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Designing the User Interface is written for students, researchers, designers,
managers, and eval uator s of interactive sys tems . It presents a broad survey of
how to develop high-quality user interfaces for interactive systems. Readers with
backgrounds in computer science, engineering, information science/ studies/
systems, business, psychology, sociology, education, and communications should
all find fresh and valuable material. Our goals are to encourage greater attention
to user experience design issues and to promote further scientific study of human-
computer interaction, including the huge topic of social media participation.
Since the publication of the first five editions of this book in 1986, 1992, 1998,
2005, and 2010, HCI practitioners and researchers have grown more numer-
ous and influential. The quality of interfaces has improved greatly, while the
community of users and its diver sity have grown dramatically. Researchers
and designers deserve as much recognition as the Moore's Law community
for bringing the benefits of information and communications technologies to
more than 6 billion people. In addition to desktop comp uter s, designers now
must accommodate web-based services and a diverse set of mobile devices.
User-interface and experience designers are moving in new directions. Some
innovators provoke us with virtual and augmented realities, whereas others
offer alluring scenarios for ubiquitous computing, embedded devices, and
tangible user interface s.
These innovations are important, but much work remains to be done to
improve the experiences of novice and expert users who still struggle with
too many frustrations. These problems must be resolved if we are to achieve
the goal of lll'liversal usability, enabling all citizens in every coun try to enjoy
the benefits of these new technologies. This book is meant to inspire students,
guide designers, and provoke researchers to seek those solutions.
Keeping up wi th the innovations in human-computer interaction is a
demanding task, and requests for an update begin arriving soon after the
publication of each edition. The expansion of the field led the single author of
the first three editions, Ben Shneiderman, to turn to Catherine Plaisant, a long-
time va lued research partner, for coauthoring help with the fourth and fifth
editions . In addition, two contributing authors lent their able suppor t to the fifth
edition: Maxine S. Cohen and Steven M. Jacobs have long experience teaching
with earlier editions of the book and provided fresh perspectives that improved
the quality for all readers and instructors. In preparing for this sixth edition, the
team expanded again to in clud e Niki as Elmqvist and Nick Dia kopou los, who are
both new colleagues at the University of Maryland. We harvested information

7
8 Preface

from books and journals, searched the World Wide Web, attended conferences,
and consulted with colleagues. Then we returned to our keyboards to write,
producing first drafts that served as a starting point to generate feedback from
each other as well as external colleagues, HCI practitioners, and studen ts. The
work that went into the final product was intense but satisfying. We hope you,
the readers, will put these ideas to good use and produce more innovations for
us to report in future editions.

New in the SixthEdition

Readers will see the dynamism of human -computer interaction reflected in the
substantial changes to this sixth edition. The good news is that most universities
now offer courses in this area, and. some require it in comp ut er science, infor-
mation schools, or other disciplines. Courses and degree programs in human-
computer interaction, human-centered computing, user experience design,
and others are a growing worldwide phenomenon at every educational level.
Although many usability practitioners must still fight to be heard, corporate
and government commj tm ents to u sabili ty engineering grow stro ng er daily.
The business case for usability has been made repeatedly, and dedicated web-
sites describe numerous projects demonstrating strong return on investment for
usability efforts.
Comments from instructors who used the previous editions were influential
in our revisions. The main changes were (1) to include more on design methods
with case study examp les and (2) to totall y revise our coverage of social media
participation and user-generated content, especially from mobile devices. We
made major revisions to every chapter, changing almost every figure and sub-
stantially updating the references.
The first chapter more boldly recogruzes the success story of HCI and user
experience design. The growing issue of uruversal usability for increasingly
diverse users of interactive systems became a separate chapter. The next chapters
present desigrt guidelines, principles, and tl1eories that have been subs tantia lly
updated to reflect new ways of thinking. Part 2 covers refinements to devel-
opment methodologies and evaluation techruques. Part 3 explores progress in
direct manipulation and its extensions such as virtual and augmented reality
as well as changes to menus, form fill-in, and command languages brougl1t
about by the new platforms (especially mobile devices). Since collaboratio11
and social media participation have become so central, that chapter has been
heavily expanded and updated. Part 4 emphasizes high-quality and timely user
experiences . The chap ter on user manuals has been thoroughly revised to reflect
the importance of well-designed docume11tation and user support in servit1g
the goal of universal usability. Finally, information search and visualization
 Preface 9

have their own chapters because each of these topics has grown dramatically in
importance.
We strive to give balanced presentations on controversial topics such as
3-D, speech, and natural language interfaces. Philosophical controversies such
as the degree of human control ai1d the role of animated characters are treated
carefully to present fairly the viewpoints that differ from our own. We gave
colleagues a chance to comment on these sections and made a special effort to
provide a balanced presentation while making our own opinions clear. Readers
will have to judge for themselves whether we succeeded.
Instructors wanted guidelines and summary tables; these elements are shown
in boxes throughout the book. The Practitioner Summaries and Researcher
Agendas remain popular; they have been updated. The references have been
expanded and freshened wi th many new sources and wi th class ic papers still
included. We worked hard to select references that were widely available and
often web-accessible. Figures, especially those sllowing screen designs, age
quickly, so many new u ser interfaces are shown . Prin ting in full color makes
these figures va luable as a record of contemporary design styles.

Ways to Use ThisBook

We hope that stud ents, practitioners, and researchers who read this book will
want to keep it on their she lves or their electronic book readers to consul t when
they are working on new topics or seeking pointers to the literature.
Instru ctors may choose to assign the full text in the order that we present it
or to make selections from it. The opening chapter is a good starting point for
most students, the second chap ter was written as a strong foundation for under-
standing the challenges of universal usability, and the third chapter covers
basic guidelines, principles, and theories. We think all readers should start with
these foundations. From there, instructors may take different paths depending
on th eir disciplines. For example, instructors might emphasize the following
chapters, listed by area:
• Computer science: 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16
• Psychology and sociology: 5, 9, 10, 11, 12
• Industrial engineering: 4, 5, 11, 13, 16
• Librar y and information studies: 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16
• Business and information systems: 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
• Education technology: 4, 5, 11, 12, 14
• Communication arts and media studies: 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14
• Technical writing and graphic design: 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 16
10 Preface

CompanionWebsitewww.pearsonglobaleditions
.com/
shneiderman

The presence of the World Wide Web has a profound effect on researchers,
designers, educa tors, and students. We want to encourage intense u se of the web
by members of all these groups, but the volatility of the web is not in harmony
with the permanence of printed books. Publishing numerous website addresses
in the book would have been risky because changes are made daily, but we
includ ed key websites in a box at the end of each chap ter . To provide more
website addresses and keep them current, we have established a Companion
Website for this book. We hope that interested readers will visit the site and
send us ideas for improving it.
In addition to pointers to current web resources, a variety of supp lemen-
tal materials for this text are available at the book's Companion Website. The
following are accessible to all readers who register using the prepaid access card
in the front of this book:
• Links to hundreds of human-computer interaction resources, examples, and
research studies that enhance and expand on the material in each chapter
• Chapter/ section summaries
• Self-test questions for each chapter
• Homework assignments and projects
PowerPoint lecture slides are also available from Instructor Resource Center
(www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/shneiderman). For information about access-
ing these instructor's supplements, visit the Instructor Resource Center or get in
touch with your Pearson representative.

Acknowledgments

Writing is a lonel y process; revising is a social one. We are grateful to the many
colleagues and students who ha, ,e made suggestions for improvements to
prior editions. After one two-day kickoff meeting, we collaborated smoothly
by using e-mail, Dropbox for sharing drafts, Google Docs for group-edited
task lists, and hour-long phone conference calls every one to three weeks.
Capable coattthors with cooperative personalities made the hard work for this
massive project possible even with tight time constraints. We are grateful to
Nick Diakopoulos for writing the chapter on communication and collabora-
tion, which provided a fresh perspective on this vital topic, and for reviewing
draft chapters.
 Preface 11

We've greatly appreciated the comments on draft chapters from many

colleagues, including: Sriram Karthik Badam, Gilles Bailly, Andy Cockburn, Jim
Dabrowski, Eck Doerry, Steven Dow, Laura Downey, Pierre Dragicevic, Laurie
Dringus, Cody Dmme, Jason Dykes, Massoud Ghyam, Marti Hearst, Harold
Henke, Pourang Irani, Jonathan Lazar, Clayton Lewis, Kurt Luther, Ethan
Munson, Alan Newell, Whitney Quesenbery, Karthik Ramani, Dan Russell,
Helen Sarid, Cees Snoek, Erik Stolterman, Pawel Wozniak, and Adil Yalcin. We
also thank all the colleagues and industry contacts who have helped us assemble
the 170+ figures of the book.
We appreciate our close daily collaborations with faculty at the University
of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab, many of whom provided
comments on drafts. This supportive community has a profound influence on
our work: June Ahn, Ben Bederson, Marshini Chetty, Allison Druin, Leah Find-
later, Jon Froehlich, Jen Golbeck, Kent Norman, Doug Oard, Jennifer Preece,
and Jessica Vitak. Thanks also to Liese Zahabi, creator of the chapter-opening
graphics, which add an uplifting elegance to our work. We also appreciate the
undergraduate and graduate students who provide encouraging feedback and
challenging questions plus the motivation to keep updating this book.
The publisher's editorial and production staff were involved in this book
from the start. We appreciate the contributions of Kristy Alaura, Scott Disanno,
Tracy Johnso11,Timothy Nicholls, Carole Snyder, Camille Trentacoste, and Katie
Ostler. We apologize if we have left out any other contributors. Finally, further
thanks goes to the students and professionals from around the world who have
sent us inspiring comments and helpful suggestions.
This book is written for the future st ud ents and professionals who will con-
tinue the remarkable work in human-computer interaction and user experience
design that has helped bring the benefits of information and communications
technologies to billions of users.

Ben Shneiderman
Catherine Plaisant
Maxine Cohen
Steven Jacobs
Niklas Elmqvist
Nicholas Diakopoulos
12 Preface

Global EditionAcknowledgments

The publishers wou ld like to thank the following for their contribution to the
Global Edition:

Contributor
Wricha Mishra, MAEER's MIT Institute of Design

Rev iewe rs
Yogesh D. Deshpande, Vishwakarma Insti tute of Information Technology
Ashutosh Mishra, Indian Institute of Information Techno logy, Al lahabad
BEN SHNEIDERMAN (http://www.cs.wnd.edu/~ben)
is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department
of Computer Science, Fow1ding Director (1983-2000)of the
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (http:/ /www
.cs.umd.edu/hcil/), and a Member of the UM Institute for
Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) at the University
of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IEEE,
NAI, and SIGCHI Academy and a Member of the National
Academy of Engineering, in recognition of his pioneering
contributions to human-computer interaction and
information visualization .

CATHERINE PLAISANT (hcil.umd.edu/ catherine -plaisai1t)

is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland
Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and Associate
Director of Research of the Human-Computer Interaction
Lab. Catherine Plaisant earned her Ph.D. in Industrial
Engineer ing at the Universi te Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris
VI, France. She was elected to the ACM SIGCHI Academy
in 2015 for her contributions to the field of human-computer
interaction, medica l informatics and information
visualization.

MAXINE COHEN (http://cec.nova.edu/faculty/cohen

.htm l) is a Professor in the College of Engineering and
Computing at Nova Southeastern University in Fort
Lauderdale, FL. She teaches graduate courses (on campus
and onlin e) in Human-Computer Interaction, Interaction
Design, and Social Media and advises doctoral students.
Previously she worked for IBM (Endicott, NY and Boca
Raton, FL) and taught at the Watson School of Engineering
at Binghamton University. She has served as a meta-reviewer
for ACM Computing Reviews for over 20 years. She earned
her Ph.D. and M.S. from Binghamton University and her
B.A. from the University of Vermont. She is a member of
ACM, IEEE, and UPE.

13
14 About the Authors

STEVEN JACOBS (http://cefns.nau .edu/-smj93 /)

retired from the aerospace i11dustry and is now a lecturer in
the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
as well as University College Faculty Fellow at Northern
Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona. He was "vith
Northrop Grumman Information Systems (formerly TRW)
in Carson, Californ ia for 25 years . He was also Adjunct
Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Califor-
nia Department of Computer Science for 17 years, where
he developed and taught their graduate courses in user
interface design and human performance engineering. He
received his M .S.C.S. from UCLA and B.A. in Mathematics
from Monmouth University (N.J.). Mr. Jacobs is a Senior
Member of ACM.

NIKLAS ELMQVIST (http://sites.umiacs.umd.edu/elm/)

is an Associate Professor in the College of Information
Studies at University of Maryland, College Park, with affiliate
appointments in the Departn,ent of Computer Science and
the UM Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).
He is also a member of the Human-Computer Interaction
Laboratory (HCIL). Previously a faculty member at Purdue
University, he received his Ph.D. from Chalmers University of
Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden . He is a Senior Member
of the ACM and the IEEE.

NICHOLAS DIAKOPOULOS (http://www

.nickdiakopoulos .com/) is an Assistant Professor at the
University of Maryland, College Park Philip Merrill College
of Journa lism w ith cour tesy appointments in the ColJege of
Information Studies and Department of Computer Science .
He is a member of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab
(HCIL) and is director of the Computational Journalism
Lab where he researches algorithmic accountability,
narrative data visualization, and social computing in
the news. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science
from the Schoo l of Interactive Computing at the Georgia
Institute of Technology.
 Preface 7
About the Authors 13

PART1 INTRODUCTION 22
CHAPTER 1 Usability of Interactive Systems 24
CHAPTER 2 Universal Usability 56
CHAPTER 3 Guidelines, Pri nci p ies, and Theories 80

PART2 DESIGNPROCESSES122
CHAPTER 4 Design 124
CHAPTER 5 Evaluation and the User Experience 166
CHAPTER 6 Design Case Studies 210

PART3 INTERACTIONSTYLES 226

CHAPTER 7 Direct Manipulation and lmmersive Environments 228
CHAPTER 8 Fluid Navigation 270
CHAPTER 9 Expressive Human and Command Languages 310
CHAPTER 10 Devices 336
CHAPTER 11 Communication and Collaboration 384

PART4 DESIGNISSUES 422

CHAPTER 12 Advancing the User Experience 424
CHAPTER 13 The Time ly User Experience 464
CHAPTER 14 Documentation and User Support (a.k.a. Help) 484
CHAPTER 15 Information Search 516
CHAPTER 16 Data Visua lization 550

AFTERWORD Societa l and Individual Impact of User Interfaces 578

Name Index 591
Subject Index 597
Credits 615

15
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface 7
About the Authors 13

1
CHAPTER
1 Usabilityof InteractiveSystems 24
1.1 Introduction 26
1.2 Usability Goals and Measures 33
1.3 Usability Motivations 35
1.4 Goa ls for Our Profession 40

CHAPTER
2 UniversalUsability 56
2 .1 Introduction 58
2 .2 Variations in Physical Abilities and Physica l Workp laces 59
2 .3 Diverse Cognitive and Perceptua l Abilities 61
2 .4 Personality Differences 62
2.5 Cultural and Inte rnational Diversity 63
2.6 Users with Disabilities 66
2 .7 Older Adult Users 69
2 .8 Children 71
2 .9 Accommodating Hardware and Software Diversity 74

CHAPTER
3 Guidelines,Principles
, and Theories 80
3. 1 Introduction 82
3.2 Guide lines 82
3.3 Princip les 88
3 .4 Theories 104

CHAPTER
4 Design 124
4 .1 Introduction 126
4 .2 Organizational Support for Design 128

17
18 Contents

4.3 The Design Process 131

4.4 Design Frameworks 137
4.5 Design Methods 141
4.6 Design Tools, Practices, and Patterns 149
4.7 Social Impact Analysis 155
4 .8 Leg a I Issues 157

CHAPTER
5 Evaluationand the User Experience 166
5.1 Introduction 168
5.2 Expert Reviews and Heuristics 171
5 .3 Usability Testing and Laboratories 175
5.4 Survey Instruments 187
5.5 Acceptance Tests 192
5.6 Evaluation during Active Use and Beyond 193
5.7 Controlled Psychologically Oriented Experiments 199

CHAPTER
6 DesignCaseStudies 210
6 .1 Introduction 212
6.2 Case Study 1: Iterative Design Evaluation of Automated
Teller Machines (ATMs) 213
6.3 Case Study 2: Design Consistency at Apple Computer 216
6 .4 Case Study 3: Data-Driven Design at Volvo 218
6.5 General Observations and Summary 221

CHAPTER
7 DirectManipulationand lmmersiveEnvironments 228
7.1 Introduction 230
7.2 What Is Direct Manipulation? 231
7.3 Some Examples of Direct Manipulation 238
7 .4 2-D and 3-D Interfaces 248
7.5 Teleoperation and Presence 251
7.6 Augmented and Virtual Reality 256

CHAPTER
8 FluidNavigation 270
8 .1 Introduction 272
8 .2 Navigation by Selection 274
8 .3 Small Displays 287
8.4 Content Organization 290
8.5 Audio Menus 295
8 .6 Form Fill-in and Dialog Boxes 296
 Contents 19

CHAPTER
9 ExpressiveHumanand CommandLanguages 310
9.1 Introduction 312
9.2 Speech Recognition 313
9.3 Speech Production 324
9.4 Human Language Technology 325
9.5 Traditional Command Languages 329

CHAPTER10 Devices 336

10.1 Introduction 338
10.2 Keyboards and Keypads 340
10.3 Pointing Devices 346
10.4 Displays 364

CHAPTER11 Communication
and Collaboration 384
11.1 Introduction 386
11.2 Models of Col laboration 390
11.3 Specific Goals and Contexts 396
11.4 Design Considerations 404

CHAPTER12 Advancingthe User Experience 424

12.1 Introduction 426
12.2 Display Design 427
12.3 View (Window) Management 433
12.4 Animation 439
12.5 Webpage Design 441
12.6 Color 444
12.7 Nonanthropomorphic Design 450
12.8 Error Messages 454

CHAPTER13 TheTimelyUserExperience 464

13.1 Introduction 466
13.2 Models of System Response Time (SRT) Impacts 468
13.3 Expectations and Attitudes 472
13.4 User Productivity and Variability in SRT 474
13.5 Frustrating Experiences 476

CHAPTER14 Documentation
and UserSupport(a.k.a. Help) 484
14.1 Introduction 486
14.2 Shaping the Content of the Documentation 487
14.3 Accessing the Documentation 493
20 Content s

14.4 Reading from Displays versus Reading from Paper 498

14.5 Online Tutoria ls and Animated Demonstrations 503
14.6 Online Communities and Other Avenues for
User Support 506
14.7 The Development Process 508

CHAPTER15 InformationSearch 516

15.1 Introduction 518
15.2 Five-Stage Search Framework 522
15.3 Dynamic Queries and Faceted Search 532
15.4 Command Languages and "Natural" Language Queries 537
15.5 Multimedia Document Search and Other
Specia lized Search 538
15.6 The Socia l Aspects of Search 542

CHAPTER16 Data Visualization 550

16.1 Introduction 552
16.2 Tasks in Data Visualization 553
16.3 Visualization by Data Type 561
16.4 Chal lenges for Data Visualization 569

AFTERWORDSocietaland IndividualImpactof User Interfaces 578

A.1 Future Interfaces and Grand Challenges 580
A .2 Ten Plagues of the Information Age 584
Name Index 591
Subject Index 597
Credits 615
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PARTOUTLINE
Chapter1: Usability of Interactive Systems
Chapter2: UniversalUsability
Chapter3: Guidelines, Principles, and Theories

Th is f irst set of chapters provides a broad introduc t ion to user interface des ign and interact ive
systems . Chapte r 1 covers usab ility goa ls, meas ur es, and motivations as well as gene ral goa ls
for the HCI profession. A rich set of resources is available at the end of the chapte r, listing
impo rtant books, guideli nes, an d relevan t jour nals and p rof essional organiza tions.
Chapter 2 discusses universal usab il ity and exposure to the diversity of users. This includes
t he cha ll enges posted by physica l, cognit ive, pe rceptual, pe rso nality, and cultu ral d ifferences.
Chapter 3 reviews t he guidel ines, pr inciples, and theor ies of the field to help facil itate good
design.
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 He had been absent so short a time that the clerk stared with surprise
when he entered.
"How in thunder did you reach this door so quickly, Garvan?" he asked.
"I saw you across the avenue and heading uptown only a couple of minutes
ago."
"I chased myself around the block," replied Patsy, smiling a bit grimly.
"Do you suspect something wrong?"
"So strongly, Steel, that I want you to do me another favor. Yes, by Jove,
I’m dead sure of it, now."
Patsy had stepped toward the front of the store and glanced again at the
suspected flat. He could see two persons looking out through the parted lace
draperies.
One was Sadie Badger, clad in a loose dressing gown, with her hair in
disorder, as if she had hurriedly arisen from bed.
The other was the man who had entered less than ten minutes before. He
was pointing toward the motionless woman in the taxicab, and Sadie Badger
was laughing and nodding significantly.
All this convinced Patsy that there was something wrong, indeed; but
what it was, being ignorant of what Frank Mantell was informing Nick at the
very moment, he could not then conjecture.
"What favor, Garvan?" asked the clerk, when Patsy quickly returned to
the rear of the store.
"Lend me your motor cycle."
"For what?"
"To follow that taxi," said Patsy. "I’m dead sure there is something doing.
I cannot imagine what, but I’m determined to find out. You saw the old
gentleman who entered that house. I know him quite well. He’s a very
wealthy man, and it looks to me like a cinch that he’s in wrong in some
way."
"That settles it," Steel quickly declared. "Go ahead, Garvan, and take the
wheel. You’re welcome to it."
"May I borrow this leather jacket and the gaiters, also?"
"Certainly. I have a leather cap in the office. Do you want that?"
"Sure thing," nodded Patsy. "I’ll get after these people in disguise. Your
garments will help to perfect it, and I’ll leave mine here till I return with the
wheel."
"Good enough. I’ll look after them."
It took Patsy only a few moments to make the change of garments, and he
then found that he had no time to spare. He heard the bang of the taxicab
door, and saw that the supposed old gentleman had returned to his seat.
The veiled woman had not stirred.
The taxicab sped up the avenue.
Patsy Garvan, in leather cap, jacket, and gaiters, and with his features
quickly and deftly disguised, pushed the motor cycle out through the side
door.
"So long, Steel!" he said warmly. "I’ll make this right with you later. You
can gamble on that."
"You’re welcome, Garvan, and good luck to you," was the hearty reply.
In another moment Patsy was rounding the corner and starting in hot
pursuit of the distant taxicab. As he passed the house he shot one swift
glance at the window of Sadie Badger’s flat.
The roller shade had been drawn down.
 CHAPTER VI.

TWO MEN WITH A WAGON.

Patsy Garvan was puzzled—more puzzled than at any time since he first
saw the taxicab and its occupants, whom he had pursued undetected to a
somewhat unsettled section of the Bronx.
Rounding a bend in a woodland road that was out of sight from any
habitation, Patsy suddenly discovered that the taxicab, which had been
briefly lost to view in the belt of woods, had stopped near one side of the
road, some fifty yards in advance of him. There appeared to be no trouble
with the motor, however, for the chauffeur had not alighted, nor either of the
other occupants of the car.
"Gee! it certainly beats me," Patsy muttered, having hastily dismounted
and found shelter back of some shrubbery on one side of the road. "What
sent them out here, and why have they stopped? There seems to be nothing
wrong with the car. I’ll be hanged if I can make head or tail to it."
Patsy waited and watched for nearly ten minutes. He could see only the
back of the taxicab, of course, and could form no idea of what its occupants
were doing. Curiosity and increasing suspicion, however, impelled him to
make another move.
"I’m going to find out, by thunder, if it takes a leg," he said to himself.
"I’ll hide the motor cycle and make a detour through the woods till I can get
a look at them. They must be up to some kind of a game, or they would not
remain there. I’ll have one look, at least, and ease my mind."
Patsy made his preparations with some little difficulty. The ground at the
side of the road was wet and soggy, and only with repeated efforts could he
force the heavy motor cycle over the damp earth and through the shrubbery,
finally concealing it in a thicket some ten feet from the road.
Quickly picking his way through the belt of woods, Patsy then sought a
point from which he could see the side windows of the motionless taxicab.
He scarce had gained this vantage point, however, when another vehicle met
his gaze.
It was approaching through a narrower road making off to the east, within
a dozen yards of which the taxicab was waiting.
 It was a covered wagon of medium size and much the worse for time and
hard usage. Its leather top was faded and patched in places. It was drawn by
an old gray horse, urged on by one of two roughly clad men on the seat, both
of most sinister and suspicious aspect.
Patsy did not imagine at first that any relations existed between two such
hangdog-looking fellows and the supposed refined and wealthy old
gentleman in the taxicab. He felt a thrill of surprise, therefore, when the
latter sprang down to the road and waved his hand to them, at the same time
shouting to the driver:
"Turn in this direction, Mullen, and pull up alongside. Leave me room to
pass you and drive on."
Patsy heard him distinctly, though some distance away. He stopped short,
crouching back of some bushes, and continued to watch the scene.
"By Jove, it’s a rendezvous," he said to himself. "That’s why the taxicab
has been waiting here. But what business has old Mr. Mantell with these
fellows? Is he playing some underhanded game, as well as Goulard?"
Patsy had not long to wait to learn of what their immediate designs
consisted.
Mullen, so called, turned the wagon from the driveway and came to a
stop at one side of the motionless taxicab, directly between it and the
watching detective.
Then followed a brief conference in the woodland road, unheard by Patsy,
who did not think it wise to venture nearer.
Mullen’s hangdog companion then ran up the road as far as the bend,
where he turned and waved his hand, plainly signifying that no observer was
in sight.
Patsy then saw the other three men hasten to the door of the taxicab. He
could see only their legs for a few moments, by gazing under the intervening
wagon, but presently they appeared at the rear end of it, bearing between
them—the lax form of the veiled woman.
"Thundering guns!" thought Patsy, when their designs became obvious.
"They have come out here to get rid of that woman, or to transfer her to
some place. She’s not dead, or her form would be rigid by this time. She
must be drugged. But who is she, and what motive can old Mantell have for
such conduct? Gee! it’s up to me to find out where they take her and what
they intend doing."
 Mullen had hurriedly raised the back flap of the leather top, and the
woman was quickly placed on the floor of the wagon. The flap then was
dropped and buckled, and Mullen hastened to mount to his seat, where his
returning companion quickly joined him.
The taxicab sped away in the meantime, containing only the chauffeur
and the solitary passenger, and within half a minute it had vanished around a
corner of the woodland road.
"Let him go. I can nail him, by Jove, at any time," thought Patsy, now
grim and frowning. "It’s up to me to look after the woman."
Mullen then was turning the wagon, and in another moment, he drove
away through the diverging road with his ill-favored companion—and his
senseless burden.
Patsy Garvan did not return to get the motor cycle. He knew it would be
of no advantage in trailing a slow-moving wagon over a rough road. He stole
down to the edge of the woods, gave Mullen a lead of something like fifty
yards, and then he proceeded to follow him.
"The rear flap being down, the rascals cannot discover me unless they
lean out and look back," he said to himself. "I’ll fool them in that case, even,
by hugging the side of the road. If they see me, or give me the slip, by Jove,
they shall have a medal."
There was one contingency, however, on which Patsy did not figure, and
which was too remote to have appealed to the most farsighted of detectives.
The taxicab was returning, was speeding toward the city. It passed the
crossroad several minutes after the wagon and its stealthy pursuer had
departed. It sped on around the bend in the road—and the chauffeur then
brought it to a quick stop.
The man within had undergone a decided change. His gray hair, his
pointed beard, his gold-bowed spectacles, all had disappeared. Instead of the
refined, venerable countenance that had deceived Patsy Garvan, even, there
now appeared the malignant, hard-featured white face of Gaston Goulard.
"What is it, Fallon?" he cried, starting up from his seat. "Why have you
stopped here?"
The chauffeur pointed to one side of the road.
"That caught my eye," he replied, with an expressive cant of his head. "It
doesn’t look good to me."
 "What do you mean?"
"That deep rut."
"What do you make of it?"
Goulard leaped down to the road, Fallon following.
"A motor cycle has been here," said the chauffeur. "It was here only a few
minutes ago, too, or this soggy earth would not have retained the tracks so
plainly. Here are the fellow’s footprints, too, left when he dragged the wheel
out of the road."
Goulard’s hard face took on a terrible frown. He uttered an oath,
crouching to examine the imprints; then added harshly:
"Can we have been seen? Can we have been seen, Fallon?"
"Followed, perhaps," suggested Fallon tersely.
"Followed—impossible!" Goulard snarled between his teeth. "Who could
have followed us? Who could have had any reason for doing so?"
"Nick Carter himself, possibly, or——”
"Carter be hanged," snapped Goulard, interrupting. "Carter cannot
possibly have learned of this job. Only Mullen and the gang knew I had it
framed up. Carter cannot have got wise since we turned the trick—that’s out
of the question."
"Unless Sadie Badger——”
"Sadie knew nothing about it until I went to warn her against the infernal
dick," Goulard again cut in fiercely. "Blast him, is he out again to queer my
game? Whether he is, or not, I’ll have him in my clutches as soon as he
attempts it. I’ve got that fixed with Sadie, and well fixed, too. He’ll get his,
all right, if he tries to pull off the stunt I think he has in view. I’m wise to it.
I’m on to Carter, now, and his infernal tricks. He——”
"You’d better look into this, Goulard, instead of frothing over what the
dick can accomplish," interrupted Fallon, with a shrug of his broad
shoulders. "We can find out, perhaps, who has been here. There are no tracks
showing that the motor cycle was pulled back into the road."
Fallon parted the shrubbery and strode in through the underbrush and
bushes, while speaking, Goulard following close behind him.
"Ah! I thought so!" Fallon suddenly exclaimed. "Here’s the machine. The
fellow hid it in this thicket."
 "He may be watching us, then, at this moment," growled Goulard, gazing
sharply around.
"I guess not."
"You mean?"
"He had other reasons for hiding it so carefully," Fallon forcibly argued.
"He could have watched all that took place after Mullen and Simp Sampson
showed up, Goulard, without lugging that heavy wheel so far into the
woods."
"You think he saw all that came off?"
"I’m dead sure of it."
"And now——”
"There’s nothing to it," Fallon cut in again. "He has gone in pursuit of
Mullen’s wagon. He didn’t know how far he might have to go, nor how long
it would take him. That’s why he hid that wheel so far from the road."
Goulard was not slow to appreciate this reasoning, nor in deciding what
course he would shape. There was murder in his eyes when, dragging Fallon
back to the road, he commanded hurriedly:
"Return to town alone, Bill, and follow the directions I have given you.
Make sure there is no slip-up. If I’m in wrong again; if these infernal Carters
are wise to my game and are out to thwart me, I’ll wipe one and all of them
off the map! Leave me here, Bill, and return alone. I’ll soon find out, by
thunder, who is after Mullen and the wagon."
 CHAPTER VII.

A TIMELY ARRIVAL.

Patsy Garvan arrived within an hour at his destination, or, rather, that of
Mullen and his evil-eyed companion. Through a break in the belt of woods
Patsy could see the end of the narrow road, through which he had trailed the
two crooks and the covered wagon.
Scattered dwellings, also, could be seen in the distance, all of a cheap and
inferior type. Farther away were the poles and wires of a suburban trolley
line, all denoting that he was approaching the outskirt of one of the many
inferior settlements to be found in that part of the Bronx.
To the right of the narrow road, however, brought into view just before
reaching the break of the woodland, was a faded, isolated old house of
considerable size, the grounds, stable, and outbuildings of which denoted
that it had been a desirable place in the remote past, though then in a
miserably run-down and wretched condition.
From below a low, moss-covered wall flanking one side of the place,
Patsy saw the wagon enter an ill-kept driveway, the broken gate of which
was hanging awry on its rusted hinges.
From a back door of the house came a tall, gaunt man of nearly sixty, clad
in overalls and a red cardigan jacket, whose looks and bearing denoted that
he was the owner, or tenant of the place. He paused at the edge of the
driveway, with lowering gaze fixed upon the men in the approaching wagon,
and Patsy heard him growl tersely, in harsh, nasal tones:
"Got her?"
"Bet you!" Mullen responded. "Got her dead to rights, Jim, and none the
wiser."
"Don’t bank too heavily on that," thought Patsy, with grim satisfaction,
though he never was more puzzled in his life. "I’m wise to some extent, at
least. You rats are up to some devilish game, though I cannot fathom how
old Mantell figures in it."
"You saw his nibs, then," remarked the man in a cardigan.
 "Sure. He rode out with Fallon in his taxi, as he promised," said Mullen.
"He’s gone back to town, Corson, to look after a job he has framed up with
Sadie."
"What kind of a job, Jake?"
"To get the big dick."
"The big dick?" echoed Corson, staring. "You don’t mean Nick Carter?"
"That’s what. He’s the biggest dick in the running."
"But how in thunder——”
"I’ll tell you later, Jim," Mullen interrupted, still on his seat in the wagon.
"We first must dispose of the skirt. She’s dead to the world just now, but
there’s no telling for how long. His nibs said she might come to time inside
of an hour."
"Drive into the stable, then," Corson replied, with a growl. "We’ll put her
in the safe deposit. The devil himself could not find her."
Mullen drove on and into the stable, Corson following, and Patsy lost
sight of the man and wagon, a side view of the stable being all that he then
could obtain.
"His nibs—that must mean Mantell," he said to himself. "But who is the
woman and what’s the old man’s game? Why would he drug any woman and
give her in charge of these rascals? Gone back to town to frame up a job
with Sadie Badger against the chief. Gee! this certainly is the strangest mix-
up that I ever tackled. I must find a way to inform Nick and put him on his
guard. Before doing so, however, I’ll try to get next to the whole business.
There’s nothing to putting him wise to only half of it."
Sharply viewing the windows of the old house, Patsy could discover no
sign of any other occupant. He saw, too, that he could reach the rear of the
stable by crawling back of the wall under which he had found shelter.
He at once proceeded to do so, bent upon clearing up the mystery, if
possible, and a few moments later he crept over the low wall and stole to a
point between the stable and an old shed near by.
He then paused again and listened. He could hear only the thud of the
horse’s hoofs on the stable floor. He quickly discovered, however, that the
sound came through a square window, then nearly closed with a sliding
wooden shutter, and outside of which was a great pile of soiled straw and
bedding from a stall.
 "Gee! that’s good enough for me," thought Patsy, quickly sizing up the
possibilities. "I’ll take one chance at that window. That shutter is not quite
closed."
Stealing nearer, with eyes and ears alert, he crawled up the pile of refuse
and peered in through the narrow slit between the shutter and its casing.
The interior of the old stable met his gaze. One of the men, Simp
Sampson, so called, had unhitched the horse and was making him fast in a
near stall.
In another, out of which he had kicked a quantity of straw and bedding,
Mullen was raising a large trapdoor, drawing it up by means of a ring in the
floor.
Patsy could see through the opening a flight of wooden steps leading
down into a dark hole under the floor, the depth and extent of which he
could only conjecture.
"Gee! that’s a secret hiding place, all right," he said to himself. "The
bedding in the stall would ordinarily conceal the trapdoor. Besides, who
would be looking for one in a horse’s stall? I’m evidently up against a gang
that makes a business of crooked work. If I can corner them——”
Patsy’s train of thought ended when Mullen, having tipped the trapdoor
back against one side of the stall, turned and said to Corson, who had been
grimly watching him:
"Lend a hand, Jim, and we’ll lug her down there. It will be safer than
keeping her in the house until we learn how the cat’s going to jump. Is the
old woman in the house?"
"Not now," said Corson, with his habitual growl. "She’s gone to market.
It takes some grub, Mullen, to feed you fellows."
"We’ll have coin enough for grub, Jim, if his nibs gets all he’s banking on
from this job," Mullen pointedly answered.
"I hope he’ll get it, then. We need it."
"And we were dead lucky in getting a whack at a piece of it," Mullen
added. "That came of my friendship with Fallon, who knows all about his
nibs and has been standing in with him on this job. The taxi came in handy,
you know. The trick could not have been turned without it."
"Not very well, Jake."
 "Fallon reckoned that I knew of a safe place for the skirt, and having got
safely away with her, we’re dead lucky to be in the game. Here, you,
Sampson, lay hold and lift her out."
Mullen had been unbuckling the back flap of the wagon top while
speaking, and Sampson had secured the horse and emerged from the near
stall.
Together the three men raised the form of the senseless woman from the
wagon and placed her on the stable floor. Her hat dropped off while they
were doing so and the veil fell from her white, expressionless face.
Patsy Garvan caught his breath with sudden amazement.
"Holy smoke! That’s young Mantell’s wife, Helen Mantell," was his first
thought, while the three men stood gazing down at her. "Gee! there’s more to
this than I guessed. Can it be that the old man has soured on her and wants
her out of the way? I cannot believe that. There is more to this job than I
have suspected."
Patsy’s conflicting thoughts were diverted again by Mullen, who
suddenly said bluntly:
"Get a move on. It won’t do to let her lie here. Some one might show up.
Lay hold, both of you; it will take all three of us to lug her down to the
steps."
"She’ll stay there, all right, once we’ve put her there and fastened the
trapdoor," growled Corson. "There’s no other way out."
"In that case, by Jove, you rascals shall stay there with her," thought
Patsy, with sudden, grim determination. "I’ll keep you there, by thunder, if I
can catch you in your own trap. It won’t take me long to find help and arrest
all three of you."
Patsy’s sudden resolve then appeared entirely feasible, barring one fact.
He did not know by what means the trap could be so secured as to prevent
the three men from raising it from below, providing he went in search of
assistants. He was not long, however, in solving the problem.
"I have it," he muttered, with a constant eye on the three crooks. "I’ll shift
the horse into that stall and make him fast. He’ll hold them down, all right.
They cannot raise the trapdoor with him on it. I’ll get assistance and arrest
all three, and then telephone to the chief."
The three knaves, bearing their senseless burden, then were on their way
through the trapdoor. Step by step they descended, laboring somewhat in the
gloom and on the narrow stairs. Presently the last of the three heads, that of
gaunt Jim Corson, disappeared below the stall floor.
Patsy then moved quickly, but as quietly as a shadow. He pushed aside
the sliding shutter, then crawled through the open window and dropped
noiselessly on the stable floor.
Not for an instant did he shrink from his hazardous undertaking, or
hesitate because of the perils involved. He felt sure he could accomplish it.
Shifting a revolver to a side pocket of his leather jacket, he crept back of
the covered wagon and approached the stall in which the open trapdoor
yawned like the mouth of a black, bottomless pit. He could hear the voices
and movements of the three crooks, but not a ray of light was discernible
below.
"Now, you rascals, stay there till I come to arrest you," thought Patsy. "It
won’t be long."
He stretched out his hand to grasp the edge of the trapdoor and throw it
down—but did not do so.
A fourth man had stepped stealthily into the stable. He appeared like an
evil shadow in the waning light of the November afternoon. The stillness
was broken by a voice as cold and hard as steel, but as threatening as the hiss
of a viper:
"Stop! If you drop that door—you’ll drop with it."
Patsy, crouching on the floor near the entrance to the stall, turned around
as if electrified.
He found himself covered with an automatic revolver, scarce six feet
away, and beheld, with a gasp of momentary dismay, the scowling, white
face of Gaston Goulard.
"Gee whiz! the trick’s off!" leaped like a flash through his mind.
"You’ll be a dead one if you drop that door," Goulard added sternly.
"I’ll not drop it. I wasn’t going to drop it," said Patsy, quickly resorting to
a subterfuge.
"You wasn’t, eh?"
"Divil a drop! I was only looking to see what’s down there. I——”
"You keep your hands in front of you," Goulard snapped sharply, when
Patsy’s right hand stole nearer his pocket. "If any gun is to be used, it will be
this one. Come up, you fellows, and be quick about it. Get a grip on this rat
and strap his arms behind him. Move lively."
The heads of Corson and Jake Mullen had appeared above the stall floor,
both having heard the above conversation, but both were so startled by the
scene that they had come no farther. They now hastened to obey, however,
followed by Sampson, all three of whom seized Patsy quickly and secured
his arms behind him.
Before this was accomplished, noting Goulard’s garments and traces of
grease paint on his frowning face, Patsy hit upon the truth in so far as the
rascal’s impersonation of the elder Mantell was concerned, as well as the
nature of the crime in which these several scoundrels now were engaged.
"The old man was Goulard himself. He has abducted Frank Mantell’s
wife," he quickly reasoned. "He must be wise to the trick the chief has
played on Sadie Badger, also, or at least suspect it, or he would not have
delayed to visit her before bringing Helen Mantell out here. By Jove, I had a
hunch the chief might be in wrong. Things look a bit rocky, for fair."
Patsy’s face betrayed none of these thoughts, however, but wore an
expression as if he wondered why he had incurred such animosity and rough
handling. He gazed at Goulard, after being jerked to his feet by the others,
who were hastening to bind him, and demanded, with well-feigned
perplexity:
"What’s it all about, anyway? What are you putting over on me?"
"The boot’s on the other leg," snapped Goulard. "We’re preventing your
putting something across us."
"I know nothing about you. I——”
"You lie. You followed me from town with a motor cycle. I found it in the
woods, where you hid it."
"You did, eh?"
"Furthermore, I think I know you," added Goulard, stepping nearer to
Patsy and snatching the disguise from his face. "Ah, I thought so. You’re
cute and clever, Garvan, but you’re not in my class, as you now will find at
some cost. Get his revolver, Corson. You’ll find it in his side pocket. I saw
him stealthily reaching for it."
"It’s dead lucky for you, Goulard, that I did not get my hand on it,"
retorted Patsy, now seeing the utter folly of further subterfuge. "I’d have
ended your vicious career the first crack from the box."
 "You would, eh?" sneered Goulard maliciously.
"That’s what I would," snapped Patsy.
"You’ll never have that satisfaction, Garvan."
"Wait and see," growled Patsy, while Corson disarmed him and
appropriated his weapons. "It’s a long, long way to Tipperary."
"What in thunder’s the meaning of all this?" Mullen now demanded, grim
with astonishment. "Where did the infernal runt come from?"
"I’ll tell you presently," said Goulard, who was apparently very well
satisfied with having arrived in time to secure the detective. "Have you taken
the woman down below?"
"Yes, of course," Mullen nodded. "That’s the safest place."
"Any old place is safe enough, now that we’ve got this rat," said Goulard
confidently. "I’ll have his chief before midnight, too, unless my wires get
crossed. Bring the woman up again and take her into the house. I want to
revive her and force her to write a letter to her husband. Bring in this rat, too.
I want to tell him where he stands. He’ll find mighty soon that I’ve got
things dead to rights."
Patsy said nothing. He began to fear, in fact, that the rascal really had.
 CHAPTER VIII.

NICK CARTER’S INSIGHT.

It was late in the afternoon. The dusk had begun to gather, and lamps
were gleaming in some of the store windows.
Daylight still found its way into the business office of Nick Carter’s
residence, however, when he hung up his telephone receiver and placed the
instrument on his desk. His only companion was his chief assistant, and the
faces of both were unusually grave.
"Who was it?" Chick inquired, when Nick turned in his swivel chair.
"A man who said his name is Frank Steel," Nick replied. "He is employed
in a Lexington Avenue provision store. He wanted to know whether Patsy
had returned with his motor cycle."
"By gracious, that beats hearing nothing from Patsy," Chick cried, with
countenance lighting. "It gives us a hint, at least, at what has occurred to
him. What more did he say? Could he give you any definite information?"
"Some very suggestive information," Nick replied. "I begin to scent the
rat in the meal. I can tell you in a nutshell."
Nick then proceeded to do so. Steel had, in fact, become quite anxious
concerning Patsy’s prolonged absence, and he had told Nick all that had
transpired in the provision store that day, also informing him of Patsy’s
interest in the occupant of the opposite flat, and all about the man who had
called there.
"By Jove, there is only one way of sizing that up," said Chick, after
listening intently. "We know that old Mr. Mantell did not go there. The man
who called, then, must have been Goulard."
"Undoubtedly."
"And Patsy must have recognized him."
"No, not so," Nick quickly objected. "That’s the trouble. That’s why he is
in wrong, unless I am much mistaken."
"You mean——”
"If he had recognized Goulard, he would have arrested him on the spot,"
Nick interposed. "The circumstances admit of only one interpretation."
 "Namely?"
"Patsy supposed him to be the elder Mantell, and the fact that he was
calling on Sadie Badger, or some other serious suspicion concerning him, led
Patsy to pursue the taxicab. There’s no other way of sizing it up."
"He may have recognized Helen Mantell," Chick suggested.
"That is not probable," Nick again objected. "Goulard would not have
been running around with her in a taxicab, unless she was completely
drugged and carefully veiled."
"Not likely, Nick, I’ll admit," Chick nodded.
"I’m sure of it."
"But what sent Goulard to see Sadie Badger?" Chick questioned. "Why
did he take such a risk?"
"I think I know," Nick said gravely.
"What do you make of it?"
"His visit alone shows that they must be on a friendly footing."
"Surely."
"I think, Chick, that he saw that newspaper story of the robbery Sadie
committed last night," Nick continued. "He may not have known that she
had the job in view, but he probably knew under the steps of whose house he
cornered and confined me. After reading the story of the robbery, he may
have had some reason to suspect Sadie of having been the thief. He may
know that she has been friendly with Buckley’s clerk, who gave her the tip
that caused her to do the job."
"By Jove, there may be something in that," Chick quickly allowed.
"Knowing, then, under what circumstances I was there, Goulard may
have reasoned that I perhaps got wise to something. After reading the
newspaper story, then, he evidently hastened to put Sadie Badger on her
guard."
"Very likely. I see the point."
"If I am right, and his visit under such circumstances strongly indicates
that I am, Sadie would have told him of her encounter with me and all that
followed," Nick added, a bit grimly.
"By Jove, that’s too true for a joke," Chick quickly declared. "In that case,
Nick, your subterfuge is all off, and the woman may have bolted."
"You are right on one point, Chick."
 "Regarding the subterfuge?"
"Yes."
"But not the other?"
"I think not," Nick said thoughtfully. "Both Goulard and Sadie Badger
have extraordinary nerve. They don’t scare easily. Both, moreover, would
give a trifle, or even take a desperate chance, to wipe me off the map."
"No doubt of it."
"Here’s a very significant point, then," Nick added. "Both will naturally
reason that I know nothing about their relations, and that I expect to get by
with my subterfuge and accomplish something extraordinary."
"Certainly. That is the only logical way they can be regarded."
"That being the case, then, they may decide to let me attempt it—with a
view to trapping me and wiping me out."
"By gracious, that’s even more probable," cried Chick. "You are right,
Nick. I was wrong on one point. I would be willing to wager, now, that Sadie
Badger has not bolted. I would almost bet, in fact, that she and Goulard have
something framed up for you."
"I really think so myself, Chick."
"But there is one other contingency."
"Namely?"
"Patsy’s long absence and the fact that we have not heard from him," said
Chick. "He must be in wrong, or he would have found some way to
communicate such important information as Steel has stated. If he has fallen
into Goulard’s hands, Goulard may have warned the woman to get out of her
flat."
"I don’t think so," said Nick. "Goulard would reason that Patsy, whatever
he may have learned, has had no opportunity to inform us since obtaining his
evidence."
"Right again," Chick quickly nodded. "But what scheme will they shape
up by which to get you? If we knew——”
"There is only one way of learning," Nick cut in.
"By going up against it?"
"Exactly."
"You intend doing so?"
 "I certainly do."
"When?"
"At once. Before they can find time to learn more than they already
know," Nick declared. "I’ll pay Sadie Badger my promised visit within half
an hour."
"But where do I fit in?" Chick inquired. "How can I aid you to the best
advantage?"
Nick gazed thoughtfully at the floor for several moments. Then, abruptly
looking up, he said quickly:
"Listen. I’ll tell you how."
Precisely half an hour later, as Nick had predicted, a roughly clad man, a
perfect likeness of Sadie Badger’s partner in crime the previous night,
entered the vestibule of the Lexington Avenue flat and pressed the electric
bell.
At just about the same time, unobserved by any of the few pedestrians
then in that locality, a second man stole into an alley leading to the rear of
the brick block, and sought the gloomy yard back of the third house.
This second man was Chick Carter.
 CHAPTER IX.

THE COUNTERSTROKE.

The bright light within illumined the drawn curtains of the Lexington
Avenue flat, casting on them a filigree shadow of the filmy lace draperies,
convincing Nick Carter before he had entered that Sadie Badger had not
bolted.
Nick’s ring was quickly answered, moreover, by the woman herself. He
saw the evil light that flashed up for an instant in her intense black eyes
when she saw and recognized him, which further assured him that he not
only had sized up the circumstances correctly, but also that her designs were
precisely what he suspected.
Sadie Badger greeted him with a smile, however, placing her forefinger
on her lips and glancing significantly up the stairs.
"Not too loud, Bosey, till we’re inside and the door closed," she said
quietly, drawing back for him to enter. "I’m a bit leary of those ginks on the
next floor. What they don’t know won’t hurt them. If they get wise to too
much, it might hurt me."
Nick nodded approvingly, with a grim smile on his made-up, hangdog
face, and he took the chair to which she pointed. He noticed that her hat,
veil, and a long black cloak were lying on a sofa, as if she had just come in,
or intended going out.
"That’s good judgment, kid," he replied, in the same husky voice he had
assumed the previous night. "There’s nothing lost by keeping others in the
dark."
"Right you are, Bosey." "Was you looking for me to-night?"
"Sure thing," nodded Sadie, sitting opposite. "You said you’d come,
didn’t you? I always take the word of a pal. Have you seen the newspapers?"
"All of them, kid. I nailed them as soon as the story was out. But the
dicks ain’t wise to anything. You’ve still got the stuff safe in the house?"
"No, not here, now," said Sadie. "That was too long a chance. I’ve put it
in care of some friends, but I can get it any hour we want it."
"I dunno about that," Nick demurred, with manifest suspicion.
 "You can bank on me and what I tell you, Bosey, and that goes," Sadie
hastened to assure him. "I wouldn’t double cross a pal. You can meet my
friends and see the plunder for yourself, if you like."
"How’s that?" questioned Nick, though he saw plainly to what she
immediately was leading.
"I’ve got to go out there," Sadie glibly explained. "I’d have been gone
before now, Bosey, if I hadn’t been looking for you. I had a hunch you
would show up quite early, so I decided to wait for you."
"What’s the game?" Nick questioned, still pretending to be a bit doubtful.
It convinced Sadie Badger that he did not suspect her deeper game, and
that he would walk blindly into the trap she and Goulard had laid for him.
"There’s another job on, Bosey," she replied, with voice lowered.
"What kind of a job, kid?"
"Same kind. A crib up in Riverside Drive. It has been sized up by another
pal of mine, and a good haul can be made, but it will take three or four of us
to pull it off. I’ve told him about you, Bosey, and insisted that you be let in
on it. I’ve not forgotten last night, you see," Sadie added expressively.
"You’re all right, kid," Nick grimly nodded. "But when is the trick to be
turned?"
"To-morrow night. I’ve got to go out and talk it over with the other this
evening. You’re to go with me, if the scheme hits you all right."
"Sure it hits me all right," Nick quickly declared. "But where do we go to
see them?"
"A good piece out of town."
"By train?"
"No. Taxi."
"Ain’t that taking a chance?" growled Nick, still seeming doubtful. "I
don’t bank strong on chauffeurs."
"The one I employ is all right," said Sadie, with sinister earnestness. "He
is one of the gang. We can trust him the limit."
"Well, that’s more like it," said Nick. "What’s his name?"
"Fallon."
"How can you get at him?"
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