He restored the Abdul Hamid pearls and the other glittering gewgaws to their two bags and placed them both under the pillow on the bed.
“I’ll have a busy, hard day to-morrow,” he told himself, with a grin, as he began to undress. “I must get a good sleep to-night. I wonder whether Carter is still looking for me.”
He repeated this last sentence as he turned out the lights and got into bed. His thoughts were very much on the detective and his doings.
Nick Carter had got the better of him on more than one occasion, and, in spite of his boastful promise to himself that this was the time when he would win, John Garrison Rayne did not feel any too sure.
CHAPTER VIII.
IN THE SOUNDPROOF ROOM.
It was evening of the day after Nick Carter’s encounter with the Cuban whom he had recognized as John Garrison Rayne, and Acting Governor Portersham, who temporarily represented the United States in San Juan, had just finished dinner.
Jabez Portersham was a young man, considering the importance of the office he held, and, as he was a bachelor, he had taken dinner alone. Afterward he had strolled into his library, lighted a cigar, and sat himself down for an hour or two of reading.
The palace, which was the governor’s official residence, was well supplied with books, so that it would be easy for Mr. Portersham to find something that would interest him.
He could have gone into the billiard room if he had cared for a game, and a touch of his electric bell would have brought somebody to play with him.