“Mack is the only one who will venture anything desperate,” Chick whispered. “He thinks Nick is the only one who is wise to this business. Vengeance, when he finds himself cornered, may impel him to snatch up the weapon and kill the chief.” “Gee! I get you.” “Have your revolver ready,” Chick added. “If Mack makes any such move as that, give him a drop shot on the instant.” “Drop shot is right,” muttered Patsy, scowling. “I’ll drop him so he’ll never rise again.” “That’s all. We shall down that door within five minutes.” “Go ahead. I’ll do my part.” Chick glided away in the darkness, followed by the two detectives. Patsy crept to the window again, revolver in hand, where he crouched to gaze and listen. David Mack was speaking. “There now is nothing to it, Carter,” he was snarling bitterly, no longer in disguise. “You have put me in a position that leaves me no alternative. I must wipe you out of existence.” Nick Carter sat gazing sternly from one to another. “You put yourself in the position you are in, Mack,” he coldly answered. “If you think you can remedy it by killing me--well, that’s up to you.” “It’s what he deserves,” snapped Kate Crandall. “He’s an infernal meddler. It will be the joy of my life to know that he is off the earth. You know what he has done for me, Dave.” “Yes, I know, Kate, all right.” “Give him all that’s coming to him, then.” “It’s the only chance for any of us,” growled Duffy, scowling. “We must play the game to a finish, or throw up our hands.” “You’ll throw up your hands, all right,” thought Patsy, with eyes and ears alert. “As for Kate Crandall----” Mack began. “Oh, you are not the first man, Mack, who has been brought to the bad by this unscrupulous woman,” Nick interrupted. “She will give you the worst of it, sooner or later, as she has done for others.” “Not worse than you’ll get,” cut in Kate, with vicious asperity. “Thank Heaven, I’ve got you where I want you, at last.” “Don’t bank too heavily on that,” Nick coolly advised. “What do you mean by that, Carter?” Mack quickly demanded. “Just what I say.” “Do you imply----” “Only that my death, on which you seem inclined to bank, is not going to save you,” Nick sternly interrupted. “I know all about the game you have been playing. You overleaped your mount, Mack, when you had yourself appointed to negotiate with a fictitious Redlaw. I know well enough that you are short in your accounts, and that you have taken this criminal course to raise money with which to square yourself.” “You know too much,” scowled the recreant banker. “It is known also to my assistants,” Nick pointedly added. “Your putting me away will not save you. You are booked for Sing Sing, one and all of you, as surely as----” “You lie!” screamed Kate Crandall. “That’s only a bluff, Dave, to avert the fate that threatens him. He’s lying when he says----” But her own vicious words were given the lie at that moment.