Nick met him halfway. The fellow put up his hands in prize-ring style, but it was of little avail. Nick is a past master in the art of boxing, and the bouncer went to the floor to join the crooks.
Then Nick found himself threatened with a revolver in the hands of Hughart.
The girl screamed and covered her face with her hands. Hughart turned for a second to warn her against making an outcry, and that was enough. He went down under a crashing blow.
Carrie gave a scream of fright and anger as Hughart fell, and turned toward the inner stairs leading to the restaurant.
“It looks like a slaughterhouse,” she said.
And, indeed, she was not far from right. There were four men on the floor whom the detective had put out of business for the time being. He smiled as he thought what would have resulted had they all attacked him at once.
“Wait until the police come,” said Nick to the girl. “You are to go with me.”
“Indeed I’m not,” was the angry reply. “I was arrested once to-day, and they were glad to let me go.”
“Where do you wish to go?” asked Nick. “Do you want to communicate the news to your friend Molly, who sent you here?”