“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 I must 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. CHAPTER XXV. THE TRUTH AT LAST. 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 and had 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: