“You bet your life it will!” declared her husband, and it was curious to note that he seemed perfectly at home with American slang. Indeed, there was nothing suggestive of Switzerland about him now. “Instead of a lump sum,” he went on, “it means a comfortable income for the rest of our lives. Better still, it means action, excitement, risk. Perhaps, even the chance of a tussle with Nick Carter.”
Elaine shivered at the mention of the great detective’s name, but the man laughed light-heartedly.
“You don’t like to hear that name?” he asked teasingly.
“I don’t,” his wife confessed. “Nick Carter has never really caught us, but he’s spoiled more than one pretty plan of ours, and he has always seemed a sort of bogy man to me. I wish you hadn’t mentioned him just now, and I don’t see how you can think of him at such a time—at least, how you can make a joke of it. Whenever Nick Carter comes to my mind, I find my courage oozing out, and my feet getting cold.”
Her husband leaned over the corner of the table, gave her a great hug, and kissed her.
“Cheer up, little girl!” he said. “Nick Carter isn’t going to hurt you. Trust me for that.”
“But what if he catches you? Could anything hurt me more than that?”
“But he isn’t going to catch me, dear. I’ll admit that he hasn’t really tried as yet, but I’m perfectly ready to have him do it. He’s certainly a wonder, but I think I can tie him up in a knot, and I like to think of him when I’m planning to turn a trick. It puts me on my[Pg 9] mettle, and makes me plan more carefully than I otherwise might. Therefore, I’m really glad he’s on the job. You mustn’t have such fancies. They’re no real part of you. You’re the pluckiest girl who ever bucked up against the law, and you know you would tackle anything.”
Elaine’s smile was serious.
“I’ve proved that I’m not a coward, and I like excitement as well as you do. I come nearer being afraid of Nick Carter, though, than of anybody else. He’s been so successful. They say he never really went after a crook, big or little, without getting him in the end, no matter how long it took.”