The bullet went true to its mark.[Pg 34]
Ardley threw up his hands, with blood gushing from a hole in his head, and without so much as a groan he pitched forward against one of the walls. His huge figure struck a small door at that end of the building. It broke from its hinges, and the crash of it was mingled with that of the ruffian himself when both struck the floor.
Patsy did not hesitate for an instant.
“Hands up!” he yelled, striding toward the startled group. “I’ve got bullets for all, and I’ll drop the first who reaches for a gun.”
Margate did not reach for a gun. He had been struck by Ardley when the latter fell, and he was within a foot of the broken door. He moved like a flash and darted through it.
“Hang him!” thought Patsy. “The worst of the bunch.”
He fell back a step, to a position from which he could watch both doors, and also the four dismayed men who stood with their hands in the air.
CHAPTER IX.
CONVERGING FORCES.
It was a noteworthy coincidence, though by no means extraordinary, that all three detectives arrived at quite nearly the same time at the Ardley place. Each coming from a different direction, however, neither was at first aware of the presence of the other.
Chick Carter, after parting from Nick, hurried along the woodland road to the right, searching all the while for another fragment of the torn veil, but covering nearly a mile before he found one. This was, in fact, the last fragment dropped by the abducted girl during her forced flight.