"Blick is just waiting for a letter that holds money to take him somewhere else," Coates continued, plucking at the bed clothes. "If he gets that letter in the morning, he'll be out of sight and away before I can get help here. As I've told you, the stage comes here only twice a week, and it is out of the question to get real help through in case Blick makes his last trip to the post office to-morrow morning. If he gets a letter then, and finds the expected funds in it, it's my belief that he'll be on his way among the hills five minutes afterwards. That is, of course, Lieutenant, if you're not there to stop him." "If he appears and is recognized, we'll stop him," smiled Lieutenant Prescott with the confidence of a trained man who cannot admit defeat. "But be mighty sure you get the drop on Jack Blick, Lieutenant. If you soldiers make the slightest blunder after Blick knows you're there for him, he'll drill all three of you. If you once let Blick get a gun out of his pocket then one or two of you will die--sure. The fellow is as quick as lightning, and he always shoots to kill at the first shot!" "I have heard of that kind of man before," replied Mr. Prescott composedly. "Don't you doubt that they exist, either, Lieutenant," warned the deputy sheriff earnestly. "Don't forget, either, that Jack Blick is the most dangerous man of that type." "What a pity you don't know where Blick is staying," sighed Lieutenant Prescott regretfully. "It would be much more to my liking to turn him out of bed in the middle of the night." "None of us have been able to find the least trace of his stopping place," put in Postmaster Dent. "Not that we haven't tried. Wherever Blick's hiding place is, it's a secure one." The plans for the attempt at capture were then made and fully discussed until every one present understood fully. Jack Blick, "wanted" for two killings and half a dozen train and stage holds-ups, was here in Mason City in disguise. He had always been smooth faced, but now he wore a heavy beard. He had made other alterations in his appearance. At the post office he inquired for letters for Arthur Dade. As a part of his disguise Blick pretended to be a consumptive, and on even rather warm days, he appeared in a light top-coat. This was the information that Coates gave Lieutenant Prescott. "That's so he can carry revolvers in either side pocket; don't forget that," urged the deputy sheriff. "Watch Blick's hands when he takes 'em out of his pockets." Blick's identity had been learned from the police of San Francisco. In that latter city Blick's sister lived. It was believed that she might correspond with her brother, and so the police of San Francisco had arranged with the local post office people for a chance to inspect the address of every letter that Juliette Blick mailed. These addresses had been run down, and the one at Mason City had proved to be the correct one for her brother.