CHAPTER XXIV.A NEW MOVE.

They went to the bar again, where their acquaintanceof the day was yet standing, and ordered some more drinks.

Dempsey and Lannigan came in.

“At ten to-night, you say?” asked Dempsey.

“In a close carriage,” was Lannigan’s reply.

Chick gave a signal to Patsy and walked out into the street.

When they were out in the street, Chick said to Patsy:

“Something’s coming off to-night at that place.”

“And something’s going to be brought in a closed carriage,” added Patsy.

“And we have got to be on hand to see what it is,” added Chick.

The man with whom they had been talking had lagged behind a bit and now came from the saloon and joined them.

“Say,” he said, “you haven’t said whether you was fly-cops or not. Well, I don’t care whether you are or not, but I give it to you straight that Dempsey stopped me to ask who you were.”

“What did you tell him?” asked Patsy.

“I told him you were friends of mine that I had brought in for a drink here.”

Chick and Patsy had no reason to disbelieve the man, but, nevertheless, they felt, if he had not told them the truth, that by this time Lannigan had become suspicious of them.

However, acting upon the notion that the man had done nothing to arouse suspicions of themselves, they asked him to step down the street with them and, while they went into a doorway, to keep an eye on the saloon.

Dodging into this doorway, they made a rapid change, thus confessing to the man that they were, indeed, detectives.

“There’s a five-dollar bill for you,” said Chick, “if you will give us a little help.”

“I’m with you,” said the man.

“Well, then,” said Chick, “we know who your swell gambler is. That’s the fellow we are following.”

At that moment Lannigan appeared in front of the saloon and alone.

“Get on the other side of the street,” said Chick to the man, “and follow after him. We will be behind.”

The man went off readily enough and Chick and Patsy followed some little distance after.

“I put that man to work,” said Chick, “so that he wouldn’t go back to the saloon and blab.”

Lannigan moved rapidly and it was with difficulty that they could keep him in view. His way took him to a large department store in the lower part of the city, into which he hurried, going at once upstairs to the ladies’ parlor.

He had been followed by Patsy, as he went through the store, Chick remaining with the man outside.

To Patsy’s surprise, Lannigan’s purpose in going to that place was to meet Mrs. Ladew. He sat down with that person on a circular cushioned seat that surrounded a pillar, and engaged her in earnest conversation.

On the other side of this circular cushion sat an elderly gentleman engaged in reading his newspaper.

The interview between Lannigan and Mrs. Ladew was brief. Whatever passed between them, unheard, of course, by Patsy, was most disagreeable to Mrs. Ladew, but she yielded, apparently, to whatever was urged by Lannigan.

Having obtained her consent, Lannigan arose to his feet, as if to go away, but stood a moment longer to talk with Mrs. Ladew.

The elderly gentleman, rising and folding his paper, sauntered leisurely toward the door of the parlor and passing Patsy, said:

“Put Chick on Lannigan and come back here to me.”

Patsy gasped:

“Holy smoke, the chief!” he said, to himself.

But he did not wait to say more, but hurried after Lannigan, who had gone out.

Mrs. Ladew, waiting a reasonable time, also undertook to leave the apartment, when she was met by the elderly gentleman.

He addressed her politely and said:

“Mrs. Ladew, if I am not mistaken.”

Mrs. Ladew looked up at him in some surprise, vainly trying to recollect whether she knew the gentleman, but admitted that was her name.

“Permit me,” said Nick, “to have a few moments’ conversation with you.”

“Really sir,” replied the lady, “you have the advantage of me, since I cannot recollect ever having seen you before.”

“You have not,” replied Nick.

“Then, sir, I cannot talk with you. You have mistaken the woman.”

“Pardon me,” said Nick. “I must talk with you. My name is Nick Carter.”

Mrs. Ladew fairly staggered back, and, indeed, would have fallen had not a chair been within easy reach which she could grasp.

“For your own sake,” said Nick, hurriedly, “make no scene here, but submit to my request. It will be far better for you in the end.”

Mrs. Ladew looked helplessly about, as if not knowing what to do, but Nick read her thoughts.

“It is useless to attempt to call assistance,” said Nick. “Such an act would only bring you into trouble. Come with me to the other side of the room.”

Mrs. Ladew, as if not knowing what else to do, followed him to the place indicated.

Nick placed a chair for her and she sat down, frightened.

“Mrs. Ladew,” said Nick, as he drew a chair, placing himself in front of her, “I am disguised, and no one will know that you are talking to Nick Carter, the detective. I want to say to you that you are a very foolish woman and in a very serious and dangerous position. Do you know the man with whom you just talked in this room?”

Mrs. Ladew nodded her head, but did not speak.

“You are a woman who has a good position in the world, a devoted husband, all that wealth can give you, and you are endangering everything by your association with this man. I doubt if you really know who and what he is. I have no wish nor intention of exposing you to your husband, or to the world.”

By this time Mrs. Ladew had had time to think, and she made an effort to master the situation. With no little haughtiness, she said:

“Your words are very singular, sir, as addressed to me. Exposure? I am a woman of position, sir.”

Nick stopped her sternly. He said:

“Mrs. Ladew, I know your whole life for the past three days. You went to New York to attend the wedding of Mr. Ellison to Miss Sanborn, but you took occasion to travel about with Jimmy Lannigan, gambler, thief, burglar.”

Mrs. Ladew leaped to her feet, horror-stricken.

“Thief! Burglar!” she exclaimed. “You tell what is not true.”

“Sit down, Mrs. Ladew,” said Nick. “Lannigan is just what I say he is. A thief and a burglar, known to the police as the swell cracksman of Philadelphia. He attained an unenviable reputation a short time ago, andI could have landed him in prison; but I was lenient with him. I wanted to give him a chance to reform; but this is the outcome. He is a scoundrel of the worst type and I want to tell you that I shall have him arrested and imprisoned before many days. He has served a term in the State’s prison. He is an ex-convict.”

He paused to see the effect of his words on this lady of fashion.

“You think,” he went on, “Lannigan went on to New York to meet you and have a spree with you. That was not his real reason. His purpose was to rob the Sanborn house of the wedding presents. You had your spree, as I know, and I can give you every hour and minute of your movements with him through the Tenderloin.”

Mrs. Ladew fell back in her chair, her face ashen gray, as she heard Nick say these things. Nick went on:

“It is not for me to object to the way of life you have chosen, but I can say, as I did before, that you are a very foolish woman, and, especially, to endanger your reputation by being seen in the company of such a miserable scamp and rascal as this contemptible Jimmy Lannigan.”

“I have done nothing wrong,” she said.

“Perhaps not; but how would your husband like to know that your escort in New York was a burglar?”

“And what do you want of me?” piteously asked Mrs. Ladew.

“I might say,” replied Nick, “that I wanted to save you from him, but, to be honest, I have no such purpose. I have told you these things to show you that I know how dangerous is your position. You are in the possession of certain information which I must have and, I tell you now, Mrs. Ladew, that I will use my knowledge of your past three days if you do not give me that information.”

“What can I tell you?”

“You know that Mr. Ellison mysteriously disappeared from the Sanborn house after the wedding breakfast.”

“Yes.”

“You know,” Nick went on, “that a man came to the house to see him and that Mr. Ellison left that house in the disguise that man had brought for him.”

“Yes.”

“Who was that man?”

“He was a man from England,” said Mrs. Ladew.

“What was his message to Mr. Ellison that made that gentleman so quickly respond?”

Mrs. Ladew hesitated a moment and said, finally:

“Why do you ask me these questions?”

“Because I believe you know them all.”

“I do, I do. But they were told me in confidence. And now I see how I am entangled by them.”

She got up and walked to the window and looked out a moment. Then she came back, evidently making a severe effort to control herself. Suddenly she turned to Nick and said:

“You are no friend of mine. There is no reason why I should trust you. I am in a great trouble. I see that now. And I have no way to turn.”

“I have said before, Mrs. Ladew, I have no wish to injure or expose you. I say now that, if you will reveal to me all you know, I will protect you and help you.”

“But how can I trust you? How do I know that I can trust you?”

“If you know anything about me,” said Nick, “you must know that I am a man of my word. I am accustomed to hold the secrets of many persons, and no one has ever heard that Nick Carter has betrayed them.”

Mrs. Ladew stood a moment in thought and, at length, said:

“I must trust you. I have no one else to trust, and Imust escape from this horrible entanglement that I am in. But I cannot talk to you here. Come with me and we will drive in my carriage. There we can talk.”

Nick rose, and together they left the room.

As they passed out through the store, Nick saw Patsy and gave him the signal to follow them.

Then he went downstairs with Mrs. Ladew and entered her carriage with her.

While Chick and Patsy and Ida had been engaged on their various branches of the work, Nick had been busy in following up some clews that had drifted into his hands.

So that, with what his assistants had discovered and reported to him, he had come to learn the full story of the relation of Ellison to Mrs. Ladew and of Mrs. Ladew with Jimmy Lannigan. And, when Ida reported the results of her interview with Miss Rainforth, Nick realized that the rest of the story could be pieced out by Mrs. Ladew, if he could induce her to talk.

Without delay, then, he had hurried at once to Philadelphia, and had followed Mrs. Ladew to the department store where she met Lannigan.

Believing from what he had learned of Mrs. Ladew that she would not talk to him willingly, he had determined that he would use the knowledge of her escapade in New York with Lannigan as the means of compelling her.

His success he now felt was as great as he could have hoped for.

During the brief space of time taken to go from the ladies’ parlor into the carriage, Mrs. Ladew had evidently thought that her whole safety lay in giving her utmost confidence to the famous detective.

A part of this lay in that impression of trustworthiness that Nick made upon all with whom he came in contact.

And so it was that, when they were in the carriage andhad driven out of the crowded streets into Fairmount Park, Mrs. Ladew said, impulsively:

“I shall tell you all, Mr. Carter. But if I do so, can I rely upon you to save me from the consequences of my folly?”

“You can rely upon me to the uttermost. I have no commission except to find Mr. Ellison and discover the mystery of his disappearance. I have no duty to perform in punishing anybody. But I will protect you and safeguard you from any trouble that may come out of your relations with Lannigan or with Mr. Ellison.”

Mrs. Ladew turned on him, astonished.

“And do you know of that, too?”

Nick bowed his head and said:

“I do know of that. Now, please answer the question I asked you before we left the ladies’ parlor of that store. What message did that man bring to Mr. Ellison that made him respond so promptly?”

“The message was that if Mr. Ellison did not at once go to see the wife he had married in England six years before, and who was then nearby, she would appear at that reception and expose him in the presence of everybody.”

This reply was as near a shock to the famous detective as he, used to startling announcements, could have. He had not contemplated any such complication. But he promptly asked the next question:

“Did you know of that previous marriage?”

“Not until that afternoon.”

“What did you then learn?”

“I learned that Mr. Ellison had married, secretly, a young woman of great beauty who was a barmaid in England, but from whom he had been separated almost immediately; that, for a large sum of money, she hadconsented to consider the marriage annulled, and that for several years he had seen nothing of her.

“Very shortly after Mr. Ellison came to this country I made his acquaintance, and he began to come to Philadelphia quite frequently to see me.

“Our relations were quite intimate and he was a frequent visitor at my house and was on good terms with my husband.

“It seems that a brother of this girl lived in Philadelphia and one day met him on the street, recognizing him as the young fellow who had been married to his sister and who had paid a large sum to be free from that marriage.

“Just how Mr. Ellison became acquainted with a set of men of whom Mr. Lannigan was one, I don’t know, but he did, and, being fond of cards and gambling, he began to gamble with them. I have been told that he lost large sums of money to them, and that they hold his notes for sums to be paid when he was married to Miss Sanborn.

“This man, the brother of his former wife, while not of the party with whom he gambled, was yet in close relations with Lannigan, to whom he told his story. I had had a bitter quarrel with Mr. Ellison before I ever met Mr. Lannigan, or even knew there was such a person. It was not until some time after that that I even knew Mr. Lannigan was acquainted with Mr. Ellison. But I have come to know that Mr. Lannigan knew of my relation with Mr. Ellison.

“What I do know is that this brother, whose name is Clowes, wanted to blackmail Mr. Ellison. But Mr. Lannigan simply told Clowes that, even if he did expose Mr. Ellison, the result would not be money, but merely the breaking off of his match with Miss Sanborn. It isonly since the marriage that I have known all these matters.

“Under the guidance of Mr. Lannigan, Clowes put himself into relations with Mr. Ellison and told him that he was free to go on with the marriage of Miss Sanborn, because his sister was dead. But he sent for that sister hurriedly to come to this country.

“As I learned, the intention was to have her here a day or two prior to the marriage and then force him, on the eve of his marriage, to another compromise or payment of a large sum.

“Their programme was checked by the non-arrival of the sister in time.

“About the attempt of Mr. Lannigan to rob the Sanborn house of the jewels, I know nothing; but, now that you tell me such was the case, I can see that that was intended and that I was to have been made use of to that end.

“It was at first arranged that Mr. Lannigan was to attend the reception with me. But the fact that I learned that some Philadelphia people were to be there who knew him broke up that arrangement.

“The sister of Clowes, Ellison’s wife, arrived in this country on the morning of the wedding.

“That morning Mr. Ellison was informed that she was not dead, but was in this country and demanded to see him.

“Mr. Ellison refused to believe it.

“Mr. Lannigan says that the plan of summoning him from the reception was decided upon very hastily and that his valet was bribed to assist in it.

“Clowes was sneaked into the house by the aid of the valet, and Mr. Ellison was taken to him in a room in which he had been placed.

“There Clowes showed Mr. Ellison a letter from hiswife, who declared that if he did not immediately see her in a carriage that was in a nearby street she would make her appearance and prove her former marriage to Mr. Sanborn.

“Mr. Ellison, convinced that she was there, yielded, and took the coat and wig and false whiskers that Clowes had bought for the purpose and slipped out of the house, intending to return very quickly.

“He entered the carriage, and, being an obstinate and high-spirited man, by the time the brother reached them they were in a bitter quarrel, in which Mr. Ellison had recklessly defied them to do their worst, declaring that he would lock them both up for extortion and conspiracy.

“Then the brother, finding that Mr. Ellison was not to be handled, chloroformed him and drove him away. The valet, frightened over the result, fled from the city.”

Nick had listened to this story in utter astonishment. The facts, as they had been revealed, were wholly different from what he had imagined.

It was true, as Miss Rainforth in her second anonymous letter to him had hinted, that a woman was at the bottom of the disappearance. But the woman was by no means the one she had supposed.

Miss Rainforth had believed that Mrs. Ladew was concerned in that disappearance, and such belief had been inspired by her jealousy of that woman.

In the recital of Mrs. Ladew it was clear that she had no part in the disappearance, but only a guilty knowledge of the event.

All that she knew had been told her by Lannigan, who had either given this to Mrs. Ladew for a purpose not apparent to Nick or in that weakness strong men often show in their relations with women.

“What was expected to be gained by taking Mr. Ellison off?” asked Nick.

“Nothing,” replied Mrs. Ladew. “The abduction, if you can call it abduction, became necessary because of the attitude that Mr. Ellison assumed. He is a man slow to anger, but, when aroused fully, almost a lunatic in his temper. At such times he casts all thoughts of prudence aside and becomes utterly reckless and unmanageable.

“Mr. Lannigan tells me that when he discovered the plot, and that it was the intention to force him to sign a legal document that would compel him to pay a large sum of money for their silence, he fell into one of those ungovernable fits of passion, so that there was nothing else to do but to chloroform him to keep him quiet. It was that which made the mysterious disappearance.”

“Mr. Lannigan must have been in the plot,” said Nick.

“He was.”

“Did you not know of it?”

“Not until the evening of that day—last night.”

“Did you, then, not know that Mr. Lannigan was not a straight person?” asked Nick.

“I could not help but know it then,” replied Mrs. Ladew. “I knew that he was a gambler, but I did not know that he was a thief and a burglar, as you say he is, and yet it must be so.”

“What is the plan now?”

Mrs. Ladew shuddered.

“Here is where danger is to me,” she said. “After having chloroformed him and carried him away, they did not know what to do with him. Their whole plans were upset. But they have now determined to hold him until he is ransomed.”

“And you have been made a party to this?” asked Nick, jumping to a conclusion.

“Yes.”

Mrs. Ladew startled Nick by bursting into a passion,the depth of which Nick, who had judged her to be a weak, superficial, reckless woman, did not think her capable of.

“Oh the blackness of it! The humiliation! The degradation! Lannigan showed himself to me to-day in all his villainy, and would have pulled me with him if you had not interfered.”

“What was it he proposed?” asked Nick.

“Using the power over me he has gained, he called me to him where you saw me and forced me to consent to see Mr. Ellison to-night to act as the means of getting the money they desire.”

“See him to-night?” asked Nick. “Where could you see him?”

“Here in Philadelphia. He is to be here.”

“Where?”

“I do not know, but Mr. Lannigan is to let me know and to take me to the place where Mr. Ellison is to be, or is now, for all that I know.”

Nick was thoughtful for a time and then he said:

“Can you go with him without discovery?”

“Easily.”

“Then do so,” said Nick. “I shall be on hand to protect and save you. I promise you that you will not even be compelled to meet Mr. Ellison. But you will be followed to the place where you are to meet him, and rest assured that I will protect you to the very last.”

He turned sharply to the lady and said:

“Are you ready to break with this man Lannigan, or are you anxious to continue your friendship with him?”

“No, no,” she cried; “after what you have told me I do not wish to see his face again.”

“Then rest assured that you will be free of him, if you will do this as I want you to do. I pledge you myword that afterward you will not be troubled by Lannigan.”

This being arranged, Nick asked Mrs. Ladew to hurry back to the city, as he had much to do in preparing for the night’s work.

Half an hour later he left the coach with the understanding that she was to communicate with him the hour at which she was to meet Lannigan for the purpose he had asked her.

As he stepped from the coach he saw Patsy, who had faithfully followed him as Nick had directed.

He went to him, saying:

“Hot work to-night, Patsy, but we will end it before midnight.”

When Patsy had met Nick at the department store, he had no opportunity to tell him of the experience of himself and Chick that day in Philadelphia.

He did so now, however. Nick listened intently, and at the conclusion said:

“Good. You and Chick have found out the very thing to make my story complete. We could get along without Mrs. Ladew.”

Patsy was surprised at this remark, for he did not know then what had passed between Mrs. Ladew and his chief.

“I guess this is where I need some information,” he said.

“Well, then, Patsy, I’ll make you as wise as myself,” said Nick Carter.

He then told Patsy in brief the story he had learned from Mrs. Ladew.

At its conclusion Patsy exclaimed:

“I see it all! The thing that is coming in a covered carriage to that place at ten to-night is his nibs, the Englishman.”

“That’s what it is,” said Nick.

“And they’re going to stow him in that back building. That’s the game.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Well, it’s a nasty place. It’s a nasty place to bring a woman, and it won’t be an easy thing to get that fellow out of it.”

“Easy or not,” said Nick, calmly, “we have got togo through it. I guess we’ve been in worse places and come out whole.”

After a moment he said:

“I wonder where we can pick up Chick.”

“Don’t know,” said Patsy. “The last I saw of him he was trailing Lannigan, holding fast to the man he had in tow.”

“He’ll turn up in time,” said Nick. “Chick is always on hand at the right time. But come with me now, Patsy. I must see Ida.”

“Is Ida here?”

“Yes; she came over with me, for I did not know but that she would have to do the work of Mrs. Ladew. As it is, she must go to her.”

They hurried to the hotel where Nick had left Ida, and there, having written a note to Mrs. Ladew, Nick gave it to Ida and told her that she must accompany Mrs. Ladew when she was called by Lannigan.

This Ida did at once, and saw Mrs. Ladew without difficulty.

It was well for Nick’s plans that he did send Ida to the lady, for, on arriving, Ida found Mrs. Ladew almost in a state of collapse, as a reaction from the excitement of the day, and disposed, if not determined, to go no further the matter, refusing to have anything further to do with Lannigan, on the ground that Nick Carter was on their trail.

Ida devoted herself toward soothing and encouraging Mrs. Ladew, and had the satisfaction of presently seeing the woman in a better frame of mind, and with courage to go through the ordeal before her.

While this was going on, Nick and Patsy set out on the rather hopeless task of trying to find Chick in a large and strange city.

It was nearly night when they set out, and they wandered about an hour without discovering trace of Chick. Finally they reached the Broad Street station in their wanderings, and as they stood in front of it they saw Lannigan approach and enter.

“Chick’s somewhere around,” remarked Patsy.

“Unless he’s lost Lannigan,” said Nick.

“Chick never loses anybody,” said Patsy.

And to confirm his statement, Chick walked up to them.

“You can drop Lannigan,” said Nick, “for we have got on to his movements and know he will be where we want him to-night.”

“Don’t you think,” said Patsy, “it would be just as well to find out what Lannigan is doing here in the station?”

“Perhaps so,” said Nick. “It will do no harm.”

“Lannigan has been as busy as possible,” said Chick. “He’s led me a chase up and down into all sorts of queer places. He’s got a funeral on hand.”

Patsy laughed aloud.

“He’ll be lucky,” he said, “if it’s not his own funeral. That’s what I think he’s going to.”

“What do you mean by saying he’s got a funeral?” asked Nick.

“Because he’s been running among the undertakers and to the Health Board. I know he has got a permit to transport a body across town.”

“A permit?” asked Nick.

“Now what does that mean? And what has that to do with this thing?”

“Cæsar’s ghost!” cried Patsy, “that Englishman hasn’t spoiled our fun by croaking, has he?”

“Follow him, Patsy,” said Nick, “and see what he’s doing here. Then come to the hotel.”

Patsy was off like a flash, and Nick, taking Chick by the arm, took him to the hotel, on the way telling himof all the developments with which Chick was unfamiliar.

Arriving at the hotel, Nick found a note from Ida saying that Lannigan had called Mrs. Ladew to meet him in a carriage at a certain corner of the street she named, at half-past ten that night, and that Ida was going with her as her maid.

“That is all settled and according to programme,” said Nick.

Patsy now rushed in to tell them that Lannigan had been making arrangements to receive a corpse coming from New York on the train arriving at nine-thirty.

The three detectives dined and discussed this last movement of Lannigan, but they could conceive no reasonable explanation, finally reaching the conclusion that it had nothing to do with their affair.

As the hour approached, Nick sent Patsy to the corner where Lannigan was to meet Mrs. Ladew with a coach, while he and Chick went out to the house that he had visited with Patsy in the earlier part of the day.

“It is somewhat of a chance,” said Nick, “that we are taking, but I have no doubt that that is the destination of Lannigan with Mrs. Ladew.”

“At all events,” said Chick, “if he’s going to take her anywhere else, Patsy and Ida will be on hand.”

Arriving at the spot, they took a careful survey of the house and the place, and made the discovery that the double doors in the fence, which Chick and Patsy had observed, were slightly open.

“Ready for the covered carriage to drive in,” remarked Chick.

It was then after nine o’clock, and the two settled themselves for a wait until ten, the hour at which Lannigan had told Dempsey the covered carriage would reach there.

A few minutes before ten the doors were swung open and, as Chick was quick to recognize, by Tom Driscoll.

It was almost on the very hour that they saw a hearse approaching. As it turned the corner the horses were whipped up suddenly and they dashed through the gates, which were closed immediately after the hearse passed through.

“Oho!” exclaimed Chick. “Now, what is the meaning of that?”

“A part of your undertakers’ work to-day,” said Nick. “But what of it? What scheme is this?”

“Nick,” said Chick, earnestly, “do you think they could have killed Ellison?”

“And brought his body all the way over to Philadelphia?” said Nick. “That is hardly possible.”

They stole up the street to a point opposite the gates.

From that point, however, they could see nothing.

A tree was immediately opposite the courtyard on the side of the street on which they stood.

“Give me a back,” said Chick, in a whisper. “I’ll climb up and see if I can look over the fence.”

Nick made a back for Chick, and in a moment Chick was up in the branches overlooking the fence.

While he was there the gates were suddenly opened, and a flood of light shone out. The hearse came from the yard and was rapidly driven away.

The gates were then immediately closed again. In a moment or two Chick slipped down from the tree. He said to Nick:

“A box like those they put caskets in was brought in that hearse. It was heavy; it took six men to draw it by ropes from the pavement to the bridge. It was then carried into the rear room of that house in the rear, the lights of which you can see.

“Then they brought out the box light, for they let it down easily and carried it into the stable.”

“Something mysterious here,” said Nick. “Is it possible that they have brought Ellison over from New York in that box?”

“Drugged, so as to be unconscious?” asked Chick.

“It begins to look like that,” said Nick. “They could do it by perforating the casket with air holes.”

He was silent a moment or two, deeply thinking. At last he said:

“It must be so. They say they will have Ellison here to-night. Mrs. Ladew has been forced by Lannigan to meet him to-night. Ellison would hardly come over here willingly, and the chances of his escape, of being recognized or of alarming the public, would be too great for them to attempt to force him over. Chick, the only way in which they could get him over is to bring him unconscious and as a corpse.”

“It must be so,” said Chick. “Ellison was in that box. They have lifted him out and he is in that room where the lights are.”

“Then we have located our man.”

“And we’ll be sure of it, if Lannigan comes with Mrs. Ladew here.”

“I presume,” said Nick, “if we are right, that they are busy now in restoring Ellison to consciousness.”

“Our trick,” said Chick, “is to wait here and watch for the coming of Lannigan with Mrs. Ladew.”

It was half-past ten by this time and, according to their calculations, Lannigan could not reach there before eleven.

They settled themselves for the wait, and promptly on the hour of their calculations they saw a coach round the corner.

The doors in the fence swung open again, and as thecoach turned into the gate Nick and Chick sprang behind and close to it.

The wheels had not rolled over the sidewalk before Patsy came up on a run and joined them.

As the coach cleared the gates they were swung to as before. But not quickly enough to shut out the three detectives.

The moment it stopped the door of the coach was opened and Lannigan stepped out.

Nick, with a bound, was beside him and, striking him heavily with the butt of his pistol on the head, knocked him clean over. At the same moment he called to Ida to guard Mrs. Ladew in the coach.

Driscoll, who was in the courtyard to receive the carriage, seeing the attack on Lannigan, rushed forward, but was met by Patsy, who hit him squarely in the face, but not until Driscoll had recognized Nick Carter and cried out his name.

Though he had fallen under the force of Patsy’s blow, he picked himself up and took to his heels without waiting for anything further to occur.

Under the lead of Nick, Chick and Patsy rushed to the winding stairs and reached the bridge before an alarm had been given to any of the others.

Who they were to meet they had little idea, but Chick thought they would have to encounter not less than six.

As they entered that rear building from the bridge they met a man whom Nick concluded at once was the man Clowes and, without waiting for any act upon that man’s part, he sprang forward and struck him a terrific blow in the face which toppled him over.

“Take care of that man, Patsy,” cried Nick.

He dashed along the hallway, closely followed by Chick.

Patsy stopped to look at the man and saw at a glance that he was unconscious. He called after Nick:

“You’ve done that already. I couldn’t take better care of him if I was to hit him with a sledge-hammer.”

And he ran after the other two.

At the door of the room where they supposed Ellison had been taken they met two or three, who had been attracted by the noise and scuffle in the hall.

Nick sprang forward, striking with both hands, and Chick was beside him in the effort.

The force with which they had jumped forward carried them into the room. A hasty glance showed them a man bound on the bed, while one was bending over him.

They waited for nothing, but each of the three detectives selected a man and toppled him over with blows.

The onslaught had been so rapid, and so vicious, as well as unexpected, that the men were hardly prepared to defend themselves.

Nick sprang to the bedside and, whirling the man who stood there aside, and who, as they subsequently learned, was a physician, said to the prostrate man:

“We are your friends, Mr. Ellison.”

He could see the man’s eyes flash with intelligence and, whipping out a knife, Nick cut the bands that confined him and, thrusting a revolver in his hand, said:

“Help to defend yourself.”

Ellison sprang from the bed as soon as his feet were released, while Nick turned to help Chick and Patsy, on whom the men, now recovered from their confusion, were attempting to make a combined attack.

They had been joined in the meantime by Dempsey.

Chick recognized him at once, and he went at that man, who had already drawn a revolver, striking him in the face with the butt end of his own.

Ellison joined them instantly, and, weak as he was, quickly showed his fighting power.

Though there were seven of them in the room, the four soon overcame them, driving them before them out of the room and into the passageway.

There they were at the mercy of the four behind them, for the way was narrow, and in their efforts to escape they blocked each other against the wall.

There were broken heads in plenty, but they managed to reach the bridge, some of them escaping over it and some down the winding stairs, among them Clowes, who, recovering consciousness, ran away.

The four went down the stairs into the courtyard, but by the time they had reached it the men who had fled from them had entirely disappeared.

The coach was still standing there, the driver sitting contentedly on his box, while Lannigan was sitting on the pavement.

For a moment Nick could not imagine what he was doing there, and thought that he must be yet dazed with the blow he had given him.

But, passing the heads of the horses, he saw the reason for Lannigan’s attitude.

Ida was sitting on the coach step covering him with a revolver, having threatened to put a ball into him if he stirred.

“Get up, Lannigan,” said Nick. “You can put up that revolver, Ida.”

Turning to Ellison, Nick said:

“Mr. Ellison, I was only commissioned to discover the mystery of your disappearance and find you. I shall not attempt to do anything to these rascals on my commission. It is for you to determine whether you will make a charge against them and arrest them. I want to say to you that if you care to consider the wishes of Mr. Sanborn andthe lady you married yesterday, you will do nothing. It is for you to determine whether you can go clean handed to your friends.”

“I think I understand you,” said Mr. Ellison, “you refer to the story of my having been married some years ago in England.”

“I do,” replied Nick.

“It is true that I was married, most unfortunately. I was informed months ago that my wife was dead, as I had heard two years or more before.”

“I understand that,” replied Nick; “and that your wife made her appearance in this country on the day of your wedding to Miss Sanborn.”

“That is what I was informed, and the fact that she was nearby induced me to leave the house as I did. But the fact is, Mr. Carter, the woman I met in that coach was not my wife. She was my wife’s sister, who looks much like her. It was a fraud played upon me. It was my discovery of it that led to my being chloroformed and kept in confinement. My wife is dead.”

“And you are, therefore, legally and fairly married to Miss Sanborn,” said Nick. “It is not for me to advise you, Mr. Ellison, but my duty to Mr. Sanborn leads me to say that I know, if his wishes are to be consulted and those of the lady who is now your wife, everything will be done to prevent publicity and notoriety, even if it results in the escape of these rascals from the justice they so richly merit.”

“That accords with my feelings,” returned Mr. Ellison, “though my first impulse was to seek revenge on them.”

Nick then went to the coach door and spoke to Mrs. Ladew, saying:

“My aid, Ida here, will return with you to your house, Mrs. Ladew. You may go in the full assurance that you will not be bothered by Lannigan.”

To Ida he said:

“As soon as you leave Mrs. Ladew, come to the hotel. We shall go back to New York as soon as we can. A new case awaits us there.”

He then directed the driver to drive off with the two occupants, and when the courtyard was cleared of the coach he turned to Lannigan, saying:

“Jimmy Lannigan, I have always heard that your luck is very great, but this time it has deserted you. Some time ago I let you slip out of my hands, believing that the warning would keep you straight. I was wrong. I know now that you are crooked all the way through. You would be a menace to the community if I let you off again, and this time I’m going to run you in—under the old charge.”

Lannigan, who thought he had escaped again, was so much confused that he simply stared at Nick and made no movement until he felt the cold steel on his wrists and knew that he was handcuffed and in Nick’s power.

Then his passions let loose and he turned a flood of abuse upon the detective. But Nick quickly stopped the fellow with an effective gag and prepared to remove him in custody.

Subsequently he was taken to New York and Nick Carter’s testimony was so damaging that Lannigan was sentenced to ten years in the State’s prison.

THE END.

No. 1099 of theNew Magnet Library, entitled, “A Race Track Gamble,” by Nicholas Carter, is a great story, and tells how the quick-witted Nick caught a gang of race-track crooks, after much trouble and many dangers, and sent them where they could do no more harm for some years to come.

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