THE HATE THAT KILLS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 11, 12 January 1918, Page 17

THE HATE THAT KILLS

Bj> NICHOLAS CARTER.

CHAPTER XXII- • THE DEEPER GAME. Nick CaTter now saw plainly that < Kate Stone was the chief instigator of the persecutions suffered by Olive Red- sal field and her husband. It was obvious, P u too, that she now had further deviltry mr wo in view. What it vvas, however, Nick could not sa ' then conjecture, and he wondered by P- l--what means he could discover and pre- the vent it. Wl i He had no alternative, nevertheless, but to yield submissively to the three i ruffians who hastened to obey Bromley's commands. Two of them seized him 1 and forced him into the kitchen, while «-> Billings opened a square trapdoor in the floor. P a It brought to light a flight of wooden mi steps leading into the cellar, and Nick saw at a glance that it was nothing ou more than a cisternlike hole under that hi part of tho house. " 8 It was, circular in form, with cement walls, and with no opening to it except through the trapdoor. m "By Jove, it doesn't look like an easy! nr place to -escape from," thought Nick,| le: upon seeing the damp and dismal hole, fe "There isn't even a window in it." _ G Forced to descend by the rascals Nick fe seated himself on a lower stair, while to Billings and Hardy came down after him ca and at once began to bind his feet, together with a piece of rope brought from ] c the kitchen closet. Not content with that, they further •'] secured his arms behind him, binding -v them to his body in such a way that he a scarcely could stir them. in "That will hold him for a while. I hi reckon," Billings said, with a growl, when these steps had been taken, y-, "You've not forgotten, I suppose, what you said to mc last night." _ pi "What was that, Billings?" Nick gc coolly inquired. w "That you'd thrash mc like a dog." re "I remember it perfectly," Nick s( allowed. "I shall make it a point to n : remember it. too, and sooner or later, Billings, I shall do it." _ S1 "I guess not, Carter, not on your life." "Wait and see." Q "I'd have you life here and now, hang g{ you, if I thought there was the slightest _. danger of it," snarled the ruffian, lifting a his foot as if to kick his powerless c hearer. s ] Hardy quickly thrust him aside, however, saving impatiently: *^- "Cut'that out! There'll be time T enough for that, Billings, and I want to . hear what the cat has up her sleeve. Come with mc." Billings made no objection. He bestovyed a last, threatening scowl upon ~ the detective, then followed Hardy up tbe stairs and closed the trapdoor with a deafening bang that was very expressive of his feelings. This left tbe cellar in almost inky n darkness. The only light that found its * way into the place vvas a few feeble rays J through several small chinks in the stonework at the top of the waH. It made its way in throifgh a low lattice * in the rear of the house. [* It served to reveal, neverthele«<, the * bearaß and stringers under the kitchen t . floor, and when his eyee became accus- *• tomed to the darkness, Nick could see that a small portion of the cellar ex- ' tended beyond the wall that divided the *■ kitchen and dining-room. c "By Jove, if I could pet near enough * to that part of the floor, I might hear the voices of those rascals through it," t he said to himself. f Gazing up at it from bis seat on the I stairs. Nick listened intently for several < moments. He could distinctly hear the > tread of the three ruffians when they re- - turned to the dining-room, and then c followed suit, intermittent sounds that ] could be only the voices of persons in ■ conversation. ' "It's worth trying, at least," he said to himself. "I must discover the designs r of that. jade, if possible, even though 1 * may not be able to thwart them. She t is capable of any degree of knavery. * and Bromley fe evidently a willing tool * in her hands. I'll make the attempt, - at all events, and find out what can be J accomplished." Nick arose from the stairs with no * , great difficulty, but to reach the desired part of the cellar was not such an easy task. By working his bound feet from side by side, however, at the imminent j risk of pitching headlong, he finally accomplished it, and then could steady himself against the cold cement wall. This change of position brought Nick's head and shoulders within a couple of 1 feet of the dining-room floor, and he then j found, with infinite satisfaction, that he could then distinctly hear what the inmates of the room were saying. The hard, determined voice of Kate Stone was the first to reach his ears. Her first remark, moreover, convinced Nick that she had resumed the discus- : sion of which he had heard a part while crouching outside of the window, and the nature of which quickly became . obvious. "I'll not stand for any half-way measures, Bart, and that settles it," she was saying emphatically. "If I'm to oeeome "your wife, you must do precisely what I require in this matter. That was the bargain between us, and I'm going to hold you to it- You do your part Bromley, and 111 do lfiine. That's all there is to it." "But what do you want?" Bromley demanded. "What other infernal job have you in view?" "Several." "Well, state them, Kate, and 'be done ' with it." "To begin with, Bart, that detective must be disposed of-" "How disposed of?" "He must be put where he can do us no harm," Kate Stone forcibly insisted. "I'll leave it to Billings and Hardy. He is the only one who knows of our relations and "the game we've been playing. [ There will be no safety for us as long as Nick Carter lives. He must be put away for keeps." "That's right, Bart, and the sooner it's done the better," Billings declared, with a srrowl. "There will be time enough, however, providing you fellowß have fixed him so he cannot escape," Kate added. "We've done that, all right," Hardy said quickly. "He'll be more than man if he gives us the slip." "Besides," Kate went on quickly, "there is something else to be done, Bart, and we must lose no time in doing it." "What's that?" questioned Bromley. "We must bleed old Redfield out of that fifty thousand dollars." "What fifty thousand dollars?" \ "That's what he offered the kid's mother when he wanted to buy the brat, wasn't it?" said Kate inelegantly.

Yes, exactly. He must pay it to us, then, instead." For what?" For the return of the kid, of course," 1 Kate. "To what better use can we him? It was for that that I wanted i stolen again. If the old fossil ild stand for a couple of thoud to get him, in the first cc, we can surely nail him for fifty thousand now, and get away h the coin. Take my word for that." Nonsense?" Bromley exclaimed, ou're out of your head." No, Cm not,"" Kate sharply retorted, have more in my head than you can igine." But Redfield is down and out with a •alytic shock." Bromley arjiued. "He y cash in bis chips within a week." All the more reason we should get in : work at once," Kate snapped back at a. "It must be done this very y." 'Do you mean " 'You listen to mc for about three nutes, Bart, and I'll tell you what I an." Kate now interrupted. "1 ye .rned enough from Phoebe and these lows, who were in the room when rter vvas at Edgecliff last night, to •1 dead sure that we can turn the trick day. To begin with, Bart, what jse'd the old man to have a shock?" •I'll be hanged if 1 know," said BromT'll tell you, then." Kate went on. Ie became'horribly angry and excited icn he caught what he supposed to be burglar in the house. He pursued him ;o one of the chambers, and shot at n from the window." 'Hit him, too, I reckon," nodded Bugs. "All that was nothing, however, cornred with the frenzy that took posseson 0 f him when he learned that the kid is missing, and could not bo found. He isoned. of course, that the burglar, or mc unseen confederate, had stolen m." "That's right." put in Hardy. 1 can ■ear to that." "And that vvas his state of mind when irter showed up at the house the cond time." Kate continued. '"He was arly frantic. He was on the verge of collapse at that moment, and when irter told him that tho man he had ot vvas his own son—well, that really ttled it," said Kate bluntly. "U wai c straw that broke the camels back ie old man went down and out with a ock. His brain couldn't stand thi "Admitting all that. Kate, at vvhal •c yon driving?" Bromley demanded 'ome to the point." < "The point should be plain enough, ate fiercely argued. "It was ehicfl> ,c loss of the kid that keeled the old an over. He will now be t -enty mes more anxious to recover him than - was to get possession of him in the -st place. "That ought to go without saying, art, since he knows that he is now on is deathbed. Hell give up fifty lousand dollars for the restoration of ie kid. as sure as you hear my voice at lis moment." Nick Carter could hear them disnctlv now, for the conversation had iken' on more strident tones under the irncstness and vicious vehemence with hich she was speaking. Nick now saw plainly enough too, ie designs with which she evidently had >reed Bromley to first abduct the child ir Redfield, and then steal him from the id man, and Nick by no means felt sure hat Dexter Redfield", in his present terrbly weakened and anxious condition, Mild not be blackmailed out of even as irge n sum as mentioned, if convinced bat the child would be safely restored o him. "It's about ten to one that the jade is ght," he said to himself, when the con3rsation in the room ceased for a loment. "He'knows of what deviltry c has been guilty, and in how far he has ronged the youngster's parents, and he light yield even to the demands of these rooks, in order to square himself with is son and with Olive Redfield. By ove, the outlook is a bit threatening." The face of the famous detective had irned white and hard while ho had been Btening, but he vvas now thinking less f his own threatening situation than of be knavery under discussion, and how : could be prevented. The brief silence in the room was roken by Barton Bromley. "Admitting all you have said, Kate, ow in thunder can the trick be turned?" c doubtfully questioned. "You can turn it, Bart." "I can?" "Yes." "How?" "I'll tell you presently. You must be t Edgecliff"inside of an hour. You can aake it in half that time, with your aonoplane." "That's true, but " "Don't talk of alternatives," Kate stone snr.pped. "We want that money, end we're going to have it. We must get t this very day, too, lest the old man night croak before to-morrow." "But how?" "You stand well with him, Bart, and ie'll believe what you tell him. He loesn't so much as dream that you are ;he man who first abducted the kid. You land him the story I'll frame up for you, Bart, and you'll win out at a canter." "But consider the amount and Redield's condition," Bromley argued. "He surely has no such sum in the house, nor •an he go to the bank and get it." "Don't let that bother you," Kate -urtly said. "I happen to know that he hasc Government bonds in the Cragdon bank for exactly that amount, Bart, and that his butler has been messenger to the bank time and again for more than a year. It' 3 the bonds you must try to nail, not the amount in cash, and they can be secured with the help of the butler." "Perhaps so, providing Redfield is able to sec mc and—, —" "That's what you must first find out," Kate interrupted. "There should be no one to oppose you. We've got Carter in our clutches. Only Patrick Morgan and the cook are left in charge of the house. Both have frequently seen you there." "That's +rue." "You can get Morgan by telephone from the grocery store just above here," Kate hurriedly continued. "He'll tell you whether the old man is still alive and how he is feeling." "True again." "Tell him that you are coming over to see him and that will pave the way for your arrival," Kate added. "Go at once, Bart, and phone Morgan. I'll have the proper story framed up for you when you return. There's no time to be lost. These bonds must be nailed before the bank closes."

"By thunder, it's a long chance, but I'm going to take it," Bromley cried de- ' cidedly. "' I'll be back here in five mm- ' utes." < Nick heard him start up from his i chair and stride out of the house. His . footsteps, however, did not drown the next remarks that came from Kate Stone. "As for that infernal detective, Billings, he must be shifted from this house," she said sharply. "We may have been Been coming here, and this is no safe place to turn him down. Phoebe wouldn't stand for it, and I don't blame her." " But how can we shift him?" Billings asked, with a habitual growl. "I've fixed that," Kate quickly as- I serted. "How fixed it?" "I told Phoebe to see Gid Small after putting Bromley wise, and to bring hun with an auto." " Oh, that's different." " They may show up at any moment. It will be dead easy to load Carter into the car without being seen, and to make a quick get-away with him." '• Easy enough, Kate, as far a 6 that goes," Billings allowed. "But where will we take him?" "To the old quarry house, of course, where we have the other." "The other? That must mean tne youngster." thought Nick, with a thrill of satisfaction. " 1 may yet fool these rascals, by Jove, if there's to be a change of base." " Shall we close up here?" Billings questioned. " Yes, of course." " And all go to the quarry house?" " That's what." said Kate curtly. "No one suspects that it has been occupied for years. No one outside of our gang ever ventures that way by night, 'lne risk of falling into one of the quarries is safeguard enough." " True again." I" No better place could be found in which to rid ourselves of this cursed meddler. \\ ell knock him on the bead I and pitch him into one of the quarries. If his body is found later, it will be thought that he fell in by accident." " Sure thing," agreed Hardy. "There have been other cases." "With him out of existence, we should have smooth sailing." Kate added. "I'm dead sure that Bart can turn this trick. We will then whack up the coin, and if things take on too bad a look we can bolt for parts unknown. That infernal Barrington sheriff. Caleb Strong, has been getting a bit busy of late. He ' might stumble upon " , "Easy!" Hardy cut in quickly. '•There's someone coming. It may be—yes, it's ! Bart himself." Nick listened and heard Bromley stride into the house, and then the miscreant's 1 deep voice reached his ears, saying ex- ' ultantly: 1 " 1 got him all right." ; "The butler?" Kate quickly questioned. *■ " That's what," said Bromley. "He - knew my voice, and told mo to come | ahead. "The old man is in a bad way, he said, but he's able to see mc." ¥ "That settles it!" Kate cried, start- ' ing up. " Come into the front room. 7 Bromley, and I'll tell you bow it can be 1 done. You, Mcglin, watch out of the 8 side window for Gid and Phoebe. Keep an eye on the meddler Billings, and ;, be ready for a quick get-away with him. a This ought to be the red-letter day for v us. for it has all been so stormy." f Nick Carter heard the rascals movt ing, and knew that the conference in the dining-room had ended. He worked his ,- wav back to the stairs and sat down.

"Red-letter day, eh?" he muttered. " The boot may be on the other leg. Things have brightened up a little. I can see the finish of this gang of rascals, after all, if Chick keeps his eye on Phoebe Black and Gideon Small."

(To be continued ,'.)