“And that’s not all,” Guelpa fiercely added. “Spring open that panel, Biddle. Let him see--let him see for himself!” Biddle touched a hidden spring in the wainscoted wall, and a panel flew open. In the space beyond sat--the two jewel caskets stolen from the Hotel Westgate that morning. “We’ve not had time to open them, to whack up the swag,” Guelpa went on, as if beside himself with fierce and bitter rage. “There will be time enough for that. We’ve got Garvan and we’ve got you. I’ll send you to the devil on the spot. I’ll give you a dose that will--oh, perdition, Scoville, I’ve left it in my suite. I went out in such a hurry that I forgot it. I must have it. It’s the only thing that will cause death and defy detection. I must have it. I’ll go and get it. Watch me--watch both till I return. And remember the signal--the signal! I’ll send both to the devil. Wait till I return.” And Doctor Guelpa, after pouring forth these commands with a ferocity that precluded interruption, turned and rushed like a madman out of the house. CHAPTER IX. THE MAN ON THE BED. It was more than an hour previous to the episodes last described, when Chick Carter responded to Nick’s brief instructions from Mrs. Clayton’s residence, and then set out post-haste for the Hotel Westgate. He did not know, of course, why Nick had been led to suspect Guelpa, nor anything about what Patsy had discovered and what had befallen him. That Nick suspected Guelpa, however, and very seriously, Chick had not a doubt. It was not eight o’clock when he approached the huge hotel, and purely by a stroke of good luck, nearing a side entrance to the house, he discovered the very man he was seeking. Doctor Guelpa had just emerged and was hurrying away. “By Jove, fortune favors me,” thought Chick, with a thrill of satisfaction. “This is better than I could have hoped. There must be something in the wind, or he would not be in such a hurry. If he gives me the slip, however, I’ll eat my hat. I’d give something to know what Nick has on him.” Chick knew, however, that he needed only to follow the directions given him. With no great difficulty, he shadowed Guelpa to his office in Fifth Avenue, a walk of about six minutes, and saw him enter the dark rooms, those on the first floor of a remodeled house. Much to Chick’s surprise, however, after waiting and watching for several minutes, no light appeared at either of the windows. “By gracious, that’s mighty strange,” he said to himself, then concealed in an opposite doorway. “Is he remaining in there in darkness? What’s his game, in that case, and why is he--great guns! there he is, now!” Doctor Guelpa had come hurrying around the near corner, and was evidently returning to the hotel. Chick shadowed him again, but not without a quick survey of the opposite house and the adjoining buildings.