“You return with Danny, Patsy, and keep an eye on those things in the library. There is a bare possibility that some one will try to destroy them, in case our suspicions are known.”
“That’s right, too,” Patsy quickly agreed. “I thought you were taking a chance, chief, in leaving them there.”
“You return and look after them,” Nick repeated decidedly. “I’ll hoof it back with Henley after making an investigation. He won’t mind the tramp.”
“Mind it be hanged!” cried Henley. “Tramping round these diggings is the most that I do.”
“That settles it, then,” said Nick. “Back into the crossroad to make a turn, Danny, and wait for us at Gordon’s place.”
“I’ve got you, chief,” nodded Patsy. “We’ll keep an eye on things.”
Nick did not hasten his departure with Henley. He waited until Danny had turned the touring car, then watched it speed away with both of his assistants, till it vanished around a near bend in the road.
Henley stood silently watching him, with his shotgun under his arm. There was a gleam of secret satisfaction deep down in his shifty eyes, an ominous curve in his thin-lipped mouth. Both vanished instantly, however, when Nick turned and said:
“Now, Henley, it’s up to you.”
“I’ll make good, all right,” was the reply, with a covert significance the detective was quick to notice.