Grantley and Siebold were too near the latter to make it a safe exit, for Nick would have had to crawl out on his hands and knees, and they would have been practically certain to see him before he could get into a position to defend himself to advantage.
By creeping into the other bin, however, as Patsy had done, he was enabled to remain under cover until he was ready to make his presence known.
Moreover, he had found there the shovel which had been used to throw the coal over the false bottom of the trick bin, and with this as a weapon he had decided to terminate the struggle between his assistant and the servant.
There was no doubt about his success.
The handle of the shovel narrowly missed Patsy’s head, but Nick knew what he was about. The heavy metal scoop landed fairly on Hoff’s cranium, and the German crumpled up in the arms of the astonished assistant, who let the body of his antagonist drop to the floor.
An instant later Nick was vaulting over the barrier.
The young Irishman picked up the shovel. He did not wait for his chief to alight, nor did he apparently pay any attention to Adelina, whose feet were pattering on the stairs by that time. It was enough for him to hear them and to know that he could now prevent her from being followed.
He singled out Doctor Siebold and sprang at him, whirling the big shovel aloft as he did so, and leaving Nick to attend to Grantley. He knew that the detective would prefer to deal with the ringleader himself.
Siebold was unarmed, and a hasty, panic-stricken survey of his surroundings failed to reveal anything in the nature of a weapon within reach.
Suddenly, however, he leaped toward the gas jet and turned the thumbscrew. Immediately the cellar was plunged in darkness, except for a faint light, which filtered down the distant stairs from the lighted hallway above.