“Carter is my name--Nick Carter,” the detective again cut in. “You may have heard of me. Whether you have, or not, is immaterial. I can prove all that I have said, and only the truth, if you chose to make a clean breast of the whole business, will save you fellows from--ah, here is additional evidence, if that were needed. It appears that your confederate, the fourth man, was about to bolt.” Nick had caught sight of Chick and Patsy approaching from the side street, each grasping the arm of a tall, pale young man, who appeared to be on the verge of fainting. CHAPTER IV. MARKED IN DUST. The mention of Nick Carter’s name, following close upon his positive accusations, produced an immediate change in the attitude of the three recreant medical students. Defiance vanished like a flash from the face of the one who had been talking, and whom Nick now suspected of being the leader in the crime of the previous night. Another was trembling visibly, while the third impulsively blurted, as if impelled by the detective’s advice: “There’s nothing to it, Oakley, but to confess the whole business. Neither bluff nor bluster will cut any ice against Nick Carter. Good heavens! what possessed me to do such a thing?” “That’s not the question,” said Oakley, a bit sullenly. “You now have confessed the whole business, barring the outcome. Only the devil himself can explain that. The question is--what became of the body?” Nick Carter heard the last with no great surprise. It was in line with his earlier suspicions. He saw, too, with what consternation Doctor Dabney and the other students began to realize what had been done the night before, and he checked with a gesture the censure that was rising to the lips of the astounded physician. “You hold your horses, Doctor Dabney, and let me handle the ribbons,” he said impressively. “The reputation of your college is at stake, and I am much better able to save it than you, providing the remorse of these young men is genuine and they follow my advice. The good name of your institution should not be ruined by the foolishness of a few of your students, if it can possibly be prevented. I think they now will see it in the same light and do all in their power to rectify their folly. What do you say, Mr. Oakley?” Oakley threw up his hands and met the detective better than halfway. “I say that you’re all wool and a yard wide, Mr. Carter,” he cried, with genuine feeling. “I’ll speak for the others and tell you the whole story. Not only that, sir, but we’ll do all we can to repair the wrong.” “Spoken like a man,” Nick replied. “I learned long ago that a manly man can be brought out flat-footed with proper handling. What is the whole story, Mr. Oakley?”