"She's done for, poor wretch!" muttered Nick, as he looked at her bloodless face.

He was right.

Senora Cervera had danced her last dance--a terrible one it was! She had lapsed into a merciful unconsciousness, from which she never emerged.

Next came Kilgore, and they easily found him. He lay stretched upon the ground, dead and scorched almost beyond recognition, at the base of the metallic rod through which he had met his fate.

"Lend a hand here," said Nick. "We'll place him with his confederate until we can have them properly removed."

"So be it," said Chick, gravely. "It's about the last we can do for them, and this nearly ends our work on this job."

"You've got the others?"

"Every man of them."

"Well done!" nodded Nick, as they raised the lifeless form between them.

"Behold the way of the transgressor."

"Hark!" exclaimed Patsy. "There goes the fire alarm. In three minutes there'll be a mob about here."

"Much good the firemen will do," rejoined Nick. "That house is doomed, and all that's in it."

He was right. With the pa.s.sing of the tempest, and the first sign of a star in the eastern sky, all that remained of the house above the diamond plant was a heap of red, smoldering embers, filling the cellar and the secret chamber--and blotting out, though perhaps not forever, the secret art of that misguided genius, Jean Pylotte, dead with a bullet in his brain, on the floor of Rufus Venner's hall.

There remains but little to complete the record of this strange and stirring case.

Before morning Nick had lodged Venner and Spotty Dalton in the Tombs, and had Garside arrested at his residence. The lifeless bodies of their three confederates,--Cervera having died at dawn--were taken to the Morgue.

Early the following day, Harry Boyden, the young man arrested for the murder of Mary Barton, was discharged from custody, and hastened to the home of Violet Page, to make her happy with the news of his release and his story of Nick Carter's extraordinary work. Both called upon Nick a day or two later, and expressed their grat.i.tude and affection in terms which here need no recital. Incidentally it may be added that they were married, as planned, the following summer.

How strangely the circ.u.mstances and experiences of life are knit and bound together. But for the vicious crime of a jealous woman, Nick might have labored long, and possibly vainly, to run down the Kilgore gang and their extraordinary criminal project, in which Cervera so strongly figured. It was as Nick said, the two crimes seemed bound together as if with links of steel.

In the trial which preceded the conviction and punishment of the three living members of the gang, Nick learned all of the facts of the case.

Venner & Co., it appeared, were on their last legs, and went into the game to square themselves, the design being to market vast quant.i.ties of the artificial diamonds. With this project in view, Venner had purchased the house at the rear of his own, under the name of Dr. Magruder, and there had established the plant. How well the scheme would have succeeded, but for Nick Carter, will never be known.

At all events, in the stock of Venner & Co. were found numerous stones which only the most proficient experts could prove to be artificial; and even to this day it is intimated that, among the bejeweled women of New York there are some unconsciously wearing the manufactured diamonds of Jean Pylotte. What matters, however, since where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise?

Jean Pylotte: His art died with him, alas! For in the ruins of the diamond plant there could be found no evidence sufficient to reveal his great secret.

Surely it had opened the way to a great swindle, the possibilities of which can hardly be conceived. But, fortunately, in the way of it had come--

Nick Carter.

THE END.

NICK CARTER STORIES

New Magnet Library

_Not a Dull Book in This List_

Nick Carter stands for an interesting detective story. The fact that the books in this line are so uniformly good is entirely due to the work of a specialist. The man who wrote these stories produced no other type of fiction. His mind was concentrated upon the creation of new plots and situations in which his hero emerged triumphantly from all sorts of trouble, and landed the criminal just where he should be--behind the bars.

The author of these stories knew more about writing detective stories than any other single person.

Following is a list of the best Nick Carter stories. They have been selected with extreme care, and we unhesitatingly recommend each of them as being fully as interesting as any detective story between cloth covers which sells at ten times the price.

If you do not know Nick Carter, buy a copy of any of the New Magnet Library books, and get acquainted. He will surprise and delight you.

_ALL t.i.tLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_

850--Wanted: A Clew By Nicholas Carter 851--A Tangled Skein By Nicholas Carter 852--The Bullion Mystery By Nicholas Carter 853--The Man of Riddles By Nicholas Carter 854--A Miscarriage of Justice By Nicholas Carter 855--The Gloved Hand By Nicholas Carter 856--Spoilers and the Spoils By Nicholas Carter 857--The Deeper Game By Nicholas Carter 858--Bolts from Blue Skies By Nicholas Carter 859--Unseen Foes By Nicholas Carter 860--Knaves in High Places By Nicholas Carter 861--The Microbe of Crime By Nicholas Carter 862--In the Toils of Fear By Nicholas Carter 863--A Heritage of Trouble By Nicholas Carter 864--Called to Account By Nicholas Carter 865--The Just and the Unjust By Nicholas Carter 866--Instinct at Fault By Nicholas Carter 867--A Rogue Worth Trapping By Nicholas Carter 868--A Rope of Slender Threads By Nicholas Carter 869--The Last Call By Nicholas Carter 870--The Spoils of Chance By Nicholas Carter 871--A Struggle With Destiny By Nicholas Carter 872--The Slave of Crime By Nicholas Carter 873--The Crook's Blind By Nicholas Carter 874--A Rascal of Quality By Nicholas Carter 875--With Shackles of Fire By Nicholas Carter 876--The Man Who Changed Faces By Nicholas Carter 877--The Fixed Alibi By Nicholas Carter 878--Out With the Tide By Nicholas Carter 879--The Soul Destroyers By Nicholas Carter 880--The Wages of Rascality By Nicholas Carter 881--Birds of Prey By Nicholas Carter 882--When Destruction Threatens By Nicholas Carter 883--The Keeper of Black Hounds By Nicholas Carter 884--The Door of Doubt By Nicholas Carter 885--The Wolf Within By Nicholas Carter 886--A Perilous Parole By Nicholas Carter 887--The Trail of the Fingerprints By Nicholas Carter 888--Dodging the Law By Nicholas Carter 889--A Crime in Paradise By Nicholas Carter 890--On the Ragged Edge By Nicholas Carter 891--The Red G.o.d of Tragedy By Nicholas Carter 892--The Man Who Paid By Nicholas Carter 893--The Blind Man's Daughter By Nicholas Carter 894--One Object in Life By Nicholas Carter 895--As a Crook Sows By Nicholas Carter 896--In Record Time By Nicholas Carter 897--Held in Suspense By Nicholas Carter 898--The $100,000 Kiss By Nicholas Carter 890--Just One Slip By Nicholas Carter 900--On a Million-dollar Trail By Nicholas Carter 901--A Weird Treasure By Nicholas Carter 902--The Middle Link By Nicholas Carter 903--To the Ends of the Earth By Nicholas Carter 904--When Honors Pall By Nicholas Carter 905--The Yellow Brand By Nicholas Carter 906--A New Serpent in Eden By Nicholas Carter 907--When Brave Men Tremble By Nicholas Carter 908--A Test of Courage By Nicholas Carter 909--Where Peril Beckons By Nicholas Carter 910--The Gargoni Girdle By Nicholas Carter 911--Rascals & Co. By Nicholas Carter 912--Too Late to Talk By Nicholas Carter 913--Satan's Apt Pupil By Nicholas Carter 914--The Girl Prisoner By Nicholas Carter 915--The Danger of Folly By Nicholas Carter 916--One Shipwreck Too Many By Nicholas Carter 917--Scourged by Fear By Nicholas Carter 918--The Red Plague By Nicholas Carter 919--Scoundrels Rampant By Nicholas Carter 920--From Clew to Clew By Nicholas Carter 921--When Rogues Conspire By Nicholas Carter 922--Twelve in a Grave By Nicholas Carter 923--The Great Opium Case By Nicholas Carter 924--A Conspiracy of Rumors By Nicholas Carter 925--A Klondike Claim By Nicholas Carter 926--The Evil Formula By Nicholas Carter 927--The Man of Many Faces By Nicholas Carter 928--The Great Enigma By Nicholas Carter 929--The Burden of Proof By Nicholas Carter 930--The Stolen Brain By Nicholas Carter 931--A t.i.tled Counterfeiter By Nicholas Carter 932--The Magic Necklace By Nicholas Carter 933--'Round the World for a Quarter By Nicholas Carter 934--Over the Edge of the World By Nicholas Carter 935--In the Grip of Fate By Nicholas Carter 936--The Case of Many Clews By Nicholas Carter 937--The Sealed Door By Nicholas Carter 938--Nick Carter and the Green Goods Men By Nicholas Carter 939--The Man Without a Will By Nicholas Carter 940--Tracked Across the Atlantic By Nicholas Carter 941--A Clew From the Unknown By Nicholas Carter 942--The Crime of a Countess By Nicholas Carter 943--A Mixed Up Mess By Nicholas Carter 944--The Great Money Order Swindle By Nicholas Carter 945--The Adder's Brood By Nicholas Carter 946--A Wall Street Haul By Nicholas Carter 947--For a p.a.w.ned Crown By Nicholas Carter 948--Sealed Orders By Nicholas Carter 949--The Hate That Kills By Nicholas Carter 950--The American Marquis By Nicholas Carter 951--The Needy Nine By Nicholas Carter 952--Fighting Against Millions By Nicholas Carter 953--Outlaws of the Blue By Nicholas Carter 954--The Old Detective's Pupil By Nicholas Carter 955--Found in the Jungle By Nicholas Carter 956--The Mysterious Mail Robbery By Nicholas Carter 957--Broken Bars By Nicholas Carter 958--A Fair Criminal By Nicholas Carter 959--Won by Magic By Nicholas Carter 960--The Piano Box Mystery By Nicholas Carter 961--The Man They Held Back By Nicholas Carter 962--A Millionaire Partner By Nicholas Carter 963--A Pressing Peril By Nicholas Carter 964--An Australian Klond.y.k.e By Nicholas Carter 965--The Sultan's Pearls By Nicholas Carter 966--The Double Shuffle Club By Nicholas Carter 967--Paying the Price By Nicholas Carter 968--A Woman's Hand By Nicholas Carter 969--A Network of Crime By Nicholas Carter 970--At Thompson's Ranch By Nicholas Carter 971--The Crossed Needles By Nicholas Carter 972--The Diamond Mine Case By Nicholas Carter 973--Blood Will Tell By Nicholas Carter 974--An Accidental Pa.s.sword By Nicholas Carter 975--The Crook's Bauble By Nicholas Carter 976--Two Plus Two By Nicholas Carter 977--The Yellow Label By Nicholas Carter 978--The Clever Celestial By Nicholas Carter 979--The Amphitheater Plot By Nicholas Carter 980--Gideon Drexel's Millions By Nicholas Carter 981--Death in Life By Nicholas Carter 982--A Stolen Ident.i.ty By Nicholas Carter 983--Evidence by Telephone By Nicholas Carter 984--The Twelve Tin Boxes By Nicholas Carter 985--Clew Against Clew By Nicholas Carter 986--Lady Velvet By Nicholas Carter 987--Playing a Bold Game By Nicholas Carter 988--A Dead Man's Grip By Nicholas Carter 989--Snarled Ident.i.ties By Nicholas Carter 990--A Deposit Vault Puzzle By Nicholas Carter 991--The Crescent Brotherhood By Nicholas Carter 992--The Stolen Pay Train By Nicholas Carter 993--The Sea Fox By Nicholas Carter 994--Wanted by Two Clients By Nicholas Carter 995--The Van Alstine Case By Nicholas Carter 996--Check No. 777 By Nicholas Carter 997--Partners in Peril By Nicholas Carter 998--Nick Carter's Clever Protege By Nicholas Carter 999--The Sign of the Crossed Knives By Nicholas Carter 1000--The Man Who Vanished By Nicholas Carter 1001--A Battle for the Right By Nicholas Carter 1002--A Game of Craft By Nicholas Carter 1003--Nick Carter's Retainer By Nicholas Carter 1004--Caught in the Toils By Nicholas Carter 1005--A Broken Bond By Nicholas Carter 1006--The Crime of the French Cafe By Nicholas Carter 1007--The Man Who Stole Millions By Nicholas Carter 1008--The Twelve Wise Men By Nicholas Carter 1009--Hidden Foes By Nicholas Carter 1010--A Gamblers' Syndicate By Nicholas Carter 1011--A Chance Discovery By Nicholas Carter 1012--Among the Counterfeiters By Nicholas Carter 1013--A Threefold Disappearance By Nicholas Carter 1014--At Odds With Scotland Yard By Nicholas Carter 1015--A Princess of Crime By Nicholas Carter 1016--Found on the Beach By Nicholas Carter 1017--A Spinner of Death By Nicholas Carter 1018--The Detective's Pretty Neighbor By Nicholas Carter 1019--A Bogus Clew By Nicholas Carter 1020--The Puzzle of Five Pistols By Nicholas Carter 1021--The Secret of the Marble Mantel By Nicholas Carter 1022--A Bite of an Apple By Nicholas Carter 1023--A Triple Crime By Nicholas Carter 1024--The Stolen Race Horse By Nicholas Carter 1025--Wildfire By Nicholas Carter 1026--A _Herald_ Personal By Nicholas Carter 1027--The Finger of Suspicion By Nicholas Carter 1028--The Crimson Clew By Nicholas Carter 1029--Nick Carter Down East By Nicholas Carter 1030--The Chain of Clews By Nicholas Carter 1031--A Victim of Circ.u.mstances By Nicholas Carter 1032--Brought to Bay By Nicholas Carter 1033--The Dynamite Trap By Nicholas Carter 1034--A Sc.r.a.p of Black Lace By Nicholas Carter 1035--The Woman of Evil By Nicholas Carter 1036--A Legacy of Hate By Nicholas Carter 1037--A Trusted Rogue By Nicholas Carter 1038--Man Against Man By Nicholas Carter 1039--The Demons of the Night By Nicholas Carter 1040--The Brotherhood of Death By Nicholas Carter 1041--At the Knife's Point By Nicholas Carter 1042--A Cry for Help By Nicholas Carter 1043--A Stroke of Policy By Nicholas Carter 1044--Hounded to Death By Nicholas Carter 1045--A Bargain in Crime By Nicholas Carter 1046--The Fatal Prescription By Nicholas Carter 1047--The Man of Iron By Nicholas Carter 1048--An Amazing Scoundrel By Nicholas Carter 1049--The Chain of Evidence By Nicholas Carter 1050--Paid with Death By Nicholas Carter 1051--A Fight for a Throne By Nicholas Carter 1052--The Woman of Steel By Nicholas Carter 1053--The Seal of Death By Nicholas Carter 1054--The Human Fiend By Nicholas Carter 1055--A Desperate Chance By Nicholas Carter 1056--A Chase in the Dark By Nicholas Carter 1057--The Snare and the Game By Nicholas Carter 1058--The Murray Hill Mystery By Nicholas Carter 1059--Nick Carter's Close Call By Nicholas Carter 1060--The Missing Cotton King By Nicholas Carter 1061--A Game of Plots By Nicholas Carter 1062--The Prince of Liars By Nicholas Carter 1063--The Man at the Window By Nicholas Carter 1064--The Red League By Nicholas Carter 1065--The Price of a Secret By Nicholas Carter 1066--The Worst Case on Record By Nicholas Carter 1067--From Peril to Peril By Nicholas Carter 1068--The Seal of Silence By Nicholas Carter 1069--Nick Carter's Chinese Puzzle By Nicholas Carter 1070--A Blackmailer's Bluff By Nicholas Carter 1071--Heard in the Dark By Nicholas Carter 1072--A Checkmated Scoundrel By Nicholas Carter 1073--The Cashier's Secret By Nicholas Carter 1074--Behind a Mask By Nicholas Carter 1075--The Cloak of Guilt By Nicholas Carter 1076--Two Villains in One By Nicholas Carter 1077--The Hot Air Clew By Nicholas Carter 1078--Run to Earth By Nicholas Carter 1079--The Certified Check By Nicholas Carter 1080--Weaving the Web By Nicholas Carter 1081--Beyond Pursuit By Nicholas Carter 1082--The Claws of the Tiger By Nicholas Carter 1083--Driven From Cover By Nicholas Carter 1084--A Deal in Diamonds By Nicholas Carter 1085--The Wizard of the Cue By Nicholas Carter 1086--A Race for Ten Thousand By Nicholas Carter 1087--The Criminal Link By Nicholas Carter 1088--The Red Signal By Nicholas Carter 1089--The Secret Panel By Nicholas Carter 1090--A Bonded Villain By Nicholas Carter 1091--A Move in the Dark By Nicholas Carter 1092--Against Desperate Odds By Nicholas Carter 1093--The Telltale Photographs By Nicholas Carter 1094--The Ruby Pin By Nicholas Carter 1095--The Queen of Diamonds By Nicholas Carter 1096--A Broken Trail By Nicholas Carter 1097--An Ingenious Stratagem By Nicholas Carter 1098--A Sharper's Downfall By Nicholas Carter 1099--A Race Track Gamble By Nicholas Carter 1100--Without a Clew By Nicholas Carter 1101--The Council of Death By Nicholas Carter 1102--The Hole in the Vault By Nicholas Carter 1103--In Death's Grip By Nicholas Carter 1104--A Great Conspiracy By Nicholas Carter 1105--The Guilty Governor By Nicholas Carter 1106--A Ring of Rascals By Nicholas Carter 1107--A Masterpiece of Crime By Nicholas Carter 1108--A Blow For Vengeance By Nicholas Carter 1109--Tangled Threads By Nicholas Carter 1110--The Crime of the Camera By Nicholas Carter 1111--The Sign of the Dagger By Nicholas Carter 1112--Nick Carter's Promise By Nicholas Carter 1113--Marked for Death By Nicholas Carter 1114--The Limited Holdup By Nicholas Carter 1115--When the Trap Was Sprung By Nicholas Carter 1116--Through the Cellar Wall By Nicholas Carter 1117--Under the Tiger's Claws By Nicholas Carter 1118--The Girl in the Case By Nicholas Carter 1119--Behind a Throne By Nicholas Carter 1120--The Lure of Gold By Nicholas Carter 1121--Hand to Hand By Nicholas Carter 1122--From a Prison Cell By Nicholas Carter 1123--Dr. Quartz, Magician By Nicholas Carter 1124--Into Nick Carter's Web By Nicholas Carter 1125--The Mystic Diagram By Nicholas Carter 1126--The Hand That Won By Nicholas Carter 1127--Playing a Lone Hand By Nicholas Carter 1128--The Master Villain By Nicholas Carter 1129--The False Claimant By Nicholas Carter 1130--The Living Mask By Nicholas Carter 1131--The Crime and the Motive By Nicholas Carter 1132--A Mysterious Foe By Nicholas Carter 1133--A Missing Man By Nicholas Carter 1134--A Game Well Played By Nicholas Carter 1135--A Cigarette Clew By Nicholas Carter 1136--The Diamond Trail By Nicholas Carter 1137--The Silent Guardian By Nicholas Carter 1138--The Dead Stranger By Nicholas Carter 1140--The Doctor's Stratagem By Nicholas Carter 1141--Following a Chance Clew By Nicholas Carter 1142--The Bank Draft Puzzle By Nicholas Carter 1143--The Price of Treachery By Nicholas Carter 1144--The Silent Partner By Nicholas Carter 1145--Ahead of the Game By Nicholas Carter 1146--A Trap of Tangled Wire By Nicholas Carter 1147--In the Gloom of Night By Nicholas Carter 1148--The Unaccountable Crook By Nicholas Carter 1149--A Bundle of Clews By Nicholas Carter 1150--The Great Diamond Syndicate By Nicholas Carter 1151--The Death Circle By Nicholas Carter 1152--The Toss of a Penny By Nicholas Carter 1153--One Step Too Far By Nicholas Carter 1154--The Terrible Thirteen By Nicholas Carter 1155--A Detective's Theory By Nicholas Carter 1156--Nick Carter's Auto Trail By Nicholas Carter 1157--A Triple Ident.i.ty By Nicholas Carter 1158--A Mysterious Graft By Nicholas Carter 1159--A Carnival of Crime By Nicholas Carter 1160--The Bloodstone Terror By Nicholas Carter

10,000,000

copies of the works of Nick Carter in the New Magnet Library have been sold. Millions more are going to be sold, not because the line represents forbidden literature, but because it fills a large and growing demand for recreational reading.

Nick Carter is justly famous. He stands as one of America's foremost literary characters. He is the close companion of some of America's leading professional and business men. Statesmen of high and low degree have called him "Nick," and do not hesitate to say that he has given them more satisfaction and pleasure than any other character in fiction.

The Nick Carter stories, therefore, hold a great deal for you. Any in the foregoing list are worth while.

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION 79 Seventh Avenue New York City

BOOKS FOR YOUNG MEN

MERRIWELL SERIES

Stories of Frank and d.i.c.k Merriwell

_Fascinating Stories of Athletics_

A half million enthusiastic followers of the Merriwell brothers will attest the unfailing interest and wholesomeness of these adventures of two lads of high ideals, who play fair with themselves, as well as with the rest of the world.

These stories are rich in fun and thrills in all branches of sports and athletics. They are extremely high in moral tone, and cannot fail to be of immense benefit to every boy who reads them.