"Kilgore!"
Each man uttered the name of the other, as if with the same breath. The meeting came so suddenly that, for the bare fraction of a second, both men were nonplused.
Then both whipped out a weapon.
Crack!
Bang!
They fired together, and both missed, Nick's usually accurate aim being spoiled by the gloom of the cellar.
Kilgore instantly sprang further away in the darkness, and aimed again.
The hammer of his weapon fell as usual, but there was no report. In his recent fight at the Venner house he had emptied both of his revolvers, save the one bullet that had just missed Nick Carter.
Then Kilgore, failing to have found Nick at his mercy, thought only of making his own escape. He turned and ran toward the open door by which he had entered.
At that moment Chick's ringing voice sounded from outside.