“And then, again, you heard my opinion—the one I gave out there on the lawn—about the personality of the thief who stole the jewels. I need only suggest to you that if you should enter that house now, and make a search, you might find the jewels, and you might not; but if you did find them, you would find that everything would point to the identity of the thief as I named it out there.”
“You scoundrel! Do you mean to say——”
“I mean what I have said—no more, no less. You cannot crush me, Carter; you haven’t got it in your power to do so, just now. I would rise, like a phœnix from the ashes, and laugh at you.”
“You think so.”
“No; I know so. I know exactly how thoroughly I have builded this edifice in which I am now living. And so, Mr. Nicholas Carter, the ghost of Bare-Faced Jimmy defies you!”
He stopped and then laughed mockingly.
CHAPTER VI.
NICK MEETS DEFIANCE.
It might occur to the reader to ask: Why did not Nick Carter seize upon his man then and there, put the irons on him, and take him away? The answer is obvious.