Nicholas Carter

“ Here and there a Spanish landowner, one of the real settlers of southern California, who still frown upon the “gringos,” as they style the Americans, swarthy of face, erect of figure, strutted past like a soldier on parade. Quaint Mexican women, bareheaded, barefooted, garbed in loose gowns of brilliant coloring, stepped in and out, following their lords and masters—thin-faced, evil-eyed, cigarette-smoking “greasers” in grimy linen suits and wearing huge, silver-trimmed, and costly sombreros—in most cases, more hat than man. ”

“ The skiff tipped over, and before the detective could save himself, he was in the water with the man he had come to rescue.
Now began one of those awful struggles that good swimmers dread so much, and yet which may come to any of them at any time.
Nick Carter knew it would be useless to expostulate with the drowning man. He must try to beat him off. It would be the only way to save both their lives.
But Marcos was strong, and in the water he could use his strength to the disadvantage of his would-be rescuer, even though Nick was much the more powerful of the two. ”

“ Nick Carter was quite aware that he could not beat the boat to shore. Even if he had been unencumbered, he could not have expected that he would swim faster than a husky man could pull a light boat containing only three persons.
But it was not the habit of the detective to yield until he was overcome by the enemy. “Fight to the end,” was his motto, and he had won many a seemingly hopeless battle by adhering to this determination. ”

“ You can’t prove that we kidnaped any one.”
“Can’t I?” cried Nick Carter. “I believe I can. Anyhow, there is something else you will be called on to explain, that may get you into an American jail, in spite of the titles you wear in your own country.”
“What is that? What are you talking about now?”
“I am talking about a very valuable jeweled watch that you took from Prince Marcos without his knowledge, and that you lost at the ball at the Hotel Supremacy.”
The two rascals glanced at each other in the dim light of the dawn that now showed itself, and the detective saw that they were trembling. ”

“ But the light craft had not the steadiness of the launch, and it was evident that if he persisted, there must inevitably be an upset.
“Get in, Marcos!” growled the man. “You can help if you will. No matter what happens, you are better off in the boat than swimming around in that cold river.”
“Think so?” jeered Nick.
“Why, yes. Even if you swim to shore, we shall be by your side and catch you as you come out of the water.”
“What would be the use of my going with you to the yacht?” demanded Nick. “You would keep me there, and you know I have to be in Joyalita on the eighteenth.” ”

“ But I have something to do with sustaining the laws of the United States,” was Nick Carter’s swift rejoinder. “You can’t kidnap people here without being compelled to suffer for it.”
“But how is it any business of yours? You are not a policeman.”
“I am a detective,” answered Nick briefly, as he looked over the rail to see that Chick was bringing the boat around. “That is a policeman, I believe.”
“A detective, eh?” put in Don Solado sneeringly. “I don’t believe it. What is your name?” ”

“ Stories of famous steals put across when ore was sampled in the old-fashioned way are being retold by old-time miners of Denver, Col. Tales of the stirring days when Leadville was a city of tents and Colorado miners, hot-blooded young fellows who came West to dig gold from the earth or die, are being circulated around hotel lobbies and office buildings of Denver, just as they went the rounds of Colorado mining camps forty years ago. ”

“ A MAN IN A MASK.
“You’ll pass for a Mexican in those togs, chief.”
“The ‘togs,’ as you call them, Chick, don’t necessarily make any character. But there is nothing about a Mexican to distinguish him from other men except his costume, so I dare say I shall be a good-enough Mexican for the purpose.”
Nick Carter, the famous detective, regarded his reflection in the mirror rather disgustedly, and his speech came in angry jerks, unlike his usual calm, even tones.
“You’ll be masked, of course?” observed his assistant, Chickering.
“Certainly. It is a masked ball. ”

“ They are not overdrawn tales of bloodshed. They rather show the working of one of the finest minds ever conceived by a writer. The name of Nick Carter is familiar all over the world, for the stories of his adventures may be read in twenty languages. No other stories have withstood the severe test of time so well as those contained in the Nick Carter Stories. It proves conclusively that they are the best. ”

“ I may go, may I not?”
“If you will,” returned Nick. “You will be a great help, and we will try to keep you from harm.”
“I’d like to see the man that will harm you when I’m around,” blurted out Chick, clenching both fists.
“Chick!” warned Nick Carter. “That will do. Miss Solado has perfect faith in you, I have no doubt. Meanwhile, do not frighten her by making her think we shall meet people who will put your chivalry to the test.”
Claudia gave Chick a smile that quite counterbalanced his chief’s gentle rebuke. ”

“ They were finding their mistake, for, as Nick sent the valet flying to the deck, senseless, Chick flew at Solado just when that worthy was going to help Miguel.
“You may be a big man in your own country,” observed Chick, as he twisted Don Solado’s arms behind him until he gasped with pain. “But in America we have better men than you in jail.”
He forced Solado to his back on the deck, and then slipped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.
This had been swift work with Chick. But Nick Carter had been equally as speedy. ”

“ Finally he took her to where the first siphon was being erected.
“You see,” he explained patiently, “when we come to a valley, or to any depression, we’re compelled to use these immense steel mains. Through them the water is shot down one side and up the other. This one building is ten feet in diameter. In New York, if you remember, there is a siphon bored through solid granite, running beneath the Hudson River, and bringing water from the Catskill Aqueduct. With the exception of a small length of pressure pipe in use at Niagara Falls, our siphons are the largest and longest in the world.” ”

“ Once the launch had been secured, Nick looked about him for some means of getting to the yacht without being perceived by the man smoking on the cabin, or anybody else who might be on watch.
“I can’t take the launch,” he muttered. “The chugging of the engine will attract attention at once. I’ll have to drift in with the tide and paddle with that emergency oar to get there at all. But I cannot handle such a cumbersome craft as the launch in reconnoitering. ”

“ Carter!” she called out.
“Go ahead!” was all he said. “Get to New York! That’s all you have to do!”
Claudia Solado would have liked to stay and pick up the detective. But she was a girl of real sense, and she knew better than to fly in the face of a man who had saved her cousin against almost overwhelming odds.
So she opened the throttle wide, and, with the unconscious Marcos lying across the boat—his head on a mat at her side, and his feet occasionally dipping in the choppy waves as she raced along—she soon left Nick Carter and her pursuers far behind. ”

“ Nick Carter knew that Marcos would have plenty of money for his traveling expenses, and that Claudia Solado would help him in every possible way.
“Whether that young lady is in love with Marcos, or whether it is merely cousinly regard she feels for him, is of no consequence,” he murmured. “The point is that she seems to be entirely devoted to the young man. I hope they won’t be so foolish as to stop long at Crownledge. ”

“ Miss Breen said, laughing with him, and watching the snake crawl safely away.
“On the contrary,” Nash responded, “it is.”
She frowned. “But how? Why, the other man could——”
“Could, but wouldn’t,” Nash interrupted. “It’s the gun he’s afraid of, not the bullet. And being gun-shy is about the commonest of human traits. As a general rule, you’ll find it is the Eastern man who is most likely to pack around a gun. ”

“ He heard also that one of the tanker’s lifeboats, containing the chief officer and seven men, had been blown away and was never seen again.
Any man who would take a cargo of benzine from the west coast of South America to London in the winter, and buck through the worst weather of the year, he thought, was capable of fighting his way through a sea of fire.
When the Zaandyk came in from Rotterdam, Captain Dekker was asked if he had seen any mines in the North Sea. No, he hadn’t seen any mines, and he had not been molested by any craft of the warring nations. ”

“ Well, he isn’t going on board that yacht again, if I know myself—and I think I do.”
He felt a thrill of satisfaction as he saw how the launch was cutting through the water, faster than at first.
“She’s getting the hang of it,” he muttered. “Hope she won’t run us down. I can’t do much dodging with about a hundred and seventy pounds of Joyalita prince on my back. Whew! He gets heavier every second.”
In another minute he saw there was no doubt about the outcome of the race. The launch was gaining rapidly. ”

“ He can’t get to us in time. Let him blow.”
The gruff-voiced man had never ceased his torrent of profanity and threats. They came rumbling across the water as violently as ever. In fact, they increased now that he saw there was a boat by the side of the swimmer and his charge.
“Stop, Marcos!” he bawled. “You’d better, if you know what is to your advantage. We won’t stand any more of this nonsense.”
“Let him talk!” said Nick Carter, in a low tone, to the girl. “Can you get hold of Marcos’ shoulder? That’s right! Catch him by the coat lapel and pull, just as I give him a heave!” ”

“ They walked along the corridor, the girl leaning on his arm, and so down the staircase to the ballroom.
As they entered, a dance was just over, and the dancers, chatting and laughing, were leaving the floor.
“All the better,” he whispered, behind his mask. “We shall have plenty of room to walk, and a good opportunity to look at everybody as we go along.”
Nick Carter, a gallant figure in his gay Mexican dress, and with the sombrero pulled well down over his forehead, strode around the ballroom, the “Queen of Night” by his side. ”

“ It is made up of men who think they would get more for themselves if there were a different form of government.”
“You find such men in every country,” observed the detective slowly.
“In a few words, here is the state of things,” continued Claudia: “Joyalita has been asked to join an alliance with some of the smaller States in South America—for mutual protection and advantage. That is the way it is put by the agitators. Marcos is bitterly opposed to the change, but unless he can get home before the eighteenth of this month, there is every fear that it will go through.” ”

“ The two raised the man from the floor, and laid him over one of the brawny shoulders of Nick Carter.
The valet was heavy and large, but the detective carried him along without apparent effort into the house, up the stairs, and into one of the bedrooms.
“If you can find something warm for him to eat, Miss Solado,” remarked Nick, as they put the man on the bed, “it will help as much as anything. We will put him to bed in the meantime.”
Claudia was only too glad to do anything she could. She went to the kitchen and foraged for supplies. She was fortunate enough to find a can of soup. ”

“ When she had been talking about the resemblance of Nick Carter to Prince Marcos, she had mentioned the fact that their voices were so much alike that it would be easy for one to be mistaken for the other.
Now, when Nick called out to her to come on, in response to her cry of “Marcos!” she supposed it was her cousin calling.
“Here, Marcos!” she said, as she came near. “Climb into the boat. I’ll hold it as still as I can.”
“I’m afraid we shall have to lift him in, Miss Solado,” suggested Nick. “He isn’t able to help himself!” ”

“ Miss Breen said. “I suppose it comes natural, doesn’t it?”
Nash shook his head and smiled into her anxious face.{52} “What makes you think that? All Easterners think the same. They want to believe that every man between here and the Colorado line carries a six-shooter or two. Nothing could be more absurd. The real gunman is found in the big cities. Why, I’ll wager there are more men in New York City to-day carrying guns than in the whole State of California.” ”