The voice of Goulard again could be heard, addressing the abducted woman and rising loud and harsh with his[Pg 40] threats and commands. It served to completely drown the stealthy steps in the hall.
Suddenly it stopped short, as if the miscreant’s tongue had been palsied, and then came a shriek of dismay that was bloodcurdling in its intensity.
Goulard saw Nick and Chick in the open door, with hard-set faces and drawn revolvers.
A shout came from Patsy, bound hand and foot to a chair.
A scream of relief broke from Helen Mantell, seated white and helpless in one corner.
Mullen, Sampson, and Jim Corson, with jaws suddenly dropping, stared as if they beheld two ghosts.
"Sit still, all of you," Nick calmly commanded. "I will shoot the first man who shows fight or makes a move in that direction."
Only one man did so—Goulard.
A vision of the electric chair must have leaped up in his mind. For his face turned as gray as ashes, and he appeared to choose the quicker fate. He whipped out a revolver, clapped the muzzle against his ribs, and fired.
The thundering report fairly shook the house.