"I will send my carriage far you at seven this evening," cried Venner, with secret exultation.

Nick gravely tendered one of the snake charmer's cards.

"The great Pandu Singe will not keep your carriage waiting!" said he, with a dryness to which Venner then was blind.

"Well, Chick, what say you to that?" demanded Nick, as they were returning to the house of the snake charmer.

Chick laughed grimly.

"I say that we are now up against it."

"Right! There's a mighty wicked crisis near at hand."

"No doubt of it, Nick. Venner knew us all right."

"But he does not suspect that we are aware that he knew us, and in that at least we have the best of him."

"We'll turn it to a good account, too."

"Do you see the game this Kilgore gang is playing?"

"Plainly, Nick."

"They aim to lure us both to Venner's house, and there trap us and do us up."

"To which latter," said Chick, dryly, "we shall strenuously object."

"Well, rather!" laughed Nick. "Still, I can see nothing in evading this question or in making a raid upon Venner's house. If the Kilgore gang are about to lay for us there, it is evident that their diamond plant is located elsewhere. They would not take chances of failing to down us, and then having their plant discovered in the house where they slipped up."

"Surely not," admitted Chick. "Kilgore is too shrewd to take those chances."

"Undoubtedly."

For several minutes Nick calmly considered the situation, then bluntly observed:

"Chick, I see but one course for us. We must go up against the game, and give this gang what rope they want."

"That's just my idea, Nick."

"In no other way can we make sure of nailing the entire gang, and also locating their plant. Raiding Venner's house would not accomplish it.

Some of the gang might not be there, or possibly escape us, and we might search in vain for their plant. Then we should have most of our work to do over again."

"That's right, Nick."

"So we'll take the one sure way, Chick," said Nick, decisively. "We'll let this gang continue to think they are fooling us, and go up against them till we get the whole truth."

"That's good enough for me, Nick," nodded Chick. "I'm with you."

"It may prove to be a desperate game, but we'll take our chances. Before night I'll have laid such plans as will best serve us, and possibly circ.u.mvent these scoundrels. Here we are at the house of Pandu Singe."

Nick dismissed their carriage, and entered the dwelling, where they decided to remain until evening. Meantime Nick perfected his plans and discussed them with Chick.

Then a wire was sent to Patsy, the detective's younger a.s.sistant, with careful instructions.

Seven o'clock came, then half-past seven, but no sign of Venner's carriage.

Nick readily suspected the true reason for the delay.

"They are waiting until dark," he observed to Chick. "They don't want our arrival at Venner's house to be observed. A crafty dog, this Kilgore!"

"That he is."

"Never mind. Darkness will serve us best, as well as them."

"Hark! There's a carriage."

Nick glanced from the front window.

"A landau!" he muttered, with grim satisfaction. "Yes, and with Spotty Dalton on the seat. I know him, despite his disguise. Come on, Chick!

There's rough work to be done in the next two hours."

CHAPTER XIX.

HANDS SHOWED DOWN.

Spotty Dalton stood at the door of the open carriage when Nick and Chick emerged from the house, still clad in the character of Hindoos.

"Are you sent here by Mr. Venner?" inquired Nick.

Dalton touched the cloth cap drawn low over his brow, and stroked his dark, false beard as he replied:

"Yes, sir," said he, half in his throat. "You're the interpreter, I take it."

"At your service."

"I'm a bit late, but it couldn't be helped. We'll not be long in getting there."

"Time does not matter to the great Pandu Singe," replied Nick, as he followed Chick into the open landau. "The night is still long."

"It'll be infernally long for you two meddlers," Dalton grimly said to himself, as he banged the carriage door and mounted to the box.

Then they rolled rapidly away toward a northern suburb of the city.

The dusk of evening was already deepening to darkness, a gloom more noticeable far up in the heavens than among the myriad of lights in the city streets. For not a star was visible in the murky sky, and away in the west huge banks of inky clouds were sweeping up toward the zenith, indicating the rapid approach of a sudden storm.