"Not a particle of trouble of any kind."
"You nor that chap over there who is with you?"
"Neither of us. You have my word for that."
"Well, what about what's to come after it? Do you intend to follow that person down and do the arresting afterward?"
"I will promise you, Curly, that there shall be no arrest of any kind or of any person arising out of the visit to Grinnel's place to-night within twenty-four hours from this moment."
Curly scratched his head a third time very intently and seriously, and at last asked:
"Don't any of them coves over there know you, Mr. Carter?"
"I suppose," said Nick, smiling, "that every one of them knows me, and that many of them know Chick as well."
"And so that's Chick, is it? I have heard about him. Well, now, Mr. Carter, let me ask you this: You just now said that unless I told it, not a soul would know that you were there at that place to-night if I took you there. Now, how do you reconcile that with the fact that they all know you?"
"In this way, Curly: That I shall ask you to wait here a few moments after you give your consent, while Chick and I step into the next room and make some alteration in our appearances with things that the inspector will loan me from his cabinet."