“I don’t think so,” returned Nick imperturbably.
“If you don’t, I shall——”
He hesitated, and the detective swung around sharply to see why he did not continue. He saw that the sinister features of the old priest were working convulsively. He was in a seething passion.
“What shall you do?” asked Nick.
“I shall have you and your friends tied to stakes like those, to be cut to pieces at sunrise,” howled Calaman, losing all control of himself.
CHAPTER X.
HOW THEY FOUND PIKE.
When Chick darted away from the remainder of his party in the public square, he did not feel any too sure that he could get to the house without being seen.
It was worth a trial, however, for the whole success of their enterprise in coming to Shangore at all hinged on their getting control of Pike before he realized that he had been pursued into the very heart of a country in which he had imagined he must be free from pursuit.
“We’ve got to find out what his position is here,” muttered Chick. “It does not seem as if he can be a prisoner. Unless he is shut up in that room where we saw him.”