“Nick Carter!”

The beautiful girl clapped her hands for joy.

“You bring me news of father!” she exclaimed. “But why do you come here like a negro minstrel?”

The detective laughed.

“I will tell you at some other time,” he replied. “I want you to place me somewhere, that I may hear the conversation between you and this woman without being seen.”

“Why?”

The girl’s eyes opened to their fullest extent as she put the query.

“That also I will tell you another time,” the detective said. “I hope you did not tell her that you heard your father was still alive.”

“I did.”

Nick Carter’s jaw dropped; he feared Mignon had told her more.