"Hands up!" ordered the detective, sternly; and they obeyed him to a man, for it did not occur to them to fight. They did not doubt that there were half a hundred other men ready to throw themselves upon them at the least resistance.
"Now, Chick," continued the detective, when he had seen that they obeyed him, "have you got those ropes ready?"
"I have."
"Use them, then. Bind the lot. Tie them so that there will be no getting away. Tie their hands behind them. Patsy, you help."
The work of tying them began at once, and then it was that Nick discovered Mustushimi, as he tried to slink toward the door that gave him an opportunity to escape.
Nick started toward him, when with a snarl the Jap turned upon him, and leaped at his throat like a cat, and he had succeeded in producing a long and gleaming knife from some concealed place in his clothing.
But Nick, with a kick, sent the knife-flying across the room, and then as Mustushimi tried to make use of one of his ju jutsu tricks on the detective, he found himself met by another, and the next instant be was sent whirling across the room like a veritable wheel in the air, and his head and shoulders struck against the wall so that he fell to the floor almost senseless. I
The moment he touched it, Nick was upon him, and Baron Mustushimi - if he was a baron, which has since been denied by his countrymen - speedily found himself with irons on his wrists and ankles, and one of his own handkerchiefs tied firmly in his mouth, for he began to yell in a most cowardly way the moment he found that he was caught.
A little later, when the men were tied, and when everything was in readiness, there was a procession formed, which marched slowly across the bridge, which is more than a mile long, toward Washington; and there was a rope which stretched from man to man along the line, so that none of them could break away and attempt to make a run for it.
The procession was followed by the hack, with Nick Carter seated upon the box beside the driver, and with his three friends inside of it, all keeping careful watch of the prisoners, who were obliged to walk.