"This man may be lying, Harry."
"We can easily prove what he has told us."
"Yes, indeed. And if we find Mr. Dalton kept a prisoner it will go mighty hard with Mason when we capture him. I'm glad to hear that the old broker had the nerve to resist his demands, for it looks to me as if his nephew were trying to amass all the money he can get his hands on in order to escape from here as soon as possible."
They questioned Nick for a while longer.
Then they brought him to the town, and had him locked up.
Returning to the Dalton mansion, and meeting Lizzie, they told her what they discovered by pumping the negro.
She was, of course, delighted to learn that her father was alive, and was eager for the detectives to go to his rescue.
"We'll make the attempt to-morrow morning," said Harry.
"I don't see why you are putting it off so long," exclaimed the girl, petulantly. "I can get you all the help you may need."
"Let us work our own way," quietly answered the boy. "Knowing that we've captured Nick, and may have pumped him, Mason will very likely be on the lookout for us, and meet us with a hot reception. By waiting, it will lead him to think we don't know anything about his subterranean abode. Then, when we attack, we will have a better chance of taking him by surprise."