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Woman at Bay

<h2 class="newchapter">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> <h3>THE FLIGHT THROUGH THE CELLAR.</h3> The action of Black Madge was so sudden and so unlooked for that it came as an entire surprise, even to Nick Carter, and the act which overturned 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[Pg 276] 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[Pg 277] 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 strength of his arms to the utmost, he literally picked it from the floor and hurled it over his head, while he was practically lying on his back. Then, kicking the chair from under him, and half rolling over—realizing in that instant that Madge could not possibly get upon her own feet as quickly as he could on his—he leaped to his knees, and threw himself forward across the now empty space which the table had occupied, and so managed to seize the skirt of Black Madge's dress. One jerk of his strong arms pulled her toward him, and the next instant he had seized her, and by passing one arm around her neck clapped his hand over her mouth, thus preventing her from calling out. Although she struggled fiercely, clawing with her hands, and kicking with her heels, and attempting vainly to scream, the confusion in the room was so great that no one was conscious of what she was doing, save Nick Carter himself, who held her. And Nick knew that behind the bar, almost midway in its length, there was a small door, which connected with some sort of an apartment back of it. What that apartment was, he did not know, other than that he had seen Grinnel pass out and return through that[Pg 278] small door twice since he entered the place; and he concluded that it must be sort of a retiring room, possibly a private office of the proprietor. The door was not tall enough for a man to pass through standing in an upright position, and it was considerably narrower than an ordinary door; but all the same, to Nick's idea, it offered a safe and secure retreat for the moment, if he could but succeed in reaching it. What was beyond it, he did not know. But it was enough for him, that, if he could get past it before the lights were turned on again, he at least would be out of that crowded room, and have time to catch his breath, and determine what it was best to do. He regarded Chick as entirely competent to take care of himself. Therefore, the instant that he seized upon Madge, and stopped her screaming by clapping his hand over her mouth, he pulled himself to his feet, and, holding her struggling form firmly, he carried her safely across the space which intervened between him and the end of the bar—a space which he knew would be practically clear of impedimenta at the moment. Nick figured that Grinnel, having turned off the lights, would stand silently with his hand upon the switch ready to turn them on again in an instant. If he could only succeed in carrying Madge behind that bar and through the door already described be[Pg 279]fore the lights were turned on, much would be accomplished. The detective reached the end of the bar in safety, and, feeling the back of it with his body, glided around behind it to the spot where he knew the small door to be located, and then, releasing his left hand from the woman he carried long enough to reach for the latch of the door, he pulled it open, passed through, and closed it behind him. With the hand that was still free he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and, before Madge could escape him, he snapped them upon her wrists behind her back and dropped her to the floor, at the same time pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and tying it firmly—much too firmly for her comfort—around her jaws. His next act was to produce his flash light and turn it upon the door, where, to his delight, he discovered that it was only necessary to drop a heavy iron bar into place to secure it; and this bar passed entirely across the door, and rested in iron slots at either side of it. He also noticed in that instant that the door was an extremely heavy one, and that the partition through which it opened was a substantial one. Without doubt, the room had been prepared by Mike Grinnel himself with great care as the means of a safe and sure retreat for him in the event of a raid upon his place. [Pg 280]The detective discovered, also, that there was a gas jet in the room, and he turned this on, and lit the gas at once. Madge was in the meantime using every effort in her power to pull the handkerchief from her face, so that she could cry for help, but now with light sufficient to see what he was about, the detective lost no time in securing her so firmly that she was entirely helpless. To her baleful glances of utter hatred, he paid not the slightest attention, but he began at once to examine the room with great care, knowing well that there should be another means of entrance to and egress from it than the one he made use of. For Mike Grinnel, skilled as he was in the habits of the people he dealt with, would never have built for himself a den from which there was no escape after once he had entered it. Although there was no sign of a second door to be seen anywhere, Nick did not despair of finding one, and he began his search by first pulling out a sideboard which stood against the wall, and looking behind it. He next had recourse to a couch, under which he searched for a trapdoor, but found none; and then his attention was attracted to an iron safe, not quite so high as his head, which stood in one corner of the room. [Pg 281]An iron safe is not a thing which is easily moved from its position, but Nick seized upon it, nevertheless; nor was he surprised when he found that it was so perfectly balanced on the wheels that supported it that it moved readily enough in response to his efforts. And behind it was the door he sought. It was not over three feet high, and thirty inches in width, but there was a latch upon it, mortised into the wood, and there was a hole in the door, through which was passed a small steel chain that was attached to a rung fastened to the iron safe. This, of course, was intended to use for pulling the safe back into position after the door had been made use of, and the fugitive, whoever he might be, had made his escape. Nick pulled open the door, thus making it ready for his use, and then quickly returned to Black Madge's side. He raised her in his arms, carried her to the little door, and, having unceremoniously thrust her headfirst through it, crawled after her, closed the door, and pulled the safe into place again with the aid of the chain. He found himself now in a narrow corridor, faced by rough bricks on either side of him, evidently constructed between the party walls of the two buildings, and ten feet in front of him he perceived a flight of steps leading downward. [Pg 282]Again picking Madge up in his arms, he hurried down the narrow stairs to the bottom, and there came upon an iron door, fastened with a spring lock on the inside, which he therefore easily opened. Passing through this, and closing it behind him, so that the lock snapped again, he found himself in the cellar beneath the building that adjoined the one in which Mike Grinnel's dive was located. Across the cellar, and at the far end of it, was a flight of wooden stairs. Nick regretted at that moment that he did not remember what sort of a place was located next to Grinnel's, but he realized the imperative necessity of getting out of the building into the street as quickly as possible, no matter how he accomplished it, and therefore, when he carried his captive up those stairs to the top of them, and found there only an ordinary wooden door locked against him, he lost no time in kicking it open, and passing through. When he did so, and when he came out in the room above, it happened that the battery of his own light gave out, and before he could determine his surroundings he was in utter darkness. This lasted, however, only a moment, and he was in the act of hastening forward toward the front of the house, when, with startling suddenness, the whole place flashed into brilliant illumination, and he found[Pg 283] himself standing at one end of what looked like a Chinese laundry, while directly in front of him, and not many feet distant, was Mike Grinnel and three of the men from his place, confronting him, with drawn revolvers in their hands. [Pg 284] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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