The runabout, guided, by the woman, was moving rapidly away before the last was said, shouted over his shoulder by the daring and designing criminal.
Chick Carter had more than one reason for lying low and letting the rascal go.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHICK CARTER’S MISHAP.
Knowing nothing about the discoveries made by Nick Carter since parting from him at the medical college, ignorant as to the identity of the woman mentioned by Margate, but knowing at least that the rascal was engaged in another felonious scheme, said to reach its culmination that very evening, and that he might accomplish even more by following Tony Selig than by attempting to arrest the three crooks then and there, which might have been difficult when undertaken; single-handed—these were Chick Carter’s reasons, for letting Margate and the woman depart, and for resuming his pursuit of Tony Selig.
The latter immediately started up the road in the direction from which Margate had come, and his actions plainly denoted that he had no thought of being followed.
Chick found it comparatively easy, therefore, to shadow him without being detected. He followed him for nearly a mile through the woodland road, passing only a solitary house on the way, despite that the road appeared to be one that was frequently traveled by motorists.
Twenty minutes brought Tony Selig to his destination. It proved to be an old wooden house back from the road, with a stable and outbuildings in the rear, all in a clearing dotted with numerous hencoops and countless hens[{31}] and chickens, which denoted from what the occupants of the inferior place derived their living, perhaps in connection with other and more profitable ventures.
Chick stole to a point in the surrounding woods from which he could view the place. He saw two men and a large, rawboned woman emerge from the back door, toward which Tony had turned his steps, and all four then sat down on a platform outside and began an earnest discussion of the news Tony Selig evidently had brought them.
Chick rightly inferred that they were all of one family, but he was too far away to hear what passed between them during the next hour. He continues to watch them until four o’clock, however, when Margate returned alone in the runabout. All sprang up to greet him, to which he put a speedy end by saying, so forcibly that Chick heard him distinctly:
“Cut that out for something more important. I’ve set the ball rolling, and Nance knows just what to do. It’s up to us to do the rest. Get the lanterns, Zeke, you and Angus, and we’ll head for the Poplars. It will be dark in an hour, or a trifle more. The game might show up even earlier. We must be ready for her. I’ll get the documents, but we’ll leave the other plunder here. Be ready when I come out.”