“We have hit the nail on the head, all right,” he said to himself. “These crooks are all that we have suspected, and they have Nick imprisoned out here, after knocking him on the head. They shall be paid with interest for the blows given him, however, as surely as the sun sets in the west.
“Confined in the old wine-vault, eh? I wonder where that is located. Evidently it is not connected with the cellar of the house, since that she devil of a fortune-teller wants to go ‘out’ somewhere to see Nick.
“Conley, plainly enough, is the stableman we saw to-day, and, since he has Nick in charge, it’s a good bet that the vault mentioned is either in the basement of the stable or that long carriage-house which adjoins it. I’ll wager that I speedily find it, give me half a chance.”
“Hello! what’s the meaning of this?”
Patsy had suddenly felt the car lurch heavily, and sway to one side, then plunge forward as if it were going down a steep incline.
“We cannot be going directly into the stable,” he quickly reasoned. “The run into that is on the level, but we’re descending some short, steep place.”
“By Jove! I have it. Badger is taking the car into some place from which Conley brought that one this noon, which Chick felt sure had not come out of the stable. These crooks must have some secret hiding-place for their several cars and horses, and Badger is about taking this one into it. Fortunately, I shall now know all about it.”
Patsy was correct in these conjectures.
Badger had run the car around a corner of the stable, then down to a short fence enclosing the space below the building, which stood on a slope of the land.