“In that tool house, or whatever the place is, in the back yard,” was Patsy Garvan’s answer, as he ran to one of the windows and flung it wide open.
CHAPTER XII.
AVENGED.
The rope ladder that Chick had used the night before, and which was again coiled up in its place on the fire-escape balcony, was brought into use. Nick Carter did[Pg 39] not hesitate now, nor did he care who saw his movements. He was first over the high fence into the next yard, but he had hardly alighted on the soft earth of the flower bed when Patsy Garvan was by his side.
“Shoot—to kill!” was Nick Carter’s brief order, as he ran to a brick structure at the end of the yard. “We’ve got to make sure of those rascals this time.”
The brick building looked like a garage, but as there was no way for a motor car to be got into this yard, Nick knew it could not be used for that purpose. One glance showed him that it was old, and that the brickwork was shaky. There was a door and one window. The window was barred.
Nick decided, after a brief survey, that the bars could be torn loose with some exertion, and he seized one of them with both hands and pulled with all his might. If the detective had not been a man of extraordinary muscular power, perhaps he could not have made the bar yield. As it was, he pulled it out of one end after a few minutes’ labor. Then it was comparatively easy to get the other end out.
This left him room to crawl through. As he dropped to the floor, he saw somebody lying on the floor, bound hand and foot, and with a cloth fastened over his mouth, so that he could not utter a sound.
Two or three slashes with his knife, and off came the ropes. At the same time he loosened the suffocating cloth. Then he lifted Chick to his feet. To his joy, he saw that his assistant was not hurt. He was standing up without aid, although obviously he felt very stiff.
“Where are they, Chick? In the house?”
“Yes. There are three of them. Sun Jin, the man with the scars, and another chink.”