“Aye, Nick Carter. Do you remember him, Count Cadillac? Do you doubt that he will search for me and find me? Do you doubt that he will also search for you and find you? And do you doubt, for one moment, what will happen to you when he does find you?
“Ah! sir, it does not matter now, in your case, how soon you set me at liberty—you have committed this act of wrong against me, and Nick Carter will hunt you down for it as surely as you stand there now. He will find you, if you are in France, in Anjou, in Patagonia, or at the north pole. He will find you, and he will hold you to strict account for your work this night. Be assured of that much!
“And I have said that I will not again attempt my own life. I will not. I will live and wait—live and hope for the coming of that hour when you will find yourself face to face with him—face to face with Nick Carter. And now, sir, good night. I have no doubt that you will enjoy pleasant dreams.”
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DETECTIVE SIZES UP THE CASE.
When the Goalong passed the Narrows and was making her way rapidly through the upper harbor, it was approaching the evening of the second day after her encounter with the pirate cruiser, Shadow.
Maxwell Kane was standing near the wheel-house as they passed inside the bay, and, after glancing at his watch, he turned and walked aft, where his wife and her mother were seated, silent, under the awning. Both were sad and care-worn, for the terrible uncertainty as to the fate of the beloved sister and daughter had almost prostrated them. And yet, they had borne up wonderfully well under the circumstances.
“I am always good at picking winners,” Kane had said to them on one occasion, “and I will take Bess against the field any time. That pirate will get left at the pole, you see if he doesn’t, and he’ll never come within a thousand yards of our filly. You see!”
Just now, when he walked aft, he had another idea on his mind.