CHAPTER VII. WHEN A MAN IS DESPERATE. During what remained of that day, through the dinner hour, and in the evening when the entire company of guests thronged the big rooms, Nick Carter and Duryea kept as far apart as they conveniently could. Nick had an object in carrying out his part of that unspoken arrangement: He wished Jimmy to understand that he had not yet decided what to do. It has always been one of the detective’s theories that if you leave a criminal well enough alone, he will presently become uneasy under the restraint of inaction, and do something himself. Nick had a notion that Jimmy would attempt some sort of move before another day came around, if only he were left severely to himself; that is, as far as the detective was concerned. But Nick found an opportunity to make Chick thoroughly acquainted with all that had happened; and he also had it arranged to take Nan in to dinner, and so secured an opportunity to talk with her. He noticed, while at the dinner table, that Jimmy, who was seated nearly opposite, kept a furtive eye upon him and Nan, and noted that they were whispering together. No doubt the cracksman would think that they were hatching some sort of a plot against him. That was precisely what Nick wished to have him think. Nick did not believe that Jimmy would have the pluck to hold his ground, and really attempt to marry the girl; for he must know that Nick Carter would never permit that. No, it was plain to the detective that the bluff on Jimmy’s part was directed at some other effort, since that one must now be abandoned. There was a time after dinner when Nick and Nan found themselves alone together, at a corner of the veranda. Nick was seated upon the rail, and Nan stood beside him, picking apart the leaves of a wilted rose that she held in her hand. It was the first chance that Nick had had to tell her about what happened in the summerhouse; there had been no opportunity to do so at the dinner table. “You and Jimmy were a long time in the summerhouse together, during the storm,” she said to him, in a low tone. “What happened?” “A great deal happened, and very little happened,” he replied, smiling. “Tell me about it, Mr. Carter,” she asked. “Jimmy is a great bluffer,” replied Nick. “He is also a brave man, for one in his position. To tell you the truth, Nan, if what he says is half the truth, he holds trumps at the present moment. Can you guess what he would do if I were to arrest him now?” “Deny his identity, of course.” “More than that. He has got another identity established. That name he is wearing is more than a mere name which he has assumed for his present purposes.” “What do you mean by that statement?”