“But he isn’t going to catch me, dear. I’ll admit that he hasn’t really tried as yet, but I’m perfectly ready to have him do it. He’s certainly a wonder, but I think I can tie him up in a knot, and I like to think of him when I’m planning to turn a trick. It puts me on my mettle, and makes me plan more carefully than I otherwise might. Therefore, I’m really glad he’s on the job. You mustn’t have such fancies. They’re no real part of you. You’re the pluckiest girl who ever bucked up against the law, and you know you would tackle anything.” Elaine’s smile was serious. “I’ve proved that I’m not a coward, and I like excitement as well as you do. I come nearer being afraid of Nick Carter, though, than of anybody else. He’s been so successful. They say he never really went after a crook, big or little, without getting him in the end, no matter how long it took.” Max reseated himself again. “The longest string of victories is sometimes broken,” he said confidently. “There’s no doubt that Carter has set a hot pace, but he can’t keep it up. Somebody is going to spoil his record some of these days--and why not yours truly?” The girl shrugged her shoulders. “I know there’s no use of arguing with you,” she said. “I wouldn’t have you different, anyway. If you weren’t so sure of yourself, you couldn’t have done half the things you’ve done, and very likely you wouldn’t have won me, either. Tell me this, though: Supposing Mr. Atherton tries to bluff you when you go to see him? Supposing he indignantly denies your charge, and orders you to leave the house, and all that sort of thing, what will you do? You see, you can’t prove that he and Mr. Frost are leading this double life. You were alone when you listened to their talk this evening, and if they both deny that they said what you say they did, you have no witness to bring forward.” “Don’t you fret. I’ve thought of that,” the man informed her. “Before I pay that little call on Atherton, I’m going to have positive proof of his guilt, and I’m going to know who his other accomplices are.” “But how can you obtain such a proof?” “By going to Freehold. It’s now ten minutes to twelve, and the job is fixed for three o’clock in the morning. I have tuned up my motor bike, and everything is ready. If I leave here about quarter after twelve, I ought to reach Freehold easily by two o’clock. “When I do so,” he continued, “I shall hide my machine, and keep watch on the Meadowview house. When I have seen all I want to see, I’ll come back here, and to-morrow I’ll interview Atherton. He’ll have to accept my terms when he finds out what I know, and then----” He refilled his glass, and surveyed it with the critical eye of a connoisseur. “Good-by to the Marmawell!” he said. “Good-by to the front row of the chorus! Good-by to the simple life in a tenement house! Exit all the things we hate, and enter all the things we love--ease and wealth and luxury!”