The detective was the first to gain his feet. He had caught a glimpse of something under the table that made him rush over in a hurry. “Push this table away!” he shouted. His two assistants and Paul Clayton put their hands to the ponderous piece of furniture and shoved. Heavy as it was, it had good, easy casters. Therefore the table rolled away several feet at once. As it did so, there was revealed, lying on the floor, Jabez Portersham, his eyes asking dumbly for assistance. The gag was in his mouth, and the cruel wires with which he had been bound were cutting into his flesh. He was nearly exhausted. “Heaven save us!” ejaculated Captain Douglas. “It’s Mr. Portersham!” Deeply as Nick Carter sympathized with the unfortunate acting governor, he could not help glancing, with a slight smile of triumph, at the chief of police. The detective’s vague suspicion had been verified to a degree by the discovery. He had been certain that the man who had posed as Senator Garnford was an impostor. Here was part proof, at least. Nick Carter’s ever-useful pocketknife, with its many tools in the handle, came into play again. A pair of wire cutters was included in its equipment, and it did not take long to snip the wires off the unfortunate official. They soon had Portersham on his feet. Then Patsy and Chick, in obedience to the instructions of Nick Carter, ran him up and down the room a few times, to take the stiffness out of his limbs. Afterward they sat him in his own easy-chair, and waited for him to compose himself. “What does it mean?” he asked, in a dazed way, as he passed his tongue over his dry lips. “What could have induced Senator Garnford, of all men, to play such a trick on me?” “It was Senator Garnford, then?” asked Douglas. “Yes. I remember that much,” was the reply. “You are mistaken,” put in Nick Carter. “No,” insisted Portersham. “I saw him. We were talking, in a friendly way. Then, all at once, he caught me around the neck and put some stuff to my face in a cloth that made me lose my senses. I know it was Senator Garnford. There is no mistake about that.” “You’re wrong,” said Nick. “There was a mistake. A rascal pretended to be the senator. He wanted to get to you, and now he has got away as the result of his game here.” “I don’t see how it could be,” said Portersham, shaking his head feebly. “Who do you think the man was?” “His name is John Garrison Rayne.” “What?” cried Portersham. “The safe robber and bank sneak? Rayne? I’ve heard of him.” “So have I,” added Douglas bitterly. “To my cost. If it is that blackguard, I’ll have him before he gets out of San Juan.” “I’m afraid not,” contradicted Nick Carter. “Unless I am very much mistaken, he is on the Atlantic Ocean, well on his way to New York by this time.” “What makes you think so?”