The opening of the window had allowed so much of the ammonia to escape that it was possible to remain on the ledge without suffering very much. So Patsy dropped inside the cellar, with his face to the air, and divested himself of his garments. “I’ll bring the boat back in a jiffy!” he announced. “Stay here till I get back, chief!” With much cheerfulness, Patsy let himself down into the water, and swam over to the boat. Then he climbed in and rowed back to the window. While Nick Carter got in, his good-tempered young assistant retrieved his clothing, and in a few minutes was dressed again. “That’s better than getting everything soaked with water!” observed Patsy. “It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t any worse than going in swimming with the boys the way I used to do.” “I’m glad I’m out of that place, Patsy!” said Nick Carter, with a smile of gratitude. “But we’ve still got to get after Chick and Prince Marcos.” “You bet!” agreed Patsy earnestly. “Think they are in this place somewhere?” “You haven’t seen anybody come out, have you?” “No. I’ll take my solemn oatmeal nobody came out while you were inside. I’ve been going around this shanty steadily.” “Then the gang must be inside still,” declared Nick Carter. “My belief is that they have some other office room beside the one I saw them in, and that they are there now.” Patsy looked at his chief with a puzzled expression. Nick Carter had not told him anything about his adventures in the warehouse, and he did not understand in the least how Nick had come into the cellar. Patsy Garvan could guess, though. He was as skillful at putting two and two together and getting at the result, as anybody in Nick Carter’s circle of acquaintance--and that is saying a great deal. “How many are there in the gang?” asked Patsy. “Only two, that I know of for certain. But I am inclined to think there must be some more. Larry Dugan----” “What?” broke in Patsy. “Is that murdering skunk in it?” “I believe so,” returned Nick seriously. “But I don’t believe he is in this house at present.” “You don’t? Why?” “Because I heard the people inside say that he was coming at dark, to take Marcos away.” Patsy turned quickly to his chief, his face twitching with anxiety. “And Chick? He’s the boy I’m interested in. Dear old Chick!” “That’s right. We have to look after Chick,” was Nick Carter’s response. Patsy Garvan involuntarily pulled back his coat cuffs, as if getting ready for action. “Let’s get busy!” he said. “If Chick’s in this place, we’re going to have him out. And if Larry Dugan and his crowd are coming to-night, we have no time to lose. It’s getting dark now.” “We’ll row around to that back door, Patsy,” was the quiet way Nick Carter issued his order. CHAPTER VII. CHICK’S FELLOW PRISONER. We must go back to the early morning, at Crownledge, to find out how Marcos and Chick had been kidnapped in the very midst of their friends.