"You expect to find Helen Mantell here, I infer." "I haven’t a doubt of it," said Nick. "Be quiet, now, and have your guns ready. I’ll lead the way." They had moved on and were picking their way up the narrow road. Through the intervening trees, the outlines of the old Corson house could be dimly seen. A solitary light appeared at one of the side windows. Nick led the way in that direction, moving noiselessly over the damp sod. It proved to be the window of a dining room, as he could see between the curtain and the casing, though the roller shade was drawn completely down. No other precautions had been taken by Gaston Goulard, however, so sure was he that the expected taxicab would bring only Fallon, Sadie Badger, and Nick, with the latter up against odds that he could not possibly oppose. Though none of them were entirely visible, Nick could see that there were several persons in the room. While he gazed, trying to identify one or more of them, he heard the voice of the crook he was chiefly seeking. "I’ll not stand for any further objections, Mrs. Mantell," Goulard was harshly saying. "You write what I dictate to your husband, stating the terms I direct, or I’ll----” "Don’t you do anything of the kind, Mrs. Mantell," interrupted a voice that Nick instantly knew to be Patsy’s. "Let this rascal collect the ransom he demands as best he can. He’ll not harm you as long as he sees any show of getting it. Don’t write a line, or----” "You keep quiet, or I’ll silence you in a way you’ll not fancy," Goulard fiercely cut in. "I’ll put you away, Garvan, as well as Nick Carter, if I do nothing else. You listen to me, woman, and----” Nick did not wait to hear more. He touched Chick’s elbow and continued on toward the rear of the house, where the door of the kitchen met his gaze. "We have them where we want them, Chick, if we can enter quietly," he whispered. "Dead to rights," Chick nodded. "There is no lock on the door. It may be hooked or bolted on the inside. No, by Jove, it is not. They were cocksure of their game, all right." Nick had tried the door and found that he could open it. He did so, glancing at Chick, and both stepped into the kitchen. The only light came through a doorway in the near hall, that of the dining room. The voice of Goulard again could be heard, addressing the abducted woman and rising loud and harsh with his threats and commands. It served to completely drown the stealthy steps in the hall. Suddenly it stopped short, as if the miscreant’s tongue had been palsied, and then came a shriek of dismay that was bloodcurdling in its intensity. Goulard saw Nick and Chick in the open door, with hard-set faces and drawn revolvers. A shout came from Patsy, bound hand and foot to a chair. A scream of relief broke from Helen Mantell, seated white and helpless in one corner. Mullen, Sampson, and Jim Corson, with jaws suddenly dropping, stared as if they beheld two ghosts.