“Carter will come here to a dead certainty. He knows the town, and knows that this is the place where you would most likely hang out. He’ll come here.” “Then he’ll get a warm time of it,” said Nat. “If you think so, stay. But you know the Carters. If you want a chance to escape, take it now. There’s a train for San Francisco runs through here in half an hour. You can catch it.” “Come on,” said Jack, rising. “Hold on a bit,” said Nat. “Who pays the freight? We haven’t had our money yet.” “I’ve got it, but I’ll be hanged myself if I pay you in here. Get out on the street. I’ll go with you part way to the station, and settle with you.” “Don’t wait,” urged Jack. “That’s good advice. Carter may break in here any minute, or he may sneak in in disguise. That’s his most likely way, and then you’ll be nabbed before you know it.” Nat was rather pale now. “I’ll give him a fight for it, if he comes,” he muttered, but he got up, and the three went out. “Will you settle now?” asked Nat, when the three were out on the street. “Don’t be in such a hurry,” was the sharp reply. “Your only safety is to get away from this place. Walk along toward the railroad. I’ll be close at your heels until I think it’s safe to stop and settle.” Nat hesitated. “Don’t you dare to do us dirt!” he hissed savagely. “I’ll settle with you both before you get to the station. Get a move on! Carter may be here the next second.” The crooks started away, looking back frequently to see that Claymore was following. He kept about half a block behind them. Nobody but themselves seemed to be on the streets. There was a drunken man staggering along some distance ahead, but he didn’t count. He, too, disappeared around a corner before the crooks came to it. When they were about to pass that corner a quiet voice behind them said: “This will do. We’ll settle here.” “All right,” responded Nat. Both men halted, and, turning about, found themselves looking into the muzzles of two revolvers. The face back of the hands that held the weapons was not that of their employer, Claymore, but that of their deadly enemy, Nick Carter. CHAPTER VIII. HANK LOW’S LUCK. Claymore was not in his boarding house when Nick and Patsy arrived there. He had come in and gone out shortly afterward. Where he had gone, or in what direction, nobody could say. Possibly to Daddy Drew’s to meet the desperadoes he had hired to commit murder; but Nick didn’t believe it. “That long work in his office this evening means something else,” said Nick. “He’s got another plot up his sleeve. I’ll go to Daddy Drew’s and get those men.” Accordingly, he had turned his face into a copy of Claymore’s and had been admitted easily. Nat had said he would put up a stiff fight if he should meet Carter, and he kept his word. Probably he reckoned that the detective would wish to take him alive, for he did not surrender when he saw the revolver pointed at his heart.