A Woman at Bay; Or, A Fiend in Skirts

"Quick, Patsy!" he called in a sharp whisper. "It is I. Nick. Come." Patsy, who had not been bound, it seemed, leaped to the door with a low exclamation of surprise and pleasure. "Bully, Nick," he whispered. "I thought it was all up with me that time. And do you know, it never once occurred to me that the old man might be you. The disguise is perfect." "Come," said Nick. "There is no time for words now. Follow me, and do exactly as I do. I want to get back to my own sleeping place before my absence is discovered, if it is possible to do so. But, first, is there any sort of a chair or stool inside that cabin?" "Yes. A stool." "Bring it out, if you know where to put your hand upon it." Patsy brought it in a twinkling, and, placing it against the stump, Nick propped the senseless form of Mike upon it, so that from the front it appeared as if he were seated there quite naturally. "He will come around presently," said Patsy, "and miss me." "Let him. That is what I want him to do," replied Nick. "Come on, now." He dropped upon his knees again, and, with Patsy following, they crept around through the grass again along the edge of the cliff, and at last reached the cabin from which the detective had started. But he did not stop here. He made at once for the entrance to the cavern, which was near at hand, and passed inside, with Patsy following closely behind him; and then with his electric flash light, he led the way along the corridor of the cave--for it was his object to find that hiding place to which Turner had directed him in case he found it necessary to hide. "Keep to the right always in that cave, no matter which way you are going," Turner had told him with emphasis, and remembering that now, while he wondered if, after all, there were two corridors to the cavern, he followed the rule, and almost on a run--for the passage was quite smooth before them--he led the way through. They came at last to the bowlder to which Turner had referred, and Nick removed the small stone from beneath it. And then he pushed upon it as Turner had directed, with the result that the rock swung open before them, leaving an aperture through which they could easily pass. But Nick did not enter. Instead he thrust a candle and a box of matches into Patsy's grasp, and said to him: "Remain here until I come for you, even if you get hungry. I don't know any more about what is ahead of you than you do. I only know that you will be safe there. We have no time to talk now. I will shut this rock behind you." Then he turned and sped away. CHAPTER XV. NICK'S CLEVEREST CAPTURE. Nick Carter made his way as rapidly back through the cavern as he had gone through it with Patsy; but when he arrived at the entrance he came to a stop, and then went ahead again very slowly. He had no idea how long a time he had been gone, nor what might have happened during his absence. But when he peered out upon the valley, everything was apparently in the condition in which he had left it. If there had been any change at all, it was only that fewer of the men were gathered around the fires. Otherwise everything was the same. And so, with all the swiftness he could muster, he crawled to the cabin which Handsome had given him to occupy, entered it cautiously, and, finding it empty, crawled into the bunk that had been allotted to him--tired, but rejoiced to think that he had succeeded so well where there had been such small chance of success. And it so happened that he had barely laid himself down and composed himself to wait for developments, when a great cry went up, which was immediately followed by other shouts and loud curses--and Nick knew that the escape of Patsy had been discovered, and that he had returned just in time to avoid the consequences. Almost immediately following upon the utterance of the shouts, the door of the cabin flew open, and Handsome leaped inside, his eyes ablaze, and his whole form quivering with rage--and he carried a flash light, which he threw at once into the detective's face; into the face of the man he supposed to be Bill Turner. Nick could see that the instant the light fell upon him Handsome seemed greatly relieved; and then, before the outlaw could utter a word, Nick cried out in the voice of old Turner: "What--what's all that row about, Handsome?" and he blinked his eyes as if he had just been awakened. "It's lucky for you that you don't know what it's about!" was Handsome's rejoinder. "Get out of that, Turner, and come along with me." "But, what's the matter?" demanded Nick, sliding out of the bunk. "What has happened?" "That fellow Pat has escaped--that's what!" was the reply. "Sho! You don't say so! Well, well, well! When did he do it?" "I haven't found out yet. Come along. I thought at first that maybe you had had a hand in it--but I see you did not." "What! Me?" Every hobo that belonged to the gang had gathered in the centre of the place near where the mock trial had been held, and they were talking earnestly together. Cremation Mike, with one hand held at the back of his head, was the centre of the group--or rather of the throng. But Handsome burst unceremoniously through the crowd and confronted Mike, Nick following at his heels. Black Madge forced her way through it at the same time from the opposite side. "Now, Mike," said Handsome savagely. "Tell me how this happened." "I don't know. All that I know is, I got a crack on the head from behind. When I woke up, the bar had been ripped off the door and the bird had flown. That's all I know." "How long ago did it happen?" "How do I know that? Unless some one can tell how long I've been unconscious. But I'll bet my hat that it ain't ten minutes. I don't think it's three minutes. He can't be far away, and"--grinning--"he can't get away. He can't go through the pass, because the guards are there; I posted them myself; and the only way in which he could hope to get out is through the cave, and I don't believe he could find his way through there. I know that I wouldn't try it myself. I'd rather stay here and be hung." Madge interrupted the conversation here. "Do you think that he got out of the cabin without aid?" she asked of Mike. "Do you believe that it was he who struck you, Mike?" "I do, Madge. I'm sure of it." "Then, you weren't keeping good guard, that's all." "Well, I never thought it was possible for him to get out of that cabin. It may be that I dozed. I didn't suppose I did, but----" "But," said Madge icily, "the point is this: The boys shall not be disappointed in the hanging bee they were to hold in the morning. It is up to you, Mike, to find the prisoner. If you don't find him in time, you shall hang in his place--that's all. I mean it." Cremation Mike's face turned to the color of chalk, for he realized that she did, indeed, mean what she said. For a moment he stood there trembling, and then he seized a lantern which one of the men was holding, and cried out: "Come along, whoever will help me. I know that he can't have gone far. He ain't had time. I know it. Come along." "Wait," said Handsome coolly; and he turned to Nick. "Turner," he said, "I begin to think that it is fortunate that you came here when you did." "I am sure of it," said Nick in reply. "You know that cave from end to end, don't you?" "I think I do." "Then, you shall act as guide." "All right. I'm ready." But this short conversation had called the attention of Madge to the supposed old man, whom she had for the moment forgotten, and now she turned savagely upon him. "I believe that you are at the bottom of this," she said, her eyes blazing. Before Nick could make any reply, Handsome broke in. "That is nonsense, Madge," he said. "I know it. As soon as there was an alarm--as soon as Mike yelled out that the prisoner had escaped, I legged it for the cabin, and I found Turner just waking up from his sleep. He had no hand in it. He couldn't." "It's lucky for you," said Madge, still eying Nick sharply. "Will you guide us through the cave, Turner?" demanded Handsome. "Sure." "Then, come on." "Hold on a minute," said Nick. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to send some of the men to guard the other entrances? If the prisoner hasn't had time to get through the cave yet, and if he should happen to find one of the ways out on the other side, he'd run right into the arms of whoever was on the watch." "Good!" said Handsome. "We know of two outside entrances. How many do you know about?" "Four," replied Nick. "Four, not counting the hole under the Dog's Nose. That may be an entrance; but one man can guard that." "Where are those entrances?" Glibly Nick described how they might be found, using the exact language that had been used by the old man in his description of them; and after a short delay four men were sent away to each of the entrances, on a run, with instructions to remain on guard before them until they should be relieved. "Now," said Nick, when they had gone, "we know that the prisoner can't escape. We know it's only a matter of time when he'll be caught--therefore, we needn't hurry. Don't you agree with me, Handsome? He can't get out of the cave at any of the entrances, without being captured or shot down, an', o' course, he can't come back this way without meetin' with the same fate. Ain't that right?" "I guess it is," agreed Handsome. "Ain't that right, Miss Madge?" asked Nick again, turning to her. "It sounds entirely reasonable," she replied. "There has been only one mistake made from the start of this affair, and that is that Pat was not shot down when he first showed himself here. As it stands now, he has temporarily made his escape. I am satisfied, now, that he is a spy, and I commission each one of you to shoot him down without mercy, on sight. I shall go with you into the cave to search." "Do you wish me to direct the search?" asked Nick, still standing quietly before her. "Yes. What have you to suggest?" "This: There be four entrances outside o' the one here in this little valley. I should divide the men into four parts. I kin direct each party so that it won't have no difficulty in followin' the cavern and searching it thoroughly to the entrance. I'll take one o' the parties. How many men are there here now?" "Let me see," replied Madge. "Sixteen have gone away to guard the entrances, and four will have to remain here on guard. That takes away twenty. We still have eighty left." "Good. That'll give us twenty in each party. Now, madam, it's for you to say who'll lead them. Tell me who the leaders will be, and I'll instruct 'em at once." She picked out four of the men, and ordered them to step forward; and, one by one, Nick directed each of them how to proceed after he had passed the entrance of the cavern with the men who were to follow him; and he made the directions so explicit that there was not one who had any doubt about being able to follow them. It was as Nick had suspected it would be; that Madge did not yet trust him far enough to give him the sole leadership of one of the parties, but she directed that Handsome should go with him--and at the last moment, when they were ready to start, and after the other three parties had entered the cavern, she decided to accompany Nick's party herself. "I may as well go along," she said. "I would like to learn something about the interior of that cavern myself, and I don't know a better way to learn it than to go with you." And so it was that presently the detective found himself in the cavern, leading twenty-two persons, for the extra two were Madge and Handsome. And the course that Nick had selected for himself was the one that would