Leaving the fringe of shrubbery at the edge of the woods, under which he had briefly lingered, Patsy stole back of the huge pile of refuse mentioned, then crawled back of several barrels and boxes, finally reaching a point some twenty feet from an end window of the building and near the corner around which Toulon had disappeared only a few moments before. Patsy now could faintly hear the sound of voices from within the building. He shifted both of his revolvers to the side pockets of his sack coat, then crept from his concealment and peered cautiously through a lower corner of the window. He saw and recognized Margate. He saw Ardley with his hand on the long iron lever. He saw Dugan, Conroy, and Morley, all of them forming so ominous a picture that Patsy instantly decided that there was more doing than he had anticipated. He could not hear what Margate was saying, however, who then was talking with Toulon, and he now went a step farther. He drew both revolvers and crept around to the open door through which Toulon had entered the building. Patsy had arrived too late, nevertheless, to hear how Toulon had explained his unexpected return, that he had thought it necessary to report what Nick had said to him the previous night, denoting that he might have incurred the detective’s suspicion. “It’s no use talking, Mr. Margate, I’ve got a scare on,” he was saying, when Patsy paused outside of the open door. “I went into this job under protest, you know, and only because you said it would be soft walking. I want to bolt, and I’m going to after you pay me what you agreed. I’ve got a scare----” “What are you afraid of?” Margate demanded, interrupting. “Well, I know what it means to be up against Nick Carter,” frowned Toulon. “He’s the worst ever, and likely to----” “Stop a bit!” snapped Margate, with a scornful gesture. “Do you know where Nick Carter is at this moment?” “No. Do you?” gasped Toulon, staring. “You bet I know,” cried Margate, pointing. “He is in a trap under this floor, a trap adjoining the sluice. Do you see that lever Ardley is gripping? It opens the floodgate of the sluice. When Ardley throws it--we shall drown Nick Carter like a rat in a trap.” Pasty’s ears tingled and his face turned as threatening as a thundercloud. “If that big bull moose throws that lever, then, he’ll throw it over my dead body,” he said to himself, stealing close to the door and peering in to watch the huge ruffian. Toulon stared like a man nonplused. “Nick Carter there?” he gasped. “Drown him like a rat? But that will be murder. It means----” “Never mind what it means, you milk-and-water monkey!” Margate fiercely cut in. “I know what it means if we let him live. I’ll wipe this cursed dick out of my path, if it’s the last thing I do in this world. Throw the lever, Ardley! Throw the lever and drown the infernal sleuth!” Patsy Garvan was in the building before the last was said.