urned
the table, coming as it did from a position directly opposite his own,
sent the table full upon him, and spilled the contents that had rested
upon it into his lap.

More than that, in spite of his effort to resist the force of the
attack, his chair was overturned backward, and he found himself the next
instant sprawling upon the floor.

But even if he was for an instant put out of business by the incident,
there were other things connected with it which worked to his
assistance.

Always in a resort of this kind, where there is ever the least
likelihood of police interference, there are many arrangements prepared
for instantly turning off the lights, and it is the first impulse of
every person who finds himself in such a place to "dowse the glim"
instantly upon the raising of a disturbance, if it is possible to do so.

Again, when there is the sudden noise of crashing glass and the
appearance of confusion in such a place at such a time, it never can be
determined at once what the cause of it is, and, as discretion is
always the better part of valor, and certainly is counted so among the
denizens of the underworld, there were at least a dozen men in that room
at the time who leaped for the switch to turn off the lights the instant
that Madge upset the table.

Mike Grinnel himself happened to be standing where one of the switches
was within reach of his hand, and so it happened that before Nick
Carter's chair could reach the floor the place was in total darkness.

Nick was not unaccustomed to experiences of this kind. It was by no
means the first time that he had been present in a resort like this one
when the lights had been turned off, and it is safe to say that he never
in his life entered a room where such a thing was likely to occur
without studying his surroundings carefully the moment he was inside,
and determining then and there what course he would pursue if such an
event should occur.

Consequently, although Madge's action came as an utter surprise to him,
he was nevertheless prepared for it. And so was Chick.

When the detective found himself falling, and knew that his chair must
topple over, the thought instantly came to him that Chick would escape
the greater part of the confusion resulting from it--and he knew that
he could rely upon Chick's activity and resource as thoroughly as upon
his own.

Nick managed to seize the edge of the table with his hands while
falling, and exerting the great s