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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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