CHAPTER XVI.
HANK LOW’S LUCK.
Claymore was not in his boarding house when Nick and Patsy arrived there.
He had come in and gone out shortly afterward.
Where he had gone, or in what direction, nobody could say.
Possibly to Daddy Drew’s to meet the desperadoes he had hired to commit murder; but Nick didn’t believe it.
“That long work in his office this evening means something else,” said Nick. “He’s got another plot up his sleeve. I’ll go to Daddy Drew’s and get those men.”
Accordingly, he had turned his face into a copy of Claymore’s and had been admitted easily.
Nat had said he would put up a stiff fight if he should meet Carter, and he kept his word.
Probably he reckoned that the detective would wish to take him alive, for he did not surrender when he saw the revolver pointed at his heart.
Instead, he made a quick rush at Nick, trying to knock up both his arms.
The detective was quite ready for that.
It was true that he wished to take the men alive, and he did not fire.
He had hoped they would be scared into quiet surrender.
When the attack came, he dropped both weapons to the sidewalk.
Letting drive with his fists, he caught Nat on the chest, and knocked the wind out of him.
But the crook did not fall.
He staggered against Jack, who at first was going to give up.
Seeing that the weapons had been dropped, Jack joined in and made a desperate effort for freedom.
He caught his partner and kept him from falling.
Then both together sailed into the detective.
“Why!” said Nick, with a laugh, “come on, if that’s what you want.”
His arms shot out like lightning flashes, and every blow landed, but the crooks kept too close for him to give them settlers.
And, after a moment, Jack retreated and drew his revolver.
That was a moment of peril for Nick, as he was busy just then with Nat.
And Nat, seeing the chance, pretended to be knocked down.
This was to give Jack a chance to shoot.
Up came the ruffian’s revolver, but before he could aim, around the corner rushed the drunken man whom they had seen.
This man threw his arms about Jack’s neck, and bore him silently to the ground.
“Put the bracelets on him, Patsy,” called Nick.
“They’re on,” replied the “drunken man,” calmly.
Nick had leaped upon Nat, and in a second had him ironed.
“This is the way I settle,” he said, as he stood up.
The prisoners cursed furiously, but if that did them any good nobody knew it.
Nick picked up his revolvers, and then he and Patsy marched the prisoners to headquarters.
Kerr was still there, and he was surrounded by eager reporters.
“Here are the murderers,” said Nick. “Low is innocent.”
He produced the amateur’s photograph, and told the story as briefly as possible.
“The chief villain is yet to be caught,” he concluded. “I think we shall find the clew to him in his office.”
There was a great deal of excitement at headquarters, and many questions were asked.
Nick told the reporters to make it plain that Low’s arrest had been a fake.
“When it’s all settled,” he said, “I’ll give you the details, or you can get them from Kerr, who deserves a great deal of credit for the way he picked up evidence. I’ve got work ahead between now and morning.”
Low was released, of course, and he went with Nick, Patsy and Kerr to Claymore’s office.
Everything seemed to be in order there, but Nick picked the lock of Claymore’s desk, and found a lot of papers there on which the man had been at work during the long evening.
There were maps of the country around Mason Creek, some printed, some roughly drawn with a pencil.
There was also the deed which Low had given to the oil company when he sold a piece of his land.
Using his magnifying glass, Nick saw that some changes had been made in the deed.
Words and figures had been carefully scratched out and others inked in.
“I had an idea this was what he was up to,” said Nick. “We shall find Claymore out at Low’s farm.”
The four men set out for Mason Creek soon after.
Nick went in Low’s wagon, and Patsy and Kerr in one they hired.
When they came to the beginning of the trail, Nick got down and told the others to drive slowly on.
“I’ll take the short cut,” said he. “You keep on by the road, and if he escapes me he’ll run into your hands.”
As it was late in the spring, light came early.
The day was beginning to break when Nick passed the dead body of the panther.
As he approached nearer Low’s house he moved cautiously.
Coming to the edge of the cleared land, he saw a man busy with a shovel at a little distance.
It was Claymore.
He was digging a hole for the purpose of setting a boundary post in it.
The post had been taken up from a spot some distance farther down the stream that crossed the farm.
Claymore’s scheme was to change the boundaries of the land bought by the oil company so that they should include twice as much as had been bought.
That was why the deed had been changed, and it explained the maps in Claymore’s desk.
Nick watched the rascal for a few minutes, and then walked toward him.
“Why don’t you put the post up where it will take in Hank Low’s house and barn?” he asked.
Claymore turned at the sound, and caught up a revolver that was lying on the ground beside him.
He fired hastily, and the bullet went wild.
Nick had him covered.
“Try again,” said the detective, “if you think you can do your own murdering.”
As he spoke, he was advancing upon the man.
Claymore gave one desperate look around.
He saw two wagons coming up the road.
Then he dropped his weapon, sat down on the ground, and put his hands to his face.
“You haven’t as much nerve as I thought you had,” remarked Nick.
He put handcuffs on the prisoner, and waited for the others to come up.
“I can tell you all about it,” said Nick, then. “This man Claymore found that he had bought land where the oil was scarce. He was so anxious to get the land cheap that he didn’t dare to prospect thoroughly. If he had done his work well, he would have seen that the place for oil wells is further up the stream and nearer Low’s house.
“He found that out after a while, and then schemed to get possession of the rest of the farm without paying for it.
“Seeing that Judson would expose the crooked work of the company, he had him murdered by a couple of desperadoes who drifted into Denver just in time for the job.
“Then he did some forgery work on the deed to make it show that he had bought a good many acres more than he really had, and to back up the deed he had to come out here and change the boundary posts.
“His best chance for doing that was while Low was locked up.
“That was why he didn’t go to meet his confederates early at Daddy Drew’s.
“His confederates have told me all about the murder of Judson, so that they are sure to be hanged, and one of them, Jack Thompson, is ready to confess and tell just how Claymore hired them to do the deed.
“Between Jack’s confession and what I heard them say, we have got a complete case.
“If I was in Hank Low’s place I’d give up farming on land where the water is covered with oil, and dig wells.
“I noticed the appearance of the water in the stream when I was talking with Low earlier in the night, and I knew that the place to dig for oil is near his house.”
It was soon proved that Nick was entirely right.
The upper part of Low’s farm was rich in oil.
The farmer acted more than honestly about it.
With the help of Folsom, who was greatly pleased to learn that the clergyman had not committed suicide, Low got the names and addresses of all who had put money into the scheme of which Judson had been president. And in the end nobody who had invested with the clergyman lost anything.
No attempt was made to get back the part of the farm that was sold, for the land wasn’t worth the trouble.
Jack Thompson confessed, but that did not save him from severe punishment. He was put in prison for life, and Claymore and Hamilton were hanged.
Nick Carter and his faithful assistant, Patsy, were content at last.
THE END.
“Millions at Stake” is the title of New Magnet No. 1210, by Nicholas Carter. A story in which Nick Carter’s brilliant young assistants all help to solve a mystery that involves millions in the Stock Exchange.