“Because I did not know you then, sir.”
“Neither did you know me now. Had you never heard the name of Nick Carter before the time of the death of Orizaba?”
“Oh, yes, indeed!”
“Well, then there is some reason other than you have stated, why you have come here. Now see if you can tell me what it is.”
“Only what Miss Mercedes herself said to me.”
“Ah! Well, what was that?”
“Why, only a few days before she went away she told me——”
“Tell me her exact words if you can.”
“‘Sarah,’ she said, ‘if the time should ever come when anything should happen to me which you cannot explain, go to Mr. Carter and ask him to help you.’ That was all she said, sir. I asked her why she said such things, and she only smiled, and replied that she knew you would be her friend if she should need one.”
“Very good,” replied Nick. “Now come down for the present to the day she went away. How did it happen that you were not present at the time she packed her trunks?”