“Now, Carter, throw up your hands! If you show fight, you’ll go down and out on the instant.”
Nick raised his hands and backed against the wall. He appeared to be greatly surprised and equally resentful.
“What’s the meaning of this, Clayton?” he demanded; and the mention of the name brought laughs from the others.
They were Draper, Biddle, and Scoville, who had been mentioned by Doctor Guelpa in his apartments, also a third man who had had a hand in the robbery, one Joe Gaines.
“Oh, I’m not Clayton, Carter,” was the derisive reply. “I’m the man who looks like him. I’m the crook who got away with the sparks.”
“Good heavens!” Nick exclaimed, in seemingly increased amazement. “Is it possible?”
“You bet it’s possible!” cried Guelpa, with a sinister nod. “It’s more than that; it’s a fact. When I run across a man who looks so near like me that I can see no difference, I’m the sort of a covey who makes the most of it. You didn’t suspect Doctor Guelpa, eh? Carter, we’ve put it all over you. I’m Guelpa.”
“You?” questioned Nick, still as if astonished.
“That’s what, Carter, as sure as you’re a foot high,” the rascal declared, with an exultant leer. “Come out a little from that wall. Keep your meat hooks up, mind you, or you’ll have no further use for them. Either of these fellows would kill you at the first sign of violence. I shall do so a little later, at all events, so I don’t mind putting you wise to the whole business.”
“That’s very good of you,” Nick now replied coldly.