Brower came to his assistance with a vengeance, and rained terrific blows upon the head of Dyke Darrel with the butt of his revolver. Soon the mad grip relaxed from the throat of Ruggles, and Dyke Darrel sank a bleeding and insensible mass to the floor. Panting and gasping, Professor Ruggles leaned against the stairs and gazed about him in the gloom. The lamp had been overturned in the struggle, and at the last, darkness reigned supreme. "I've fixed him, Professor," growled Nick Brower, in a savage undertone. "I hope so, the devil. He went for me with the venom of a tiger. Have you a match?" "Yes." "Let's have a light. I'm afraid you have done a miserable job, Nick." Inside of five minutes the overturned lamp was recovered and burning once more. Its rays revealed a ghastly scene. Two forms lay on the floor, Dyke Darrel and Nell, both apparently dead. Nick's companion, who had screamed so lustily at the fire from Nell Darrel's derringer, still leaned against the stairs seeming little the worse for wear. "Mike, where are you hit?" "Don't know. I FELT the bullet goin' through my brains." A brief examination showed that the man had only been grazed by the shot from the girl's pistol. When this discovery was made Professor Ruggles became very angry. "You made more fuss than a man shot through the neck ought to. The girl has been killed in consequence. Hades! this has been a bad evening's work. I would rather have lost a thousand dollars than had Nell Darrel slain." "She wan't wuth no sich money," growled Brower. "How do you know what she was worth, you miserable brute?" snarled the Professor, in an angry voice. "I take it, that I know more about it than you do." "See here, boss, aren't you goin' on a bin run for nothin'? Whar'd you be now if I hadn't gin Dyke Darrel his quietus? Mebbe you'd better thank instead of curse your friend." There was a deal of homely sense in the words of burly Nick Brower, and the prince of villains realized it. "I wanted the girl unharmed, Nick. If she's dead I don't suppose it can be helped, however; she brought her fate upon herself." "That she did, Prof." Professor Ruggles then proceeded to make an examination of the wound in Nell Darrel's head. He was gratified to discover that the bullet had merely glanced across the girl's skull without making a necessarily dangerous wound. "I will take the girl out of this while you dispose of the detective," said Ruggles. "Be sure and fix him so that he will give no trouble in the future." "Trust me fur thet," answered the villain Brower. Then Professor Ruggles passed up the stairs with Nell Darrel in his arms, just as four men halted at the side door in the alley. CHAPTER XXII. THE EMPTY SEAT. A hand shook the door as Professor Ruggles entered the room. He at once suspected something wrong, but cared only for his own safety, and so did not attempt to warn the inmates of Mrs. Scarlet's den of their danger.