more seriously. -“I know Moses Flood even better than I know you. Understand -me, now, I do not advocate gambling, nor do I -defend him as a gambler, for such he certainly is, and -in that respect he is an outlaw and a man to be shunned. -I am opposed to gambling of all kinds, whether done with -cards, or in a pool-room, or on a race-track, or in the -stock exchange.”</p> -<p>“Why, certainly, Nick, I already know that,” exclaimed -<span class="pb" id="Page_18">18</span> -Gilsey, with a surprised expression in his gentle, blue -eyes. “But what do you imply of this rascal?”</p> -<p>“Merely this,” smiled Nick. “Aside from his vocation, -which in every way I despise, Moses Flood is not a rascal. -I know what I am talking about, Gilsey. Flood is a man -whose word is as good as any man’s bond. He is as -square a man as ever stood in leather. If he wanted to -borrow half my fortune till to-morrow, with no better -security than his word alone, he could have it, and I -should sleep soundly to-night, knowing that he had it.”</p> -<p>“You surprise me, Nick. I should not have formed -that opinion of him.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I am but incidentally setting you right as to the -man,” added Nick. “He is not a ruffian, nor is he a -rascal, save in one way. He is well educated, a student -of the sciences, and an admirer of the fine arts. His -bachelor quarters are filled with superb treasures and -paintings well worth seeing, a veritable art gallery in fact. -I know that he gives most liberally to charity, moreover, -and I am informed that no man was ever enticed into or -intentionally cheated in his gaming-place, which is open -only to the very wealthy and most exclusive of our men -about town.”</p> -<p>“Still, if he——”</p> -<p>“But that’s enough for Flood, my dear Gilsey. If your -<span class="pb" id="Page_19">19</span> -man Kendall has been one of his patrons, I shall know it -before midnight. At nine o’clock to-morrow morning I -will meet you here, or communicate with you by telephone.”</p> -<p>“And you expect——”</p> -<p>“That I shall then have located Kendall? Most decidedly -I do, Gilsey. Trust me to be discreet, however, -and to have your wishes well in mind.”</p> -<p>“A thousand thanks, Nick. I knew you would help me -out.”</p> -<p>“Surely, old friend,” said Nick, as they shook hands. -“Let the case rest until morning. The few hours will -make no great difference one way or the other. Be here -at nine to-morrow morning, and you shall know the—well, -let’s hope it will be, not the worst, but the best.”</p> -<p>“Amen to that!” said Gilsey fervently.</p> -<p>It was three o’clock when Nick Carter left the Trust -Company building and emerged into Forty-second Street.</p> -<p>As a matter of fact, the case did not appeal very -strongly to the famous detective. His regard for Gilsey, -much more than any feeling of interest in the affair, had -led Nick to undertake the task imposed.</p> -<p>As to the case itself, it then presented no unusual nor -especially interesting features. If Kendall had been -gambling, as Nick was then inclined to suspect, it was -<span class="pb" id="Page_20">20</span> -very possible that he was an embezzler, and had already -fled from the country. Yet Nick decided that he would -be governed by Gilsey’s wishes until the following morning.</p> -<p>Contrary to his anticipations, however, despite that -Nick Carter was quick to see all the possibilities of a case, -that into which he had now entered was destined to prove -one of the most curious and absorbing, as well as most -intensely exciting, that he had ever known.</p> -<p>Nick’s first move for locating Kendall that afternoon -was characteristic of him. He turned to none of the -avenues of information to which the ordinary detective -usually turns. Instead, he hastened to the Grand Central -Station and boarded the first train for Fordham, -his destination being the rectory occupied by the learned -divine, Doctor Leonard Royal. Nick reasoned that if -Harry Royal had visited Boston with Kendall, and Dora -Royal was in love with him, either the clergyman or his -daughter could give him the information he desired.</p> -<p>As he approached the rectory, however, Nick met with -a startling surprise. It was a fine old place, somewhat -isolated, and was surrounded with no end of great shade -trees, clusters of shrubbery, and high hedges. The dwelling -itself, occupying the middle of the large estate, was -a commodious wooden house, with deep verandas and -<span class="pb" id="Page_21">21</span> -innumerable gables, and with a huge glass conservatory -on the south side.</p> -<p>Peering through the high hedge adjoining the side -street as he approached, Nick halted, with a muttered -exclamation of surprise. Two men, one of them the -elderly rector, were just entering the outer door of the -conservatory.</p> -<p>The rector’s companion was none other than—Moses -Flood, the gamester!</p> -<p>“He here!” murmured Nick. “What the dickens does -this signify? He is the last man I would expect to see -visiting this clergyman. If Gilsey’s brother banker was -right, there may be much more in this case than I anticipated. -The way looks easy, and I guess I’d better learn -what brings Moses Flood out here.”</p> -<p>Having worked his way through the hedge, Nick -crossed the grounds, carefully avoiding observation from -the house, and presently darted under a cluster of lilacs -close to the side wall of the great glass conservatory.</p> -<p>There he could plainly view the scene within, and he -presently found a break in one of the glass panes which -enabled him to overhear all that was said—an interview -that caused him to open his eyes still a little wider.</p> -<p>The elderly rector was seated in a rustic chair, and his -<span class="pb" id="Page_22">22</span> -benignant countenance evinced considerable perturbation -and distress.</p> -<p>Moses Flood, however, was standing beside a small -wooden table near-by, and as the story progresses he is to -figure so strongly and strangely that he deserves a careful -description.</p> -<p>He was about forty-five, tall and well built, inclining -somewhat to stoutness. His wavy hair was tinged with -gray, his head finely poised, and his smoothly shaven -face strikingly strong and attractive. His features were -clean cut and pale, his brow broad, his nose straight, and -his lips noticeably thin and firm. His eyes were gray, -as sharp and cold as steel, yet capable of remarkable -expression. Obviously, it was the face of a man of -superhuman will, and one rather inclined to quiet reserve -and studious habits.</p> -<p>He was scrupulously dressed. His black Prince Albert -fitted like a glove and came nearly to the knees of his -pearl-gray trousers. His shoes were small and carefully -polished, and his silk hat, on the table beside him, -was of the latest style. His only jewelry was a small, -piercingly brilliant solitaire in his black satin tie. From -head to foot he was without a sign of dust or blemish.</p> -<p>This was the man whom Nick Carter had declared to -be a rascal in only one way, and Nick fully appreciated -<span class="pb" id="Page_23">23</span> -that gaming was not confined to cards alone, and for -many of his estimable qualities Nick rather admired -Moses Flood.</p> -<p>The drift of the interview between the two men almost -immediately gave Nick Carter his cue.</p> -<p>“You must hear me patiently,” Doctor Royal was tremulously -saying. “I do not forget the past few months, -Mr. Flood. I recall with profound feeling your many -personal attentions to me, your liberality for charity, your -almost princely generosity for the poor of my parish, and -it is painful to me beyond expression when I realize how -terribly I have been deceived.”</p> -<p>Flood stood as motionless as a man of marble, and -nearly as pale; yet his grave, strong face never once -changed in a way to betray his secret feelings.</p> -<p>“You feel, then, that you have been deceived?” said he -inquiringly, with a peculiarly deep yet penetrating voice, -then imbued with kindliness.</p> -<p>“Dreadfully deceived,” replied the rector sadly. “Of -my daughter, and the love for her you have just expressed, -I cannot now speak.”</p> -<p>“Good God!” muttered Nick, under his breath. “Flood -is in love with the girl here.”</p> -<p>“Of my son Harry,” continued the rector, “who of late -<span class="pb" id="Page_24">24</span> -has been much absent from me while in college—ah, it -breaks my heart, as it would that of his loving sister, to -know that he places among his friends a man of your -calling.”</p> -<p>“This is the deception to which you refer, Doctor -Royal?”</p> -<p>“To what else, sir? I cannot forget that it was my -dear boy who brought you here, and only to-day, when I -had begun to regard you with almost brotherly affection, -have you voluntarily told me the truth. You were represented -to me to be in the ivory business. Alas! I now -can see the significance of that. But I had all faith in my -son, and looked for no such duplicity.”</p> -<p>“Naturally not,” said Flood simply.</p> -<p>“You have been a frequent visitor here, and have won -the esteem of all my house, and God only knows how -pained I am to learn the truth that must forever sever -our friendship.”</p> -<p>There were tears in the rector’s aged eyes, but Flood -never moved nor changed.</p> -<p>“May not a gamester be a true friend?” he asked -gravely.</p> -<p>“Not a worthy one—never!”</p> -<p>“You feel sure of that?”</p> -<p>“Absolutely.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div> -<p>“Then you consider me a knave?”</p> -<p>“Your vocation brands you as one.”</p> -<p>“I will not undertake, Doctor Royal, to defend my vocation,” -said Flood, with indescribable gentleness. “It -would be vain for me to try to show one of your cloth -that but very little moral difference exists between my -methods and those of numberless institutions countenanced -complacently both by law and society——”</p> -<p>“There can be no extenuation——”</p> -<p>“Hear me, please! I came here at your son’s solicitation, -rather against my own will, and I believed my first -visit would be my last. Fate decided otherwise. I met -your only daughter—— Nay, sir, do not shudder! I -have never yet spoken to her one word of love.”</p> -<p>“God forbid!”</p> -<p>“If her love were to have been given to me, it was my -plan to relinquish my present business and turn to one -honorable in the eyes of all. I first came to you, Doctor -Royal, and told the whole truth. Believe me, despite -your censure, even a gamester may love nobly. But no -more need be said. I shall respect and be governed by a -father’s will and wishes. Your manner and words show -me that under no consideration can you deem me -worthy.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div> -<p>“No longer worthy of my roof—much less my daughter!” -answered the rector, trembling, and in tears.</p> -<p>Despite that Flood’s pale face remained as calm as -stone, Nick, with his keen discernment, saw that the man -was suffering beyond description, and, in a way, the -kind-hearted detective pitied him.</p> -<p>“Not of your roof? Ah, well, let it be so,” replied -Flood, taking his hat from the table.</p> -<p>Doctor Royal rose, trembling, to his feet.</p> -<p>“Under the circumstances I cannot permit you to come -here again,” said he brokenly. “I shall send for my son, -and I hope soon to know the whole truth. God help -me, sir, my two children are all I have in this life; and -my daughter—I do not speak in judgment—a man like -you can have no place in her pure, young heart.”</p> -<p>Flood bowed with indescribable composure.</p> -<p>“Yet a man like me, Doctor Royal, may be capable of a -great love, and possibly capable of great self-sacrifice. -No more, sir. I bid you good day.”</p> -<p>“Stay!” pleaded the rector, deeply agitated. “There -is still another reason why my daughter could not consider -any proposal from you.”</p> -<p>“Another reason?”</p> -<p>“She is already engaged.”</p> -<p>“Engaged!” Flood echoed, starting slightly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<p>“It is not yet announced,” faltered the clergyman. -“Had I known the nature and depth of your feelings, -however, I would have told you earlier. But Mr. Kendall -desired it kept quiet for a time, and——”</p> -<p>“Kendall?”</p> -<p>“Cecil Kendall—you have met him here once, I believe. -He is an exemplary young man. In all ways worthy of -my Dora.”</p> -<p>For the first time the features of Moses Flood appeared -to get the better of his iron will. His hand stole -over his heart, his lips contracted and twitched convulsively -for a moment, and his voice choked in his -throat.</p> -<p>“Does she, your daughter, love Cecil Kendall?” he -asked.</p> -<p>“Devotedly.”</p> -<p>“Are you—are you—sure of that?”</p> -<p>“Positively, sir. It would break Medora’s heart if any -ill befell Mr. Kendall, or if——”</p> -<p>“Please, sir,” interposed Flood, with cheeks utterly -void of color. “You mean well, sir, and have not spoken -unkindly. I shall not forget it, nor that you are the -father of one more dear to me than life. I bid you -adieu.”</p> -<p>He bowed, put on his hat, then passed out of the conservatory -<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span> -by the door they had entered, and strode across -the broad grounds and into the quiet and secluded street.</p> -<p>The rector tottered toward a door leading into the side -of the house.</p> -<p>He had barely reached it when, from behind a mass of -shrubbery near-by, Nick Carter heard a mingled moan -and sob that caused his heart to swell with sudden -apprehension. He darted to the spot, and beheld a girl -reeling, half fainting, with her face buried in her hands, -and her pretty figure shaken through and through with -welling sobs.</p> -<p>One glance told Nick it was the rector’s daughter.</p> -<p>With a bound he reached her side, taking her by the -arm, while his own kindly face revealed a mingled -solicitude and apprehension.</p> -<p>“Hush, hush, my dear girl!” he cried softly. “You, -too, have overheard, and you have met with a grievous -trouble. Turn to me in this hour, and—hush! don’t let -your father hear you. There may be a silver lining to -the blackest cloud, my child. Let me be your friend in -this hour of your grief.”</p> -<p>The startled girl stared at him through her flooded -eyes, and by the dropping of her hands revealed a face as -sweet and innocent as that of an angel.</p> -<p>Meantime, Moses Flood was hastening to the city, -<span class="pb" id="Page_29">29</span> -where, later in the day, as he was approaching his famous -gambling resort, he encountered on the street a woman -who unceremoniously accosted him.</p> -<p>The woman was Belle Braddon, arrayed in elaborate -street attire.</p> -<p>“Hello, Mose!” she exclaimed familiarly, with an arch -glance and smile.</p> -<p>Flood was not in a mood to be pleased with her -familiarity, nor even to resent it.</p> -<p>“Hello, Belle,” he replied, bowing gravely.</p> -<p>“Oh, I say!” she quickly added, drawing nearer, with -voice lowered. “You’d best look out for a bolt from the -blue. One of your players is in hot water.”</p> -<p>Flood’s cold, steel-gray eyes took on a look of interest.</p> -<p>“What player, Belle?” he slowly demanded.</p> -<p>“Confidentially, mind you, dear fellow!”</p> -<p>“Surely.”</p> -<p>“I refer to Cecil Kendall,” whispered the girl.</p> -<p>“What of him?”</p> -<p>“Gone lame. Short in his accounts.”</p> -<p>“What?”</p> -<p>Flood’s teeth had met with a snap, and his eyes were -beginning to blaze.</p> -<p>“Oh, I know what I’m saying,” Belle Braddon pointedly -continued. “I’m in the same office with him, you -<span class="pb" id="Page_30">30</span> -know. When it’s up to me to get wise to all that’s going -on, I come mighty near doing it.”</p> -<p>Moses Flood was calm again—strangely, preternaturally -calm.</p> -<p>“Do you know how much he is short?”</p> -<p>“Only ninety thousand dollars!” exclaimed the girl, -with a leer.</p> -<p>“What is being done about it?”</p> -<p>“Not much as yet, Mose.”</p> -<p>“Tell me what.”</p> -<p>“Oh, Gilsey wants to locate Kendall as quickly as possible, -and has called in Nick Carter to do it for him.”</p> -<p>“The dickens! Nick Carter, eh?”</p> -<p>“Gilsey evidently thinks that Kendall believes he has -left his tracks covered during his absence, and means to -try to carry the deficit a while longer undetected. Gilsey -is wise to it, though, but I reckon nothing will be done for -a day or so.”</p> -<p>“Is that all you know about it?”</p> -<p>“That’s all now, Mose,” laughed the girl, with a wink. -“Isn’t that enough?”</p> -<p>Flood nodded.</p> -<p>“Quite enough,” said he oddly. “Belle, dear, keep this -to yourself till I give you permission to open your lips -about it, will you?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_31">31</div> -<p>The girl colored deeply when thus addressed, and -slipped her hand into his.</p> -<p>“Sure thing,” she answered fondly. “You know I’d do -anything for you, Mose.”</p> -<p>“Do this, then, will you?”</p> -<p>“Trust me.”</p> -<p>“Not one word about it.”</p> -<p>“I’m as dumb as an oyster—for your sake, mind you!”</p> -<p>“I’ll not forget that part of it, Belle,” said Flood -pointedly.</p> -<p>Then he turned and moved on—and his face was a -study for an artist.</p> -<h2 id="c3"><span class="small">CHAPTER III.</span> -<br />THE TIGER’S CLAWS.</h2> -<p>“Last turn! Four for one if you call it right!”</p> -<p>The monotonous voice of the cuekeeper, announcing -with hackneyed phrase the alluring possibility, broke the -strained silence of an elaborately furnished room.</p> -<p>It was a room on the second floor of the famous -gambling resort owned and conducted by Moses Flood. -It was that particular room in the house in which King -Faro held sole sway.</p> -<p>The house was in a fashionable street, and had an -<span class="pb" id="Page_32">32</span> -attractive exterior. No layman would have dreamed that -it masked a lair of vice. It was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.</p> -<p>It was one of a superb block of brown sandstone residences -within a stone’s throw of Fifth Avenue, with a -broad flight of carved steps leading to the front door. -The elegant stained windows of this front door, as well -as those of the lower rooms, were protected with strong, -iron gratings, that thieves might not break through and -steal.</p> -<p>Incidentally, the police also were thus excluded—unless -they came with a warrant. In that case, even, which a -wardman was liberally paid to prevent, they would have -“found nothing.” It takes time to read a search-warrant—all -the time that would be required to effect a transformation -scene within. Such are the precautions taken -by vice.</p> -<p>Entrance could be had only with the sanction of a burly -attendant constantly at the front door, and by means of -the magic talisman of previous acquaintance, or the -voucher of a known and reliable friend. One entering -from the street would have seen only a superbly furnished -hall, with sumptuous parlors adjoining, and a -library and smoking-room beyond.</p> -<p>To see more, one must go higher.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<p>The tiger lurks on the floors above.</p> -<p>To one only of the upper rooms is attention here invited—the -room already mentioned.</p> -<p>It was large and richly furnished. A heavy Wilton -carpet covered the floor. Massive walnut chairs stood a -little away from the beautifully frescoed walls, and the -ceiling, done in exquisite colors, and so as to produce the -effect of height, revealed a lavish expenditure of money. -It might have been a room in a king’s palace.</p> -<p>Rare paintings adorned the walls. A large sideboard, -rich with silver and cut glass, stood at the back of the -room. Costly ornaments occupied shelves and niches -here and there.</p> -<p>The door leading to the main hall of the house was -closed and heavily barred. It had in one panel a “peek,” -so called, with a moving slide, through which an attendant -could look into the hall. This was another precaution -taken by vice.</p> -<p>At the front of the room was a long, baize-covered -table, on which was a faro layout, the various suits -painted in natural colors on enameled cloth. It was the -tiger, courted while feared. It should have been called -the snake, for it fascinated before it killed, rendering -powerless the victims it lured to destruction.</p> -<p>Back of the table sat the dealer, who played his luck -<span class="pb" id="Page_34">34</span> -against all opponents. His duties were arduous. He sold -the stacks of ivory chips, handled all the money, shuffled -and dealt the cards from the silver deal box before him, -and took or paid all bets. He seldom spoke unless -addressed. His brain was active, his eyes alert, his -hands busy; but his face, whether he won or lost, evinced -no emotion.</p> -<p>In a chair to his right, and somewhat above the table, -sat the lookout. His duty was to see that the dealer -made no mistakes. The lookout thus protects the house. -The players have no protection. They who “buck the -tiger” must look out for themselves.</p> -<p>At one end of the table sat the cuekeeper. In front -of him on the table lay the cue-rack, a small wooden -frame, pierced with wires, on which movable buttons -indicate the cards already dealt and those still remaining -in the deal box.</p> -<p>The cuekeeper in a faro-bank is every man’s menial. -The losers curse him; the winners sometimes tip him. -The cuekeeper in this place was a humpback, named John -Green. He more frequently was called Humpty. All -cuekeepers are malformations; the longer they live, the -worse they become.</p> -<p>On a couch at one side of the room a young man lay -sleeping. It was the deep, dead sleep of intoxication. -<span class="pb" id="Page_35">35</span> -Yet he was well clad, and his boyish features indicated -culture and refinement. His name was—Harry Royal.</p> -<p>The companion with whom he had entered this place -some hours earlier was seated at the gaming-table, in a -chair directly opposite the dealer and amid several other -players. He was a tall, fair man, and his knit brows, his -pressed lips, his glowing eyes, and tremulous hands, indicated -his intense interest in the game then in progress.</p> -<p>He appeared quite collected, however, and placed his -bets promptly, like one playing a system. He was setting -a rapid pace, too, if one might judge from the stacks of -chips in front of him. Yet he plainly was not a winner. -The ugly light in his frowning eyes was convincing evidence -of that.</p> -<p>Such was the place, and the employment of its several -occupants, which Moses Flood was at that hour approaching.</p> -<p>The May day was drawing to a close, and the dusk of -early evening had begun to fall.</p> -<p>The cuekeeper repeated his announcement:</p> -<p>“Last turn! Four for one if you call it!”</p> -<p>The man last described glanced at the cuekeeper:</p> -<p>“What’s in, Humpty?” he demanded.</p> -<p>“A cat-hop, Mr. Kendall—two kings and a seven. -He’s got to show a king first, hasn’t he?” replied the -<span class="pb" id="Page_36">36</span> -humpback, with a weird smile stealing over his broad, -unpleasant-looking face.</p> -<p>“It’s two to one he does,” growled Kendall, as the -dealer briefly paused before making the turn.</p> -<p>Kendall placed a hundred to win on the seven, coppered -the king for a like amount, and called the turn for -fifty.</p> -<p>Several other players, most of whom were wealthy -bloods about town, men who would have given thousands -rather than have been caught in Flood’s gaming-house—these -men also had placed their bets.</p> -<p>“All ready?” queried the dealer indifferently.</p> -<p>“Let her come, Mr. Bruce,” said one impatiently.</p> -<p>Tom Bruce, a dealer who had been in Flood’s employ -for several years, deftly pushed the cards from the box.</p> -<p>He showed a seven, and then two kings.</p> -<p>Cecil Kendall had lost two hundred and fifty dollars on -the turn.</p> -<p>For the bare fraction of a second he shrank, shuddered -visibly, and his drawn features took on a deathly pallor -and the haggard look of secret despair.</p> -<p>“Curse the infernal luck!” he growled audibly. “Will -it never change?”</p> -<p>The lookout, a man named Nathan Godard, also in -Flood’s employ, smiled faintly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>“What’s the trouble, Kendall?” he asked, in bantering -fashion. “Can’t you get ’em down right?”</p> -<p>“I didn’t get those bets down right, that’s evident,” -snarled Kendall bitterly.</p> -<p>“So I see.”</p> -<p>“What you don’t see, Godard, isn’t worth seeing.”</p> -<p>“Oh, is that so? You must be a loser, Kendall.”</p> -<p>“About eighteen hundred.”</p> -<p>“Ah, well, don’t let it bother you,” laughed Godard, a -bit maliciously. “You’re not playing for your life.”</p> -<p>Kendall evidently did not like the interference, nor the -tone in which the last remarks were made. He glanced -sharply up at the rather unprepossessing face of the -speaker, and retorted curtly:</p> -<p>“No, not for my life, Nate Godard! But I’m playing -for something as dear to me as life.”</p> -<p>“A fortune, eh?” grinned Godard, not in the least disturbed.</p> -<p>“No, not a fortune,” snapped Kendall.</p> -<p>The dealer glanced across the table at him, still shuffling -the cards for the next deal, but he said nothing.</p> -<p>Godard, however, could not resist voicing the thought -that arose in his mind.</p> -<p>“Well, if you’re playing for something more dear than -either life or fortune, Kendall, you’re taking infernally -<span class="pb" id="Page_38">38</span> -long chances,” said he pointedly. “Honor is something -not wisely staked upon a faro layout, and if——”</p> -<p>In an instant Kendall was upon his feet, ghastly with -passion.</p> -<p>“Who spoke of honor?” he cried furiously. “Do you -dare imply that I——”</p> -<p>Clang!</p> -<p>The bell on the hall door had rung sharply.</p> -<p>It rang an immediate knell to the brief disturbance.</p> -<p>It brought a moment of absolute silence, in which every -eye was turned swiftly toward the door.</p> -<p>Humpty Green, the malformation, leaped up from his -chair and ran to the peek. One glance was sufficient. He -closed the slide, then threw both hands above his head -with a grotesque gesture of warning.</p> -<p>The eyes of all were upon him. His lips moved, but -his voice, was silent, yet all received the mute message -he conveyed.</p> -<p>“Hush! It’s the boss! It’s Moses Flood!”</p> -<p>Then he removed the heavy bar and opened the door.</p> -<p>Moses Flood, with face as calm as a sea of ice, gravely -entered the room.</p> -<p>He was followed closely by two men, both of whom -were in disguise.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div> -<p>One was the famous New York detective’s chief assistant, -Chick Carter.</p> -<p>The other was Nick Carter, the great detective himself.</p> -<p>The humpback closed the heavy door and replaced the -bar.</p> -<h2 id="c4"><span class="small">CHAPTER IV.</span> -<br />A FRIEND IN NEED.</h2> -<p>Before depicting the thrilling episodes that followed the -entrance of Nick Carter and Chick into Moses Flood’s -gambling-house, it is necessary, in order that Nick’s -conduct may be better appreciated, to revert to his meeting -with Dora Royal near the rectory conservatory, and -present the remainder of the interview.</p> -<p>That the girl had overheard all that had passed between -Flood and her father, and that her discovery of the gamester’s -vocation came upon her with a shock that overwhelmed -and crushed her, were at once painfully apparent -to Nick, who quickly interpreted the true significance -of her touching grief.</p> -<p>It awakened a feeling of sympathy in the kind-hearted -detective, moreover, together with a desire to befriend -the girl, if possible, with which aim in view he gently -<span class="pb" id="Page_40">40</span> -drew her back of the conservatory and out of sight from -the windows of the house.</p> -<p>Having made sure that they were safe from the eyes -and ears of others, Nick brought all his kind influence to -bear, and soon succeeded in getting Miss Royal into a -more composed state.</p> -<p>She was barely twenty, an innocent and artless girl, -obviously unused to the ways of the world, and that her -secret heart had been won by the strong and magnetic -nature of Moses Flood, while she was entirely ignorant -of his vocation, did not in the least surprise the detective. -How he could now serve her best, however, was Nick’s -immediate and chief consideration.</p> -<p>“Now come, Miss Royal, I want you to confide in me,” -said he, in a kindly and impressive way. “You are in -trouble, and need a good friend, one who knows all the -ways of the world, and just what is of true value in it. -I shall have only your happiness and welfare at heart, I -assure you, and very possibly I can do more for you than -you imagine. Come, now, and confide in me.”</p> -<p>The girl heard him like one in a dream at first, but -Nick had an influence at such times that was quite -irresistible, and Dora Royal soon began drying her -pretty eyes.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div> -<p>“But you are a stranger to me, sir,” she protested, in -charming uncertainty. “I never saw you before——”</p> -<p>“Well, well, so I am, and I hope you’ll excuse me,” -laughed Nick, in a way to further reassure her. “I felt -so moved by your grief that I really forgot to be conventional. -Here is my card, Miss Royal. Perhaps you -know me by name.”</p> -<p>“Are—are you the famous detective?” faltered Dora, -with glistening eyes, raised from the card to seek his.</p> -<p>Nick laughed again, and his smile proved to be contagious -this time, for the drawn lips of the girl began to -relax a little.</p> -<p>“I am Nick Carter, the detective,” he replied. “How -great I am I leave others to say. I certainly should feel -that I had done something worthy, Miss Royal, were I to -succeed in restoring all you now feel to be lost to you. -Who knows but I may, eh?”</p> -<p>“Oh, Detective Carter, do you think so?”</p> -<p>“Possibly.”</p> -<p>“But how? If——”</p> -<p>“Nay, let’s get at this in proper order, that there may -be no misunderstanding,” interposed Nick, smiling. -“First, let me know that you desire me for a friend, and -that you feel you can trust me.”</p> -<p>“Indeed I do, sir. Your name alone is sufficient.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<p>“Will you rely blindly upon my judgment, and consent -to follow my advice?”</p> -<p>“Willingly, sir,” bowed Dora. “I am sure it will be -good advice.”</p> -<p>“Never anything else,” declared Nick heartily. “Will -you also confide in me?”</p> -<p>“I think so, sir, if you require it.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I shall not ask you to tell me very much that I -do not already know,” said Nick, with a sort of paternal -fondness. “How did you happen to overhear the interview -yonder? I’m sure you did not deliberately play the -eavesdropper.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, no; I would not have done that.”</p> -<p>“You were——”</p> -<p>“I was reading in the shade of the shrubbery near-by, -and when they began speaking——”</p> -<p>“You literally could not move, eh?” Nick again interposed. -“Ah, well, I saw that the disclosure quite overwhelmed -you, and perhaps it was all for the best.”</p> -<p>“Best, sir? Oh, how can that be? If Mr. Flood is as -bad as—as——”</p> -<p>“As your worthy father really implied, he would be a -very bad man, indeed,” laughed Nick quietly. “But -your good father is both right and wrong, Miss Royal. -There are far worse men than Moses Flood, my dear -<span class="pb" id="Page_43">43</span> -girl; and if he were to throw up his miserable vocation, -which he intimated he intended doing for your sake, he -would be a man whose hand I would grasp as a friend -and brother.”</p> -<p>“Oh, Detective Carter, do you say so?”</p> -<p>“And who knows, Miss Royal, but that we yet may lead -him to do so, and your father into regarding the matter -in a rather different light.”</p> -<p>“Oh, if we only could!”</p> -<p>“But do not enthuse too quickly, my dear,” laughed -Nick. “The job is yet to be done, as we detectives say, -and the task must be yours and mine alone. No third -party must be admitted to our secret, mind you.”</p> -<p>“Trust me, I will do whatever you advise,” declared -Dora, now quite aglow with reawakened hopes. “I am -sure you mean to be my friend, Detective Carter, and I -will trust you blindly.”</p> -<p>“I think you will never regret it,” bowed Nick, gently -pressing the hand she impulsively had given him. “You -need not tell me that you love Mr. Flood, for I already -know it.”</p> -<p>“Ah, sir, he has been so kind and generous; so attentive -to us all, and so gentle and dignified——”</p> -<p>“Well, well, never mind that,” smiled Nick. “All that -<span class="pb" id="Page_44">44</span> -is like Mr. Flood. Tell me, however, if any one else suspects -your affection.”</p> -<p>“Oh, no, sir. Indeed, no!”</p> -<p>“So I inferred.”</p> -<p>“I have kept it all to myself.”</p> -<p>“But what of Mr. Kendall? I think your father told -Flood you were engaged to him.”</p> -<p>Dora blushed a little, and appeared confused for a -moment.</p> -<p>“Really, sir. I have no deeper feeling than that of -esteem for Mr. Kendall,” she presently replied. “I -greatly fear that my father drew upon his imagination -somewhat, and merely aimed to insure the end of Mr. -Flood’s visits.”</p> -<p>“Oh, very likely,” nodded Nick. “Yet you would have -let Flood go without disabusing him?”</p> -<p>The girl turned and pointed toward the house.</p> -<p>“My father is an aged man, sir, and I have been taught -to be dutiful and obedient,” said she, with charming -simplicity. “I saw him in tears when he dismissed the -man, who, without knowing it, has won my love. I could -do no less than remain silent, sir, and abide my own -time.”</p> -<p>“You’re a good girl,” said Nick gravely. “I shall do -all I can, Miss Royal, to turn matters in your favor. -<span class="pb" id="Page_45">45</span> -Meantime, however, should anything happen and you -need advice, I want you to come to me, or send for me, -and I will come to you. It may be greatly to your -advantage to do so, rather than to go to another.”</p> -<p>“Then, sir, I surely will do so.”</p> -<p>“Without fail?”</p> -<p>“Without fail, Detective Carter. I will appeal to you -only.”</p> -<p>“Very good,” bowed Nick. “Now, one thing more, -and I then must leave you for the present. When was -Mr. Kendall last here?”</p> -<p>“Nearly a week ago, sir.”</p> -<p>“He is away?”</p> -<p>“He is in Boston, sir; and my brother is with him,” -said Dora. “But we expected Harry to return this morning.”</p> -<p>“Possibly he has been unavoidably delayed,” said Nick, -now convinced that none at the rectory could give him -the information he wanted.</p> -<p>“I imagine that is so, Mr. Carter,” replied the girl.</p> -<p>Nick deferred his departure only to add a few words -of advice and instruction, then made his way out of the -grounds and returned to the city. He left Dora Royal, -if not the happier because of his visit, at least encouraged -by his kindly assurances. There was nothing new or -<span class="pb" id="Page_46">46</span> -strange in this interest thus exhibited by Nick. It was -second nature to him to try to serve those he found in -distress, particularly in such a case as this.</p> -<p>On arriving in town Nick hastened to his residence -and there had a talk with Chick, his chief assistant, to -whom he imparted the whole story.</p> -<p>“I wish to locate Kendall this evening, if possible,” said -he, in conclusion. “There’s a bare chance that we may -find him at Flood’s gambling-house, or there get a line -on his whereabouts.”</p> -<p>“Just as likely as not,” nodded Chick, in genial assent. -“Why not go up there, Nick?”</p> -<p>“That is my intention.”</p> -<p>“Want me?”</p> -<p>“You may as well come along. There may be something -doing.”</p> -<p>“Good enough! What disguise, Nick?”</p> -<p>“The usual one, Chick, and I’ll slip into my make-up as -Joe Badger.”</p> -<p>“I’ll be ready as soon as you are, Nick.”</p> -<p>In their pursuit of criminals it frequently became -necessary for the Carters to visit the gambling-houses -about town, both high and low. The presence of a detective, -however, if known as such, is always objectionable -to the proprietors of these places. For which reason -<span class="pb" id="Page_47">47</span> -both Nick and Chick had each a disguise in which, at -such places, they were supposed to be men addicted to -gaming, and were freely given admission. With the -opening of any new house of this character, both at once -cultivated the acquaintance of the managers, and thereafter -visited the place only often enough to keep up -appearances, or when in search of some crook.</p> -<p>Nick frequently had been in Flood’s sumptuously furnished -house, where he was known as Badger, and none -dreamed of his being a detective, not even Flood himself.</p> -<p>It was about seven o’clock that evening when Nick -and Chick approached the gambling-house, and as luck -would have it, they encountered Flood just as he was -entering.</p> -<p>“Good evening, Mr. Badger,” the gamester said politely, -as the three men mounted the steps.</p> -<p>“How are you, Flood?” rejoined Nick. “You remember -my friend here, Tom Cory? He was here with me -about a month ago.”</p> -<p>“I do not recall his face,” smiled Flood gravely. “Possibly -I was absent at the time. Glad to meet you, Mr. -Cory. Any gentleman recommended by Mr. Badger is -always welcome here. Come in, please.”</p> -<p>And Flood shook Nick by the hand, while the attendant -<span class="pb" id="Page_48">48</span> -at the street door closed the heavy portal behind -them.</p> -<p>Thirty seconds later the clang of the bell silenced the -disturbance at the faro table, as previously described, -and the three men entered the tiger’s lair.</p> -<h2 id="c5"><span class="small">CHAPTER V.</span> -<br />A TURN OF LUCK.</h2> -<p>The effect of Moses Flood’s entrance into his gambling -place was magical. It was as if a king had come into -the presence of half-a-dozen squabbling courtiers.</p> -<p>Godard shrank back in his lookout chair and relapsed -into silence. The several players who had risen in the -brief excitement resumed their seats with an air of unconcern, -and the dealer continued his shuffling of the -cards.</p> -<p>“What’s the trouble?” Flood quietly demanded.</p> -<p>He halted for a moment, erect and motionless, with -his piercing eyes bent darkly on the scene.</p> -<p>“Nothing much, sir,” rejoined the humpback, as he -dropped the bar across the closed door. “A bit of -backcap, that’s all. It’s over now.”</p> -<p>“It had better be,” was the significant response.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<p>Flood’s keen eyes had taken in the situation, yet his -coldly dispassionate countenance masked his feelings as -with a veil of ice. He passed back of the table, gravely -greeting the several players, then paused to gaze down -at the sleeping youth on the couch.</p> -<p>“Did he come in with you?” he asked, turning soberly -to Cecil Kendall.</p> -<p>“Yes,” replied the latter, with a faint smile crossing -his pale face. “We have been over to Boston. Only -returned this noon.”</p> -<p>“He has been drinking heavily, hasn’t he?”</p> -<p>“Rather.”</p> -<p>“Wayward fool!”</p> -<p>“I tried to dissuade him,” muttered Kendall. “He’s in -no shape to go home, so we dropped in here.”</p> -<p>Flood’s face was clouded with a censorious frown as -he turned away to place his hat on a rack near-by.</p> -<p>Godard had made no further remarks, but sat staring -oddly at Kendall, who now appeared to ignore him.</p> -<p>The humpback had resumed his position at the end of -the table, with his legs curled under him in his chair, -with his ungainly head drawn down between his -shoulders, and his attention directed upon the movements -of the dealer, who had thrust the cards into the -box and was about to start a new deal.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div> -<p>Just then, however, Moses Flood approached him from -behind and detained him with a significant touch on the -shoulder.</p> -<p>Bruce did not commence to deal.</p> -<p>“How are they coming, Kendall?” Flood quietly asked, -with a glance at the former’s chips.</p> -<p>“Rocky,” said Kendall, with a sickly smile.</p> -<p>“That so?”</p> -<p>“Win these, Mose, and you have my pile. I shall be -down and out, in more senses than one.”</p> -<p>Flood knew too well what he meant, yet his countenance -did not change by so much as a shadow. He addressed -the dealer, saying gravely:</p> -<p>“Go and get your supper, Tom, and I will deal while -you are out,” said he. “I shall wish to be away for an -hour or two after you return.”</p> -<p>“All right, sir.”</p> -<p>“You, Godard, may rearrange that sideboard, if you -will. It looks as if it had been struck by lightning. The -cues can declare it if I overpay.”</p> -<p>“Not much danger of that, Mr. Flood,” smiled Godard, -as the two men at once complied.</p> -<p>Flood made no reply. He wheeled the lookout’s chair -a little to one side, as if it was in his way. In fact, however, -he wanted no one in it during the next half-hour.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div> -<p>Then he took the dealer’s seat at the table, that which -Tom Bruce had vacated.</p> -<p>“You may draw the curtains back of me, John, and -close the window. I feel a draft,” said he, addressing -the cuekeeper.</p> -<p>He never called him by his nickname. In his sight the -deformed man’s affliction was great enough as it was. -This showed of what the nature of Moses Flood was -capable.</p> -<p>He had removed his coat and opened his vest. He was -rather slow in his movements, and not without an object. -He had been on fire within. He now was cooling down. -He was setting his nerves to the extraordinary task he -saw before him.</p> -<p>As the humpback left the window, Flood turned as if -to see that it was closed. For the moment his face was -averted from the several players. Only Humpty Green -could see it, and he caught from Flood’s eyes a flash that -thrilled him through and through. It was a magnetic -telegram, an unuttered command. It was understood, -and the cuekeeper was startled; but even the cuekeeper -in a faro-bank commands his emotions. Without a -change of countenance he resumed his seat.</p> -<p>Meantime, Nick Carter and Chick had sauntered over -to the sideboard, then dropped into two chairs near the -<span class="pb" id="Page_52">52</span> -wall, where they sat, quietly talking and pretending to -be sizing up the game.</p> -<p>“There’s your man, all right,” murmured Chick, when -Kendall’s name was mentioned.</p> -<p>“Yes,” nodded Nick. “That is about what I expected.”</p> -<p>“Are you going to arrest him?”</p> -<p>“Not at present. I’m not sure that he is guilty of -embezzlement, and Gilsey wished to give him till to-morrow -to report at the bank.”</p> -<p>“You’ll keep an eye on him, eh?”</p> -<p>“Rather.”</p> -<p>“Yet——”</p> -<p>“Wait a bit,” muttered Nick. “By Jove! there’s something -out of the ordinary going to come off here.”</p> -<p>“Think so?”</p> -<p>“Look at Flood’s face. It’s as colorless as marble.”</p> -<p>“So ’tis, Nick.”</p> -<p>“There is something in the wind. He has got rid of -his dealer and sent his lookout from the chair. By all -that’s good and great, Chick, I believe he’s up to some -extraordinary move.”</p> -<p>“You’ll wait to see?”</p> -<p>“I should say so.”</p> -<p>None of this was overheard by others, and the two -<span class="pb" id="Page_53">53</span> -detectives gave no sign of observing anything unusual. -It took Nick’s keen eyes and broad experience, moreover, -to detect in Moses Flood the slightest indication of what -he had in mind.</p> -<p>Flood had reverted to the table, and the light again -fell full on his face. It was pale, yet composed; stern, -yet not evil; expressive, yet changeless.</p> -<p>He was thinking of the girl to whose hand he had -aspired, of the rector whose censorious words still were -ringing in his ears; and he was thinking, too, of the -wretched man seated opposite, a man who had fallen -lower and sinned deeper than he had ever done.</p> -<p>He was about to do what only one man in millions -would have done. He believed what the rector had told -him, that Dora Royal loved this man, who, were his sin -to be brought home to him, would become a criminal at -law and an outcast of society.</p> -<p>For the sake of the girl, and to preserve her happiness, -Moses Flood, looking for no return, not so much even as -a smile of gratitude, was about to secretly sacrifice a -goodly part of his fortune upon the altar of his own hopeless -affection.</p> -<p>He had spoken the truth, this man, when he said, “Even -a gamester may love nobly, and be capable of great self-sacrifice.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<p>Yet his face was a mask, hiding the emotions within.</p> -<p>One man only among all his observers could read it -aright—Nick Carter.</p> -<p>Flood laid aside the deal box lately used, and took -another from a lower drawer of the table, of which he -alone had the key.</p> -<p>The box appeared to be precisely like the other—but -it was not. With slight manipulation, the dealer could -lower an invisible plate within, thus widening the slot -through which the cards were dealt, allowing the passage -of two cards instead of one. The mechanism could not be -discovered, except with close examination, and even then -a novice would not detect it.</p> -<p>“What’s the matter with the other box?” demanded -a player, at once betraying a gambler’s suspicions.</p> -<p>“Nothing that I know of,” said Flood coldly. “Why -do you ask?”</p> -<p>“Well, for no reason. I wondered why you shifted, -that’s all.”</p> -<p>“Because I wanted to,” said Flood. “I prefer to work -with my own tools. Are you suspicious? If so, you are -not invited to play.”</p> -<p>“That’s true enough.”</p> -<p>“If my word is of weight with you, however, you may -<span class="pb" id="Page_55">55</span> -be sure that a false card was never dealt in this place, to -my knowledge.”</p> -<p>And he spoke the truth.</p> -<p>“The game is strong enough without it,” smiled Kendall, -over whom, as over all, Moses Flood seemed to -exercise a strangely magnetic influence.</p> -<p>The latter made no reply, but took from the same -drawer a deck of cards bound with a rubber, which he -deliberately removed and threw to the floor. They were -well seasoned, and of a rare and expensive quality, and -unique design. They were of the kind known as “crazy -backs.”</p> -<p>Nick Carter recognized them the moment his gaze -lighted on them. He leaned nearer to Chick and whispered -quietly:</p> -<p>“I begin to suspect what’s coming off here, Chick. -That’s a brace box, for a hundred.”</p> -<p>“The dickens! Do you think so?”</p> -<p>“I do, indeed. And that deck of cards he has just -brought up, Chick, is a deck of strippers.”</p> -<p>“What are strippers, Nick?”</p> -<p>“Cards used for dealing one kind of a brace game,” -whispered Nick. “They are cut just the least bit wider -at one end than the other. The narrow ends of the -cards forming the middle of the layout are turned one -<span class="pb" id="Page_56">56</span> -way in shuffling, and those comprising the ends of the -layout are turned the other.”</p> -<p>“What’s the idea of that?”</p> -<p>“Simple as two and two,” replied Nick softly. “After -shuffling the deck, the dealer takes the wide end of the -cards between his thumbs and middle fingers, and with -a movement so rapid as to defy detection, he strips them -apart. Then he holds in one hand the cards corresponding -to the ends of the layout, and in the other those comprising -the middle. After putting them together, and -placing them in the box, he knows almost to a certainty -which cards are to win and which to lose throughout the -deal.”</p> -<p>“The devil you say!” muttered Chick. “Then there -must, indeed, be something coming off here.”</p> -<p>“Wait and see.”</p> -<p>Now, a word concerning the brace game Nick had -partly described. Suppose that a player bets heavily -upon an end card of the layout to win.</p> -<p>The dealer sees that the bet is placed correctly, and for -him to win the amount wagered it is necessary for him to -reverse the combination of the cards. What does he do? -He presses down on the secret plate in the box, and in -making the turn, instead of dealing two cards, a winner -and a loser, he deals three, and so adroitly that the -<span class="pb" id="Page_57">57</span> -deception is not observed. This reverses the combination, -and the player referred to must lose. It is called -“taking a card.”</p> -<p>But it is necessary, also, that the cues should show -correctly at the end of the deal. The cuekeeper watches -the dealer attentively. The latter, after taking a card, -signs by prearranged signals to the former, who raps -once with a chip against the side of the cue-rack, which -signifies that the card taken is recorded, and at the end of -the deal the cues are right.</p> -<p>Sometimes the cards are marked also, that the dealer -may know each turn before making it. This is called -“dealing at sight.”</p> -<p>What is all this that has been described? It is one way -by which men thrust their hands into their brother’s -pocket and rob him. It is more ignoble than stopping one -in the darkness, and commanding him, at the point of a -weapon, “Stand and deliver!” It is one of the methods -by which is dealt the perfidious “brace faro!”</p> -<p>Such was the box and such the cards which Moses -Flood had placed on the table before him.</p> -<p>The goggle eyes of Humpty Green began to open -wider, his ungainly face to grow pale and grave. He -had never known of such in the place, but the master -<span class="pb" id="Page_58">58</span> -had commanded and the menial would obey. He drew -his chair closer to the table.</p> -<p>Amid that momentous silence which invariably marks -the opening of a new deal, Moses Flood, his pale features -fixed like marble, his eyes steadfastly intense, his white -hands nerved to their performance, began to shuffle the -cards. His movements were rapid and graceful. In the -flash of an eye he had stripped the deck asunder, cut it, -and placed it in the box. A six showed at the top; the -ends of the layout were winners, the middle losers.</p> -<p>Flood sat back in his chair and waited the placing of -bets. With an experienced eye he sized Kendall’s remaining -chips; there were about six hundred dollars’ -worth. The other players were wagering small amounts, -and he gave them no attention. His mind was upon the -man directly opposite.</p> -<p>Kendall’s hand trembled when it placed his first bet. -He went on to the six to lose. He believed that he alone -of all the world knew his dire need of winning.</p> -<p>This bet was wrongly placed, and Flood knew it, yet -made a turn. There was no decision, but a king had -showed winner, and Kendall coppered the next. In -a spirit of antagonism he was bucking the cards.</p> -<p>Moses Flood leaned forward and glanced down upon -the box. He could see the edges of the three top cards. -<span class="pb" id="Page_59">59</span> -They were marked by small, red dots, invisible to the -players. Suddenly he made the turn. It was done like -a flash. His forefinger touched for an instant the left -lower corner of the box, and the silence was broken by -the quick, responsive rap of the cuekeeper. He had -taken a five. The cue was marked up, and the combination -was reversed.</p> -<p>Cecil Kendall had won his first bet—and the face of -the humpback was a study; for, by taking the card, the -dealer, contrary to all precedent, had forced himself to -lose!</p> -<p>Humpty Green decided that Moses Flood had made a -mistake.</p> -<p>The good luck seemed to encourage Kendall. He -placed another bet—and won. He doubled the amount, -and won again. He moved bet and payment to the corner -of a card, and said in tones tremulous despite him:</p> -<p>“That goes both ways.”</p> -<p>He whispered the turn—it was followed by a rap from -the cuekeeper.</p> -<p>The latter’s face was now livid from uprising excitement, -and his eyes like glowing coals. There could be -but one meaning to what he saw—Moses Flood was indeed -dealing a “brace game,” but he was dealing it -against himself, and forcing Cecil Kendall to win! With -<span class="pb" id="Page_60">60</span> -form quivering in his chair, the menial looked at the master. -He might as well have looked at the ceiling.</p> -<p>To Kendall it seemed like the interposition of fate. -The spirit of fortune inspired him. He observed that his -last bet topped the limit, yet he had not been stopped.</p> -<p>“How high can I go?” he asked suddenly, looking up -at the dealer.</p> -<p>“Till I call you down,” answered Flood, with unmoved -countenance.</p> -<p>“Look out, or I’ll break you,” laughed Kendall nervously, -his face flushed, his eyes glowing.</p> -<p>“You cannot break me,” replied Flood, with calm -gravity.</p> -<p>“How much can I win?”</p> -<p>The question came with strangely abrupt eagerness.</p> -<p>“Ninety thousand dollars,” was the nonchalant rejoinder.</p> -<p>A momentary pallor swept over Kendall’s face at the -mention of the sum, and his glittering eyes flashed for an -instant on Flood; but the latter’s countenance, void of -insinuation, was as cold and calm as a sea of ice. The -player’s brow darkened slightly, and his lips became -drawn in the intensity of his mental action. Had he -known what the humpback, shaking in his chair, knew -<span class="pb" id="Page_61">61</span> -at that moment, he would have won the sum in half-a-dozen -turns.</p> -<p>“God!” he cried to himself. “What would that be to -me! it would place me on my feet again! It would -make me a man again—a man worthy of life and of her! -God above, is it possible to win it?”</p> -<p>He saw a possibility, one chance in a hundred, and -took it. He was well worthy his reputation of a high-roller. -Down he went upon the layout with his chips; -now betting one, now two, now three hundred dollars on -a card.</p> -<p>The chips before him gathered like Arctic snow. One, -two, three thousand dollars was passed—and yet he won. -His face burned as from fever. He was on fire within. -He could scarcely comprehend what was taking place, but -that it was was sufficient; and a fervent hope, banishing -sober contemplation, urged him on. He pressed his bets -from two to three, and from three to five hundred, yet -Moses Flood never spoke. He was glad to see him do -so, for the other players, astounded by the seeming run -of luck, were beginning to follow Kendall.</p> -<p>The silence, oppressive in its intensity, was broken only -by the occasional rap of the cuekeeper and the labored -breathing of the sleeping youth upon the sofa.</p> -<p>“Last turn,” said the humpback suddenly, his voice -<span class="pb" id="Page_62">62</span> -deep and husky in his throat. “An ace, five, and seven -in.”</p> -<p>Then, for the first time during the deal, did Moses -Flood glance at the cue-rack, and raising his eyes, like -stars in his stoical face, he gave its keeper a look of -such intensity that the fellow fairly shuddered in his -chair. It was a command of silence which he dared not -disobey.</p> -<p>Cecil Kendall placed his bets, and Flood made the -turn.</p> -<p>The cues were right, despite the fact that six cards -had been taken, and the humpback breathed a sigh of -relief.</p> -<p>Something like an exclamation of triumph, half suppressed, -broke from Kendall’s lips. He had called the -turn and emptied the check-rack.</p> -<p>The recreant cashier of the Milmore Trust Company -had won twenty thousand dollars on the deal.</p> -<p>He had experienced a wonderful turn of luck.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div> -<h2 id="c6"><span class="small">CHAPTER VI.</span> -<br />A STARTLING SEQUENCE.</h2> -<p>As the deal ended, a deep sigh of relief rose from the -several players at the table, as from men long submerged -in water. Their suppressed excitement had been intense, -fairly painful at times, and this halt between the deals was -a welcome respite.</p> -<p>Except Moses Flood and the deformed cuekeeper, -only one man in the room saw what Moses Flood was -doing. Before the deal was half out, Nick Carter detected -the gamester’s design, as well as the marvelous -dexterity with which it was executed. And Nick readily -guessed, too, the true occasion for it. Once more he -leaned nearer to Chick and said softly:</p> -<p>“Do you see what Flood is doing?”</p> -<p>“I see that Kendall is winning,” whispered Chick.</p> -<p>“Like a race-horse. You are witnessing a bit of unselfish -work that places Flood in a class all his own,” -murmured Nick, with some feeling.</p> -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> -<p>“He is dealing so as to insure himself a loser, and -forcing Kendall to win.”</p> -<p>“The deuce you say!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div> -<p>“Mark me, Chick,” added Nick. “He will make -Kendall win a sum sufficient to square him at the bank—ninety -thousand dollars.”</p> -<p>“Good God!” muttered Chick. “Do you think so?”</p> -<p>“Wait and see.”</p> -<p>“What will you do about Kendall in that case?”</p> -<p>“I shall be governed by what I observe,” whispered -Nick. “Be careful to give no sign that we are wise to -anything. This is one of the most extraordinary episodes -I ever witnessed.”</p> -<p>“But what object can Flood have in——”</p> -<p>“Hush! I can guess what it is, and for all the world -I would not get in his way. I will explain it to you -later. No more now, Chick. They’re off again.”</p> -<p>Flood again had shuffled and stripped the cards, then -placed them in the deal box. Looking at his coldly -stoical face, one would have said that he was utterly -unconscious of his losses.</p> -<p>“You have emptied the chip-rack, Kendall,” said he -deliberately. “Count me back twenty thousand dollars’ -worth of your chips. I will note the sum, and pay you -at the end of your play.”</p> -<p>He had no fear that the player would quit on the -strength of such a proposition. He knew him too well—and -his dire need to win more.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div> -<p>“Suppose my good luck continues?” said Kendall -doubtfully.</p> -<p>“Ah, that is not likely,” said Flood calmly. “But you -shall have all that you can win. I think you know me to -be a man of my word.”</p> -<p>Kendall would have preferred to have the money, but -he offered no further objection. He returned the chips -desired, and Flood made a memorandum of the amount.</p> -<p>Then the next deal began. It was a repetition -of the former, save that now and then, in order to keep -the other players in check, Flood was compelled to let -Kendall lose. But the latter won heavily on the deal as -a whole, his bets being pressed to four figures, and when -the final turn was made he had forty-five thousand dollars -due him from the bank.</p> -<p>The intense strain to which Moses Flood was subjecting -himself was beginning to tell on him. His teeth were -hard set. The muscles of his jaw were rigid, and the -veins about his temples were purple and swollen. The -pupils of his dilated eyes were like points of electric -light.</p> -<p>Despite his efforts to the contrary, other players were -beginning to win by his manipulation of the cards, and -Flood felt that the play must be brought to an end. As -he dealt the cards and put them in the box for the third -<span class="pb" id="Page_66">66</span> -deal, he decided upon the surest and speediest method. -He sized the chips in front of Kendall, then made a rapid -turn.</p> -<p>One double was in the box. Kendall staked a -thousand.</p> -<p>He won his bet fairly, and Flood lost six hundred to -the other players. He bit his lip as he paid the bets.</p> -<p>Then he glanced down at the next turn to come, and -saw that Kendall was destined to lose. The outsiders -also were upon the card to win, following fortune’s -favorite. Moses Flood could have won all the bet by -making an honest turn. Instead, he took a card—and -lost all.</p> -<p>He paid the bets without a change of countenance—then -sat back in his chair.</p> -<p>“With this memorandum and the chips in front of -you,” said he, looking across at Kendall, “I owe you -forty-five thousand dollars. You may bet the entire -amount on a case card.”</p> -<p>“What’s the objection to continuing as we’re going?” -cried Kendall, aghast at the offer. “I’m doing well -enough as it is.”</p> -<p>Flood’s cold features underwent no change.</p> -<p>“You may make the bet suggested, Kendall, or come -down to the limit,” he said firmly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div> -<p>“You cannot get even by that,” growled Kendall sullenly.</p> -<p>“Nor can you win so rapidly.”</p> -<p>“Your proposition goes, does it?”</p> -<p>“What I say in this place always goes.”</p> -<p>Kendall sat silent for several moments. He already -had won half of the sum he so direfully needed, but he -could not believe that fortune would favor him much -longer. He was a ruined man when he entered the place, -and with only half the desired sum he still was ruined. -To win the bet suggested meant to him—redemption. -There was no alternative but to accept the offer.</p> -<p>Flood knew absolutely how Kendall would size up the -situation, that he would take this one chance to square -himself. He was not surprised, therefore, when the -latter cried hoarsely:</p> -<p>“I’ll make the bet!”</p> -<p>“Give me all of your chips,” said Flood calmly.</p> -<p>Kendall stacked them upon the layout.</p> -<p>Flood transferred them to the chip-rack, then tossed -a marker, a small, square piece of ivory, across the -table.</p> -<p>“That goes for forty-five thousand, Kendall,” said he. -“Bet it on any card you please.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<p>A hush like that of a death chamber fell over the -room.</p> -<p>A fortune was to hang on the turn of a single card.</p> -<p>Not another man placed a bet.</p> -<p>The color of the marker, white, seemed to give nerve to -Cecil Kendall. If it had been a black one, he would have -shrunk and hesitated. As it was, he played a three-time -loser to win, tossing the marker upon the card, and then -sat back in his chair, half fainting, and waited the turn -that was to decide his fate.</p> -<p>The excitement was intense, utterly indescribable, yet -not a sound broke the deathly stillness.</p> -<p>Moses Flood alone appeared to be calm—but the condition -was external only. He leaned a little forward, that -he might look down on the box on which every eye was -focused, and anticipated each coming turn.</p> -<p>He made one turn and there was no decision of the -enormous bet. He then made another, a third, a fourth, -and still there was no decision.</p> -<p>Then he hesitated.</p> -<p>Kendall was breathless. His eyes were fixed, staring -wildly at the deal box, and his teeth were chattering. He -was like a man yearning for pardon even under the -muzzles of guns that hung upon the command to fire.</p> -<p>Could he endure the suspense? Would reason sustain -<span class="pb" id="Page_69">69</span> -the strain? Or would he suddenly reach forward and -withdraw the bet?</p> -<p>Looking down upon the deal box, Moses Flood saw the -coming turn.</p> -<p>He saw that Kendall was fated to lose his bet.</p> -<p>Despite his iron will, Flood began to tremble. To -accomplish his sublime object, he was obliged to take a -false card. Could he do it in his present state and -under the glance of every eye? He ground his teeth, knit -his heavy brows, and the blood in the arteries of his neck -seemed as if to burst its confines.</p> -<p>Still he hesitated—then the gong on the door broke the -awful silence.</p> -<p>Every eye turned involuntarily toward the bell.</p> -<p>Flood’s hands moved with lightning like rapidity. -They took the false card undetected. The turn was made—and -Cecil Kendall had won!</p> -<p>He leaped to his feet, caught blindly at his chair, then -cried wildly:</p> -<p>“No more! Not another bet! Not for life itself will I -make another bet!”</p> -<p>Flood rose, with face fairly transfigured, and pointed -to the sleeping man on the couch.</p> -<p>“Peace!” he sternly commanded, with a voice that -<span class="pb" id="Page_70">70</span> -silenced all. “Do not wake young Royal. He is in no -shape to go home to his father and sister!”</p> -<p>Nick Carter leaned over and gripped Chick hard by the -wrist.</p> -<p>“By all the gods, Chick,” he muttered huskily, “from -this hour my money goes on Moses Flood!”</p> -<p>It was not strange, this feeling on the part of the great -detective, for he, at least, knew what Moses Flood had -done, and why he had done it.</p> -<p>“Let there be no disturbance here,” said Flood, now -quite calmly. “John, go and answer the bell. And you, -Mr. Kendall, come into my private room, and I will pay -your winnings.”</p> -<p>Kendall tried to speak, but his voice died in his swelling -throat.</p> -<p>The man who had rung the bell was the returning -dealer, Tom Bruce.</p> -<p>Flood beckoned him to the table.</p> -<p>“Continue the game, Mr. Bruce,” said he gravely. -“Gentlemen, I do not wish the episode of this evening to -be noised abroad, and those of you who are my friends -will govern yourselves accordingly.”</p> -<p>“Oh, we’ll keep mum about it, Mose!” cried several -promptly.</p> -<p>As Flood passed the humpback, who was replacing the -<span class="pb" id="Page_71">71</span> -bar on the door, he laid his hand on the man’s shoulder -and said softly:</p> -<p>“Not a word of this, John, for your life!”</p> -<p>“Trust me, sir!”</p> -<p>Moses Flood knew that he could trust him, and he -believed that no other man on earth knew what he had -done there that night. He locked the brace deal box in -the drawer from which he had taken it, but kept the -deck of strippers in his hand when he led Cecil Kendall -into his private room.</p> -<p>As the door closed upon the two men, Nathan Godard -sauntered nearer to Bruce and said carelessly:</p> -<p>“I’m going out to supper, Tom. I have one or two -errands to do, and may be out a bit longer than usual.”</p> -<p>“All right, Nate,” nodded Bruce, who had taken his -seat at the table. “Do not hurry back, as the boss said -that he was going away.”</p> -<p>“I’ll return in about an hour,” added Godard.</p> -<p>Then he took his hat and departed.</p> -<p>Neither Nick Carter nor Chick observed him.</p> -<p>The eyes of both were fixed upon the closed door of -Flood’s private room.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div> -<h2 id="c7"><span class="small">CHAPTER VII.</span> -<br />THE WAGES OF SIN.</h2> -<p>In the private room to which he had led him, Moses -Flood paid Kendall his winnings. As he took a portion -of the funds from a huge safe in one corner, he said -coldly:</p> -<p>“I must give you part of the amount in government -bonds, Mr. Kendall.”</p> -<p>“Anything—anything easily convertible,” faltered Kendall, -half choked with emotion.</p> -<p>He could hardly realize what had befallen him, that he -really had won all that he required to rectify his deficit -at the bank, and that he then and there was to receive -the money that would save him from flight, a defaulter’s -last resort, or the shame of a convict’s cell.</p> -<p>He feared each moment that he would awake, that he -would find it all a dream, and behold again the soul-sickening -image of his dreadful crime leering at him -with mocking eyes.</p> -<p>“The package will be quite bulky, and I will loan you a -small portmanteau,” said Flood, placing the satchel mentioned -and several bundles of bank-notes and bonds upon -the table.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<p>Kendall tottered nearer, then suddenly gave way to -sobs and covered his face with his hands.</p> -<p>“Oh, God! God above!” he cried brokenly. “Flood, -you do not know, you cannot know, what this means to -me!”</p> -<p>Moses Flood drew himself up and laid his hand on the -speaker’s shoulder.</p> -<p>“Kendall,” said he, with grave austerity, “you are not -rightly tempered to be a gamester. Take the advice of a -gamester, however, and for the sake of those who love -you, if not for your own, never again face a faro layout -or play a card for money.”</p> -<p>“Never, never, so help me God!” cried Kendall, with -uplifted hands.</p> -<p>“If you adhere to that vow, I shall not feel to-night -that I have suffered any loss,” said Flood, with a strange -light upon his white, forceful face.</p> -<p>Then he tossed into the satchel the deck of cards with -which he had dealt the game.</p> -<p>“I shall give you those cards also, Kendall,” said he -oddly. “They are the ones I have been using. Keep -them until I come and demand them of you. Some day -you may know why I ask you to do this. Some day I -may wish to recall to your mind what I to-night have—— Ah, -but it does not matter.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<p>“I will keep them,” declared Kendall fervently. “God -hearing me, I will keep them.”</p> -<p>Flood had already closed and tightly strapped the -satchel, which he now hastened to place in Kendall’s -hand.</p> -<p>“I pledge my word that the amount is right,” he said, -with some feeling. “Now go as quickly as you can, -and remember your promise! Go—go—and remember!”</p> -<p>Still profoundly agitated, Kendall hurried from the -room, ignoring all observers, forgetful even of his sleeping -friend upon the couch, and thus hastened alone from -the house and sought the cool air of the early evening.</p> -<p>Nick Carter saw him emerge from the room, and Chick -leaned nearer, saying softly:</p> -<p>“Shall I shadow him, Nick?”</p> -<p>The famous detective shook his head.</p> -<p>“No, Chick,” said he quietly. “There is no need of it.”</p> -<p>“Do you think so?”</p> -<p>“I feel assured. The man’s face tells the story. He -is, indeed, short at the bank, but he will use this money to -make good the deficit and conceal his crime. I am as -sure of it as if I saw it done.”</p> -<p>Nick was entirely correct as to Kendall’s intentions, -and, recalling Gilsey’s instructions, he saw no occasion -to go beyond them. He was thinking, too, of Dora Royal, -<span class="pb" id="Page_75">75</span> -of the promise he had made her, and of what Flood that -night had done, believing it to be for her sake. Now, -feeling sure of his man, Nick would not for the world -have perverted the design and desires of Moses Flood.</p> -<p>The latter again appeared upon the scene while Nick -was speaking, and at the same moment the sound of a -heavy fall started all hearers. It was almost immediately -followed by a maudlin laugh, and the man who had been -so long sleeping on the couch was seen rising unsteadily -from the floor beside it.</p> -<p>“Ha, ha! I reckon I fell out of bed,” he cried, in half-drunken -tones, as he gained his feet and stared with -dazed eyes toward the group of players at the table.</p> -<p>Though nearly twenty-three Harry Royal looked to be -little more than a youth. When sober, he was a handsome -fellow, yet his features indicated a weak and yielding -nature, and he was no sooner loosed from the restrictions -of his home life to attend college than he proved -an easy victim to the temptations which had brought -him to his present condition.</p> -<p>“How are they coming, Kendall?” he continued, swaying -unsteadily and failing to observe that his friend had -departed. “Are you winning our expenses? Have -you——”</p> -<p>Then he caught sight of Flood approaching, and he -<span class="pb" id="Page_76">76</span> -reeled toward him with extended hand, crying boisterously:</p> -<p>“Hello, Mose, old man! Glad to see you, on my word -I am.”</p> -<p>“And I am sorry to see you, Royal, in this condition,” -Flood gravely rejoined.</p> -<p>“Faugh! Cut that out, Mose,” cried Royal, flushing -slightly and shaking his head to clear it of the cobwebs. -“It’s only now and then, old man. We are just back -from Beantown, Kendall and I, and winding up a devil’s -own racket.”</p> -<p>“So it appears.”</p> -<p>“We painted Boston crimson, Mose, on my word. I -say, Kendall, how are the cards winning? I’m in with -this play, old chap, win or lose. Partners——”</p> -<p>“What!”</p> -<p>The words broke involuntarily from Flood, with a look -of sudden dismay, but the humpback hastened to cry:</p> -<p>“No, no, Mr. Royal, you’re not! Kendall went broke -on your mutual play, I give you my word. You were -not in with the last—you were asleep when he——”</p> -<p>“You lie! I am in with him!” Royal angrily interrupted. -“Where has he gone? The devil take him, he -treats me like a schoolboy. I say I was in with his play. -Did he win? Tell me, did he win?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div> -<p>Before Flood could respond, one of the players cried a -bit derisively:</p> -<p>“No, I guess not, Harry! Only a cool ninety thousand!”</p> -<p>The face of Harry Royal grew dark as a thunder-cloud. -He at once suspected that Kendall had proven false, and -was bent upon cheating him of a part of the winnings, an -idea somewhat warranted by the latter’s apparently secret -departure. The possibility of thus being wronged seemed -to arouse the very worst passions of which the intoxicated -young man was capable. With a scream of rage, he -darted to the couch and seized his hat.</p> -<p>“Ninety thousand—and I’ve heard him say he meant -to jump the country!” he cried wildly. “I’ll have my -share of it, Mose. Do you hear me—I was in with his -play! He means to do me—curse him; but I know where -to find him! I’ll have my half, or I’ll have his life!”</p> -<p>“Peace!” thundered Flood, with terrible sternness. “Do -you know where you are and what you are saying?”</p> -<p>“Let go—let go my arm!” frothed the frenzied youth, -struggling furiously in the other’s grasp. “You don’t -know him as I do. I know where to find him—he has -an appointment to-night with my—— Let go, I say! If -he is not at the rectory, he means to swindle me. Let go, -<span class="pb" id="Page_78">78</span> -Mose; or I’ll strike you! I will have what’s coming to -me, or I’ll have his life!”</p> -<p>With the infuriated words ringing from his lips he -wrenched himself free, and before he could be prevented -he had thrown down the bar from across the door and -fled like a madman down the hall stairs.</p> -<p>“Wayward fool!” exclaimed Flood, thoroughly disgusted, -yet anticipating no serious results from the passionate -threats. “He is a crazy ass when in liquor.”</p> -<p>“I should say so.”</p> -<p>“Bruce, I am going out for about an hour. If he returns -before I come in, ask him to wait for me. I have -a few words of advice for his foolish ears.”</p> -<p>“Very well, sir.”</p> -<p>A strange place is a faro-bank. The excitement had -passed, and the game was again in progress. Not a man -had moved from his seat at the table.</p> -<p>With features in no way betraying his feelings, Moses -Flood put on his coat and hat, took a heavy, ironwood -cane from a stand in one corner, and signed for Green to -accompany him to the door. On the threshold he paused -for a moment, fixing his piercing eyes upon those of -the humpback, and said, barely above his breath, yet with -indescribable intensity:</p> -<p>“Remember, John! Not one word!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<p>“Never, sir; so help me God!”</p> -<p>Then Flood was gone, and the door closed with a bang.</p> -<p>Five minutes later Nick Carter, who had not deemed -it worth his while to interfere, which step might have -suggested his identity, signed for Chick to accompany -him, and they left the place together.</p> -<p>“There was nothing more for us there,” remarked -Nick, as they headed for home. “If ever a man in a bad -corner made a lucky play, Kendall has made one this -night.”</p> -<p>“I’m blessed if I can see through it!” said Chick, perplexedly. -“What has come over Flood that he should -do such a thing as that?”</p> -<p>“The sentiment which quite often brings out the very -best part of a man,” replied Nick gravely.</p> -<p>“Love?”</p> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“But——”</p> -<p>“Wait till we get home, Chick, and I will then explain.”</p> -<p>“Good enough,” laughed Chick. “I reckon I can wait.”</p> -<p>Seated together in the library of Nick’s residence, half-an-hour -later, the latter took up the subject where he -had dropped it on the street.</p> -<p>“Love, that’s it,” said Nick, lighting a cigar. “And -<span class="pb" id="Page_80">80</span> -it’s just what I would have expected of Mose Flood. -He’s as odd a man as stands in leather. As grand a -man, too, barring his one deplorable vice.”</p> -<p>“He has a legion of friends, Nick, there’s no doubt -of that,” observed Chick. “You say that he is in love -with Doctor Royal’s daughter, eh? Was that what led to -his move of to-night?”</p> -<p>“Exactly,” nodded Nick. “There’s a curious side to -the affair, however. Flood has never told the girl of his -love, and he has no idea that she cares for him. He took -the rector’s word for it this afternoon that she loves -Kendall and is engaged to marry him.”</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>“In some way, Chick, he must have learned that Kendall -is short in his accounts to the tune of ninety thousand -dollars.”</p> -<p>“So he forced Kendall to win that amount, knowing -that he would use it to square himself? Was that it?”</p> -<p>“No doubt of it.”</p> -<p>“But why did he not give Kendall the money openly, -without compelling him to make a play for it?”</p> -<p>“For several reasons, all characteristic of Moses Flood. -First, he aimed to insure that Dora Royal should never -learn of Kendall’s crime, or that he had saved him in -this way for her sake. He does not want the girl to -<span class="pb" id="Page_81">81</span> -feel under obligations to him. Possibly he feared that -she might object to her lover’s accepting money from -a gambler, even to keep him out of jail. Second, he -aimed to spare Kendall the shame of knowing that his -crime had been discovered, or was at least suspected. So -he forced him to win the money, instead of giving it to -him openly.”</p> -<p>“By Jove! that was good of him.”</p> -<p>“It was just like him, Chick. He has saved this man -for love of that girl, and it cost him ninety thousand -dollars to do it, with never a possibility that his magnanimity -would be discovered, or that a word of gratitude -would ever be given him. Chick, such a man as -that is worthy of any girl, whether she’s a clergyman’s -daughter or not.”</p> -<p>“And I hope he gets her,” cried Chick bluntly.</p> -<p>“We shall see,” smiled Nick significantly. “I reckon -I yet may have a finger in this pie.”</p> -<p>“I now see why you did not wish to arrest Kendall.”</p> -<p>“Surely not, Chick. I am convinced that Kendall will -use that money to adjust his affairs at the bank. Feeling -sure of that, I determined not to pervert Flood’s lofty -design, on which he had plainly set his heart.”</p> -<p>“His cuekeeper must have known what came off?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>“The humpback?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“That is true,” admitted Nick, “but Flood evidently -knows that he can trust him to say nothing about it. -Furthermore, Chick, the cuekeeper is probably entirely -ignorant of Flood’s motive.”</p> -<p>“No doubt of it.”</p> -<p>“There is one feature of the case,” added Nick, rather -more grimly, “concerning which I am very much in the -dark.”</p> -<p>“What is that, Nick?”</p> -<p>“How the dickens did Flood learn that Kendall was -short at the bank?”</p> -<p>“By Jove! that’s strange.”</p> -<p>“I reckon we have not heard the last of the case, Chick, -and that something serious may yet result from it. There -is no evading one fact, however. Flood has a heart as -big as that of an ox, since he would thus save a man -for the sake of a girl he himself loves, instead of jealously -knocking his pins from under him. In days to come I’ll -not forget this in Moses Flood.”</p> -<p>The very next morning, which was sooner than Nick -expected, his prediction concerning the outcome of the -case was startlingly verified. He was seated with Chick -in his office, about eight o’clock, when a district telegraph -<span class="pb" id="Page_83">83</span> -boy brought in a message. Nick tore it open and read it, -then leaped involuntarily to his feet.</p> -<p>“What is it, Nick?” demanded Chick impulsively.</p> -<p>“The wages of sin is death!” cried Nick, with thrilling -accents. “This message is from Dora Royal, asking -me to come at once.”</p> -<p>“For what?”</p> -<p>“Cecil Kendall was found murdered in the rectory -grounds this morning!”</p> -<h2 id="c8"><span class="small">CHAPTER VIII.</span> -<br />BY WHOSE HAND?</h2> -<p>Recalling the promise given Medora Royal, and now -feeling a decided interest in the case itself, Nick Carter -at once hastened to Fordham, and approached the rectory -just before nine o’clock.</p> -<p>The news of the crime had spread, and at one of the -side gates a curious crowd had gathered, restrained from -entering the grounds by one of the local police.</p> -<p>Near the house, and at some distance from the street, -was a group of men, including several officers and a -physician, also the rector himself, all apparently interested -in the doctor’s examination of a body lying upon the -ground at their feet.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div> -<p>That Doctor Royal was among them, rather than in the -house, suited Nick to the letter. Slipping into a disguise, -that he might not thus early be identified with the case, -Nick hastened to the adjoining cross-street on which -the dwelling fronted. There he encountered none to -oppose his entrance, and he strode quickly up the long -gravel walk and rang the door-bell.</p> -<p>The summons brought Dora Royal to the door, and -Nick, observing her shrink with surprise, quickly made -himself known.</p> -<p>“I come in response to your telegram, Miss Royal.”</p> -<p>“But you are not Mr.——”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, I am,” interposed Nick significantly. “I do -not wish to be recognized by others, however. I want a -word with you alone, that I may add to the instructions -I gave you yesterday.”</p> -<p>Now convinced of his identity, Medora Royal hastened -to admit him to a reception-room, the door of which Nick -quietly closed.</p> -<p>“Our interview must be very brief, Miss Royal, for I -wish to have a look at the evidence out yonder before -it is seriously disturbed,” said he, declining a chair. -“First, however, state anything that you know of the -affair.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div> -<p>“I know but very little, sir, save that it is most dreadful,” -said the girl, pale and agitated.</p> -<p>“That is true, Miss Royal, but I wish to get at the -superficial facts as quickly as possible.”</p> -<p>“If you will question me, sir, perhaps I more readily -can——”</p> -<p>“I will do so,” interposed Nick, appreciating her nervous -excitement. “Tell me when and by whom the body -was discovered?”</p> -<p>“About eight o’clock, sir, and by a young man who is -employed here as a gardener.”</p> -<p>“It is that of Cecil Kendall?”</p> -<p>“Alas, yes.”</p> -<p>“Dead?”</p> -<p>“For many hours, surely. He appears to have been -killed with a——”</p> -<p>“Wait for my questions, please,” said Nick. “Was -Kendall here in the house last evening?”</p> -<p>“He was not.”</p> -<p>“Who was here?”</p> -<p>“Only my father, myself, and two servants,” replied -Dora. “We all retired soon after nine o’clock.”</p> -<p>“What of your brother?”</p> -<p>“He has not yet returned from Boston. That is, sir, -unless—unless——”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<p>“Unless what, Miss Royal?”</p> -<p>“Unless he arrived in New York yesterday, and remained -at his room in the city.”</p> -<p>“Very probably that is what he did,” nodded Nick, -both to relieve the girl and conceal his own misgivings. -“Where is his room in town, Miss Royal?”</p> -<p>“At the Carleton Chambers. He prefers to keep a -room there, rather than come out each night from college.”</p> -<p>“I see,” bowed Nick. “Now tell me, has your father -said anything to you about his interview with Moses -Flood?”</p> -<p>“Not one word, sir.”</p> -<p>“And you have had no callers here since yesterday -afternoon?”</p> -<p>“None, Detective Carter.”</p> -<p>“Kindly do not mention my name, Miss Royal,” smiled -Nick. “Even the walls may have ears.”</p> -<p>“I will be more guarded, sir.”</p> -<p>“And if you are still willing to follow my advice, I -wish to add to my instructions,” said Nick, now having -learned the important facts which she could impart to -him.</p> -<p>“I am more than anxious to do so,” Dora answered -feelingly. “Your immediate response to my telegram -<span class="pb" id="Page_87">87</span> -convinces me that you have my welfare at heart, and I -will be rigidly governed by your instructions.”</p> -<p>“It will ultimately prove to your advantage,” said -Nick earnestly. “I shall leave no stone unturned to -bring about that which is dearest to you. This murder, -however, if such it is, threatens to create serious complications, -and it will very possibly circumstantially incriminate -innocent parties.”</p> -<p>“Oh, oh, is it possible?”</p> -<p>“Let come what may, Miss Royal, I want you to trust -the case entirely to me, and do exactly what I advise.”</p> -<p>“Indeed, sir, I will.”</p> -<p>“Under no circumstances are you to mention me in -connection with the case, nor disclose our relations.”</p> -<p>“I will not.”</p> -<p>“Furthermore, whatever happens, or whoever appears -to be involved, you must volunteer no opinion of the -case. If you are questioned, however, answer precisely -the same as if you had not overheard your father’s interview -with Moses Flood, and as if you and I had never -met. Will you do this?”</p> -<p>“I certainly will.”</p> -<p>“Then you may safely leave all the rest to me,” declared -Nick warmly. “By whom did you send the telegram -this morning?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div> -<p>“By our chambermaid.”</p> -<p>“Does she know to whom it was addressed, or of what -it consisted?”</p> -<p>“Neither, sir. I sent it to the telegraph office under -seal.”</p> -<p>“Very good,” said Nick approvingly. “Be equally -guarded in the future, or till I further advise you. This -must be all for the present, Miss Royal, as I wish to -make a few investigations outside. I will leave by the -front door and pass around the house, that our interview -here may not be suspected.”</p> -<p>“But how am I to repay you, or thank you for——”</p> -<p>“By following my instructions to the letter,” Nick -gently interposed, as he led the troubled girl into the -hall. “Keep them constantly in mind and trust me to -be constantly alert to your interests. No more now, Miss -Royal. You shall hear from me later.”</p> -<p>The last was said at the open door, and with the final -word Nick nodded and smiled encouragingly, then left -the veranda and quickly made his way around the house.</p> -<p>The interview had occupied but a very few minutes, -and as Nick approached the group of men gathered near -Kendall’s body, the physician was just about concluding -his examination of the remains.</p> -<p>With a few rapid glances Nick took in the superficial -<span class="pb" id="Page_89">89</span> -evidence bearing upon the crime. The body lay upon -the greensward to the right of a gravel walk leading -around the house, and nearly midway between the walk -and the library windows. The plot of grass between the -walk and the house was about ten feet wide, and Nick -promptly deduced one important point.</p> -<p>“There is no door on this side of the house, nor any -direct approach to one from either gate,” he quickly -reasoned. “Evidently Kendall came around here to peer -through the library window before entering the house, -and was struck down as he approached, or while quietly -withdrawing. For some reason he must have aimed to -learn who was within.”</p> -<p>A glance at the gravel walk and the greensward near-by, -however, gave Nick no clue. If Kendall’s assailant -had left any telltale footprints behind him, both his own -and those that might have revealed the movements of -his victim had been obliterated by the heavy tread of -the several men gathered about the murdered man.</p> -<p>The body evidently lay where it had fallen, with arms -outstretched and face upturned, gory and ghastly in the -morning sunlight. The skull had been fractured by several -blows with a heavy weapon, obviously a bludgeon -of some kind, and from the shocking wounds the blood -had oozed over the brow and hair of the stricken man, -<span class="pb" id="Page_90">90</span> -forming a sickening pool in the matted grass on which -his head rested.</p> -<p>“Clad just as he was when he left Flood’s gambling-house,” -thought Nick. “He must have come directly -out here. There’s no sign of the satchel, however, in -which he had brought away his winnings. It looks as -if the motive was robbery.”</p> -<p>And Nick recalled the frenzied threats of young Harry -Royal, but decided it was too early in the game to draw -any reliable conclusions.</p> -<p>Nick reverted almost immediately to the physician, -who had risen while wiping his soiled hands, and now -addressed his several companions. Three of these were -officers of the local police, among them Captain Talbot, -of the precinct station, and one was a plain-clothes man -from the central office, Detective Joe Gerry.</p> -<p>Nick knew all of them very well, and they him, yet -for the present he preferred to hide his identity.</p> -<p>“A case of murder, Detective Gerry, that’s what it is,” -declared the physician, turning to the central office man. -“The question is, By whose hand was the crime committed?”</p> -<p>“How long has he been dead?” demanded Gerry -bluntly.</p> -<p>“About twelve hours.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<p>“That would be since nine o’clock last evening?”</p> -<p>“That hits very near to it,” replied the physician.</p> -<p>“You are sure of this man’s identity, Doctor Royal?”</p> -<p>“Positively,” cried the rector, obviously much agitated. -“He has been a frequent visitor here. I cannot comprehend -how such a fate could have befallen him.”</p> -<p>“I’ll admit that the motive appears to be obscure,” -replied Gerry, staring down at the body. “It cannot have -been robbery, for neither his jewelry nor his pocketbook -has been taken. No, no, the motive cannot have been -robbery.”</p> -<p>“You’ll change your mind, Gerry, when you learn -that this man won ninety thousand dollars just before -coming out here,” said Nick to himself.</p> -<p>“Are some of your men searching the grounds for evidence, -Talbot?” inquired Gerry, turning to the captain -of police.</p> -<p>“Yes, several of them,” nodded Captain Talbot.</p> -<p>The detective reverted to Doctor Royal.</p> -<p>“Were you at home last evening?” he demanded.</p> -<p>“I was,” bowed the rector. “Both my daughter and -myself.”</p> -<p>“Did you have any callers?”</p> -<p>“None, sir. We were alone all the evening.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_92">92</div> -<p>“In what part of the house?”</p> -<p>“In the library, sir, from dinner until after nine -o’clock.”</p> -<p>“Where is the library located?”</p> -<p>“These are the windows, sir, right here.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho!” exclaimed Gerry. “Is that so? It looks as -if this man had designed to peer into them, and had been -caught in the act, if not done up for it. Possibly we -may find a motive for the crime by looking a little deeper. -You say that this man Kendall was a friend of your -family?”</p> -<p>Nick Carter saw what was coming, yet he made no -move to head it off. His immediate design was only to -observe the trend of the case, and then shape his own -course accordingly.</p> -<p>Doctor Royal grew even more pale upon hearing the -remarks of the central office man, and he fell to wringing -his hands with a sort of nervous apprehension. He was -thinking of his son, who for several days had been absent -with Kendall, and had not yet returned.</p> -<p>Yet there lay Cecil Kendall, slain by the hand of an -assassin, and the unaccountable absence of Harry Royal -still remained to be explained.</p> -<p>The mystery of it all dismayed the worthy clergyman, -<span class="pb" id="Page_93">93</span> -yet, despite his desperate misgivings, he nerved himself to -answer quite firmly:</p> -<p>“Yes, sir, Mr. Kendall has been a friend of my family -for several years.”</p> -<p>“Were you expecting a visit from him last evening?” -asked Gerry, with a keen eye to the rector’s perturbation.</p> -<p>“I cannot say that I was.”</p> -<p>“Has he called here frequently?”</p> -<p>“Quite so.”</p> -<p>“Come, come, Doctor Royal, what were his precise relations -here?” demanded Gerry suspiciously. “You appear -averse to letting go of something. If you know of -any facts that may shed a ray of light upon this case, -let’s have them at once. I’m sure that you personally -can have no reason for hiding anything.”</p> -<p>“By no means,” cried Doctor Royal, with extreme -nervousness. “I would give the world to know the truth -of this dreadful affair.”</p> -<p>“What of Kendall, then, and his relations here?”</p> -<p>“Well—really—as a matter of fact, he was in love with -my daughter,” faltered the rector, trembling visibly. “In -a word, Detective Gerry, he was about the same as engaged -to her.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho! Then it’s barely possible that jealousy led -<span class="pb" id="Page_94">94</span> -some party to kill him,” cried Gerry, quickly snapping up -the clue. “Has your daughter any other admirer who -might be guilty of this?”</p> -<p>“I—I—really I can name no one who——”</p> -<p>“Stop a bit!” cried Captain Talbot abruptly. “Here -comes Kelly on the run. By thunder, I believe he has -the weapon with which the crime was committed!”</p> -<p>Every eye was quickly turned in the direction indicated.</p> -<p>Along a path leading around the stable and to a gate -at the rear of the extensive grounds a policeman was -hurriedly approaching, holding above his head what appeared -to be a stout stick. As he drew near, however, it -was seen to be a heavy cane, highly polished, and with a -round silver head.</p> -<p>“What have you there, Kelly?” cried Detective Gerry -sharply.</p> -<p>“See for yourself, sir,” replied the officer. “I found it -thrust beneath a lot of brushwood under the wall at -the rear of the grounds.”</p> -<p>The detective uttered a cry as he seized it.</p> -<p>“Good God! it’s covered with blood,” said he. “And -see! here are bits of scalp and hair dried on the side and -head of it.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<p>“His hair!” cried Talbot, pointing to the lifeless man -near-by.</p> -<p>“No doubt of it—not a shadow of doubt!” exclaimed -Gerry. “It’s the weapon with which the deed was done.”</p> -<p>Even Nick Carter was a little startled, as well as a good -deal puzzled.</p> -<p>For Nick had almost instantly recognized the cane. -It was the same that Nick had seen Moses Flood take -from a rack just before leaving his gambling-house at -half-past eight the previous evening.</p> -<p>Over the face of Doctor Leonard Royal there had -come an expression not easily described. It was that of -sudden and overwhelming relief, mingled with convictions -and a bitterness that scarce had bounds. He no -longer was restrained by apprehensions concerning his -son, and the latter’s unaccountable absence, for he now -believed that he read aright the appalling evidence before -him. With a cry of bitter condemnation he sprang -forward and laid his hand on Detective Gerry’s arm.</p> -<p>“Oh, the knave! the knave!” he exclaimed, in tones -that startled all hearers. “I now see it all. I should -have known it—I should have known it!”</p> -<p>“Good heavens, Doctor Royal, what are you saying?” -demanded Gerry, involuntarily drawing back.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div> -<p>“That cane—it belongs to Moses Flood,” cried the -rector, pointing wildly at the gory stick.</p> -<p>“To Moses Flood!”</p> -<p>“I have seen him carry it countless times,” cried the -excited clergyman. “You are right—you are right! -Jealousy was the motive for this crime. The cane belongs -to Moses Flood, and only yesterday——”</p> -<p>“Do you mean Moses Flood, the gambler?” interrupted -Gerry, in tones that began to ring with exultant convictions.</p> -<p>“The same—the same!” cried Doctor Royal. “Only -yesterday I scornfully refused him the hand of my daughter, -and told him she was already engaged to Cecil Kendall. -Jealousy must have been the motive. Flood must -be the guilty party. Only yesterday I——”</p> -<p>“By heavens, then, Flood is the man we want!” exclaimed -Gerry, again interrupting the pale and excited -rector.</p> -<p>Nick Carter could see only too plainly the result of the -discoveries made there that morning, and he did not wait -to hear more.</p> -<p>“Flood, eh?” he said to himself. “Not by a long chalk. -Cane or no cane, Moses Flood never killed this man. -It’s plainly time for me to get in a bit of lively work, -<span class="pb" id="Page_97">97</span> -and head off this man Gerry. He’ll now go at the case -like a bull at a gate.”</p> -<p>As he turned from the scene, bent upon hastening -away, Nick caught sight of a white, frightened face at -one of the library windows—the face of the girl from -whom he had recently parted, and who plainly had seen -and heard all.</p> -<p>Darting around a corner of the house, Nick rapped -smartly on one of the side windows. The sound quickly -brought Dora Royal to him, and he signed for her to raise -the sash.</p> -<p>“Do not be alarmed,” he then cried softly. “Your face -will betray you unless you conceal your feelings. Did -you hear all that was said out there?”</p> -<p>“Yes, yes, every word,” moaned the girl breathlessly. -“Oh, oh, it cannot be possible! He never did it—he -could not have done it!”</p> -<p>“Take my word for that, Miss Royal, and suppress -your fears,” Nick hurriedly answered. “Let the evidence -be what it may, never believe that Flood committed that -crime. I have no time for more. Be guarded, constantly -guarded, and follow my every instruction to the letter.”</p> -<p>“I surely will, sir. And you?”</p> -<p>“I’m off to queer the move against Moses Flood.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div> -<h2 id="c9"><span class="small">CHAPTER IX.</span> -<br />UNDER OATH.</h2> -<p>“That’s what I propose to do, Chick.”</p> -<p>“Go to the bottom of it, Nick?”</p> -<p>“Plumb to the bottom,” declared the famous detective. -“I am now in the case in dead earnest, Chick, and I’m -going to know who killed that man Kendall or lose a leg -in the attempt.”</p> -<p>“I’ll wager you’ll retain both legs,” laughed Chick.</p> -<p>“I gave my word to that Royal girl when I believed -there appeared nothing very serious in the way of making -good my promise, and now that I find myself confronted -with the most serious of all problems, I’m blessed if -I’ll throw up the sponge. I’ll ferret out the truth, the -whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You hear me!”</p> -<p>Chick laughed again, and he was by no means blind to -the grim determination reflected in Nick’s face, nor to the -feelings with which his words were imbued.</p> -<p>It was less than an hour since Nick left the scene of -the murder committed the previous night, and he had -hurried home to rejoin Chick and inform him of all he -had seen and heard.</p> -<p>With Nick Carter to think was to act, yet despite his -<span class="pb" id="Page_99">99</span> -hurried return from Fordham, and the fact that he was -now very definitely actuated, Nick was not a little puzzled -by the conflicting evidence of the case.</p> -<p>It was this evidence that he was discussing with Chick, -which had led to the foregoing digression, while Nick -was rapidly putting on the same disguise that he had -worn in Flood’s place the previous evening.</p> -<p>“It appears plain enough that Flood went out there -last night after leaving his faro-bank,” Nick grimly continued. -“You saw him take that cane just as he departed, -and I can swear it to be the same that was found -this morning.”</p> -<p>“It cannot have gone out there of itself,” remarked -Chick.</p> -<p>“But why Flood went out there again, after having -been turned down by the rector, and making that big -losing to Kendall, is more than I can conjecture.”</p> -<p>“You heard young Royal’s threats in the faro-bank,” -said Chick.</p> -<p>“Certainly I heard them.”</p> -<p>“Possibly Flood feared that the drunken scamp meant -to execute them, and he may have gone out there to -prevent him.”</p> -<p>Nick quickly shook his head.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div> -<p>“Well enough reasoned, Chick,” said he, “but your -theory hasn’t feet to stand on.”</p> -<p>“Why not?”</p> -<p>“In the first place,” replied Nick, “Flood attached no -serious importance to Royal’s threats, and barely gave -them a second thought. His face showed that; also -that his mind was intent upon some other matter.”</p> -<p>“I’ll admit that he appeared so.”</p> -<p>“Furthermore,” added Nick, “he had only Royal’s -maudlin intimation as to where Kendall might be found, -and he would not have banked so heavily on them as to -have traveled post-haste to Fordham.”</p> -<p>“Possibly not, Nick.”</p> -<p>“He must have gone directly out there, however, for -it was after eight o’clock when he left the faro-bank, and -we have the physician’s word for it that the murder was -committed about nine o’clock.”</p> -<p>“That’s true.”</p> -<p>“No, no, Chick, some other motive took Flood out to -Fordham last night, and only the devil himself could -guess just what occurred there.”</p> -<p>“You don’t believe that he killed Kendall?”</p> -<p>“Not by a long chalk!”</p> -<p>“I’d wager all I possess against that.”</p> -<p>“But what about young Royal?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<p>“He’s an open question.”</p> -<p>“Do you think he did it?”</p> -<p>“It’s barely possible, yet it is too early in the game -to think profitably,” replied Nick. “There’s something I -want you to do.”</p> -<p>“Name it.”</p> -<p>“Royal keeps a room at the Carleton Chambers. Do -you know where they are located?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Then into a disguise, in order that we may not appear -in the case as yet, and go up there,” continued Nick. -“If you can find Royal, question him as to where he went -last night after leaving Flood’s place, and see what you -can gather from his answers and his bearing.”</p> -<p>“Trust me for that, Nick. But suppose he is away?”</p> -<p>“Then quietly ascertain, if possible, whether he occupied -his room there last night, and at precisely what -time he came in.”</p> -<p>“Is that all?”</p> -<p>“All for the present, Chick, as far as he is concerned. -That central office sleuth, Gerry, will get after him soon -enough, as well as after Flood, and I wish at present to -keep a bit in the background.”</p> -<p>“Gerry will soon learn all about Kendall’s winning -that money.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div> -<p>“No doubt, Chick, but he’ll not discover that Flood -lost it voluntarily. You and I and that cuekeeper are all -that know about it, and the humpback will keep his -mouth closed. I’ll wager that Flood has insured that.”</p> -<p>“But the evidence against Flood is decidedly incriminating,” -declared Chick. “Gerry will probably land -him this very morning.”</p> -<p>“I don’t think so,” smiled Nick oddly. “I’m going to -get in the way of Mr. Detective Gerry.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho, that’s your game, is it?”</p> -<p>“That’s the beginning of it,” replied Nick, more -gravely. “I’m convinced, despite the evidence against -him, that Flood had no hand in this crime. Before I -can proceed to an intelligent investigation of it, however, -I must learn just where Moses Flood stands, and what -attitude he will take when informed of the murder.”</p> -<p>“I see,” nodded Chick.</p> -<p>“He may deny any knowledge of it, or claim that he -was not——Ah, but what’s the use of trying to anticipate -Flood’s conduct?” Nick bluntly demanded. “A man -who would do what he did last evening, Chick, would -hesitate at nothing that served his purpose. He’s as -difficult to read as—as——”</p> -<p>“As yourself,” supplemented Chick, with a laugh.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_103">103</div> -<p>“Possibly even more difficult,” smiled Nick, as he -completed his disguise. “At all events, Chick, I’m not -quite sure that I want Flood arrested, and so I’m going -to get in Gerry’s way until I can learn how the land -lies.”</p> -<p>“Do you think Flood will inform you?”</p> -<p>“I don’t think that he will, but I believe I can gather -something from an interview with him,” explained Nick.</p> -<p>“I see.”</p> -<p>“He’ll not suspect me, in this disguise, of being other -than a fellow gamester, and I have already shaped my -course with him. Meantime you investigate young Harry -Royal, and meet me here at noon.”</p> -<p>“Leave that youngster to me,” nodded Chick, as they -prepared to depart, in company. “By the way, Nick, have -you communicated with Gilsey, of the Trust Company?”</p> -<p>“I have telephoned him only that Kendall was in -Flood’s place last evening,” replied Nick. “I could not -well inform him of the murder without disclosing that -I had been out there. He’ll get the news of that soon -enough, however. As the case now looks,” added the detective, -as they were about parting at the street corner, -“I think we may have some warm work before we see -the end of it.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<p>“Let it come, Nick. I reckon we can take care of it.”</p> -<p>“We’ll give it a try, at all events. See me again at -noon, Chick.”</p> -<p>“Sure thing.”</p> -<p>It happened that morning that Moses Flood arrived at -his gambling-house less than ten minutes in advance of -Nick Carter. It was an hour, moreover, when there -was rarely any business, and Flood found the house deserted -by all except the attendant at the street door and -the deformed cuekeeper on the floor above. Both were -engaged in putting the place in order after the night -game.</p> -<p>Flood at once mounted the stairs and entered the -chamber previously described. At that hour, however, -the room presented a vivid contrast. It was like looking -at the bare stage of a theater seen by daylight. There -was no game going, no excited players, no glare of electric -lights, no clicking of ivory chips, no signs of apprehension, -no precautionary measures. For the door of -the room stood open, and John Green, the humpback, -was engaged in wiping the glassware on the sideboard.</p> -<p>Flood appeared pale and haggard, like one who has -passed a sleepless night; yet he was neatly dressed, as was -always the case, and carried himself with habitual dignity -and composure.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div> -<p>“Good morning, John!” said he, with a sharp glance -about the room.</p> -<p>The face of the humpback lighted perceptibly, yet a -certain anxious look in his tired eye betrayed his secret -misgivings.</p> -<p>“Good morning, Mr. Flood!” he replied, a bit huskily. -“You’re down early, sir.”</p> -<p>“Somewhat. Who has been here this morning?”</p> -<p>“Only Nate Godard, sir. He looked in for a minute, -then said he had an errand down-town.”</p> -<p>“No one else has called?”</p> -<p>“Not a soul, sir.”</p> -<p>Flood suppressed a sigh of relief; yet, despite the assurance -given him, his eyes again swept sharply about -the room.</p> -<p>“What time did the game stop last night?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Just about midnight, sir. There weren’t many around -after—after——”</p> -<p>“After I made my big losing?” queried the gambler, -with a faint smile crossing his pale face.</p> -<p>“Aye, sir; that’s what I had in mind,” replied Green, -with grave humility.</p> -<p>“Did young Royal show up again?”</p> -<p>“No, sir.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div> -<p>“You saw what I did, John?”</p> -<p>“How could I help seeing it, Mr. Flood? I had to -mark up the cues when you signed a card taken.”</p> -<p>“Did I do the job well, John?”</p> -<p>“Sure, sir—well’s no name for it!” cried the humpback. -“On my word, sir, I was the most surprised man -that ever sat shaking in a chair.”</p> -<p>“There was nothing for you to fear.”</p> -<p>“Mebbe ’twasn’t all fear, sir.”</p> -<p>“Be not surprised at anything I may do,” added -Flood moodily. “Was any person wise to the play?”</p> -<p>“Never a one, sir,” declared Green, with emphasis. -“All hands thought the losing was on the level. Not a -man save us knows what you did, Mr. Flood. I’d stake -my life on that.”</p> -<p>“For your life, then, John, keep the secret!” cried -Flood, laying a heavy hand on his startled hearer’s -shoulder. “Give me your word, your oath, man, that -you’ll keep it, let come what may!”</p> -<p>“My oath ’tis, sir, then!” cried the humpback, with -his hand impressively raised. “So help me God, sir, I’ll -keep the secret!”</p> -<p>“Nor reveal it under any circumstances?”</p> -<p>“Never, sir, until you say the word.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div> -<p>“For reasons of my own, John, I wish——”</p> -<p>“Oh, dash your reasons, sir!” came the impulsive interruption. -“Your wish is enough for me. I’ve not forgot -’twas you who took me out of the streets and put -me in the way of a decent living. I told you last -night you could trust me. And I tell you now, sir, I’ll -let go my life if need be to hide what you did last night.”</p> -<p>Flood dropped his hand from the man’s shoulder and -took that of the speaker.</p> -<p>“I know that I can trust you, John,” said he slowly. -“My only fear was that you might disclose the truth for -my sake, should serious circumstances involve me.”</p> -<p>“Not I, sir, if you say not.”</p> -<p>“Understand me, John,” and Flood’s resonant voice -grew strangely hard and grim. “I am now playing -against a tough and hard game, the hardest a man ever -has to face, and one that may bring me between life and -death.”</p> -<p>“Good God, sir!”</p> -<p>“Nay, don’t start and grow pale. I know what I’m -about and what I am saying. Mark well my words, and -remember your vow. Under no circumstances, not even -to save my neck from a hangman’s noose, are you by -word or sign to betray my secret.”</p> -<p>The face of the humpback was the color of dead ashes, -<span class="pb" id="Page_108">108</span> -and its expression one never to be forgotten. Yet he -again raised his hand and fervently answered:</p> -<p>“Never, sir, God hearing me!”</p> -<p>“If I ever wish the truth disclosed, I will inform you. -Till then, let come what may, be silent—always silent!”</p> -<p>“Trust me, sir, my lips are sealed.”</p> -<p>“And if the gratitude of a man of my calling is worth -anything,” added Flood, with a strange light sweeping -over his hueless face, “if a gambler’s appreciation, a -gamester’s thanks——Hush! Not a word! See who -rang——”</p> -<p>A single note from the bell on the street door had -sounded through the quiet house.</p> -<p>It caused Flood to start as if stung. His countenance -changed like a flash. His features became hard as flint, -and his eyes, in which were reflected the sad memories -evoking his grateful words, took on a light like that cast -from a blade of polished steel.</p> -<p>The humpback darted into the hall and peered down the -stairs.</p> -<p>The attendant was just opening the street door.</p> -<p>Nick Carter, in the disguise of Joe Badger, stood on the -steps.</p> -<p>“Hello, Peters!” he exclaimed familiarly, “is Moses -Flood about?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div> -<p>The goggle eyes of the humpback swept round to meet -those of the gamester, standing as rigid as stone in the -adjoining room.</p> -<p>“It’s only Joe Badger, sir,” he whispered hoarsely.</p> -<p>Again that fleeting expression of relief swept over -Flood’s white face.</p> -<p>“Badger—at this hour!” he muttered darkly. “What -does he want?”</p> -<p>“He says he must see you, sir.”</p> -<p>“Must?”</p> -<p>“That was the word, sir.”</p> -<p>“Must! Ha! What matters? Let him come up.”</p> -<p>The humpback called down the stairs:</p> -<p>“All right, Peters! Let him come up!”</p> -<p>And Nick Carter quickly mounted the stairs.</p> -<h2 id="c10"><span class="small">CHAPTER X.</span> -<br />A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.</h2> -<p>Though not particularly elated over having located -Flood so promptly, Nick Carter felt considerable satisfaction -in that he had accomplished it before Detective -Gerry, who, he expected, might arrive upon the scene -at any moment. That Flood’s arrest would immediately -<span class="pb" id="Page_110">110</span> -follow, unless Nick saw fit to prevent it, the detective -had not a doubt.</p> -<p>The settled paleness of Flood’s clean-cut, forceful features -when Nick entered the room was the only outward -sign of his recent brief excitement. He greeted the -disguised detective with a careless nod, saying indifferently:</p> -<p>“Good morning, Badger. What brings you here at this -hour? There’s seldom anything doing before noon.”</p> -<p>“I know it, Mose,” replied Nick, with a glance about -the room to learn who was there. “I did not come to -make a play.”</p> -<p>“For what, then?” asked Flood, smiling curiously. -“Merely to make a social call?”</p> -<p>“Not exactly that, either,” returned Nick. “I want a -few words with you, Mose.”</p> -<p>“With me, eh? Well, Badger, here I am; so you may -out with them.”</p> -<p>“If it’s all the same to you, Mose, I’d prefer to see -you alone.”</p> -<p>Flood began to suspect that his caller wished to borrow -some money, an experience to which he was by no -means a stranger, and a look of less concern rose to his -face.</p> -<p>“You may come to my private room, Badger,” said he, -<span class="pb" id="Page_111">111</span> -leading the way, and closing the door after they had -entered. “Sit down if you like. Now, what can I do -for you? Are you strapped, or running low?”</p> -<p>It was the same room in which Flood had paid Kendall -his ninety thousand dollars, and, incidentally, included -the deck of strippers with which he had dealt himself -a loser.</p> -<p>Nick glanced about the finely furnished room, then -took a chair near the table.</p> -<p>“No, Mose, I am not here to ask a loan of you,” said -he, smiling. “I suppose I could have it, however, if I -wished one.”</p> -<p>“I think it likely, Joe,” said Flood, sitting carelessly -on a corner of the table.</p> -<p>“That’s like you, Mose,” remarked Nick, ready to note -any change in the face of his hearer. “Well, I’m not -here for that. I call with another object.”</p> -<p>“What object?”</p> -<p>“I have just come down from Fordham. I live out -that way, you know.”</p> -<p>Flood started slightly and his dark brows drooped -ominously.</p> -<p>“From Fordham?” said he, with eyes searching Nick’s.</p> -<p>“Exactly,” nodded Nick. “You’ve not heard the news, -I take it?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div> -<p>Yet Nick was already convinced that he was right in -his suspicions, and that Flood already knew of the murder. -To learn what attitude he next would take was -Nick’s immediate motive, on which his own course necessarily -would depend.</p> -<p>“To what news do you refer, Joe?” Flood coolly inquired.</p> -<p>“It’s about that chap who made a big winning here -last night. I was present at the time, you remember.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I remember. But what about him?”</p> -<p>“Dead!” said Nick tersely.</p> -<p>“Dead!” echoed Flood, with well-feigned amazement.</p> -<p>“Murdered,” added Nick.</p> -<p>“Murdered! Impossible!”</p> -<p>“It’s a fact, Mose.”</p> -<p>“When and where?”</p> -<p>Though he now saw that Flood had already resolved -upon some fixed line of conduct, Nick was determined -to drive him to the wall.</p> -<p>“He was killed about nine o’clock last night, Mose, -near the house of Doctor Royal, the Fordham rector.”</p> -<p>“You amaze me! Cecil Kendall dead! Are you sure -of this, Badger?”</p> -<p>“Rather,” nodded Nick. “I saw the body myself. He -<span class="pb" id="Page_113">113</span> -was found near the library windows, stiff as a poker, -with his head crushed in with a club.”</p> -<p>“Dreadful! Horrible!”</p> -<p>“So ’tis, Mose, but there’s no doubt about it,” continued -Nick, watching him as a cat watches a mouse. -“They are dead sure it is a case of murder.”</p> -<p>“Whom do you mean by they?”</p> -<p>“Detective Gerry and the police. They are out there -looking for evidence.”</p> -<p>“Gerry, of the central office?”</p> -<p>“The same.”</p> -<p>“God above!” exclaimed Flood, playing his part to -perfection. “I can hardly believe this, Badger.”</p> -<p>“You’ll find it’s true, all right,” declared Nick. “The -poor devil’s winnings didn’t do him much good, Mose. -I reckon robbery was the motive, for the satchel is missing -which you loaned him to take away the stuff.”</p> -<p>“How do you know I loaned him the satchel for that -purpose?” Flood now demanded, with a harsh ring creeping -into his heavy voice.</p> -<p>“Oh, I merely guessed at that, Mose; and it looks likely -enough. You heard young Royal’s threats, too. Mebbe -he was the chap who did it.”</p> -<p>Flood sprang down with an oath.</p> -<p>“Not on your life, Badger!” he cried vehemently. -<span class="pb" id="Page_114">114</span> -“Royal’s threats were the ravings of a drunken boy. -He cannot have done it. It isn’t in him to have done it. -For your life, Badger, if you’re a friend of mine, don’t -ever hint again that Harry Royal committed this crime.”</p> -<p>A curious gleam showed for an instant in Nick’s keen -eyes, but he gave no expression to the thoughts that occasioned -it.</p> -<p>“You’ve got no better friend than I am, Mose, you can -gamble on that,” he declared significantly.</p> -<p>“Possibly not.”</p> -<p>“It’s only because I wish to do you a good turn that -I am here.”</p> -<p>“Do me a good turn!” echoed Flood, with eyes now -glowing suspiciously. “What do you mean by that, Joe -Badger?”</p> -<p>“Can’t you guess what I mean, Mose?”</p> -<p>“By no means.”</p> -<p>“You ought to.”</p> -<p>“Well, I can’t,” cried Flood, with rising resentment. -“Speak plainly. What do you mean?”</p> -<p>Nick now drew forward in his chair and replied with -lowered voice and more impressively.</p> -<p>“I’ll tell you what I mean, Mose,” said he. “I was -on the spot when this trick was turned and I heard -<span class="pb" id="Page_115">115</span> -all that was said. Gerry has found the weapon with -which Kendall was killed. There’s no doubt about it!”</p> -<p>“Well, what of it?” demanded Flood, in perplexity too -genuine to be doubted. “Suppose they have found it? -What’s that to me?”</p> -<p>“Much!”</p> -<p>“Why so?”</p> -<p>“The weapon, Mose, was a heavy ironwood cane, the -same which you carried when you left this house at eight -o’clock last evening. The murder was committed one -hour later.”</p> -<p>Despite the rigid control he was imposing upon himself, -which was plainly obvious to Nick’s keen discernment, -Flood now started slightly upon hearing the detective’s -disclosures. Nick saw at once that he had -brought the gamester at least one item of news, and that -Flood, whatever he knew of the crime, was ignorant -of the means employed.</p> -<p>In an instant, however, though his face grew even more -pale, Flood again had his feelings under rigid control.</p> -<p>“Are you sure of what you are saying, Badger?” he -slowly demanded, with voice grown strangely hard.</p> -<p>“Dead sure of it, Mose.”</p> -<p>“That Kendall was killed with the cane you describe?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_116">116</div> -<p>“The evidence is conclusive. It is an ironwood cane -with a large silver head.”</p> -<p>“That’s like mine.”</p> -<p>“It was found hidden under some brushwood near the -rear wall of the grounds,” continued Nick. “It was -covered with blood; and bits of scalp and hair, plainly -those of the murdered man, had cleaved to it.”</p> -<p>Flood heard him without moving from his seat on -the edge of the table, and with never a change in his set, -white face.</p> -<p>“This is strange, Badger, on my word,” he said firmly.</p> -<p>“There is another bad feature, Mose.”</p> -<p>“Still another, eh? And what is that?”</p> -<p>“The cane was identified by Doctor Royal as belonging -to you,” said Nick pointedly.</p> -<p>“That so?”</p> -<p>“He declared that he had seen you carrying it many -times, and that gave Gerry the clue for which he was -seeking. He said that you must be landed without delay. -He may arrive here at any moment to arrest you.”</p> -<p>Still Flood neither moved nor changed.</p> -<p>“Let him come,” said he, with icy indifference.</p> -<p>“You’ll stand for it?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_117">117</div> -<p>“You’ll not attempt to escape?”</p> -<p>“No.”</p> -<p>“Why not?”</p> -<p>“Because I prefer to face the music. Don’t ask me -why. That’s my business.”</p> -<p>Nick began to see his way more clearly. Had Flood -imagined for a moment that his visitor was Nick Carter, -he would have appreciated the difficulty of hiding his -true feelings and designs, and quite possibly have proceeded -differently. As it was, Nick was steadily getting -at the truth; yet he still had much to learn, and he saw -that Flood had resolved upon some fixed design which -he by no means would voluntarily disclose.</p> -<p>Nick was equally determined to discover of what the -design consisted, as well as the motive for it, and he now -pressed home the weapon he knew would wound deepest, -and possibly evoke a self-betrayal. With a grave shake -of his head, he slowly answered:</p> -<p>“True, Mose, it is your business. But I told you just -now I was as good a friend as you have, and when Gerry -spoke of arresting you I hastened here to head him off -and warn you of your danger.”</p> -<p>Flood relaxed a little, as if he appreciated the service -mentioned, and gravely answered:</p> -<p>“That was very good of you, Badger, and you meant -<span class="pb" id="Page_118">118</span> -well. But I am not a man to run when danger threatens. -I’ve been up against it too many years.”</p> -<p>“You’ll let them arrest you, eh?”</p> -<p>“I shall make no move to prevent it.”</p> -<p>Nick’s grave voice took on a subtle ring.</p> -<p>“On the contrary, Mose, I think you will.”</p> -<p>“You think I will!” exclaimed Flood, with a dark -frown.</p> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“Why do you say that?”</p> -<p>“Because it does not suit me, Mose, that you shall be -arrested for Kendall’s murder.”</p> -<p>“Not suit you! Why so?”</p> -<p>“For a very good reason. If robbery was the motive -for the crime, I happen to know that you did not commit -it.”</p> -<p>“What do you mean?” Flood hoarsely gasped. “How -do you know it?”</p> -<p>“Because no man would kill another for money voluntarily -lost to him within an hour,” cried Nick sharply. -“I was wise to your play last night. I saw you deal a -very clever brace game, and yet you made yourself a -loser. With a deck of strippers you forced Kendall to -win the money for which he afterward was slain—but -<span class="pb" id="Page_119">119</span> -not by you, Moses Flood! I’ll stake my life upon that, -let the evidence be what it may. You——”</p> -<p>“Your life! God above, Badger, if you value that life, -listen to me!”</p> -<p>Nick’s rapid verbal thrusts had accomplished just -what he had expected.</p> -<p>Yet the change that had come over the gambler was -one to have startled and alarmed most men. As he -heard the words that told him his secret was known to -another, Flood became ghastly white, sat silent for a moment, -then suddenly sprang down from the table, gave -utterance to the interruption noted, and seized Nick by -the throat.</p> -<p>“You are mad—mad!” he fiercely continued, with eyes -blazing and his voice choked with rage. “I did nothing -of the kind. My loss was on the level. If you ever -breathe another word of this, Joe Badger, I’ll throttle -your life from your body. I tell you——”</p> -<p>“Let go, Mose, or you’ll have done it here and now!” -cried Nick, struggling to his feet and throwing off the -impassioned man. “I know what I saw last night——”</p> -<p>“You lie! You lie!”</p> -<p>“And I’m out to learn the truth, Mose, the whole -truth——”</p> -<p>“Stop! Hark you!” interrupted Flood, livid with -<span class="pb" id="Page_120">120</span> -passion. “I say you are wrong—wrong—wrong! If -you ever again assert that I dealt a false card last night, -so help me Heaven, I will——”</p> -<p>Clang!</p> -<p>Again the street door-bell rang loudly through the -house.</p> -<p>Flood instantly dropped his hand from Nick’s collar, -abruptly terminated the threat he was about to utter, then -turned like one electrified and sprang to open the door -of the outer room.</p> -<p>The humpback, with eyes starting from his head, appeared -on the threshold.</p> -<p>“God in Heaven!” he cried hoarsely, with his uncouth -face convulsed with alarm. “It’s Detective Gerry, of -the central office.”</p> -<p>Nick saw and heard, and his bearded features took on -a look of sudden passionate resolution. With a bound -he reached the gambler’s side and threw him back toward -the table, at the same time crying, with terrible sternness:</p> -<p>“Hark you, Flood! Not a word! You must escape! -Your arrest must be prevented! Leave this detective to -me!”</p> -<p>Nick Carter’s influence at such a critical moment was -irresistible. Moses Flood, scarce knowing why, recoiled -<span class="pb" id="Page_121">121</span> -from the terrible look on the detective’s face, and Nick -instantly strode into the outer room, closing the door -behind him.</p> -<p>The humpback was already darting to secure the heavy -door leading into the hall, with a view to preventing -Gerry’s entrance.</p> -<p>Before this could be accomplished, however, the central -office man, who had bounded up the stairs, and saw -the swinging door, hurled himself forcibly against it and -came nearly headlong into the room.</p> -<p>“Oh, I say, Gerry!” cried Nick coolly, “what’s the -meaning of this?”</p> -<p>Gerry glared at him, as he recovered his equilibrium, -but failed to recognize him. Whipping out a document -from his pocket, he cried sharply:</p> -<p>“It means that I have a warrant here for the arrest of -Moses Flood. Where is he?”</p> -<p>“Arrest of Flood, eh?” rejoined Nick, with a derisive -laugh. “Why the devil didn’t you come in on horseback -to serve it?”</p> -<p>Gerry, who was an impulsive fellow, though a very -capable officer, resented the remark with an ugly snarl.</p> -<p>“None of your durned business!” he cried angrily. -“I’d have come in an automobile if I’d wanted to.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div> -<p>“You might have come in a balloon, Gerry, for all I -should have cared,” retorted Nick.</p> -<p>“Oh, is that so?”</p> -<p>“Flood’s not here, as you may see for yourself. It’s -a bit early for him to show up. Come down at this hour -of the night, Gerry, and you’ll find him. There are but -few of us owls out in the sunlight.”</p> -<p>“Evidently you’re looking for trouble, mister,” snapped -Gerry, with a threatening nod at Nick. “I happen to -know that Flood is here, for Peters said so at the street -door. He’s not so far away but that——”</p> -<p>“Stop a bit!”</p> -<p>“Not I!” thundered Gerry, drawing a revolver. “If -you interfere with me, my man. I’ll let daylight into -you.”</p> -<p>And before Nick could prevent him the central office -man sprang aside, bounded to the door of Flood’s private -room, and violently threw it open.</p> -<p>One glance into the room was sufficient.</p> -<p>Even Nick Carter was startled and momentarily -amazed.</p> -<p>For the private room, despite that the windows were -thirty feet above the ground, and only one door visible, -was found to be vacant.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div> -<p>Moses Flood had vanished as mysteriously as if the -walls of the room, or the floor itself, had opened and -swallowed him.</p> -<h2 id="c11"><span class="small">CHAPTER XI.</span> -<br />NEW CLUES.</h2> -<p>As Gerry drew back, amazed at not finding Flood in -his private room, Nick caught one swift, significant -glance from John Green, the humpback, whose face had -lighted like that of nature after a summer shower.</p> -<p>The glance spoke even louder than words, and it told -Nick what he already had begun to suspect—that a secret -door existed, concealed in one of the walls of the room, -by which Flood had easily made his escape.</p> -<p>That he had decided to do so, moreover, suited Nick to -the very letter; and, with a cautionary wink at the humpback, -he observed derisively:</p> -<p>“You’re down on a dead card, Gerry, that’s plain -enough. I told you that Flood was not here, and as you -now may see for yourself.”</p> -<p>“But Peters informed me——”</p> -<p>“What Peters told you is of no consequence,” interrupted -Nick. “It is half-an-hour since Peters admitted -him, and Flood has gone out meantime.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_124">124</div> -<p>Much to his own satisfaction, Nick now felt tolerably -sure that he spoke the truth, and that Flood had for -some reason changed his mind and resolved to evade -arrest. With a keen insight that was eminently characteristic -of him, moreover, when measuring men’s motives -from their conduct, Nick already suspected the occasion -of the gambler’s change of mind.</p> -<p>Nick did not defer his departure, therefore, merely to -have further words with Gerry. Leaving the latter to -take what action he pleased, he bestowed upon the humpback -a wink that plainly advised a discreet silence, then -coolly marched down the stairs and out of the house.</p> -<p>He had accomplished more than superficially appears, -as will soon become obvious, and had paved the way -for another curiously artful move.</p> -<p>It was nearly noon when he left the gaming-house, -and having removed his disguise at an opportune moment -Nick next headed for the Milmore Trust Company, -to have a word with President Gilsey.</p> -<p>Just as he was approaching the bank building, however, -he saw a flashily clad young lady emerge, none -other than Gilsey’s stenographer, then about going to -her lunch.</p> -<p>The instant Nick saw her he was struck with an idea, -<span class="pb" id="Page_125">125</span> -and, as previously remarked of Nick, to think was to act. -He quickly intercepted the girl, to whom he said a bit -curtly:</p> -<p>“You are Miss Belle Braddon, aren’t you?”</p> -<p>Belle arched her brows, stared at him for a moment, -then pursed her red lips, and replied:</p> -<p>“Yes, that’s my name. But, really, I don’t recall you, -neither your face nor your name.”</p> -<p>“Oh, yes, you do,” said Nick, with a rather impressive -nod. “You just think a bit, and you’ll presently speak -it.”</p> -<p>“Dear me, is that so?” queried the girl, in tones of insolence. -“Ah, now that I look again, I believe I do. You -are Detective Carter, are you not?”</p> -<p>“Right!”</p> -<p>“I saw you in Mr. Gilsey’s office yesterday, did I not?”</p> -<p>“Right again, Miss Braddon. And there’s a question -I wish you to answer.”</p> -<p>“Indeed?”</p> -<p>“Why did you tell Moses Flood that Kendall was short -in his accounts?”</p> -<p>Nick asked the question in a way that sent the color -from the girl’s cheeks, and her eyes betrayed that he -had hit the nail on the head.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div> -<p>Yet Miss Braddon flushed hotly after a moment and -curtly said, with a resentful frown:</p> -<p>“I did nothing of the kind.”</p> -<p>“Yes, you did.”</p> -<p>“I did not! Why do you say so?”</p> -<p>“Because I know that Flood learned of it, and you’re -the only person, except Mr. Gilsey, who could have -told him. Now, why did you tell him?”</p> -<p>Belle Braddon shrugged her shoulders, hesitated for a -moment, and then indulged in a low, mocking laugh.</p> -<p>“Your assertion is really too absurd, Detective Carter,” -she glibly replied. “To begin with, I did not know -that Kendall was short in his accounts; and to end with, -I have not seen Moses Flood for a week. You think -I’m lying, eh?”</p> -<p>“Well——”</p> -<p>“Oh, I see that you do, so don’t deny it. Come round -and call on me some evening, Detective Carter, and we’ll -talk it over—or have a game of ping-pong, if you prefer. -I mustn’t be seen talking too long with a man on the -street. It’s not good form, you know; so I’ll bid you -good-by.”</p> -<p>With which Miss Braddon gathered up her skirts, gave -Nick a nod and smile of the chip-on-my-shoulder type, -then tripped away without a look behind her.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_127">127</div> -<p>Nick knew that she had lied, but it served his purpose -to let her go. Yet he grimly said to himself as he entered -the Trust Building:</p> -<p>“Don’t be too sure that it’s not au revoir, young lady, -instead of good-by. I now suspect you of cutting in this -affair a figure bigger than a cipher.”</p> -<p>Nick found Mr. Gilsey in his private office, dismayed -by the news he had received, not only of Cecil Kendall’s -murder, but also of the latter’s recent career, plainly -indicating that the deficit at the bank was a deplorable -probability.</p> -<p>“I now have experts at work on the books, Detective -Carter, and we shall soon know the worst,” said he, after -their greeting and a brief discussion of the crime discovered -that morning.</p> -<p>“I am like a man in a nightmare,” he added. “I can -scarcely realize what has occurred, and hardly know -where I stand.”</p> -<p>“That’s not to be wondered at,” said Nick. “The situation -is serious enough surely, but I shall continue my -work on the case and do the best I can with it.”</p> -<p>“You have said that Kendall won a large sum of -money last night, of which he was robbed. Do you think -there is any possibility of recovering that money?”</p> -<p>“I certainly shall try to do so, Mr. Gilsey.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div> -<p>“I hope you may succeed.”</p> -<p>“I shall make every effort, sir. There are several -questions I wish you to answer, and I must then hasten -away upon other work bearing on the case. To begin -with, Gilsey, has Kendall been observably friendly with -your private stenographer, Miss Braddon?”</p> -<p>Gilsey looked surprised for a moment, then answered:</p> -<p>“Why, yes, I think that he has been. They have frequently -lunched in company, and I have heard of them -at the theaters together. I cannot, of course, say to what -extent their intimacy has gone.”</p> -<p>“It does not matter particularly,” replied Nick. “You -stated yesterday that she lives with her uncle.”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Who is he?”</p> -<p>“He is one of our depositors. His name is Godard—Nathan -Godard.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho! Flood’s lookout at the faro-bank!” Nick -exclaimed to himself. “By Jove! this affair is shaping -itself up in a new light. I begin to scent a rat.”</p> -<p>With no betrayal of his momentary surprise, however, -Nick presently said aloud:</p> -<p>“How large a deposit does Godard carry here?”</p> -<p>“Several thousand dollars at times.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_129">129</div> -<p>“Flood’s money,” thought Nick promptly. “Deposited -in Godard’s name.”</p> -<p>“It is comparatively small now, however, amounting -to only a few hundred dollars,” added Gilsey. “Surely, -Carter, you do not suspect my stenographer or her uncle -of having any part in these crimes?”</p> -<p>Nick did not tell him what he suspected. Instead, he -said gravely, as he took his hat to depart:</p> -<p>“I am not prepared to make any statement, Mr. Gilsey. -I have, however, a bit of advice to give you, which I -wish you to promptly follow.”</p> -<p>“And what is your advice?”</p> -<p>“Get rid of your stenographer with the least possible -delay, Mr. Gilsey.”</p> -<p>“Good heavens!”</p> -<p>“When she returns from lunch, sir, discharge her immediately, -and without a recommendation,” added Nick. -“If she asks you why you do so, inform her that Nick -Carter advises it! Nay, even more than that, tell her that -I command it.”</p> -<p>“But——”</p> -<p>“There are no buts, Gilsey,” protested Nick emphatically. -“Either do this, and do it this very day, or up go -my hands and I drop the whole case. I do not give such -<span class="pb" id="Page_130">130</span> -instructions as these without an object. When the time -comes, Gilsey, you shall know why I insist upon this.”</p> -<p>Gilsey did not fancy the expression on Nick’s face, and -he wisely pulled in his horns.</p> -<p>“Why, certainly, Carter, if you put it in that way,” said -he. “I will discharge Miss Braddon the moment she -returns.”</p> -<p>“Very good.”</p> -<p>“But I fail to see——”</p> -<p>“You will see at the proper time, Gilsey, take my word -for that,” interrupted Nick. “Now, there is one more -thing.”</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>“Write Nathan Godard at once, and instruct him to -withdraw his deposit. Give him no reason, mind you, -but insist upon his closing his account here.”</p> -<p>“Well, well, this is a curious proceeding——”</p> -<p>“He’ll not think so, Gilsey,” Nick again interrupted -significantly. “He’ll comply without an objection, take -my word for that. Look to it, Gilsey, and leave all the -rest to me. I’ll turn a trick for you of some importance, -old chap, before this case ends. But no more on that -subject just now. I must be off at once.”</p> -<p>Leaving the banker to stare and wonder, Nick hastened -from the building and headed for home.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_131">131</div> -<p>“Nathan Godard, eh?” he grimly soliloquized, as he -walked briskly away. “Uncle to Belle Braddon, eh? -And she has been hand and glove with Kendall, eh?</p> -<p>“Why, it’s as simple as two times two. The girl is -queer from her feet up, a clever crook, secretly a capper -for the game at Moses Flood’s. As likely as not, Mose -does not know of it, but I’d go my pile that Godard has -been using the girl for a decoy.</p> -<p>“It’s a hundred to one that she started Kendall on the -down grade and lured him into Godard’s clutches. When -a girl of her stamp works at a respectable vocation, it is -invariably with an evil design. From the day she -sought employment in that bank, the jade had Kendall -marked for her secret prey; and Godard opened an -account there only to give things a better look to the -poor devil.</p> -<p>“Well, well, he has danced his dance and has now -paid the price. His blood is on some man’s hands, and -I must learn whose. Luckily, I now know some hands -that are still clean, despite the mass of evidence to the -contrary. Unless I am greatly mistaken, I shall give that -central office sleuth, Gerry, a queer feeling before this -case goes upon record.”</p> -<p>Thus musing, Nick hastened home, where he found -<span class="pb" id="Page_132">132</span> -Chick just returned from the Carleton Chambers and a -call upon young Harry Royal.</p> -<p>“Well, what did he have to say for himself?” asked -Nick, the moment he entered.</p> -<p>“He spoke fairly enough,” replied Chick, laying aside -his cigar. “He says he did not go to Fordham last evening, -but went directly from the faro-bank to his room -in the Carleton Chambers.”</p> -<p>“He’s a liar!” exclaimed Nick, frowning.</p> -<p>“Ah, you’ve struck a clue, eh?”</p> -<p>“A thread, Chick—merely a thread. Yet I’ll wager I -know to what it leads. I’ll not delay to explain, for -I want a crack at that young man myself. Did you leave -him at his lodgings?”</p> -<p>“Yes, less than half-an-hour ago,” nodded Chick. “I -think you’ll find him there, for he appeared badly knocked -out, and said he was as sick as a dog.”</p> -<p>“The result of a week’s debauch,” growled Nick censoriously. -“It serves him right. Did you inform him of -Kendall’s murder?”</p> -<p>“He had already heard of it, Nick, and that Flood is -suspected of the crime.”</p> -<p>“H’m! So the news has spread, eh? Well, I’ll soon -settle that chap’s breakfast. I want a bout with him -<span class="pb" id="Page_133">133</span> -before others can get in a blow. Just wait a bit, Chick; -I want your opinion of a disguise.”</p> -<p>Nick hurried from the room and Chick resumed his -cigar. At the end of ten minutes the former returned, -yet one would never have known him.</p> -<p>His figure was slightly padded, his brows darkened, -his lower features heavily bearded, and he was tastefully -clad in a suit of black, with a generous display of immaculate -shirt-front and a piercing solitaire stud.</p> -<p>Barring the heavy beard, Nick at that moment was a -counterfeit presentment of—Moses Flood.</p> -<h2 id="c12"><span class="small">CHAPTER XII.</span> -<br />DRIVEN TO THE WALL.</h2> -<p>To strike while the iron is hot, to seize upon every -clue while it was fresh, to be alert for the least sign, the -slightest word, the fleetest glance, that might even remotely -suggest the key to a mystery, and then to quickly -follow every thread, however finely spun, and discover -whither it led—all this was characteristic of Nick Carter, -and to it he owed much of his success.</p> -<p>Few detectives, however, though of the shrewdest, -would have discerned the spider-web clues which Nick -<span class="pb" id="Page_134">134</span> -had that morning detected, or have been able to turn them -to the best advantage.</p> -<p>It required a man of Nick Carter’s superior art to -execute the delicate and superlatively crafty move that -took him to the Carleton Chambers.</p> -<p>The room occupied by Harry Royal was on the third -floor front, and the occupant was alone when Nick, disguised -as described, rapped sharply on the door.</p> -<p>For fully a minute there was no response from within.</p> -<p>“Fear!” said Nick to himself. “The terror born of -conscious guilt is upon him. He dreads every sound, -fears every visitor, yet dares not leave his chamber. -Solitude and secret dread are preferable to the voice and -eyes of an accuser.”</p> -<p>Nick rapped again, louder.</p> -<p>Then a step within echoed the sound, and the door was -finally opened.</p> -<p>Harry Royal, sober enough now, and as white and -haggard as if from a long illness, appeared on the -threshold, his boyish figure clad in a long, loose house -robe.</p> -<p>Nick fell as cleverly as an actor into the part he designed -to play.</p> -<p>“Hush!” he instantly whispered, with startling intensity. -<span class="pb" id="Page_135">135</span> -“I see that you’re alone! Not a word till I am -under cover! Let me come in.”</p> -<p>“Who the devil——”</p> -<p>“First let me come in,” persisted Nick, fairly forcing -his way into the room. “I may be seen here, recognized, -arrested on the spot. It’s for your sake I am here, Harry -Royal, as well as my own. Now close the door and lock -it. I am taking long chances for these few words with -you.”</p> -<p>The terrible fear of arrest expressed and displayed by -Nick, even more than his feigned voice of the gamester -and the latter’s almost habitual attire, suddenly suggested -to Royal the possible identity of his disguised visitor.</p> -<p>“Good heavens!” he exclaimed under his breath. “Is -it you, Mose Flood?”</p> -<p>“You’d not ask that question were I to doff this disguise,” -replied Nick, with bitter asperity. “Have you -locked the door? Don’t open it, then, for man or devil, -without first giving me time to hide. I am wanted for -murder! Do you hear? I am wanted for murder!”</p> -<p>With a mighty effort Royal had pulled himself together, -yet his hueless cheeks and dilated eyes, burning as -if with fever, betrayed his consternation and dismay. He -tottered to a chair near the table and sank into it as if -his limbs refused longer to support him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div> -<p>“Good God, Mose, what brings you here?” he hoarsely -demanded.</p> -<p>“I’ll soon tell you, have no doubt of that,” rejoined -Nick, with threatening significance.</p> -<p>While he spoke he drew a chair to the opposite side of -the table, so placing it that the light from the window -should not fall upon his face and possibly reveal his -deception.</p> -<p>Then he sat down, fixed his frowning eyes upon the -face of the cringing young man opposite, and said -sternly, still cleverly imitating Flood’s resonant voice:</p> -<p>“Well, what have you done with it?”</p> -<p>Royal caught his breath, gripped hard at the arms of -his chair for a moment, then answered, in tones of intense -amazement:</p> -<p>“Done with what, Mose?”</p> -<p>“The money.”</p> -<p>“What money?”</p> -<p>“A fine question!” sneered Nick, with a terrible display -of suppressed passion. “What money, indeed! The -money of which you robbed Cecil Kendall, after beating -out his brains under the windows of your own home.”</p> -<p>Royal was as white as a corpse, yet by a mighty effort -of will he governed his agitation, and found voice with -which to reply.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_137">137</div> -<p>“You are mad, Mose—stark mad!” he cried hoarsely. -“I did nothing of the kind.”</p> -<p>“You lie!” hissed Nick ferociously. “I saw you out -there. I saw you do it—or just after you had done it. -Don’t lie to me, Royal. You may blind others with a -lie, perhaps, but you can’t blind me. I say I saw you -do it, or at least saw you just after you did it.”</p> -<p>A look of utter despair had settled on Royal’s bloodless -face, and he was trembling from head to foot. Yet in -his staring eyes there was a look of misery and mute -appeal that words could not describe.</p> -<p>“On my word you are wrong, Mose, utterly wrong!” -he cried piteously. “I did not do it. I have not got -the money.”</p> -<p>“You have! I say I saw you!”</p> -<p>“You did not see me do it. You did not see me kill -him, for I did not do it.”</p> -<p>“I saw you out there,” reiterated Nick, with augmented -vehemence. “If you deny the truth to me, that I saw -you out there last night, I’ll throttle you where you sit.”</p> -<p>Royal breathed hard and heavy, as if he already felt a -hand at his throat. His staring eyes appeared held by -Nick’s intense gaze, and the latter’s stern and threatening -face awed and terrified him. For thirty seconds he hesitated, -<span class="pb" id="Page_138">138</span> -then faltered brokenly, like a man whose abject -fear drove him to admit the truth.</p> -<p>“Well—God help me, Mose, what shall I do? I—I -confess that I was out there, Mose; but, on my oath, I did -not kill Kendall. I swear to Heaven, Mose, I did not.”</p> -<p>Nick felt a thrill of satisfaction. He had scored one -important point and verified one of his suspicions—that -Royal had gone to Fordham after leaving the faro-bank, -despite having denied it to Chick.</p> -<p>Nick now let up a little on his terror-filled victim. Yet, -without betraying his secret satisfaction, he sternly replied:</p> -<p>“You say you did not kill him, but I have only your -word for it.”</p> -<p>“My oath, Mose!”</p> -<p>“Silence! Silence, and hear me!”</p> -<p>“I am listening, Mose. For God’s sake, don’t be so -harsh. I have trouble enough, Heaven knows. I am a -wreck of myself and know not where to turn. I am -listening, Mose.”</p> -<p>Nick rather pitied the misguided fellow, yet his pity did -not deter him from playing his shrewd game to a finish. -He leaned nearer over the table, saying with unabated -severity:</p> -<p>“Hark you, then! You’ve not forgotten your threats -<span class="pb" id="Page_139">139</span> -made in my place last night. I heard them, and knew of -what a drunken fool is capable. So I hastened out to -Fordham to head you off from any crime. God forgive -me, I arrived too late. I arrived only to see you——”</p> -<p>“You did not see me do it, Mose, so help me Heaven!” -Royal hoarsely interrupted.</p> -<p>“I saw enough,” cried Nick, with terrible significance. -“Miserable young man that you are, you have left me but -one course. Don’t you see what I am doing? Don’t you -see where I stand?”</p> -<p>“Where you stand?” echoed Royal, white and staring.</p> -<p>“Have you no brains?” continued Nick, with augmented -feeling. “You know that I revere your father, -that I love your sister. Don’t you see, misguided boy, -that, for their sake, to spare them the awful shame and -sorrow of beholding you a criminal, I have taken your -guilt on my own shoulders? Don’t you see it, blind -man, that for the sake of their peace and happiness, not -for yours, I am inviting suspicion and taking even the -hazard of the electric chair?”</p> -<p>Nick Carter, incomparably shrewd in his discernment -and deductions, was indeed impersonating Moses Flood -to the very letter. That the motives just expressed were -the real motives actuating Moses Flood in his recent conduct, -Nick had not a doubt.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_140">140</div> -<p>For a moment Royal stared at him like one who could -not speak. Then the meaning of what he had heard, and -the overwhelming self-sacrifice so vividly pictured, -seemed to dawn upon him with full force. It did even -more, just as Nick had expected. It brought to the lips -of the unhappy young man the words of gratitude and -the much more important disclosure of the whole truth, -which Nick Carter from the first had but aimed to evoke.</p> -<p>With countenance changing, with eyes lighting perceptibly, -Royal presently said, more calmly:</p> -<p>“Can I believe my ears? Do you mean, Moses Flood, -that you had no hand in that crime, and that your present -conduct is inspired by the sentiments you have -expressed?”</p> -<p>“I never speak idly, boy,” cried Nick impressively.</p> -<p>“Then, God hearing me, my father and sister owe you -a debt of gratitude that words cannot repay,” declared -Royal fervently. “I will not speak of my own feelings, -save to repeat that you are wrong, absolutely wrong; for -I am ignorant as you concerning who killed Cecil Kendall.”</p> -<p>Nick believed him, yet he grimly shook his head.</p> -<p>“You still doubt me,” cried Royal quickly, now eager -to explain and set himself right. “Wait a moment, Mose. -I don’t deny that you have grounds for suspicion, after -<span class="pb" id="Page_141">141</span> -the threats I made and what you may have seen at the -rectory. But let me explain.”</p> -<p>“I am listening.”</p> -<p>“My threats were but foolish ravings, Mose, on my -word, I had no intention of executing them, but I determined -to have what I thought was my part of Kendall’s -winnings.”</p> -<p>“Well, what did you do about it?”</p> -<p>“After leaving your place, Mose, I did go to Fordham,” -said Royal, with nervous haste. “I knew that -Kendall had an appointment with my sister, and I -expected to find him at the rectory. The journey out -there in the fresh night air, however, served to cool my -blood and bring me to my senses. On entering the -rectory grounds I realized that I was in no condition to -meet my father, from whom I have concealed the wild -and foolish habits into which I have lately fallen. As -true as Heaven, Mose, I am done with them from this -hour.”</p> -<p>“What did you do out there?” demanded Nick, with -feigned incredulity. “Come to that.”</p> -<p>“Instead of entering the house,” Royal hastened to -reply, with increased earnestness, “I went to look through -the library windows, to see if Kendall was in the house.”</p> -<p>“And then?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_142">142</div> -<p>“Then,” echoed Royal, with a gasp and shudder, “then -I stumbled on Kendall’s dead body, not ten feet away -from the library window. My God, Mose, you cannot -imagine my horror and my dreadful alarm. The desperate -threats I had made in your place suddenly recurred -to me. I saw myself under arrest for the crime. I was -like a man in a hideous nightmare, and I did only what -men do in such a frenzy of terror and dismay.”</p> -<p>“What was that?”</p> -<p>“I fled like a madman from the spot and returned to -the city. Avoiding observation, Mose, and stealing into -this house by one of the side doors, I came here to my -room. I have not since been out of it. I have not dared -to go out. I have been waiting here, in abject fear and -trembling, for the worst that may come. I know I am -a coward Mose—a cur and a coward; but, so help me -God, I have told you the whole truth!”</p> -<p>“I believe you, Royal,” said Nick. “But you have -overlooked one very important fact.”</p> -<p>Royal started at the change of tone, and again grew -deathly pale.</p> -<p>“What fact, Mose?” he faintly gasped.</p> -<p>“You have confessed yourself, not to Moses Flood, but -to Nick Carter, the detective.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div> -<p>And Nick grimly removed his heavy beard while he -spoke, and rose abruptly to his feet.</p> -<p>For the bare fraction of a second Harry Royal hung -fire under his sudden stress of alarm and excitement. -He sat like a man momentarily dazed, with his hueless -features drawn and twitching convulsively, and his wild -eyes half starting from his head.</p> -<p>Then with a half-smothered scream of dismay he -ripped open the table drawer at which he sat and -snatched out a revolver.</p> -<p>Before Nick fairly realized it, so rapid and quick was -the move, he found himself with the weapon leveled -pointblank at his head.</p> -<h2 id="c13"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIII.</span> -<br />NICK CALLS THE TURN.</h2> -<p>“You throw up your hands, Carter, and listen to me!”</p> -<p>This was the command that came from Harry Royal as -he leveled his revolver at the detective’s head.</p> -<p>Nick promptly obeyed.</p> -<p>The shrewd detective, however, was laughing in his -sleeve. He had learned from long experience that there -is little to be feared from a man who pulls a gun and does -<span class="pb" id="Page_144">144</span> -not instantly fire. In nine cases out of ten the act is only -a bluff.</p> -<p>“I’ll not be arrested, Carter, I’ve made up my mind -to that,” Royal hoarsely cried. “Death is preferable to -the disgrace and horror of a prison cell. I don’t intend -to harm you, but I swear I’ll shoot myself if you attempt -to arrest me.”</p> -<p>Nick was smiling now.</p> -<p>“You evidently take me for a foe, Royal,” said he -genially. “Instead, my boy, I am as good a friend as you -have in the world. Put up that toy, Royal, and prepare -to go with me.”</p> -<p>“Not——”</p> -<p>“Oh, no, not to the Tombs,” interrupted Nick heartily. -“I know that you are innocent of any crime, and I am -here only to serve you to the best advantage, as well as -others who are dear to you. I want you to go to my -residence with me, and for the present remain concealed -there.”</p> -<p>“For what reason?” demanded Royal, struck with surprise -and gradually dropping his weapon.</p> -<p>“Oh, I cannot delay to explain,” laughed Nick, in -friendly fashion. “I’ll do so later, however. What I -most fear, just now, Royal, is that Detective Gerry, of -the central office, may show up here at any moment. -<span class="pb" id="Page_145">145</span> -Take my word for it, my boy, he’ll land you in the Tombs -in short order, and that’s what I wish to prevent.”</p> -<p>“Do you mean this, Carter, that you are really my -friend?”</p> -<p>“Try me and see,” laughed Nick. “They who know -me well will tell you that I never lie like this.”</p> -<p>Royal sprang to his feet and held out his hand.</p> -<p>“I’ll take your word for it,” he impulsively cried, with -his boyish countenance fairly transfigured.</p> -<p>“Good for you,” nodded Nick, shaking him warmly by -the hand. “You’ll never regret it.”</p> -<p>“I will go with you when and where you please.”</p> -<p>“Good again.”</p> -<p>“Yet I’m infernally mystified——”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’ll explain all a little later, my boy.”</p> -<p>“Then we’ll dust from here at once, sir, for Gerry——”</p> -<p>“Stop a bit,” said Nick. “Not too fast. I wish it to -appear that you have fled, as you very likely would have -done if you were guilty of Kendall’s murder. No, no, -don’t stop to question me. I’ll make it clear enough to -you by and by.”</p> -<p>“Very well, sir,” cried Royal, now glad enough to comply. -“You just tell me what to do, Detective Carter, and -I’ll do it.”</p> -<p>“First put things in shape here, as if you had hurriedly -<span class="pb" id="Page_146">146</span> -departed,” said Nick. “It will be very easy for Gerry -and the police to assume that you had some hand in the -crime, and that you have now jumped the country. I’ll -loan you this disguise, that you may not be recognized as -we go out, and then we’ll make a bee-line for my residence. -Once there, my boy, we may discuss the situation -without fear of intruders. Come, come, look lively. The -sooner we are away, lad, the better.”</p> -<p>Not much time was required for preparing the indications -of hurried flight which Nick wished the room to -present, and at the end of a quarter of an hour the two -men left the Carleton Chambers building, Royal in the -disguise with which Nick had provided him, and together -they at once proceeded to the detective’s residence.</p> -<p>Upon entering his office with Royal, Nick met with a -slight surprise, not entirely unexpected, yet not anticipated -quite so soon.</p> -<p>With a significant wink, Chick received him with the -remark:</p> -<p>“There’s a man in the library, Nick, waiting to see -you.”</p> -<p>Nick took the cue given him, saying inquiringly:</p> -<p>“Not——”</p> -<p>“Exactly!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div> -<p>With a smile of genuine satisfaction, Nick turned to -Royal and said:</p> -<p>“Take off that disguise, my boy, and conceal yourself -back of yonder door.”</p> -<p>“For what, sir?” asked Royal, perplexed and surprised.</p> -<p>“I expect something to be said here that I wish you to -overhear.”</p> -<p>“Very well, then.”</p> -<p>“Not a word, mind you, nor a move of any kind, until -I give you permission.”</p> -<p>“Trust me, sir, I’ll be silent.”</p> -<p>“Conceal yourself at once, then,” said Nick. “Now, -Chick, bring in the caller.”</p> -<p>Chick departed to the library, returning at the end of -a minute.</p> -<p>He was accompanied by—Moses Flood.</p> -<p>Nick had discarded his black coat, having put on an -office jacket, and he was found seated at his desk.</p> -<p>“Ah, Moses, how are you?” said he, looking up with -an innocent smile when the noted gambler entered.</p> -<p>Flood was as carefully dressed as usual, and appeared -remarkably dignified and composed. Yet his face was -very pale and his mouth noticeably firm.</p> -<p>“Fairly well, Nick,” he gravely replied, accepting the -<span class="pb" id="Page_148">148</span> -chair to which Nick graciously waved him. “I am glad -you have returned. I have been waiting to see you.”</p> -<p>“Waiting long, Mose?”</p> -<p>“About ten minutes. No, don’t go, Chick. My business -is not private. I prefer, in fact, that you also should hear -what I have to say.”</p> -<p>“All right, Mose,” laughed Chick, taking a chair. -“Just as you wish.”</p> -<p>“What can I do for you, Flood?” inquired Nick.</p> -<p>The gambler cleared his throat before he replied, then -said, with grave feeling:</p> -<p>“To begin with, Nick, despite that our vocations in life -have been decidedly opposed, and mine not one to be -proud of, we have never had any conflict that I can recall, -and I feel rather justified in saying that we are fairly -good friends.”</p> -<p>“Quite so, I’m sure,” said Nick simply.</p> -<p>“Well, I wish to state, Nick, that I have played my last -card. Whatever the morrow has in store for me, whether -good or ill, fortune or misfortune, I never again will -gamble in any way as long as I live. I am done with it -forever.”</p> -<p>Nick promptly extended his hand and took that of the -speaker, giving it a grip that made Flood wince.</p> -<p>“I’m a thousand times more than glad to hear you say -<span class="pb" id="Page_149">149</span> -this, Mose,” he cried; “and I know that your word, when -you give it thus, is as good as any government bond. -I’m rejoiced to be the first to take your hand upon it; -and, as far as friendship goes, Mose, you have no better -friend in the world than Nick Carter.”</p> -<p>Flood’s outward composure, which was absolutely marvelous -at times, remained as marked as when he sat dealing -cards which made him nearly a hundred thousand -dollars loser, for the sake of a girl’s happiness whose -hand had been denied him, and to whose love he believed -he had no earthly hope.</p> -<p>“I believe you, Nick,” said he gravely. “And I thank -you.”</p> -<p>“Such a man as you, Mose, can make his mark in any -path in life, and a brilliant mark, too,” added Nick. “I -see a grand future for you now, and I say heartily, God -speed it.”</p> -<p>Flood shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled faintly.</p> -<p>“Don’t be too sure of the future, Nick,” said he. “At -all events, however, free me from one thought.”</p> -<p>“Namely?”</p> -<p>“That I am led to this renunciation of my business by -any fear or thought of the future,” said Flood, with profound -feeling. “Now, Nick, having declared my better -<span class="pb" id="Page_150">150</span> -resolutions, I will come to the chief point and tell you -why I am here.”</p> -<p>“I am all attention.”</p> -<p>“I presume you have heard the news, Nick?”</p> -<p>“You refer to that murder out in Fordham?”</p> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“Yes, Mose, I have heard of it.”</p> -<p>“Well, Nick, I have come here to give myself into -custody,” said Flood, with unaltered quietude. “You -being a good friend, and a man I have always admired, I -preferred to have you take me in rather than one of those -infernally meddlesome sleuths of the central office. Nick, -I yield myself your prisoner.”</p> -<p>To say that Chick Carter was startled and surprised is -putting it tamely.</p> -<p>Nick, however, was not in the least surprised. He had, -with extraordinary shrewdness, and for reasons presently -to appear, expected nothing less.</p> -<p>“My prisoner, eh?” said he, smiling, with a curious -twinkle in his eye. “For what, Mose?”</p> -<p>“For the murder of Cecil Kendall,” said Flood quietly. -“I confess to having committed the crime, Nick, and you -may run me in as soon as you please. The sooner the -better.”</p> -<p>Nick sat back in his chair, elevated his heels to the -<span class="pb" id="Page_151">151</span> -edge of his desk, then said complacently, still oddly -smiling:</p> -<p>“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Flood, but I really cannot -accept your magnanimous offer.”</p> -<p>“Not accept it!”</p> -<p>“No, Mose.”</p> -<p>“Why not?”</p> -<p>“Because, Mose,” laughed Nick, “my reputation as a -detective is involved. When I run a man in for committing -a crime I always make it a point to run in—the -right man!”</p> -<p>Flood half started from his chair, then controlled himself -with a violent mental effort.</p> -<p>“What do you mean by that, Nick?” he demanded, -frowning darkly.</p> -<p>“Just what I say, Mose.”</p> -<p>“You think I am not the right man?”</p> -<p>“I know you are not.”</p> -<p>“But my confession——”</p> -<p>“Your confession has no weight with me, Mose,” interrupted -Nick decidedly.</p> -<p>“No weight! Why not?”</p> -<p>“Because you are making it to shield another.”</p> -<p>“Another?”</p> -<p>“Harry Royal.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_152">152</div> -<p>“Why do you say this?”</p> -<p>“Because you are in love with his sister, Mose, and you -went to Fordham last evening to see her,” cried Nick. -“Instead, you saw Harry Royal near Kendall’s dead body, -and you now believe that he committed the murder. So -you are taking his supposed crime upon your own -shoulders, for the sake of Medora Royal and her father, -with even greater sacrifice than when you purposely dealt -cards which made you a loser to the amount of ninety -thousand dollars, to set Kendall on his feet, merely because -you thought Dora Royal loved him.”</p> -<p>Before this was half uttered Moses Flood was upon -his feet, as white as the collar at his pulsing throat and -with eyes burning like living fire.</p> -<p>“Are you man or devil, Nick Carter, that you know -these things?” he cried, with lips convulsively twitching.</p> -<p>Nick laughed aloud.</p> -<p>“Man, Mose,” he replied; “and I’m sometimes known -by the name of—Badger.”</p> -<p>Flood drew back with a start.</p> -<p>“Badger—you’re not Joe Badger!”</p> -<p>“Rather!”</p> -<p>“Whom I saw this morning?”</p> -<p>“None other.”</p> -<p>“Who was at my place last night?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_153">153</div> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“Oh, my God, I see it all now!”</p> -<p>“Steady, Mose!” cried Nick. “Not too fast. Not -quite all. You fail to see what you yourself have once -declared—that it was not in young Royal to have killed -his friend.”</p> -<p>Flood caught his breath as he comprehended the significance -of the last remark, and he sprang toward Nick -like a man electrified.</p> -<p>“You don’t mean—you don’t mean, Nick, that he is -guiltless?” he cried, as if in a frenzy of suspense.</p> -<p>“Exactly.”</p> -<p>“Can you prove it? Can you prove it? I’ll give you -my fortune, Nick, if you can prove that.”</p> -<p>“We shall see.”</p> -<p>“But——”</p> -<p>“Come forth there, from behind the door,” shouted -Nick.</p> -<p>And Harry Royal, deeply moved by what he had heard, -with tears in his eyes and sobs shaking him, strode out -from his concealment.</p> -<p>Flood reeled a little, staring, gasping for breath, then -raised his hands and pointed to the young man he had -so unselfishly served.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_154">154</div> -<p>“But I saw him—I saw him above the body!” he cried -wildly.</p> -<p>“I discovered it only by chance, Mose, on my word.”</p> -<p>“But the satchel—you had in your hand the satchel -with the money——”</p> -<p>“No, no, on my life, no!” screamed Royal. “It was -my own, the satchel I had brought from Boston. I had -it when I left your house. I know no more than you of -the killing of Cecil Kendall.”</p> -<p>Flood threw back his head with a cry of relief too -great for words, and Nick Carter laughed deeply and -sprang up to grasp him by the hand.</p> -<p>“You are one man in ten million, Mose, who would -thus lay down his life for the love of another,” he cried -warmly. “Calm yourself, old chap. I told you I was a -friend on whom you could rely.”</p> -<p>Flood gazed at him with glistening eyes.</p> -<p>“Before Heaven, Nick, I owe you a debt I can never -repay,” said he, with much emotion.</p> -<p>“Pshaw,” laughed Nick heartily. “As you men say -who writhe under the tiger’s claws, as you lately have -been writhing, Mose, I have merely called the turn for -you. Run you in, eh? No, no, my man, not I. When -I make a move of that kind I want the right man. To -get the bracelets on him—that’s the work that still lies -<span class="pb" id="Page_155">155</span> -before me. It may prove to be the most difficult and -dangerous of all. The relations of you two men—humph! -the adjustment of them was easy.”</p> -<p>Even thus indifferently could the great detective regard -the clever work by which he had verified many of his -suspicions through bringing these two men together.</p> -<p>The explanations that presently followed served to -greatly clear the situation, despite that they offered no -clue to Kendall’s assassin.</p> -<p>Harry Royal’s story, as previously told to Nick, was -entirely true.</p> -<p>As regarded Flood, it appeared that he had driven -to Fordham in a buggy, in the body of which he had -placed his cane. Wishing to secretly have a last interview -with Dora Royal, he had hitched his team at the -rear gate, then crossed the rectory grounds to try to see -her. As he approached the house, however, he saw -Royal by the light from the library windows, crouching -above the body of Kendall, who must have been slain -but a brief time before.</p> -<p>Before Flood could accost him, Royal leaped up and -fled at the top of his speed. After the threats the latter -had made, Flood felt sure he had committed the murder. -Overwhelmed by the discovery, he had at once driven -<span class="pb" id="Page_156">156</span> -back to town and put up his team, entirely forgetting the -cane which he had when starting out.</p> -<p>During the night he resolved upon the magnanimous -course he would adopt, just as Nick had suspected. Next -morning, however, when confronted by Badger, he discovered -that the latter knew far too much and must be -silenced. Hence the interruption of Gerry during their -interview led Flood to escape by a secret door, with the -intention of afterward seeking Badger, to buy his silence. -Not knowing where to find him, however, Flood finally -decided to clinch matters by giving himself up to Nick -Carter and flatly asserting that he had committed the -crime.</p> -<p>While simple enough in a way, Nick’s deductions from -the conflicting circumstances were exceedingly clever. -The passionate indignation of Flood, when Nick intimated -that Royal might be the guilty party, at once convinced -the detective that that was Flood’s own opinion. -Nick instantly decided, therefore, that Flood must have -been at Fordham that night, and very likely had seen -Royal in some incriminating situation.</p> -<p>Believing that Royal would lie about the matter if questioned -by a detective, Nick decided that he could learn -the exact truth by personating Flood for that purpose. -Hence the curious and effective ruse he had adopted.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_157">157</div> -<p>Such, in brief, were the explanations which greatly -cleared matters, and the gratitude of Royal for the heroic -part assumed by Moses Flood may be easily imagined.</p> -<p>Added to this, moreover, when Nick quietly disclosed -to Flood the true sentiments of Medora Royal, and the -misleading statement made by her father, along with the -probability that the past would be forgiven and Flood’s -suit favorably considered, the situation, at least in so far -as Flood was concerned, became changed indeed.</p> -<p>“But,” Nick emphatically declared a little later, “there -is one fact not to be ignored. The murderer of Kendall -still is at large, and he must be found.”</p> -<p>“I should say so,” cried Chick. “By Jove! I don’t -see that we are any nearer that than at the outset.”</p> -<p>“Possibly not,” admitted Nick, smiling oddly. “But -I have an idea that we shall finally land him.”</p> -<p>“Have you any suspicion, Carter, or formed any -plans?” inquired Flood, with countenance evincing the -happiness Nick had brought him.</p> -<p>Nick looked a bit grim and threatening when he -replied.</p> -<p>“Suspicions, no,” said he. “Plans, yes.”</p> -<p>“Namely?” inquired Chick.</p> -<p>“This work is for you and me alone, Chick,” said Nick -<span class="pb" id="Page_158">158</span> -decidedly. “For the present, both Flood and Harry -Royal must remain concealed here.”</p> -<p>“What’s that for?”</p> -<p>“I wish to have it appear that they have fled, as if both -of them were parties to the murder. This will serve us in -two ways.”</p> -<p>“How so?”</p> -<p>“First, it will set Gerry and the police on a wild-goose -chase, and leave the way open to our work and investigations.”</p> -<p>“That’s true, Nick,” nodded Chick. “A good scheme, -too.”</p> -<p>“Second,” added Nick, “it will tend to relieve the real -criminal of immediate apprehensions, and convince him -that he is not suspected. That will make his detection all -the easier for us.”</p> -<p>“No doubt of it, Nick.”</p> -<p>“Now draw up your chairs, all of you, and I will outline -my plans. The most important work, and undoubtedly -the most hazardous, still remains to be done.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_159">159</div> -<h2 id="c14"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIV.</span> -<br />TWO BAD EGGS.</h2> -<p>Nearly a month passed before the scheme devised by -Nick Carter, by which to run down Cecil Kendall’s murderer, -was productive of any startling results.</p> -<p>Yet the month was not without incidents worthy of -note.</p> -<p>The chief mystery was the disappearance of Moses -Flood and Harry Royal. The wiseacres of the central -office promptly declared them the murderers, also that -they had fled to escape arrest, but neither detectives nor -police were able to locate them.</p> -<p>Nick had, however, quietly relieved the minds of -Royal’s father and sister, confiding to them his secret, and -insuring their silence and discretion.</p> -<p>Flood’s gambling-house, when his prolonged absence -seemed probable, was at once taken possession of by his -former lookout, Nathan Godard, by whom it was run as -usual for a fortnight.</p> -<p>During that time Nick quietly learned several facts. -He discovered that Godard had long occupied the adjoining -house, where he dwelt with his niece, Belle Braddon, -and a housekeeper. He learned, moreover, that Godard -<span class="pb" id="Page_160">160</span> -was a greedy and unprincipled fellow, a ruffian when in -liquor, and a man generally disliked and distrusted.</p> -<p>Added to this Nick learned one very pertinent fact—that -Godard had left the faro-bank immediately after -Kendall had made his big winnings, and that he did not -return for more than an hour.</p> -<p>This was a very important point, for Nick had -reasoned that the crime must have been committed by -some person who knew that Kendall had won the money. -As the crime was committed within an hour afterward, -moreover, it obviously appeared to be the work of some -person who had seen the money won.</p> -<p>Nick put two and two together, and decided that Nate -Godard was the man he wanted. To fix the murder upon -him, however, was not an easy task.</p> -<p>Keeping his suspicions and movements well concealed, -however, Nick went at it by beginning secretly to persecute -Godard, worrying him as a cat worries a mouse.</p> -<p>At the end of two weeks he had the gambling-house -raided by the police, the furniture seized and removed, -and the house closed up.</p> -<p>Five days later he learned that Godard was secretly -dealing a faro-game in his own house, to which only a -few of his intimate and trusty friends were admitted.</p> -<p>Nick gave the police a tip, and the place was successfully -<span class="pb" id="Page_161">161</span> -raided the next night, and all the paraphernalia -seized and confiscated.</p> -<p>Godard’s feelings over these several episodes, as well -as those of his niece, Belle Braddon, appeared in their -talk at breakfast the following morning.</p> -<p>“I’m cursed if I can understand it,” snarled Godard, -across the table. “Twice in two weeks I have been -raided, involving the loss of several hundreds of dollars. -Worse even than that, the devil take it, my game has -been going behind at an alarming rate. Bad luck of the -worst kind appears to have struck me.”</p> -<p>Godard’s face was flushed, grim, and ugly, and his -voice by no means clear. That he had been drinking was -obvious, as had been more than usually noticeable for -nearly a month. He had the look of a man with a -mental burden not easily carried, and secret apprehensions -not pleasant to endure.</p> -<p>The girl across the table, far more attractive, yet not -less evil than he, shrugged her shapely shoulders and -indulged in a low ripple of laughter.</p> -<p>“You’re only getting what’s coming to you, Nate,” she -glibly replied.</p> -<p>“What do you mean by that, Belle?”</p> -<p>“You’d no business to turn such a trick as you turned. -It was too long a chance.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_162">162</div> -<p>“Silence! Silence, I say!” Godard quickly snarled, -with an uglier frown. “What need to speak of that?”</p> -<p>“Bah! there’s none here to be feared.”</p> -<p>“Mebbe not, but I’ll not have it talked about,” declared -Godard. “You’ve got your share of the blunt, all you -deserve, and the least you can do is to keep your mouth -closed.”</p> -<p>“It’s closed all right, Nate, when there’s any danger -about,” retorted Belle pointedly. “Have no fear of me. -I’ll never give you away. But such tricks as that always -bring bad luck, Nate.”</p> -<p>“Not always,” growled Godard, less sullenly. “What -I can’t understand is why the police have made such a -mark of me.”</p> -<p>“That so?”</p> -<p>“To raid me twice within a week—that’s pressing -things over the limit. It’s not usual with the infernal -bluebottles, and I’m cursed if I can fathom it.”</p> -<p>“Can’t you guess who has tipped them to do it?” inquired -Belle.</p> -<p>“Of course I can’t,” cried Godard. “If I could I -would put an end to these persecutions, even if I had to -turn him down to end them.”</p> -<p>“Put out his light, eh?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_163">163</div> -<p>“Yes, I would!”</p> -<p>“And you can’t guess who?”</p> -<p>“No! I wish I could.”</p> -<p>“Well, I can, Nate,” declared Belle, with an unpleasant -smile.</p> -<p>“Who?” demanded Godard, with interest.</p> -<p>“The same man who had me fired out of my job.”</p> -<p>“Not Nick Carter?” cried Godard, with a start.</p> -<p>“That’s who, Nate.”</p> -<p>“I don’t believe it.”</p> -<p>“I do.”</p> -<p>“For what reason?”</p> -<p>“Because, Nate, he either has some personal grudge -against you and me, or else he suspects——”</p> -<p>The girl stopped, yet stared significantly at her hearer.</p> -<p>Godard dropped his spoon and began to grow pale. -Yet the frown of his beetling brows became darker, and -the light uglier in his evil eyes. He muttered an oath -after a moment, then added, through his teeth:</p> -<p>“If I thought that——”</p> -<p>“What would you do?” queried Belle, with sinister significance.</p> -<p>“What wouldn’t I do,” snarled Godard, with sullen -ferocity. “I’d do anything that would insure wiping him -out of my path.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_164">164</div> -<p>The girl laughed, a coldly, cruel laugh that contrasted -vividly with the man’s harsh voice.</p> -<p>“Nick Carter is not an easy man to wipe out,” she -replied.</p> -<p>“I know that as well as you, Belle.”</p> -<p>“You’d do anything to accomplish it, eh?”</p> -<p>“That’s what I would,” cried Godard decisively. “The -play would be limited to two persons, Belle, if what you -think is true. It would be him or me, and I’m cursed if -I’d have it me if I could help it. Why do you think of -him?”</p> -<p>The girl dried her lips and tossed aside her napkin.</p> -<p>“Because I don’t fancy the way things are going any -better than you do, Nate,” she replied bitterly. “It was -Carter who threw me out of my job at the bank, for -which he could have had no earthly reason, barring that -he suspected me of having worked Kendall for a fish -and lured him where you could shove him into a corner. -Carter doesn’t like me for a cent, and maybe he likes -you none the less for being my uncle. Possibly he suspects -you because of it.”</p> -<p>“But he can have no evidence——”</p> -<p>“Bah! No man ever knows what evidence Nick Carter -possesses,” Belle curtly interrupted. “When he gets -after a covey, about the first the poor devil knows of it, -<span class="pb" id="Page_165">165</span> -Nate, he is down and out for keeps, with bangles on his -wrists or a hemp tie in place of a silk one. Don’t bank -on what Nick Carter doesn’t know. If you are up -against him, and any reason exists for his being after you, -there’s but one safe course—and even that is a long chance -against such a man as he is.”</p> -<p>“What course is that?”</p> -<p>“Take the bull by the horns, Nate, and either put the -detective to sleep or go under yourself in the attempt. -That’s the only way to deal with Nick Carter.”</p> -<p>Godard sat silent for several moments, weighing in his -own mind the desperate possibility suggested. He could -not believe that he was suspected of the crime for which -the detectives and the police were searching the country -after Moses Flood and Harry Royal, yet the words of his -niece had alarmed him, and opened his eyes to the bare -possibility of a frightful peril.</p> -<p>Presently he roused himself, and stared across at the -girl.</p> -<p>“What would you do about it?” he sullenly asked.</p> -<p>“Just what I have said,” replied Belle bluntly.</p> -<p>“Try to turn him down?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“If I was sure that he had any designs against me——”</p> -<p>“Faugh!” interrupted the girl. “There are facts you -<span class="pb" id="Page_166">166</span> -shouldn’t lose sight of, Nate. In the beginning he was -on this case in Gilsey’s employ. Do you imagine Gilsey -has let him drop it? Not by a long chalk.”</p> -<p>“Well, what of that?”</p> -<p>“This is it,” cried Belle, who was rather a clever -logician. “Is Carter making any attempt to round up -Flood or that fool of a Royal? Not one, my word for -it. He’s letting the central office screws scurry their legs -off on that scent. None of that for Nick Carter, mind -you. What’s the natural conclusion, eh? Merely this—Carter -doesn’t suspect Flood, despite the evidence. Yet -if he is still on the case, he must suspect somebody, and -that somebody may be—the right man!”</p> -<p>Godard’s evil face grew darker with every word that -had fallen from the girl’s lips.</p> -<p>“The devil!” he snarled, as she pointedly concluded. -“I hadn’t thought of it in that way. By Heaven, it may -be true, as you say.”</p> -<p>“I should proceed as if it was, Nate, if I were you.”</p> -<p>“Try to land him?”</p> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“How can it be done?”</p> -<p>“That’s for you to determine.”</p> -<p>“I don’t fancy the job.”</p> -<p>“Not as well as knocking out a half drunken fellow -<span class="pb" id="Page_167">167</span> -with ninety thousand dollars in his kit, eh?” laughed -Belle Braddon. “I say, Nate, what would there be in it -for me if I could do the job for you?”</p> -<p>“Turn Carter down?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“You mean—put out his light?”</p> -<p>“Exactly.”</p> -<p>“Your own price,” cried Godard eagerly.</p> -<p>“Five thousand?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“In cold cash?”</p> -<p>“The very day it is done.”</p> -<p>“That’s good enough for me,” returned Belle, with a -gleeful shrug of her shoulders. “I can use the dust all -right, Nate, and I’ve thought of a way by which I can -do the job.”</p> -<p>“Or get done yourself in attempting it.”</p> -<p>“Oh, you let me alone to look out for myself,” sneered -Belle, with a series of significant nods. “I cut my eye-teeth -a long time ago, and it’s a cold day when I cannot -hoodwink a man.”</p> -<p>“That’s no pipe-dream,” growled Godard.</p> -<p>“And I’ll do the job for the price mentioned, Nate—cash -on delivery,” added the unprincipled jade. “I must -do it at my own time and in my own way.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div> -<p>“I care not when or how, Belle, so long as it’s done.”</p> -<p>“Trust me to do it, then.”</p> -<p>“Do you require any help?”</p> -<p>“I should say not!” exclaimed the girl quickly. “When -I tackle anything of this kind, I play a lone hand. I -want no partner who some day may squeal. It’ll be all -or nothing for me.”</p> -<p>Nothing could have suited Godard better, for he was -essentially a coward, and the simple thought of meeting -Nick Carter in a life or death encounter sent chills up -and down his spine.</p> -<p>“I shall require one thing, however,” said Belle.</p> -<p>“What is that?”</p> -<p>“This house must be vacated and all the stuff removed. -Then I must have the key of this house, also of the one -next door.”</p> -<p>“Flood’s old place?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“What sort of a job are you cooking up?” growled -Godard suspiciously.</p> -<p>“That’s my business, Nate,” returned the girl. “I -shall do it in my own way, or not at all.”</p> -<p>Godard saw that she meant it, and he had no idea of -letting her offer slip by.</p> -<p>“I’ll vacate the house this very day,” said he promptly. -<span class="pb" id="Page_169">169</span> -“I’ll move our stuff down to the shore house, and open -a game there on the quiet. That will throw the cops off -my track for a time.”</p> -<p>“Very good.”</p> -<p>“When will you do the job?”</p> -<p>“As soon as I can arrange to have it come right,” replied -Belle thoughtfully. “Not this week, however. I -have engagements for two evenings with that yellow-haired -Dakota chap, whom I caught on to at the Waldorf -last week. He has money to burn, barrels of it, and I -must get my little bit.”</p> -<p>“Why the deuce haven’t you run him up against my -game?” demanded Godard.</p> -<p>“He never plays, Nate,” said Belle quickly. “I tried -it, on my word I did. But he doesn’t know one card -from another. He says he has an uncle out West, however, -a big cattle ranchman, who is a fiend at faro.”</p> -<p>“H’m! I wish he’d wire his uncle to come on here. I -reckon we could trim him.”</p> -<p>“I don’t think he’d consent to do that, Nate,” laughed -the girl, upon whose spirits the murderous project she -had in mind seemed to cast no cloud. “You vacate here -to-day and give me the keys to both houses. Then leave -Nick Carter to me. Within a week I will turn him down, -or my name is not Belle Braddon.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_170">170</div> -<p>“You shall have the keys not later than Friday, Belle.”</p> -<p>“That’s soon enough,” nodded the girl, rising. “Meantime, -Nate, I must devote myself to bleeding that yellow-haired -baby from Dakota. He’s as loose as ashes with his -dust, Nate, and I’ll give him credit for that.”</p> -<p>“Then I guess you’ll bleed him all right.”</p> -<p>“If I don’t, Nate, there’ll be something wrong with the -cards,” said Belle, with a ringing laugh. “So long, old -chap! I have an appointment with him at noon. A hot -bird and a cool bottle, you know, and then a ride in the -park. But you go ahead, Nate, with the moving. I’ll -have my little job on old Nick all framed up in time, -never doubt that.”</p> -<h2 id="c15"><span class="small">CHAPTER XV.</span> -<br />SECRET WORK.</h2> -<p>“Well, sir, I’m here, as I agreed!”</p> -<p>“That’s right, my good man, and I’m glad to see you. -Take a chair.”</p> -<p>The last speaker was Nick Carter.</p> -<p>The first was the whilom cuekeeper in the gambling-house -of Moses Flood—the latter’s humpback friend, -John Green.</p> -<p>The scene was Nick Carter’s office, on the Monday -<span class="pb" id="Page_171">171</span> -afternoon following the interview between Godard and -Belle Braddon, in which the latter had contracted to turn -Nick Carter’s toes up.</p> -<p>The interval was five days.</p> -<p>In compliance with Nick’s genial invitation, the humpback -took a seat near the detective’s desk.</p> -<p>“Well,” said Nick, “what has become of Godard since -he closed his up-town house?”</p> -<p>Green laughed.</p> -<p>“He’s down at a shore house which he owns. Here’s -the address, sir, and the direction for getting there. I -wrote it down, thinking you might want it.”</p> -<p>Nick glanced at the scrawl on the slip of paper tendered -him, and bowed approvingly.</p> -<p>“Is he dealing a game down there?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Yes, sir. A small one, though, only for a few -friends.”</p> -<p>“Are you still keeping cues for him?”</p> -<p>“I am.”</p> -<p>“And who is his assistant dealer?”</p> -<p>“Tom Bruce, sir.”</p> -<p>“Flood’s former man?”</p> -<p>“The same, sir,” nodded Green. Then he added, sadly: -“’Fore Heaven, sir, I’d give all my life is worth to know -that Mr. Flood is all right, safe, and sound!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_172">172</div> -<p>“I have already told you, John, that I will insure that, -providing you follow my instructions to the letter.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I’ll do that, Detective Carter, never doubt it!” -cried Green eagerly. “I’d cut off both these hands for -Mr. Flood!”</p> -<p>“Now tell me,” said Nick, “what is the game doing?”</p> -<p>“Losing, sir; losing to beat the band. Godard has -dropped nearly a hundred thousand in the past month.”</p> -<p>“Can he stand the pace long?” inquired Nick carelessly.</p> -<p>“Sure, sir, I’d not have believed he could stand it till -now!”</p> -<p>Nick already knew where Godard had probably obtained -the money mentioned.</p> -<p>“Is he still drinking deeply?”</p> -<p>“Like a fish, sir,” grinned the humpback; “and, holy -smoke! he’s uglier than ten devils.”</p> -<p>Nick laughed and nodded, evidently much pleased by -the report.</p> -<p>“Is he dealing a square game?” he next inquired.</p> -<p>“Sure, sir!” cried Green. “I don’t believe Godard has -got the tools for dealing a brace game.”</p> -<p>“You think he would do it, John, if he had the tools -and saw a good thing?”</p> -<p>“Well, sir,” and Green grimly shook his ungainly -<span class="pb" id="Page_173">173</span> -head, “I reckon Nate Godard would do anything for -money.”</p> -<p>“I guess that’s right,” said Nick. “Now, John, there’s -one thing I wish you to do for me.”</p> -<p>“Count on me, sir, for sure!”</p> -<p>“If Godard was to deal a brace game he would have -to tell you about it, wouldn’t he?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir; so I could keep the cues right. I’d have to -mark up the cards he took crooked, you see, or there’d be -a holler from the players at the end of the deal, when -the cues showed wrong.”</p> -<p>“I know all about it, John.”</p> -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> -<p>“Now, hark you, my man! If Godard contemplates -dealing a brace game he will first prepare the way by -giving you his instructions and secret signs.”</p> -<p>“No doubt of it, sir.”</p> -<p>“Well, John, if he does that I want you to drop me a -letter by the very next mail saying that the trick is to be -turned. Do you understand?”</p> -<p>“Sure I do!” exclaimed the humpback; “and I’ll send -the letter the minute I know of it.”</p> -<p>“Very good,” bowed Nick. “That’s all to-day, John. -In leaving here be as cautious as usual. You must not -be seen, you know!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_174">174</div> -<p>“Trust me, sir,” smiled Green, with a shrug. “I will -slip out and away like a shadow. You’re sure, sir, about -poor Mr. Flood?” he added, as he lingered for a moment -at the door.</p> -<p>“Trust me for that, John, as I trust you,” replied -Nick.</p> -<p>And the detective bowed and smiled pleasantly, with -a genuine appreciation of the warm and loyal heart that -beat in the crooked breast of the departing man.</p> -<p>This interview with the humpback plainly indicates the -shrewd line of work which Nick was secretly doing in -his attempt to verify the suspicious by which he was -actuated.</p> -<p>Green had been gone but a few minutes, moreover, -when a second man familiarly entered.</p> -<p>He was a stylishly clad, yellow-haired chap, with a -sandy beard, parted down the middle. He carried a cane, -sported a bright-red tie, and looked for all the world as -if he had just stepped off a fashion-plate.</p> -<p>It was the yellow-haired chap whom Belle Braddon -had boasted of having caught on to at the Waldorf.</p> -<p>Nick looked up and smiled when he entered.</p> -<p>“Well, Chick,” said he, “what’s now in the wind?”</p> -<p>Chick laughed and dropped into a chair.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div> -<p>“Nothing special, Nick,” said he. “All is working -well.”</p> -<p>“She has no suspicions of you?”</p> -<p>“Not the slightest, Nick.”</p> -<p>“What do you make of her?”</p> -<p>“Well,” replied Chick, with a grin, “she’s a royal -spender, I’ll give her credit for that. She makes bank-notes -fly like dead leaves in a September gale.”</p> -<p>“Never mind,” laughed Nick. “Let ’em go. We’ll -get them back from Gilsey. Besides, Chick, the situation -will not last much longer. We are closing in on -them.”</p> -<p>“You have learned something?”</p> -<p>“Green has just been here and reported,” nodded -Nick. “Godard is located at his shore house. I know the -place and how to get there. He is dealing a game there -on the quiet, and I have several reasons for thinking that -he is nearly on his last legs, financially.”</p> -<p>“In which case, Nick, he will take any desperate -chances to recover, eh?”</p> -<p>“That’s the idea, Chick, and it’s what I have been -working for. Have you said anything to his niece about -the cattle-dealer?”</p> -<p>“Sure thing,” nodded Chick. “I have laid that wire -all right, you may wager. I showed her a telegram -<span class="pb" id="Page_176">176</span> -yesterday, which I claimed to have received from my -Dakota uncle, stating that he would join me here Tuesday.”</p> -<p>“That’s to-morrow.”</p> -<p>“I told her that he is coming on merely for pleasure, -and have impressed her with the idea that he is the -highest kind of a high-roller. She wanted to know if he -ever played faro, and I told her he was a regular fiend -at it, and that I had seen him sit to lose a hundred thousand -at a crack.”</p> -<p>“Very good,” laughed Nick. “That certainly ought -to be strong enough. What did she say to that?”</p> -<p>“She said she knew a house where he could make a -play,” grinned Chick.</p> -<p>“Oh, ho! that looks promising enough,” laughed Nick.</p> -<p>“I told her that would suit him to the letter, and that -he would be glad to give any square faro-game a play,” -added Chick. “She said she would fix it for us after -he arrived.”</p> -<p>“And we will fix them, in return, I’m thinking,” said -Nick grimly. “Green is going to notify me if a brace -game is to be attempted. I’m dead sure it will be, too, -with Godard so nearly on his uppers.”</p> -<p>“No doubt of it.”</p> -<p>“In which case, Chick, it’s a hundred to one that he -<span class="pb" id="Page_177">177</span> -will use Flood’s brace deal box, and resort to the same -deck of strippers that Flood gave Kendall with the money -he had won. If we can catch Godard with that deck of -strippers in his possession, Chick, it will prove conclusively -that he murdered Kendall.”</p> -<p>“Absolutely.”</p> -<p>“He necessarily must take Green into his confidence -about the brace game,” added Nick; “and he will get -rid of Tom Bruce when attempting to turn the trick. -We shall probably meet nobody there but Green and -Godard, except that jade of a niece.”</p> -<p>“She will probably take us out there, Nick.”</p> -<p>“We’ll go with her, all right,” laughed Nick. “You -had better fix it with her for to-morrow night, in order -that we may wind up the case as soon as possible.”</p> -<p>“That will be easy,” nodded Chick. “I shall find her -ready.”</p> -<p>“I will show up at the Waldorf to-morrow noon and -join you there,” added Nick. “I will have a roll of -money with me fit to choke a horse. Trust Godard to -venture a most desperate chance to get it. I think, Chick, -we now have the game well in hand.”</p> -<p>“So do I, Nick,” replied Chick, rising. “I’m going -to slip up-stairs and have a bath, then I must go back -<span class="pb" id="Page_178">178</span> -to the Waldorf. I promised to dine with my friend with -the red-brown hair at six.”</p> -<p>Nick laughed, nodding approvingly, and Chick hastened -from the office.</p> -<p>It was then about three o’clock. At four Nick had -business up-town, and he presently put on his street -attire and left the house.</p> -<p>A quarter of an hour later, as he was crossing Forty-second -Street and Fifth Avenue, he was observed by a -young woman on the opposite corner.</p> -<p>The moment she saw him, moreover, a gleam of malicious -satisfaction flashed in her evil eyes.</p> -<p>She tripped quickly over the opposite crossing and -intercepted Nick as he reached the Fifth Avenue sidewalk.</p> -<p>The young woman was Belle Braddon, out for the -great detective’s scalp.</p> -<h2 id="c16"><span class="small">CHAPTER XVI.</span> -<br />TRAPPED.</h2> -<p>Nick Carter suppressed any show of surprise upon beholding -Belle Braddon approaching. He halted, politely -raising his hat, upon observing that the girl intended -<span class="pb" id="Page_179">179</span> -to speak to him, and they met on the Fifth Avenue -corner.</p> -<p>Belle greeted him with a smile and a pretty toss of -her well-poised head, saying glibly:</p> -<p>“How-dy do, Mr. Carter? You haven’t been round -to call on me, sir, and play that game of ping-pong.”</p> -<p>“True; I haven’t,” replied Nick, rather inclined to -laugh at her piquant audacity.</p> -<p>“How many invitations do you require?”</p> -<p>“Well, I can hardly say.”</p> -<p>“I generally have to ask a man but once,” pouted -Belle, with a playful shrug of her shoulders. “I guess -you don’t enjoy the game.”</p> -<p>“Well, to tell the truth, Miss Braddon, ping-pong is -not my long suit,” laughed Nick.</p> -<p>The girl joined in his laugh, saying dryly:</p> -<p>“Dear me, you really can be amusing, can’t you?”</p> -<p>“Yes, when I try.”</p> -<p>“Try often, Detective Carter. It’s awfully becoming. -By the way, sir, there’s a question I’d like to ask you.”</p> -<p>“Certainly,” bowed Nick; “understand, however, that -I may not feel called upon to answer it.”</p> -<p>“Oh, you wouldn’t refuse a lady. I’m sure you -wouldn’t.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_180">180</div> -<p>“Well, since you feel so sure, Miss Braddon, go ahead -with your question.”</p> -<p>Belle drew nearer to him, and said, with a rather sinister -gleam in her lifted eyes:</p> -<p>“Why did you take such pains to have me fired out -of my job at the Milmore Trust?”</p> -<p>Nick already began to suspect her of having some -design that had not yet appeared on the surface, and -he decided to learn of what it consisted by leading her -on a little.</p> -<p>“It strikes me, my dear girl,” said he, smiling, “that -that is a needless question.”</p> -<p>“Why needless, my dear Mr. Carter?” queried Belle, -in bantering tones.</p> -<p>“Because you already know why I did it.”</p> -<p>“I do?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” nodded Nick. “Think it all over and it will -probably come to you.”</p> -<p>“Oh, you did it because I told Flood about Kendall’s -shortage, did you?”</p> -<p>“Precisely.”</p> -<p>“Well, I rather suspected it was that, Mr. Carter.”</p> -<p>“Why, then, did you ask?”</p> -<p>“Only to make sure, sir,” laughed Belle. “A woman’s -usual reason, eh? Ah, well! have no fear, Mr. Carter; -<span class="pb" id="Page_181">181</span> -I bear you no ill will for having done so. Really, I rather -like you for it, for it’s awfully pleasant to be out of a -job,” and the smiling jade playfully beat Nick’s arm with -one of her gloves.</p> -<p>Then she quickly added pointedly:</p> -<p>“But I’ve got it in for Mr. Flood, sir, just the same.”</p> -<p>“That so?” queried Nick. “For what?”</p> -<p>“Because he betrayed that I told you. Oh, you -wouldn’t deny it, Mr. Carter. I know well enough that -he did!”</p> -<p>“I never attempt to disabuse a woman who already -knows,” laughed Nick, wondering when she would come -to the point.</p> -<p>Belle Braddon came to it, all right, in less than a -minute.</p> -<p>“Yes, sir; I’ve got in for him, Mr. Carter, and some -day I’ll get even with him. By the way, sir, the central -office sleuths are having a fine hunt after him, -aren’t they?”</p> -<p>“A vain one, certainly,” replied Nick.</p> -<p>“If they hadn’t been so hot after my Uncle Nate of -late, I’d get even with Flood by making them wise as to -his hiding place,” declared the girl, with affected bitterness.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_182">182</div> -<p>Then, before Nick could reply, she quickly added, as -if struck with a clever idea:</p> -<p>“Oh, I say, Mr. Carter! Just to show you that I -bear you no ill will, and, in fact, rather fancy you, I’ll -throw Flood into your hands, if you’d like to get them -on him for that murder out in Fordham.”</p> -<p>Nick heard her without a change of countenance. He -knew that she was absolutely ignorant of Flood’s whereabouts, -who at that moment was in Nick’s residence; also, -that she could have no knowledge of the latter’s relations -with Flood.</p> -<p>Yet no man could have wanted better evidence that -the girl had some design which she was craftily plotting -to execute.</p> -<p>It was characteristic of Nick at any sign of danger -to go after it, until he discovered of what it consisted. -In this case, therefore, he decided to give Belle Braddon -all the rope she wanted, or until he could learn at what -she was driving.</p> -<p>Nick was too shrewd, however, to take the bait too -greedily. Pretending to be entirely ignorant of Flood’s -movements, he said curiously:</p> -<p>“Why do you think that I wish to lay hands on him?”</p> -<p>“You are still in Gilsey’s employ, aren’t you?”</p> -<p>“Well, yes; I’ll admit that I am.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_183">183</div> -<p>“Then, of course, you want Flood,” cried Belle bluntly. -“What’s the use of denying it?”</p> -<p>Nick no longer did so, it now being very obvious that -the girl had some object in view and cared not how -she accomplished it.</p> -<p>“I did not deny it. In fact, I really would like to -land him,” said he, with sinister eagerness. “Do you -mean to tell me that you know where he is located?”</p> -<p>Belle winked and nodded.</p> -<p>“On the level?” demanded Nick.</p> -<p>“Sure.”</p> -<p>“Where is he?”</p> -<p>“Hiding in a house that I know all about.”</p> -<p>“What price will you take for the information?”</p> -<p>“What will you give?”</p> -<p>“Five hundred.”</p> -<p>“Done!” said Belle promptly.</p> -<p>“When can we turn the trick?”</p> -<p>“At once.”</p> -<p>“That suits me,” said Nick.</p> -<p>“There are two conditions on which I shall insist, -however,” added Belle.</p> -<p>“Namely?”</p> -<p>“You must be governed by my directions.”</p> -<p>“I will.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_184">184</div> -<p>“And let me be present when you arrest him.”</p> -<p>“You shall be there.”</p> -<p>“I merely want him to know that I have got even -with him,” Belle bitterly declared, in explanation.</p> -<p>“It’s dead lucky that she doesn’t know what I know -of Flood,” thought Nick, a little puzzled as to her game.</p> -<p>“Come on, then,” she said. “I’ll take you into the -room now occupied by Moses Flood within a quarter of -an hour.”</p> -<p>Nick accompanied her, and they started up Fifth -Avenue.</p> -<p>Belle Braddon was as bold as she was crafty, and she -felt sure of landing her man single-handed.</p> -<p>The trick she was about to turn, moreover, was well -worthy of her.</p> -<p>She took Nick to Godard’s vacant house, of which she -had the key, and they entered together.</p> -<p>Then Nick became more watchful. The empty rooms -and bare floors did not surprise him, for he knew that -Godard had moved; but there was a possibility of being -assailed by hidden foes, and Nick slipped his revolver -into his side pocket, unobserved.</p> -<p>He was, too, more than ever mystified. Knowing that -Belle Braddon could not possibly give him any clue to -Flood, he could not imagine what design existed under -<span class="pb" id="Page_185">185</span> -her pretensions. He was resolved to learn, however—let -come what might.</p> -<p>“Come up-stairs,” said Belle, after locking the street -door. “This is a roundabout way, but it wouldn’t have -done to enter Flood’s house direct.”</p> -<p>“Are you going in there?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” nodded Belle. “That’s where we shall find -him. He has a secret hiding-place in there. Tread -lightly on these bare floors lest the sound reaches and -alarms him. Both houses are vacant, and he should be -alone there at this hour.”</p> -<p>“Good enough,” growled Nick quietly; “I’m with -you.”</p> -<p>“Into this room, Detective Carter!”</p> -<p>Nick followed her into one of the side chambers, and -the girl turned briefly to face him.</p> -<p>“Now be very quiet,” she said softly, without the -slightest sign of nervousness or apprehension. “I’m -going to let you into one of the secrets of these two -houses. As a matter of fact, Detective Carter, both of -them are owned by Moses Flood. But my uncle, who -was employed by him, has been occupying this one.”</p> -<p>Nick smiled and nodded.</p> -<p>“In this room,” continued Belle, “there is a concealed -door, operated by pressing one of the figures in the -<span class="pb" id="Page_186">186</span> -wall decoration. It opens into a passage leading through -another door into Flood’s private room.”</p> -<p>Nick instantly recalled Flood’s escape from Detective -Gerry, and again he nodded understandingly.</p> -<p>“The passage was constructed,” added Belle, “for the -purpose of quickly getting the gambling implements out -of Flood’s house and into this one in case of an unexpected -raid by the police.”</p> -<p>“I see.”</p> -<p>“The door is very cleverly constructed, you observe, -so that the police could not discover it and light upon -the trick.”</p> -<p>“I can see no indications of a door,” said Nick truthfully.</p> -<p>“I’ll show you,” whispered Belle. “But be quiet after -the passage is opened, for Flood might then overhear us. -He has a hiding-place in the other house and there we -shall find him.”</p> -<p>“Good for you!”</p> -<p>“Are you ready?”</p> -<p>“Yes!”</p> -<p>Belle Braddon turned and pressed her hand on the -wall.</p> -<p>Instantly a heavy iron door, decorated like the wall -<span class="pb" id="Page_187">187</span> -to which it was most cleverly matched, swung quickly -open.</p> -<p>A four-foot passage was revealed, brick walled on two -sides. At the farther end of it, some five feet away, a -similar iron door had swung open, and beyond it was -Flood’s private room, which Nick immediately recalled.</p> -<p>Belle Braddon raised her finger warningly, and led -the way into the passage.</p> -<p>Nick followed her, wondering what he might expect in -the adjoining house.</p> -<p>When both were in the passage Belle turned back and -paused, whispering softly:</p> -<p>“Draw that door after you, please! Close it quietly.”</p> -<p>Nick turned to lay his hand on the door.</p> -<p>Like a flash Belle Braddon sprang into Flood’s private -room and dashed her hand against the side wall.</p> -<p>In an instant, before Nick could raise a finger, both -doors closed, with a loud, metallic clang and with a -rapidity indicating that they were operated by powerful -springs, which opened and closed both doors at once.</p> -<p>With a momentary thrill of dismay, Nick found himself -alone in the walled passage, and in darkness so profound -that it could almost be felt.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_188">188</div> -<h2 id="c17"><span class="small">CHAPTER XVII.</span> -<br />THE GIRL AND THE CRIME.</h2> -<p>It was with a feeling of some chagrin that Nick Carter -realized his desperate situation the moment the heavy -iron doors of the walled passage closed upon him, leaving -him alone in the Egyptian darkness of the tomblike -place.</p> -<p>Yet the trick by which he had been caught was one -to have deceived any man. Only a clairvoyant could -have seen that the doors worked jointly and under the -motive of powerful springs.</p> -<p>Though alert and watchful from the moment he had -entered the house with Belle Braddon, he had not looked -for such a trap as this.</p> -<p>Keenly suspicious, knowing in fact that the girl was -up to some knavish game, Nick had suspected that he -was being led into Flood’s house with a design to throw -him into the hands of several assailants, a situation which -would have given him no concern whatever, and which -he really had been inviting in order to identify the parties -to it and learn their motives.</p> -<p>Before Nick had fairly recovered from his surprise, -however, he heard the voice of Belle Braddon from -<span class="pb" id="Page_189">189</span> -Flood’s private room. It sounded dead and muffled, -much as if Nick was locked in a bank vault, yet he -could readily distinguish her words and the triumphant -intonation with which they were uttered.</p> -<p>“I say, Carter,” she cried, crouching to place her lips -near the crack of the closed door, “are you there?”</p> -<p>Nick instantly resumed his usual composure.</p> -<p>“Yes, I’m here,” he coolly answered.</p> -<p>“Throw me out of a job, will you?” screamed the -girl, with a ringing laugh.</p> -<p>“I’ll do more than that for you one of these days, -young lady,” Nick cried back.</p> -<p>“Yes, you will!” returned Belle derisively. “It won’t -be many days before there’ll be singing and flowers at -your house, and you’ll ride at the head of a procession.”</p> -<p>“Think so?”</p> -<p>“You’ll not hear any of the music, either.”</p> -<p>“Don’t bank too heavily on that,” replied Nick. “I -have been in worse places than this.”</p> -<p>“And got out alone?”</p> -<p>“And got out alone.”</p> -<p>“Well, if you get out of this one, Carter, you’ll be a -bird,” cried Belle tauntingly. “You’ll find that this is -no gilded cage. How do you like it?”</p> -<p>“Oh, it’s snug and cozy all right.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_190">190</div> -<p>“You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy it. I’m going to -leave you there.”</p> -<p>“The sooner the better,” retorted Nick. “Your room -is preferable to your company.”</p> -<p>“Thanks,” laughed Belle. “The sentiment is mutual. -By the way, sir!”</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>“You may make all the noise you wish. It won’t disturb -anybody, for there’s nobody to hear it.”</p> -<p>“I’m glad to know that,” cried Nick, undaunted.</p> -<p>“Both houses are vacant and you are midway between -them,” cried Belle, with a cruel laugh. “You may yell -your lungs out and you’ll not be heard.”</p> -<p>“I shall keep my lungs where they belong,” cried -Nick, a bit impatiently. “I shall require my voice a -little later, to testify against you.”</p> -<p>“I’ll risk that, my man,” retorted the girl. “In that -trap you’ll not live more than a day or two. If you don’t -suffocate you’ll starve, for nobody will show up here -for many a day. I’ll insure that.”</p> -<p>“Thanks. It’s very kind of you.”</p> -<p>“You’re entirely welcome,” answered Belle. “And -when your body is finally discovered here, it will be assumed -that you came here alone in search of Flood and -accidentally got caught between the iron doors.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_191">191</div> -<p>“Quite reasonable, I am sure.”</p> -<p>“Very clever, isn’t it? You see, Carter, no one will -ever be suspected of having lured you here and lodged -you in there. You are reputed to be too clever to be -caught in a trap in that fashion. It’s dead open and -shut that your death will be attributed to an accident.”</p> -<p>“Providing I die here,” supplemented Nick.</p> -<p>“If you don’t, there’ll be something wrong with the -deck,” cried Belle, with derisive assurance. “I’ll come -to your funeral, Carter, and send a broken column.”</p> -<p>“Good enough. I’d prefer gates ajar, however.”</p> -<p>“Doors ajar, you mean,” cried Belle, with a scream -of laughter. “Good-by, Carter. I’m going to leave you -now. I have a date at the Waldorf at six. I’m going -to dine with a yellow-haired chappie from Dakota.”</p> -<p>“Good-by—and good riddance,” cried Nick.</p> -<p>The last brought no answer.</p> -<p>Belle Braddon had glided silently out of Flood’s private -room and was hurrying down the hall stairs.</p> -<p>Despite her derisive laughter and the taunting remarks -with which she had mocked her helpless victim, -her cheeks were as white as the knot of lace on her -heaving breast.</p> -<p>The awful horror of the crime she had committed was -<span class="pb" id="Page_192">192</span> -upon her. She fully believed that she had left Nick -Carter to suffocate in the foul atmosphere of the walled -passage; or, if spared that fate, that thirst and starvation -would overcome him.</p> -<p>The very hideousness of the crime shook even her callous -nature and filled her quaking soul with nameless -horror.</p> -<p>The nervous tremor of her feet on the uncarpeted -stairs as she hurriedly descended thrilled her with alarm, -and her knees were knocking together when she reached -the lower hall.</p> -<p>There she paused and caught her breath, steadying -herself, then went into one of the silent parlors, as silent -as death itself, to peer through the closed blinds into -the sunlit street.</p> -<p>The brighter light outside restored her nerve, and a -smile of vengeful exultation relaxed her drawn gray -lips.</p> -<p>“He’s as good as done for, as good as done for,” she -muttered through her teeth. “It serves him right. It -was his life or that of my uncle, and all is fair when -life hangs in the balance. He would have turned Nate -down as indifferently as he did me, and he has invited -only what he has got. Let him take his medicine, then! -It’s what he deserves!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_193">193</div> -<p>With such reasoning as this she put the horrid crime -out of her mind, and resolved to think no more about it.</p> -<p>With calmness came greater cunning. She reasoned -that she might be seen leaving Flood’s house, if she -departed by the front door. Instead, she descended -to the basement.</p> -<p>There she broke a window and opened the catch, to -indicate that Nick Carter, when his lifeless remains -should be discovered, had entered the house, presumably -in search of Moses Flood. That he had accidentally -been caught in the walled passage she also felt sure would -be assumed. That the crime should never be brought -home to her, she was taking every precaution.</p> -<p>In the semidarkness of the basement, she next tied a -thick veil over her hat, and drew it carefully about her -face.</p> -<p>Then she let herself out the back door, locking it -after her, and stole quickly through a narrow alley, and -thus gained the nearest side street.</p> -<p>Now she breathed freely again, and triumphantly hastened -away.</p> -<p>“Five thousand easily earned—easily earned!” she said -to herself, weighing in mind the price Nathan Godard -had agreed to pay for Nick Carter’s life.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_194">194</div> -<p>Belle Braddon dined that evening with her yellow-haired -chance acquaintance from Dakota, so alleged.</p> -<p>Had she dreamed for an instant that she was dining -with Chick Carter, she would have fallen out of her -chair in a fit.</p> -<p>It was midnight when she reached home at the shore -house of Nathan Godard, and she found the large wooden -dwelling enveloped in darkness.</p> -<p>There was no game in progress that night.</p> -<p>Belle went straight to bed—as straight as her unsteady -steps would take her, and slept soundly until morning, -the heavy sleep of semi-intoxication.</p> -<p>At breakfast with Nate Godard that morning she gave -him the key to the situation—but not the situation itself.</p> -<p>“You keep away from those two town houses, Nate,” -she said grimly to him, over her coffee.</p> -<p>“What’s that for?” inquired Godard curiously.</p> -<p>“Never mind what it’s for,” replied the girl, with -threatening significance. “You do just as I say; that -was the agreement when I undertook to accomplish this -Carter job for you.”</p> -<p>Godard started slightly.</p> -<p>“Is it done?” he quickly asked.</p> -<p>“It’s as good as done, make no mistake about that.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_195">195</div> -<p>“On the level?” cried Godard, with knavish eagerness.</p> -<p>“Yes, on the level,” declared Belle. “But, mark what -I say, Nate, and this goes.”</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>“You keep away from those two town houses for the -next ten days. If you don’t do so, Nate Godard, you -later may be run down to police headquarters, in Mulberry -Street, to answer to the worst charge in the calendar. -So do what I command, or bitter trouble may be -yours.”</p> -<p>In his mind’s eye, so pointed were the girl’s remarks, -Nate Godard fairly could see the lifeless body of Nick -Carter stretched upon the cellar floor of one of the two -houses. How Belle Braddon had accomplished it Godard -neither knew nor cared. He felt it would be a safe -gamble to follow her instructions to the letter.</p> -<p>“By thunder! Belle, I believe you have brought a shift -of luck,” he exclaimed, after a moment, with a grim -mingling of satisfaction and approval. “On my word, -Belle, you are one girl in a million!”</p> -<p>She shrugged her shoulders, then drained her cup of -coffee to its dregs.</p> -<p>“Let’s hope so,” she replied. “I have another bit of -news for you, too, Nate!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_196">196</div> -<p>“What is that?”</p> -<p>“My Dakota chap’s uncle is coming on here to join his -nephew.”</p> -<p>“The devil you say!” cried Godard, half rising from his -chair.</p> -<p>“It’s no joke, Nate.”</p> -<p>“When is he coming?”</p> -<p>“I’m to meet the two of them at the Waldorf to-morrow -afternoon.”</p> -<p>“You mean the wealthy cattle-dealer?”</p> -<p>“The same, Nate.”</p> -<p>“Can’t he be induced to go up against my game here?”</p> -<p>Belle Braddon’s crafty eyes took on a quizzical look -at the man opposite.</p> -<p>“Suppose he can, Nate?” she answered slowly: “could -you make a sure thing of him?”</p> -<p>“How much can be won?” demanded Godard ominously.</p> -<p>“A hundred thousand, at the least, if you get him on -the down track.”</p> -<p>“Are you sure?”</p> -<p>“Dead sure!”</p> -<p>“And he comes from Dakota?”</p> -<p>“There’s no doubt of it, Nate, not a shadow of doubt.” -<span class="pb" id="Page_197">197</span> -cried Belle. “I’ve seen the telegram he sent to his -nephew, and that simple guy hasn’t art enough to deceive -an old woman. Yes, Nate, it’s dead open and shut that -the uncle comes from Dakota.”</p> -<p>Godard dropped back into his chair and fell to thinking.</p> -<p>He was thinking of Moses Flood’s brace deal box, -then in his own possession.</p> -<p>He was thinking, too, of a deck of strippers, also in -his possession, with which he could vary to his own advantage -the turn of every card.</p> -<p>In the lives of those who pursue fickle fortune through -the medium of games of chance there is no experience -which so arouses a spirit of utter recklessness as that -of protracted losing. Sooner or later it drives discretion -from its seat and opens the door for hot-headed desperation.</p> -<p>Say why the moth flies madly into the flame that consumes -him! Say why the screaming sea-gull dashes out -his brains against the dazzling windows of the towering -lighthouse! Say why the undetected murderer haunts -the neighborhood of his bloody crime!</p> -<p>Give answer to these questions—and then you may say -what frenzy of human nature led Nathan Godard to -dare self-destruction in the passionate greed of an evil -hour.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_198">198</div> -<p>Presently he looked up, fixing his inflamed eyes upon -Belle Braddon’s face.</p> -<p>“A sure thing?” said he hoarsely. “Yes, I can make it -a sure thing, Belle, that we win his money!”</p> -<p>“No slip-up, eh?”</p> -<p>“Not on your life!”</p> -<p>“Good!” cried Belle approvingly. “Get rid of all but -your cuekeeper, Nate, and notify the gang that there’ll -be no game here to-morrow night.”</p> -<p>“And you, Belle?”</p> -<p>“I will have the Dakota couple here at precisely nine -o’clock.”</p> -<h2 id="c18"><span class="small">CHAPTER XVIII.</span> -<br />CLOSING IN.</h2> -<p>Nick Carter did not long remain idle after Belle Braddon -left him alone in the trap she had sprung on him -and made her departure from Flood’s vacant house.</p> -<p>Nick kept quiet only until he felt sure she had gone, -and then he began to take the precise measure of his -situation.</p> -<p>With both houses vacant, and the walled passage midway -between them, there was, as Belle Braddon had -<span class="pb" id="Page_199">199</span> -said, no possibility that he could make himself heard by -persons in the adjoining dwellings or upon the street.</p> -<p>Nick gave up that idea almost at the outset.</p> -<p>That help would come to him seemed equally improbable. -Nick knew that Flood would not visit his -house and that Belle Braddon would insure that no person -entered the one adjoining. That any accidental -intruder would put in an appearance was next to absurd.</p> -<p>Nick quickly dropped all hope of relief of that character; -in fact, nearly as quickly as he had dropped the -other.</p> -<p>This left him but one resource—himself.</p> -<p>“I’m in here, and I must get out,” he grimly said to -himself. “I was fool enough to be caught in the trap, -but I’ll try to be clever enough to get out of it. First -of all, to investigate it, for which we’ll have a little -light.”</p> -<p>Nick never went without the ordinary requirements of -his vocation, and he quickly fished out of his pocket a -small electric lamp, the current of which he turned on, -and immediately a flood of light dispelled the intense -darkness of his narrow quarters.</p> -<p>“There, that is more like it,” he muttered. “Now to -look about a bit.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_200">200</div> -<p>A careful examination of the place required but a -little time.</p> -<p>On two sides were the bare brick walls of the passage, -reaching from the floor to the ceiling.</p> -<p>At each end was the inner surface of a heavy iron -door, which was as tightly closed as that of a steel safe. -Under all the pressure Nick possibly could bring to bear -upon them they were not even jarred.</p> -<p>“Um! There’s no opening them by force, that’s sure!” -he presently decided. “Sheet-iron, too, over stout wood, -no doubt, and securely riveted. To break through them -is also out of the question.</p> -<p>“Whew! It’s getting close in here already. I shall -need fresh air before long.”</p> -<p>The ceiling was two feet above his head, and brief -study convinced Nick that nothing could be done in that -direction.</p> -<p>Next he sounded the walls and doors with the butt of -his revolver. Each appeared to be solid, infernally solid, -and Nick then fell to his knees upon the bare floor.</p> -<p>“It’s the only way,” he muttered decisively. “I must -get through this floor in some way. It must be done -quickly, too, or I may become weak for want of better -air.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_201">201</div> -<p>Upon his hands and knees Nick carefully examined the -floor.</p> -<p>It consisted of spruce boards, six inches wide, in most -of which there was no break. Presently, however, he -discovered a crack where the ends of two of the boards -met.</p> -<p>“Aha! this is better!” he muttered.</p> -<p>With his knife he dug out the wood around the nails -securing the longer of the two boards, and succeeded in -slightly prying up the end of it.</p> -<p>There was another board beneath it.</p> -<p>With countenance grown more grim and determined, -Nick rose to his feet and drew his revolver.</p> -<p>“It’s a long chance,” he growled, under his breath. -“The smoke will make it closer than ever in here, but I -must know what’s under these boards.”</p> -<p>He aimed down at a spot a few inches from the end -of the one he had started, then fired.</p> -<p>The report almost deafened him, and a cloud of smoke -immediately filled the place.</p> -<p>The bullet tore through the floor, splitting the end of -the upper board, then plowed its way down through the -frescoed ceiling of the room below.</p> -<p>Nick dropped to his knees again, and peered down -through the hole left by the chunk of lead.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_202">202</div> -<p>As he did so a breath of fresh air filled his nostrils, -and he could discern daylight below.</p> -<p>“Eureka! I’m over one of the rooms!” he cried to -himself. “I’ll fool that sly jade yet—and that isn’t all -I will do for her!”</p> -<p>Nick now went to work with a will. With his knife -he pried up the splintered end of the board until he could -get his fingers under it. Then he ripped up a section of -it, as if it had been so much cardboard.</p> -<p>To remove the remaining pieces of the upper board required -about five minutes, and Nick then tackled the one -below it.</p> -<p>First, he fired a second bullet, making a hole a few -inches from the former. With his knife he then hacked -out the wood between the two holes, thus enabling him -to get a good grip upon the board. With his boot heel, -and at times with the butt of his revolver, he split the -plank in several places, and at the end of fifteen minutes -he had the lower board ripped out.</p> -<p>Though reeking from every pore, Nick at once thrust -his leg through the aperture and down between the -beams, and with his heel broke through the laths and -plastering of the ceiling below.</p> -<p>That he could now effect his escape he had not the -least doubt; yet it required time.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_203">203</div> -<p>Nearly two hours of hard labor followed before he -could hack a hole in the floor sufficiently large for -him to pass through, and it was six o’clock before the -work was done.</p> -<p>Then Nick pocketed his knife and lamp, wormed -himself through the opening, and dropped into the room -below.</p> -<p>He found himself in the house lately occupied by -Nathan Godard.</p> -<p>Before leaving, Nick went to the basement and found -an old broom, and with it removed all of the rubbish -that had fallen to the floor.</p> -<p>“In case that jade comes here before to-morrow night, -to learn if I have survived, I’ll have this stuff out of -her way, and chance that she does not observe the ceiling,” -he said to himself. “Even if she gets no sound -from that trap up there, she’ll not dare open the door. -To make sure of her movements, however, and that the -trick for to-morrow night is by no means queered, I will -have Patsy shadow these two houses all day to-morrow.”</p> -<p>It was nearly dark when Nick arrived home, and he sat -up until midnight waiting for Chick to return.</p> -<p>The latter had left Belle Braddon less than an hour -before, and she had been with Chick since six o’clock -<span class="pb" id="Page_204">204</span> -that evening, so Nick knew that she had not returned -to Flood’s house.</p> -<p>Chick, moreover, had craftily planned with Belle to -visit Godard’s shore house the following night, taking -with them the alleged uncle who was to arrive from -Dakota.</p> -<p>Naturally, the uncle was Nick Carter, and the two detectives -were to meet Belle Braddon at the Waldorf the -following afternoon.</p> -<p>At ten o’clock next morning Nick received a telegram -from Green. It contained only two words:</p> -<p>“Brace on!”</p> -<p>Nick laughed exultingly when he read it, and passed -it to Chick, the two being seated in Nick’s office.</p> -<p>“That does settle it,” declared the latter. “Godard is -expecting us, and has given the humpback instructions -about the cues.”</p> -<p>“Sure thing!” cried Chick. “Belle Braddon has fallen -into the net I have spread for her, and Godard expects -to find an easy mark in my cattle-raising uncle from -Dakota.”</p> -<p>“It is Godard who will be the easy mark!” Nick grimly -rejoined. “One thing is sure!”</p> -<p>“What’s that?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_205">205</div> -<p>“Belle Braddon will never dream that your uncle is -Nick Carter.”</p> -<p>“Well, hardly,” laughed Chick. “She is probably dead -sure that you are down and out by this time.”</p> -<p>“I have Patsy shadowing both houses, in case she goes -there. That is not likely, however.”</p> -<p>“Not at all,” replied Chick. “Women don’t fancy dead -bodies, and shrink from going where they are. Yet she’s -about as bad a trickster in petticoats as I ever met.”</p> -<p>“I’ll go and tell the encouraging news to Flood and -Harry Royal,” said Nick. “Then we will get ourselves -in shape for the round-up.”</p> -<p>At noon that day the yellow-haired chap, who had -been at the Waldorf for nearly ten days, appeared at -the famous hotel with a companion—his uncle.</p> -<p>No man, however suspicious, would have recognized -Nick in the disguise he then wore.</p> -<p>His face was stained to a hue acquired only by long -exposure to the burning sun of the plains. His hair -was coarse and black, and a heavy beard concealed the -lower portion of his face. Two of his teeth had been -“stopped out,” which, when he laughed, gave his mouth -a peculiarly repulsive look. His hands gave evidence -of much labor, and his figure was rounded at the shoulders -and several inches below its normal height. He -<span class="pb" id="Page_206">206</span> -was clad in a suit characteristic of the part he had assumed, -and presented, indeed, a most striking picture.</p> -<p>Precisely at six o’clock, Belle Braddon, arrayed in -the height of fashion, arrived in a carriage at the hotel, -where Chick received her and took her to his suite of -rooms.</p> -<p>He had already cautioned her against appearing to be -greatly amused by the oddities and roughness of the -Western ranchman; yet when Belle Braddon met Nick -and was introduced to him she scarcely could contain -herself. She thought for sure that she was up against -a genuine Western “Rube.”</p> -<p>A sonorous bass laugh came from Nick when they -were introduced, to which was boisterously added, with a -familiarity that tickled the girl immensely:</p> -<p>“So you’re the gal my Archie’s run up agin’, are you?”</p> -<p>“I guess I am, sir,” Belle admitted, blushing with affected -demureness.</p> -<p>“Waal, to tell the hull truth, Miss Braddon, I’m durned -if I don’t ruther envy him,” declared Nick, with blunt -heartiness.</p> -<p>The girl laughed, shrugging her shoulders, and appearing -greatly flattered, then laid off her wrap to wait -for dinner.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_207">207</div> -<p>It was six o’clock before the meal was served, and -Nick dined and wined the party liberally.</p> -<p>During the progress of the dinner, which was served -in one of the elaborate private dining-rooms, the project -of going out to Godard’s shore house was brought up, -and Nick expressed his readiness to give the game a -good, handsome play.</p> -<p>“I’ve got money enough—barrels of it,” he declared to -Belle, much to her delight. “And it’s meat and drink -fur me, lass, to get up agin’ a layout.”</p> -<p>“Then you shall be accommodated,” laughed Belle.</p> -<p>“And I’ll not forget, gal, ’twas you who put us wise -to the fun,” added Nick pointedly.</p> -<p>This looked to Belle Braddon like the promise of a -reward, and she slyly pressed Nick’s hand under the -table.</p> -<p>She received the reward all right—or, at least, what -was coming to her.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_208">208</div> -<h2 id="c19"><span class="small">CHAPTER XIX.</span> -<br />THE RIGHT MAN.</h2> -<p>It was precisely nine o’clock when Nick Carter, Chick, -and Belle Braddon arrived at Godard’s shore house, to -which they were admitted by the humpback and conducted -into the dining-room.</p> -<p>Nate Godard appeared pale and somewhat intoxicated -when he received them, but his nerve quickly returned -after the introductions and the hearty responses of his -visitors, and he promptly invited them to the sideboard -to have a drink.</p> -<p>“Here’s your very good health, Mr. Hedge,” said he, -addressing Nick by the name he had assumed.</p> -<p>“Yours, too, sir,” cried Nick.</p> -<p>“So you are fond of bucking the tiger, are you, and -have come out here to give my game a little play?”</p> -<p>“Fond of it’s no name for it, neighbor,” declared Nick, -as he drained his glass. “I’m a bit off color just now, -though, for I haven’t set down before a stack o’ checks -for nigh a year. All the more saved up for you to win, -eh?” he added, with a boisterous display of good humor. -“That ere’s one way o’ looking at it, Mr. Godard.”</p> -<p>Godard joined in Nick’s loud laugh, and Belle Braddon, -<span class="pb" id="Page_209">209</span> -who was now making up to Nick with an eye to -the future, playfully twined his arm with her hand and -cried gleefully:</p> -<p>“Oh, you’re really too funny, Mr. Hedge.”</p> -<p>“Thet so, lass?”</p> -<p>“You make me laugh nearly every time you speak.”</p> -<p>“Waal, as long as I don’t make you cry, my dear gal, -there’s no sleep to be lost, eh?”</p> -<p>“No, not a wink, sir,” Belle rejoined, with a seductive -glance and smile.</p> -<p>A very little of such banter as this went a long way -with Nick when more serious business was pressing, and -he presently asked roundly:</p> -<p>“Where’s your game, Mr. Godard? Let’s have a look -at it.”</p> -<p>“We can talk and play at the same time, you know,” -put in Chick agreeably.</p> -<p>“You don’t do any playing, my boy,” roared Nick -good-naturedly. “It’s bad enough fur one o’ the Hedge -family to be up agin’ the tiger. You don’t set down a -chip—mind that, my boy.”</p> -<p>“Well, I can look on, can’t I?” grumbled Chick. -“There’s no harm in that!”</p> -<p>“Sure you can look on, lad. There’s no chance to lose -in looking on.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_210">210</div> -<p>“Come up-stairs, Mr. Hedge,” said Godard.</p> -<p>“I’m coming, too,” declared Belle, as he led the way. -“I want to see how you Westerners go at the game, Mr. -Hedge.”</p> -<p>“We go at it, gal, like a bull at a gate,” Nick loudly -laughed, slipping his arm around her as they mounted -the stairs.</p> -<p>Green already had the room brightly lighted, yet he -gave no sign of ever having seen the visitors.</p> -<p>The faro-room was, barring the elaborate furnishings -at Flood’s, not unlike that previously described, and a -sonorous laugh broke from Nick Carter when he beheld -the layout on the table and saw the preparations which -had been made for the game.</p> -<p>“Waal, she does have a durned natural look, Godard,” -he cried, in stentorian tones. “How much can I sit to -win?”</p> -<p>“Your expenses, at least,” Godard significantly replied, -joining in the other’s laugh.</p> -<p>Nick’s expressive eyes evinced just the least bit of -disappointment when he perceived the pack of cards laid -carelessly on a chair at one side of the table, but when -Nathan Godard took his seat back of the layout, and then -produced a pack from behind the check-rack, a momentary -blaze fired their somber depths, only to wane -<span class="pb" id="Page_211">211</span> -again to a steady glow like that of burning coals through -the darkness.</p> -<p>Nick recognized the deck of cards at a glance.</p> -<p>It was the same deck of strippers with which Moses -Flood had dealt himself a loser and afterward strapped -in the satchel with the money he had paid to Cecil Kendall, -less than one hour before the latter was murdered -in the rectory grounds.</p> -<p>They were very positive evidence of Nathan Godard’s -guilt, yet Nick knew that there were other cards like -them, and foresaw that even further proof was desirable. -A profound reader of human nature, as well as a man -of tremendous mental force, Nick was planning to drive -the wretch opposite to a frenzy of excitement when, at -the proper time, he could evoke from him an involuntary -yet absolute self-betrayal.</p> -<p>“My expenses, eh?” he boisterously replied, turning -to wink at Belle, then at the humpback cuekeeper, who -had taken his seat at the end of the table.</p> -<p>“Sure thing, sir, if you get ’em down right,” laughed -Godard, a bit nervously.</p> -<p>“Waal, my expenses will be suthing,” roared Nick, “if -we blow in the stuff as we did at the Waldorf. Gee whiz! -but it costs suthing to eat and liquor up in that ’ere -tavern. Eh, Archie?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_212">212</div> -<p>“Right you are, old man,” nodded Chick, who was -seated near-by.</p> -<p>“Are you in with my play, lass, or with Godard’s?” -cried Nick, turning to Belle with a great display of -joviality.</p> -<p>“I’m always in with the winner,” replied the girl, with -a ringing laugh.</p> -<p>“Oh, ho, that’s it, eh? Cunning as a kitten, aren’t -you?”</p> -<p>“I’m always looking out for my own interest,” grinned -Belle, patting Nick’s cheek from behind his chair.</p> -<p>“Good for you, gal,” cried Nick approvingly. “Waal, -Mr. Godard, across the crick thar, give me a stack o’ -chips. I’ll show you how we play the bank on the t’other -side o’ the Mississip. I dropped seven thousand in hides -in Chicago, on my way here, the which I’m out to get -back. Ha, ha! in with the winner, lass, are you?”</p> -<p>While boisterously voicing the above, Nick drew from -the side pocket of his coat a huge roll of bank-notes, from -which he quickly stripped off two of five hundred dollars -each, and carelessly tossed them across the layout.</p> -<p>“Gimme a stack o’ chips!” he cried noisily.</p> -<p>“One stack?” queried Godard, startled by the prospect -of so big a game.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_213">213</div> -<p>“One stack—sartin!” cried Nick. “Fifty dollars a chip, -that’s good enough fur me. Same as plug ante, what we -used to play in ’49 under the wagon-trains. What’s the -limit, by the way?”</p> -<p>Godard began to tremble under this show of utter recklessness.</p> -<p>“You may stack them up until I call you down,” said -he, speaking calmly with an effort.</p> -<p>Yet he did not feel easy. It is no small undertaking -to deal brace faro, even under ordinary conditions; and -to Godard these appeared without precedent.</p> -<p>His evil heart was beating like a trip-hammer. His -blood was rushing like fire through his veins. Yet the -sight of the pretended cattle-dealer’s money served to -nerve him for a time, and with jaws fixed he began to -shuffle the deck of strippers.</p> -<p>“Till you call me down, eh?” roared Nick, as if in -great enjoyment. “That ought to be good enough, and -it’s what I like to hear. No piking around fur me, a chip -a rip. They say it’s good luck to stake a cuss afore beginning, -so take that, my bucko, and put it in your kit.”</p> -<p>“Thankee, sir!” cried the humpback, as Nick tossed -him a chip valued at fifty dollars.</p> -<p>Nick nodded and laughed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_214">214</div> -<p>“You’re sort of a cross atween a man and monkey, -ain’t ye?” he jokingly demanded.</p> -<p>“Well, sir, I’ll not take any blue ribbons for my -beauty,” rejoined Green, laughing.</p> -<p>“Ha, ha, ha!” roared Nick. “That’s the stuff, my lad! -All ready, eh? What’s to the top o’ the box—an eight?”</p> -<p>Despite his show of carelessness, Nick had seen the -cards shuffled, stripped, and butted. He knew to a certainty -how to place his money. He divided his stack of -chips and coppered two winners for the entire lot.</p> -<p>Godard felt a thrill of exultation.</p> -<p>Nick had set his money down to lose.</p> -<p>The miscreant opposite was not forced to take a false -card in order to win, and he felt relieved.</p> -<p>The first turn from the box brought a decision—the -pretended dealer in cattle had lost.</p> -<p>“Oh, ho!” he cried, with a quick flash of his eyes. -“Can you do thet, ag’in? Let’s see you do thet ag’in!”</p> -<p>Godard’s only reply was to send out another turn -from the deal box.</p> -<p>But Nick’s question was answered—he had lost again, -just as he had planned.</p> -<p>Now he did not laugh. He jerked his chair quickly -nearer the table, and ferociously yanked out his roll of -money.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div> -<p>“Gimme two stacks this time!” he cried aggressively.</p> -<p>“Two goes, mister,” nodded Godard.</p> -<p>He raked in the bank-notes cast upon the layout, and -set forth their equivalent in chips.</p> -<p>Yet he did not speak again, to add to his husky remark. -He dared not trust his voice. It was nothing -short of robbery, this that he was doing, and he felt -that he could see his finish if he got caught cheating.</p> -<p>Nick looked and acted like a man who would fairly -eat another, under such a provocation.</p> -<p>Then Nick went down upon the layout with every -chip that he had bought.</p> -<p>This time he bet to win, thus forcing Godard to take -a false card.</p> -<p>Nick’s object was to drive the man to a frenzy of excitement, -when discretion would be overwhelmed, and -then bring a climax that would evoke self-betrayal.</p> -<p>Godard took the false card, made a secret sign, and a -quick responsive rap sounded from his cuekeeper.</p> -<p>Yet he was ghastly to the lips when he glanced at -Nick to see if the deception had been detected.</p> -<p>Nick saw it all right, but his countenance did not -change. He saw, too, that Godard was beginning to -work under the highest kind of pressure.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_216">216</div> -<p>The latter raked in a thousand dollars on the turn, -and the magnitude of the possibility before him alone -enabled him to maintain his nerve.</p> -<p>“Can’t I win a bet?” Nick hoarsely cried, after buying -for the third time and losing. “Curse the infernal luck—can’t -I win a bet?”</p> -<p>“You are really getting them down a bit unlucky, -uncle,” observed Chick, with pretended sympathy.</p> -<p>“So he is, dear man,” said Belle, in persuasive tones.</p> -<p>They now appeared to be wasted upon the irate cattle-dealer, -however.</p> -<p>“Gimme some more chips, Godard,” he fiercely -growled, slinging a fifth thousand dollars over the layout. -“Gimme some more chips, I say! What sort of a dealer -hev I been steered up agin’, eh?”</p> -<p>“The deal is all right, sir,” stammered Godard.</p> -<p>“Who said ’twasn’t? I said dealer!” snarled Nick -ferociously.</p> -<p>Godard’s hand shook visibly as he shoved the desired -stacks of chips toward Nick. The strain upon him was -something frightful, and his brain felt as if seared with -a terrible heat. The gravity of the situation seemed to -steadily increase, and fear of what might occur was -<span class="pb" id="Page_217">217</span> -taking ugly hold upon him. He ground his teeth together, -and nerved himself to finish the deal.</p> -<p>From the top of the box to the bottom Nick did not -win a bet.</p> -<p>He started the second deal ten thousand dollars loser, -and Godard was trembling in his chair.</p> -<p>The second deal was about like the first.</p> -<p>Nick played to lose. He coppered the winning cards, -and played the losers to win. Time and time again he -forced himself to call for more chips, and each time -noticed that Godard was becoming more and more beside -himself. The perspiration stood in great drops on -the latter’s face, and the arteries of his neck and brow -were pulsing violently. Nick saw that he had him nearly -where he wanted him.</p> -<p>Even Belle Braddon was gazing with affrighted eyes -upon the dreadful scene, hushed and pale now, with -her hands pressed above her heart.</p> -<p>Chick saw by the look in Nick’s eyes that the climax -was approaching, and he quietly made ready for it.</p> -<p>Half-a-minute later Nick drove the knife deeper into -his victim.</p> -<p>The deal had come down to two turns only, and Nick -<span class="pb" id="Page_218">218</span> -knew the cues were wrong and that Godard must take -a card to right them.</p> -<p>Nick forced Godard to win by stealing, and the latter’s -hand shook as if with palsy as he did it.</p> -<p>A rap from the cuekeeper followed, and then the -announcement:</p> -<p>“Last turn!”</p> -<p>Nick resolved it should be the very last.</p> -<p>He placed his bet—and purposely lost!</p> -<p>Then he uttered a terrible cry, as if thrilled with sudden -suspicion.</p> -<p>“Be the cues right? Be the cues right?” he roared, -glaring fiercely at the startled humpback.</p> -<p>“Aye, sir——”</p> -<p>“Then lemme see them cards!” yelled Nick, with his -swarthy face awfully distorted and his eyes blazing like -fire. “Lemme see the cards. I say! —— you, Godard, -there’s suthing wrong with them cards!”</p> -<p>The humpback leaped to his feet with a hoarse remonstrance, -and while Nathan Godard, ghastly as a -corpse, covered the cards with his left hand, his right -went to his hip pocket.</p> -<p>It was the very move Nick wanted to see him make.</p> -<p>“Lemme see ’em!” he roared furiously, half rising -<span class="pb" id="Page_219">219</span> -from his chair. “I tell you there’s suthing wrong with -them cards!”</p> -<p>“I think not——”</p> -<p>“Lemme see ’em! Lemme see ’em, or I’ll——”</p> -<p>“Let him see them, Nate!” shrieked Belle Braddon, -wild lest Godard’s frightful agitation should betray him.</p> -<p>Nick reached across the layout with a terrible imprecation, -and snatched the pack of cards from under Godard’s -quivering hand.</p> -<p>“There’s blood on them!” he roared fiercely, with his -eyes fixed on those of the shaking man opposite. “There’s -blood on them! The blood of a man killed for money—killed -for gain, and by you who now——”</p> -<p>Nick got no further.</p> -<p>The thrilling accusation was more than Nate Godard, -in his unnerved condition, could sustain. He saw the -scheme by which he was being duped—and he saw again -the staring corpse that he had left behind him in the -rectory grounds in Fordham.</p> -<p>With a single wild cry, most like a shriek, he leaped to -his feet.</p> -<p>“Curse you!” he yelled; “I know you now! You’re -Moses Flood!”</p> -<p>“You lie!” thundered Nick, tearing off his disguise. -“I am Nick Carter, the detective!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_220">220</div> -<p>Belle Braddon uttered a scream that pierced the very -walls of the house, and from somewhere under her skirts -snatched out a revolver.</p> -<p>Chick Carter, with eyes alert to see where he was most -needed, was upon her as a leopard leaps upon a hare.</p> -<p>“Not on your life, miss!” he cried, wrenching away -the weapon and forcing her into a chair.</p> -<p>Nate Godard, too, had drawn his revolver, but he never -again discharged it.</p> -<p>Nick swept across the table like a whirlwind, and in -an instant had the desperate man by the throat.</p> -<p>Then he drew back, startled.</p> -<p>Godard’s grip on his revolver had relaxed, and the -weapon fell clattering to the floor. He threw both hands -above his head, like one stricken a fatal blow, then -brought both palms violently to his skull, as if within -were the seat of a dreadful pain. His distorted face -suddenly grew ghastly, with lips drawn and eyes rolling, -and but for Nick Carter’s supporting arm he would have -fallen headlong to the floor.</p> -<p>“He’s done for!” cried Nick to Chick, over his shoulder.</p> -<p>Nick was right: one glance at the man’s death-swept -face was enough.</p> -<p>In the awful stress of his horror, terror, and excitement, -<span class="pb" id="Page_221">221</span> -Nathan Godard had ruptured an artery of his -brain.</p> -<p>The rest, involving the subsequent fortunes of those -who have figured in these pages, may be briefly and -simply told.</p> -<p>Godard died within an hour, without regaining consciousness, -and thus cheated human justice, only to meet -at a divine tribunal the punishment he deserved.</p> -<p>From Belle Braddon, however, whom fear of punishment -now drove to a confession, the facts were obtained -that fully established Godard’s guilt.</p> -<p>He had left the faro-bank just after seeing Kendall -win the ninety thousand dollars, and when the latter -emerged Godard shadowed him to Fordham.</p> -<p>As Nick Carter had shrewdly reasoned, Kendall went -to peer through the library window before entering the -rectory. Godard, meantime, had seen Flood arrive and -hitch his team at the rear gate, putting his heavy cane in -the body of the buggy.</p> -<p>Flood, however, wishing to see Dora Royal alone, had -not gone directly to that side of the house on which the -crime was committed, but had passed slowly around it, -in the hope of attracting her attention from one of the -windows.</p> -<p>Godard, meantime, secured Flood’s cane, waylaid and -<span class="pb" id="Page_222">222</span> -killed Kendall, then made off with the satchel of money, -afterward concealing the cane in the brushwood, that -the crime might be charged to Flood.</p> -<p>The latter, upon coming around the house, had seen -only Harry Royal, with the results already set forth.</p> -<p>Belle Braddon did not for her confession, however, -escape punishment for her evil doings. Nick promptly -placed her under arrest, as an accessory after the crime, -as well as for the attempt upon his life, and she ultimately -received her just deserts.</p> -<p>When the heroic part that Moses Flood had played in -behalf of the Royals was fully made known to the rector, -he did precisely what Nick Carter anticipated. Upon -Flood’s renunciation of his business, which had been entirely -voluntary, Doctor Royal forgave the past and accepted -him as his daughter’s suitor.</p> -<p>Flood went abroad for six months, returning as the -American representative of one of the largest silk concerns -in France, and he and Dora Royal were married -that year, establishing themselves in a fine West End -Avenue residence. The two houses, which were sad -reminders of his past, Flood sold to the best advantage, -and gave the entire proceeds to charity.</p> -<p>The love and gratitude of the happy couple for Nick -<span class="pb" id="Page_223">223</span> -Carter may be easily imagined, and both were numbered -among Nick’s dearest friends.</p> -<p>The great detective frequently said of Flood in after -years, when recalling the incidents here depicted:</p> -<p>“He certainly was the prince of gamesters!”</p> -<p>And certainly it seems to be a good safe wager that -Nick Carter, as usual, was entirely right.</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smaller">THE END.</span></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_224">224</div> -<h2 id="c20"><span class="small"><span class="u">FRANK MERRIWELL</span></span></h2> -<p>Is the hero of every true American boy. -Frank has had numerous adventures which -are chronicled in a manner most satisfactory -to every boy who seeks clean, vigorous -literature. These books can be found only -in the Medal Library.</p> -<p class="center"><b>Price, 10c. Per Copy</b></p> -<p class="center"><b>By BURT L. STANDISH.</b></p> -<div class="box"> -<dl class="undent"><dt>150 Frank Merriwell’s School-Days.</dt> -<dt>167 Frank Merriwell’s Chums.</dt> -<dt>178 Frank Merriwell’s Foes.</dt> -<dt>184 Frank Merriwell’s Trip West.</dt> -<dt>189 Frank Merriwell Down South.</dt> -<dt>193 Frank Merriwell’s Bravery.</dt> -<dt>197 Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour.</dt> -<dt>201 Frank Merriwell in Europe.</dt> -<dt>205 Frank Merriwell at Yale.</dt> -<dt>209 Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield.</dt> -<dt>213 Frank Merriwell’s Races.</dt> -<dt>217 Frank Merriwell’s Bicycle Tour.</dt> -<dt>225 Frank Merriwell’s Courage.</dt> -<dt>229 Frank Merriwell’s Daring.</dt> -<dt>233 Frank Merriwell’s Athletes.</dt> -<dt>237 Frank Merriwell’s Skill.</dt> -<dt>240 Frank Merriwell’s Champions.</dt> -<dt>247 Frank Merriwell’s Secret.</dt> -<dt>251 Frank Merriwell’s Danger.</dt> -<dt>254 Frank Merriwell’s Loyalty.</dt> -<dt>258 Frank Merriwell in Camp.</dt> -<dt>262 Frank Merriwell’s Vacation.</dt> -<dt>267 Frank Merriwell’s Cruise.</dt> -<dt>271 Frank Merriwell’s Chase.</dt> -<dt>276 Frank Merriwell in Maine.</dt> -<dt>280 Frank Merriwell’s Struggle.</dt> -<dt>284 Frank Merriwell’s First Job.</dt></dl> -</div> -<p class="center">If these books are ordered by mail, -<br />add four cents to cover postage.</p> -<p class="center"><b>STREET & SMITH, Publishers, New York.</b></p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_225">225</div> -<h2 id="c21"><span class="small"><span class="smallest">“Get Acquainted With Smith’s”</span></span> -<br /><span class="xxlarge">The Big Three</span></h2> -<div class="verse"> -<p class="t0">MRS. GEORGIE SHELDON</p> -<p class="t0">MRS. MARY J. HOLMES</p> -<p class="t0">CHARLES GARVICE</p> -</div> -<p>You are now looking at the three -most popular authors in America. -Ten million copies of their novels have -been sold and they are now exclusively -engaged to supply <b>Smith’s Magazine</b> -with all their new work.</p> -<p>¶Get a copy of the current number and -look it over. It’s the best published at</p> -<p class="center">TEN CENTS</p> -<p class="center">SMITH PUBLISHING HOUSE, <i>NEW YORK</i></p> -<hr class="dwide" /> -<p class="tbcenter"><b>The Biggest Line of Copyrighted Detective Literature Published</b></p> -<p class="center"><span class="larger"><span class="ss">THE MAGNET LIBRARY</span></span> -<br /><b>OF FASCINATING DETECTIVE STORIES</b></p> -<p>This line has become famous for its excellent stories of the -detection of crime. Of late, it has taken truly remarkable strides -in the public’s favor. The reason for this is that every book -is a marvel of its kind. They are high-class tales, not of the -“blood-and-thunder” order, but with plausible plots which hold -the reader fairly captivated with breathless expectation. Among -these are the stories of the adventures of Nick Carter and his -clever assistants; of “Old Spicer,” the clever private detective, -whose exploits are among the most remarkable ever performed -by any detective. If you are in search of good, interesting -matter, a decided change from that to which you have been -accustomed, purchase a few of these titles. They will not only -please and interest you, but will give you a clear insight into -the methods of the various classes of criminals.</p> -<p class="center"><b>PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK</b></p> -<hr class="dwide" /> -<table class="center"> -<tr class="th"><th colspan="2">To be Published During April</th></tr> -<tr><td class="l">441—The Ring of Iron </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">440—The Lure of Gold </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">439—The “L” Mystery </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">438—Behind a Throne </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr class="th"><th colspan="2">To be Published During March</th></tr> -<tr><td class="l">437—A King Among Crooks </td><td class="r">By J. K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">436—Under the Tiger’s Claws </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">435—The Great Green Diamond </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">434—Through the Cellar Wall </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr class="th"><th colspan="2">To be Published During February</th></tr> -<tr><td class="l">433—The Human Cat </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">432—The “Limited” Hold-Up </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">431—Shot From Above </td><td class="r">By J. K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">430—Marked for Death </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr class="pbtr"><td colspan="2"> -</td></tr> -<tr class="th"><th colspan="2">To be Published During January</th></tr> -<tr><td class="l"><b>429—On the Trail of “Big Finger”</b> </td><td class="r"><b>By Scott Campbell</b></td></tr> -<tr><td class="l"><b>428—Below the Dead Line</b> </td><td class="r"><b>By Scott Campbell</b></td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">427—The Sign of the Dagger </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">426—The Western Ferret </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">425—The Crime of the Camera </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="2" class="c"><hr /></td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">424—The Belrox Mystery </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">423—The Terrible Thirteen </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">422—The Crimson Blind </td><td class="r">By Fred M. White</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">421—A Triple Identity </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">420—The Nitroglycerin League </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">419—The Bloodstone Terror </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">418—The Man Who Hid </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">417—A Victim of Deceit </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">416—The Broken Pen </td><td class="r">By J. K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">415—The Key Ring Clew </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">414—A Modern Sorceress </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">413—The Four-Fingered Glove </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">412—Checkmating a Countess </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">411—The Boulevard Mutes </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">410—Shadowed ’Round the World </td><td class="r">By J. K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">409—Nick Carter’s Double Catch </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">408—Only a Headless Nail </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">407—The Pretty Stenographer Mystery </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">406—The Eye of Gold </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">405—The Plot That Failed </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">404—The Red Stain </td><td class="r">By Scott Campbell</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">403—The Marked Hand </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">402—The Albert Gate Affair </td><td class="r">By Louis Tracy</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">401—The Fatal Legacy </td><td class="r">By Louis Tracy</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">400—The Living Mask </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">399—An Oath of Vengeance </td><td class="r">By John K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">398—Under a Black Veil </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">397—A Crime Without a Name </td><td class="r">By Dick Stewart</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">396—A Baffled Oath </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">395—A Kentucky Moonshiner </td><td class="r">By Inspector Stark</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">394—Playing for a Fortune </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">393—The Convent Mystery </td><td class="r">By John K. Stafford</td></tr> -<tr><td class="l">392—With Links of Steel </td><td class="r">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -</table> -<h2 id="trnotes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> -<ul> -<li>Silently corrected a few typos.</li> -<li>Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.</li> -<li>Added a Table of Contents, based on chapter headings.</li> -<li>In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.</li> -</ul> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE TIGER'S CLAWS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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