It was not until then that Chick saw the automatic at his chief’s breast. There was no time to reach Grantley--not a second to waste. The young detective did what Nick and his men seldom allowed themselves to do--he turned his automatic around again and shot to kill. Nick’s own life depended upon it, and there was nothing, else to do. The bullet struck Grantley full between the eyes, and the escaped convict dropped without a sound. The battle was over and won. * * * * * Doctor Hiram A. Grantley--so called--master surgeon and monster of crime, would never return to Sing Sing to serve out his unexpired term; but neither would he trouble the world, or Helga Lund, again. If the truth were known, it would doubtless be found that Warden Kennedy heaved a sigh of profound relief when he heard of Grantley’s death. It left no room for anxiety over the possibility of another hypnotic escape. Doctors Chester, Willard, and Graves were speedily brought to trial, and they were convicted of aiding and abetting the deceased Grantley in an illegal experiment in hypnotism on the person of the great Swedish actress. As for Helga Lund, she was a nervous wreck for nearly a year, but gradually, under the care of the best European physicians, she recovered her health and her confidence in herself. She has now returned to the stage, and Nick Carter, who has seen her recently in Paris, declares that she is more wonderful than ever. He wishes he could have spared her that last humiliating ordeal, but she is wise enough to know that, but for him and Chick, the man she had despised would have made his dreadful vengeance complete. THE END. “The Call of Death; or, Nick Carter’s Clever Assistant,” is the title of the story that you will find in the next issue of this weekly, No. 121, out January 2d. This story is the first of three, that will deal with a most remarkable criminal and his associates in crime. THE LARGEST LEAVES. The palms are said to be the plants possessing the largest leaves. The Quaja palm of the Amazons has leaves approaching fifty feet in length by sixteen feet in breadth. The leaves of some palms in Ceylon are more than eighteen feet long, and nearly as wide, and are used by the natives for making tents. The cocoa palm has leaves nearly thirty feet long. In other families than the palms, the parasol magnolia of Ceylon forms leaves large enough to shelter fifteen or twenty persons. One of the leaves, taken to England, as a specimen, measured nearly thirty-five feet. The largest leaves grown in temperate climates are those of the exotic Victoria regia, which sometimes reach about seven feet in diameter. The Riddle and the Ring. By Gordon MacLaren. (This interesting story was commenced in No. 113 of NICK CARTER STORIES. Back numbers can always be obtained from your news dealer or the publishers.) CHAPTER XLIII. HIS SECOND HALF.