Nicholas Carter

“ Nick felt a thrill of satisfaction. He had scored one important point and verified one of his suspicions—that Royal had gone to Fordham after leaving the faro-bank, despite having denied it to Chick.
Nick now let up a little on his terror-filled victim. Yet, without betraying his secret satisfaction, he sternly replied:
“You say you did not kill him, but I have only your word for it.”
“My oath, Mose!”
“Silence! Silence, and hear me!”
“I am listening, Mose. For God’s sake, don’t be so harsh. I have trouble enough, Heaven knows. I am a wreck of myself and know not where to turn. ”

“ I first came to you, Doctor Royal, and told the whole truth. Believe me, despite your censure, even a gamester may love nobly. But no more need be said. I shall respect and be governed by a father’s will and wishes. Your manner and words show me that under no consideration can you deem me worthy.”
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“No longer worthy of my roof—much less my daughter!” answered the rector, trembling, and in tears.
Despite that Flood’s pale face remained as calm as stone, Nick, with his keen discernment, saw that the man was suffering beyond description, and, in a way, the kind-hearted detective pitied him. ”

“ Flood at once mounted the stairs and entered the chamber previously described. At that hour, however, the room presented a vivid contrast. It was like looking at the bare stage of a theater seen by daylight. There was no game going, no excited players, no glare of electric lights, no clicking of ivory chips, no signs of apprehension, no precautionary measures. For the door of the room stood open, and John Green, the humpback, was engaged in wiping the glassware on the sideboard. ”

“ Moses Flood, eh?” muttered Nick, with a curious smile.
“It must have been a mistake,” continued Gilsey, with augmented feeling. “Kendall is not a man of evil inclinations. It is not in his nature to have formed any relations whatever with a scoundrel who gambles for a living, and who runs a resort where——”
“Stop just a moment, Gilsey,” interrupted Nick, with an odd little laugh. “A man of your limited experience is very prone to misjudge men out of his own circle in life.” ”

“ She was barely twenty, an innocent and artless girl, obviously unused to the ways of the world, and that her secret heart had been won by the strong and magnetic nature of Moses Flood, while she was entirely ignorant of his vocation, did not in the least surprise the detective. How he could now serve her best, however, was Nick’s immediate and chief consideration.
“Now come, Miss Royal, I want you to confide in me,” said he, in a kindly and impressive way. “You are in trouble, and need a good friend, one who knows all the ways of the world, and just what is of true value in it. ”

“ Flood gazed at him with glistening eyes.
“Before Heaven, Nick, I owe you a debt I can never repay,” said he, with much emotion.
“Pshaw,” laughed Nick heartily. “As you men say who writhe under the tiger’s claws, as you lately have been writhing, Mose, I have merely called the turn for you. Run you in, eh? No, no, my man, not I. When I make a move of that kind I want the right man. To get the bracelets on him—that’s the work that still lies 155 before me. It may prove to be the most difficult and dangerous of all. ”

“ I am opposed to gambling of all kinds, whether done with cards, or in a pool-room, or on a race-track, or in the stock exchange.”
“Why, certainly, Nick, I already know that,” exclaimed 18 Gilsey, with a surprised expression in his gentle, blue eyes. “But what do you imply of this rascal?”
“Merely this,” smiled Nick. “Aside from his vocation, which in every way I despise, Moses Flood is not a rascal. I know what I am talking about, Gilsey. Flood is a man whose word is as good as any man’s bond. He is as square a man as ever stood in leather. ”

“ Flood’s hands moved with lightning like rapidity. They took the false card undetected. The turn was made—and Cecil Kendall had won!
He leaped to his feet, caught blindly at his chair, then cried wildly:
“No more! Not another bet! Not for life itself will I make another bet!”
Flood rose, with face fairly transfigured, and pointed to the sleeping man on the couch.
“Peace!” he sternly commanded, with a voice that 70 silenced all. “Do not wake young Royal. He is in no shape to go home to his father and sister!”
Nick Carter leaned over and gripped Chick hard by the wrist. ”

“ They were very positive evidence of Nathan Godard’s guilt, yet Nick knew that there were other cards like them, and foresaw that even further proof was desirable. A profound reader of human nature, as well as a man of tremendous mental force, Nick was planning to drive the wretch opposite to a frenzy of excitement when, at the proper time, he could evoke from him an involuntary yet absolute self-betrayal.
“My expenses, eh?” he boisterously replied, turning to wink at Belle, then at the humpback cuekeeper, who had taken his seat at the end of the table. ”

“ Five minutes later Nick Carter, who had not deemed it worth his while to interfere, which step might have suggested his identity, signed for Chick to accompany him, and they left the place together.
“There was nothing more for us there,” remarked Nick, as they headed for home. “If ever a man in a bad corner made a lucky play, Kendall has made one this night.”
“I’m blessed if I can see through it!” said Chick, perplexedly. “What has come over Flood that he should do such a thing as that?”
“The sentiment which quite often brings out the very best part of a man,” replied Nick gravely. ”

“ There were tears in the rector’s aged eyes, but Flood never moved nor changed.
“May not a gamester be a true friend?” he asked gravely.
“Not a worthy one—never!”
“You feel sure of that?”
“Absolutely.”
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“Then you consider me a knave?”
“Your vocation brands you as one.”
“I will not undertake, Doctor Royal, to defend my vocation,” said Flood, with indescribable gentleness. ”

“ As he turned from the scene, bent upon hastening away, Nick caught sight of a white, frightened face at one of the library windows—the face of the girl from whom he had recently parted, and who plainly had seen and heard all.
Darting around a corner of the house, Nick rapped smartly on one of the side windows. The sound quickly brought Dora Royal to him, and he signed for her to raise the sash.
“Do not be alarmed,” he then cried softly. “Your face will betray you unless you conceal your feelings. ”

“ Moses Flood drew himself up and laid his hand on the speaker’s shoulder.
“Kendall,” said he, with grave austerity, “you are not rightly tempered to be a gamester. Take the advice of a gamester, however, and for the sake of those who love you, if not for your own, never again face a faro layout or play a card for money.” ”

“ He sold the stacks of ivory chips, handled all the money, shuffled and dealt the cards from the silver deal box before him, and took or paid all bets. He seldom spoke unless addressed. His brain was active, his eyes alert, his hands busy; but his face, whether he won or lost, evinced no emotion.
In a chair to his right, and somewhat above the table, sat the lookout. His duty was to see that the dealer made no mistakes. The lookout thus protects the house. The players have no protection. They who “buck the tiger” must look out for themselves.
At one end of the table sat the cuekeeper. ”

“ Nick Carter, in the disguise of Joe Badger, stood on the steps.
“Hello, Peters!” he exclaimed familiarly, “is Moses Flood about?”
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The goggle eyes of the humpback swept round to meet those of the gamester, standing as rigid as stone in the adjoining room.
“It’s only Joe Badger, sir,” he whispered hoarsely.
Again that fleeting expression of relief swept over Flood’s white face.
“Badger—at this hour!” he muttered darkly. “What does he want?”
“He says he must see you, sir.”
“Must?”
“That was the word, sir.”
“Must! Ha! What matters? Let him come up.” ”

“ Yes, Nate, it’s dead open and shut that the uncle comes from Dakota.”
Godard dropped back into his chair and fell to thinking.
He was thinking of Moses Flood’s brace deal box, then in his own possession.
He was thinking, too, of a deck of strippers, also in his possession, with which he could vary to his own advantage the turn of every card.
In the lives of those who pursue fickle fortune through the medium of games of chance there is no experience which so arouses a spirit of utter recklessness as that of protracted losing. ”

“ The face of Harry Royal grew dark as a thunder-cloud. He at once suspected that Kendall had proven false, and was bent upon cheating him of a part of the winnings, an idea somewhat warranted by the latter’s apparently secret departure. The possibility of thus being wronged seemed to arouse the very worst passions of which the intoxicated young man was capable. ”

“ Jealousy was the motive for this crime. The cane belongs to Moses Flood, and only yesterday——”
“Do you mean Moses Flood, the gambler?” interrupted Gerry, in tones that began to ring with exultant convictions.
“The same—the same!” cried Doctor Royal. “Only yesterday I scornfully refused him the hand of my daughter, and told him she was already engaged to Cecil Kendall. Jealousy must have been the motive. Flood must be the guilty party. Only yesterday I——”
“By heavens, then, Flood is the man we want!” exclaimed Gerry, again interrupting the pale and excited rector. ”

“ Nick found Mr. Gilsey in his private office, dismayed by the news he had received, not only of Cecil Kendall’s murder, but also of the latter’s recent career, plainly indicating that the deficit at the bank was a deplorable probability.
“I now have experts at work on the books, Detective Carter, and we shall soon know the worst,” said he, after their greeting and a brief discussion of the crime discovered that morning.
“I am like a man in a nightmare,” he added. “I can scarcely realize what has occurred, and hardly know where I stand.” ”

“ Come round and call on me some evening, Detective Carter, and we’ll talk it over—or have a game of ping-pong, if you prefer. I mustn’t be seen talking too long with a man on the street. It’s not good form, you know; so I’ll bid you good-by.”
With which Miss Braddon gathered up her skirts, gave Nick a nod and smile of the chip-on-my-shoulder type, then tripped away without a look behind her. ”

“ Except Moses Flood and the deformed cuekeeper, only one man in the room saw what Moses Flood was doing. Before the deal was half out, Nick Carter detected the gamester’s design, as well as the marvelous dexterity with which it was executed. And Nick readily guessed, too, the true occasion for it. Once more he leaned nearer to Chick and said softly:
“Do you see what Flood is doing?”
“I see that Kendall is winning,” whispered Chick.
“Like a race-horse. You are witnessing a bit of unselfish work that places Flood in a class all his own,” murmured Nick, with some feeling. ”

“ A momentary pallor swept over Kendall’s face at the mention of the sum, and his glittering eyes flashed for an instant on Flood; but the latter’s countenance, void of insinuation, was as cold and calm as a sea of ice. The player’s brow darkened slightly, and his lips became drawn in the intensity of his mental action. Had he known what the humpback, shaking in his chair, knew 61 at that moment, he would have won the sum in half-a-dozen turns.
“God!” he cried to himself. “What would that be to me! it would place me on my feet again! It would make me a man again—a man worthy of life and of her! ”

“ With an experienced eye he sized Kendall’s remaining chips; there were about six hundred dollars’ worth. The other players were wagering small amounts, and he gave them no attention. His mind was upon the man directly opposite.
Kendall’s hand trembled when it placed his first bet. He went on to the six to lose. He believed that he alone of all the world knew his dire need of winning.
This bet was wrongly placed, and Flood knew it, yet made a turn. There was no decision, but a king had showed winner, and Kendall coppered the next. In a spirit of antagonism he was bucking the cards. ”

“ Don’t bank on what Nick Carter doesn’t know. If you are up against him, and any reason exists for his being after you, there’s but one safe course—and even that is a long chance against such a man as he is.”
“What course is that?”
“Take the bull by the horns, Nate, and either put the detective to sleep or go under yourself in the attempt. That’s the only way to deal with Nick Carter.”
Godard sat silent for several moments, weighing in his own mind the desperate possibility suggested. ”

“ Gilsey looked surprised for a moment, then answered:
“Why, yes, I think that he has been. They have frequently lunched in company, and I have heard of them at the theaters together. I cannot, of course, say to what extent their intimacy has gone.”
“It does not matter particularly,” replied Nick. “You stated yesterday that she lives with her uncle.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“He is one of our depositors. His name is Godard—Nathan Godard.”
“Oh, ho! Flood’s lookout at the faro-bank!” Nick exclaimed to himself. “By Jove! this affair is shaping itself up in a new light. I begin to scent a rat.” ”