“Do you think you can catch him?” asked Bessie Harlan, leaning forward in her chair, with rapt interest depicted in her expression.

Nick Carter laughed aloud.

“It would seem, Miss Harlan,” he replied, “that at the present moment, in order to do that, I would be obliged to swim. Pirates do not leave clues behind them, like burglars, outlaws, footpads, and common thieves. You cannot pick up old buttons and locks of hair on the crest of the waves, and there are no saloons and other places of resort along the coast which I might frequent in order to get on the track of one of the pirate’s pals. However——”

“I see you are laughing at me,” she said.

“Not at all, I assure you. But you asked me if I thought I could catch him, so I have to reply that I don’t know.”

“Oh, he’ll catch him, all right!” said Kane, with supreme confidence.

“Do you really think so?” asked the count.

“If he does not,” insisted Kane, “this pirate chap will be the first fellow Nick was ever up against whom he did not catch in the end. But what are those questions, Nick?”

“Why, I’ll begin with this one. You quoted one[33] remark made by the pirate which suggested that it might have been followed by another on the same subject later on. But, first, let me ask you if he did take your race cups—your trophies?”

[33]

“Yes—confound him! He did take them—every one of them!”

“That brings me back to the question. When reference was first made to them, you asked him to spare you those, and he replied that he thought that subject could be arranged. Now, his reply to you would suggest that he intended to permit you to retain them, provided you made up their value to him in some other form. Was there anything of that sort mentioned?”

Kane leaned back in his chair, and lighted a fresh cigar.

“You are a cute proposition, Nick,” he said. “I was saving that as a sort of surprise for you, but I see you are beyond surprising.”

“Then he did refer to the subject 

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