nd his followers for the coming of the detective, they had only
to wait silently in the darkness until they heard him approaching, when
Mike switched on the lights.

It was a moment fraught with peril, and with unnumbered possibilities.
At such times there is always an instant of inaction; an instant when
neither party concerned knows quite what to do.

But the detective, as it happened--with the possible exception of Mike
Grinnel himself--was the first to recover.

The detective was carrying Madge in his arms; and now, at the risk of
injuring her, realizing that it was the only way by which any
possibility of escape could be offered to himself, he raised her over
his head at the very instant that the turning on of the lights revealed
his enemies, and threw her with all his strength at Mike Grinnel's burly
figure.

Of course, not one of the crooks dared to use his weapon, lest Black
Madge herself be shot, and it was upon this idea that the detective
acted as much as any other.

Nor did it occur to Mike Grinnel that this other, whom he had seemed to
have now guessed must be Nick Carter, would resort to any such measure
as he had, and, therefore, he was not prepared.

The body of Madge, flying the short distance across the room, struck
Grinnel squarely on the chest, and thus forced him backward against two
of the men who were with him; and so in that instant four people all
together were huddled in a heap upon the floor, and only one of Nick's
visible enemies remained standing.

And the instant that Nick threw Madge at them, he leaped forward and
seized the switch, which was almost at Grinnel's shoulder, where he had
been standing; and, with a twist of his wrist, he turned off the lights
as suddenly as they had been turned on.

At the same instant he had taken into consideration the position of the
one man of the enemy who was left erect, and no sooner had he turned the
switch than he leaped forward toward the spot where he knew that man to
be standing.

Nicely calculating the distance, he struck out a savage blow with his
right hand, and he heard this last one of his enemies go down in a heap
upon the floor.

And then the detective leaped over him toward the door which he had seen
during that brief interval of illumination, passed through it, and
pushed it shut behind him.

He knew now that he was in the front room of the laundry. He knew that
there should be tables and benches there, and it was only the wo