“So it is, Amos, and with him to inform us of—— Hark! there goes the telephone-bell again. I’ll wager that Vic has something more to report.”
Claudia Badger was right in the last.
Madame Victoria now reported the second visit of Nick Carter, and all that had passed between them; also explained Nick’s simple object in first calling upon her in disguise, and stated that he came last only to ask about the woman in the photograph.
“I have him well muddled, Amos,” was Madame Victoria’s last declaration over the wire. “There is nothing to be feared from him at present.”
Badger’s dark countenance lighted while he listened, and he hastened to report the communication to his wife and Conley.
“There! what did I tell you?” cried Claudia triumphantly. “I knew that Vic would prove more than a match even for Nick Carter. Now, there is just one thing to be done in order to avert suspicion from us.”
“What is that?”
“These road robberies must continue to occur,” declared the woman. “If they suddenly end at this time, after Carter’s visit here, he very possibly may infer that we are alarmed, providing he has any suspicion at all concerning us. Another robbery committed this very night would clinch matters in our favor.”
“That’s right, too,” said Conley, quickly seeing the point.