He did not look, though, for anything like the outburst that followed.
CHAPTER V.
“LET GO, OR I’LL FIRE!”
Without warning, Doctor Grantley clubbed his weapon and threw himself at Nick Carter.
Taking their cue from him, Siebold and the others sprang forward almost simultaneously.
Grantley was shrewd enough to know that the detectives would not fire upon them if it could possibly be avoided, and, furthermore, that they would be greatly handicapped by their concern for the safety of the unconscious girl.
That was true, for a rough-and-tumble fight there in the operating room would be very dangerous for her, for, if the table were overturned or she was swept from it in the mêlée, the chances were that her exposed heart would be fatally injured.
Nick and his allies did not forget this for a moment, and when they saw the threatening move of their enemies, they rushed forward to meet them, in an effort to carry the fight as far from the operating table as they could.
They reversed their own weapons as they did so, but their little automatics were much lighter than the larger revolver which Grantley had snatched out of the drawer.
Moreover, Doctor Siebold had possessed himself of its mate, which Grantley had dropped when the charge began.
The others were without firearms, but caught up chairs and whatever else they could lay hands on.