“The proof of my assumption is that when I was in the summerhouse alone with Nick Carter, during the shower of this afternoon, he actually charged me with being that same Bare-Faced Jimmy, here under disguise, and he demanded that I leave this place at once, and forever forego my hopes of making this beautiful girl, here, my wife. That I laughed at him goes without saying; that he did not mention what had passed between us to others is sufficient proof that he had made a mistake.
“Now, two things more: I do not know what part of this woman’s plot it is to have returned here now, as she has done, fully dressed, after having made her escape with a wrapper on and a veil over her head, but she will probably tell you some cock-and-bull story in regard to it, in order to establish her innocence.
“The other thing is this: Those jewels that she stole, unless she has had opportunity to-night to pass them on to her confederates, are concealed somewhere in these rooms, without a doubt. That is all, my friends. Now, Nan Drummond, do you deny that you are Nan Drummond?”
“Don’t reply to him, Nan,” said Nick, speaking quickly.
“Do you dare, woman, to deny that you were once the wife of Bare-Faced Jimmy Duryea, the crook and burglar?” thundered the supposed Dinwiddie, still addressing Nan, who shrank away from him until she rested her body against Nick Carter.
“Don’t answer,” said Nick, again.
“Then you answer for her!” cried Jimmy, wheeling upon the detective, and playing his part to a finish. “You answer for her. You know all about her. You know that she was Nan Drummond. You know that she was once a thief. You know that she was everything else that was low and——”
Jimmy got no farther than that.
Somewhere, in the past, we have said that Nick Carter rarely let his temper act for him. But, like all men, he has a temper, and Jimmy Duryea had tried it sorely, in more ways than one, since Nick’s arrival at The Birches.
It cannot be said that Nick exactly lost it at just that moment, but it is certain that he permitted it to act just long enough to stop Jimmy’s mouth, and to stop it effectually, too.