Mercedes Danton, pale as a ghost, but seemingly more beautiful than ever, was lying on the couch near the window so that the cooling breeze of the June morning could fan her brow. Seated beside her and holding her hand in his was her brother, and, standing near them, looking down with untold pleasure and satisfaction in his eyes, was Nick Carter.
“How much we owe to you, Mr. Carter,” she said to him, lifting her matchless eyes until they rested upon his face with a glance that was almost a caress.
“To me?” he replied, smiling. “Say, rather, to yourself.”
“How to me?” she inquired.
Nick turned away without answering, and Reginald smiled upon both his sister and his friend.
“How to me?” she repeated, looking at her brother for a reply.
“Why,” he said, smiling, “because everybody who knows you, loves you, Mercedes. Even I, your brother, love you. Even——”
“Shut up, Danton,” ordered Nick. “Speak for yourself, and give the same privilege to others.”
CHAPTER XXI.
NICK DISCOVERS A NEW MYSTERY.
With the principal actors in the plot of death for the Danton millions safely in the hands of the law, Nick Carter began to breathe more freely. He followed closely the trial of the accused murderer to see that no loop-hole for escape from conviction was taken advantage of by the accused man.