“Don’t be saucy, Mr. Carter, not to a lady,” said the frowning jade. “You’ll meet with just what I predicted for you—failure.” “I’ll risk that.” “And you’re in a very fair way to it,” added Vic, with a sinister nod, as she terminated her malicious scrutiny and turned to Amos Badger. The latter had drawn aside with his wife and Conley, and the three stood talking in subdued tones, apparently with no interest in the recent amusement of their confederate. “Well, what do you say?” demanded Vic, as she approached them. “We’ve got him, all right. Now, what’s to be done with him?” “That’s what we are discussing,” growled Conley, who had much of the ruffian in him. “I say ’twas a mistake not to have let him croak, if he’d have been accommodating enough to do so.” “Bah!” muttered Claudia. “Men with as hard heads as his don’t die so easily.” “To my way of thinking,” added Conley, “it’s safest for us to put out his light at once, and be done with it.” Badger, however, quickly shook his head. “Not yet,” said he grimly. “Not before to-morrow.” “But why the delay?” protested Conley. “I cannot see anything in that.” “Then I’ll tell you why.” “Well, out with it.” Nick pricked up his ears, yet he could catch only a word now and then louder than others. “To begin with,” argued Badger, “I’m not going to run my neck into a noose before I know just how we stand. We have no blood on our hands as yet, and before I take chances of that kind, Conley, I’m going to be dead sure that Carter has not reported his suspicions to Weston. What good will it do to put him out of the way, only to find that we have half a score of Boston detectives on our heels, to whom Carter’s discoveries have been imparted.” “But Sandy declares that Weston knows nothing about that,” whispered Vic. “I hope he doesn’t, but I’m going to be sure of it before I wipe out Nick Carter,” said Badger. “How can you make sure?” growled Conley. “We shall know by to-morrow at this time.” “How so?” “Because we shall have others after us, Jerry, just as soon as the discovery is made that Carter is missing,” reasoned Badger. “If none show up, we may then safely assume that Sandy Hyde is right, and that Carter has disclosed nothing definite. We shall then know that he’s the only one we need fear, and it will then be time enough to put him down and out.” “Well, there’s something in that,” Conley now muttered. “We know he cannot escape.” “H’m! I should say not.” “So there’s no need of haste, since we have him in our clutches,” added Badger. “Besides, there is another thing to be considered.” “What’s that?” “Carter may have some of his New York assistants here, for all we positively know to the contrary.” “Sandy says not,” interposed Vic. “He may not be absolutely sure,” Badger argued. “And until we are dead certain of it, which should be by to-morrow at this time, I am resolved to take no chance of some day being tried for murder.”