He further reasoned that, in case Cervera was in league with the
suspected gang, one or more of them might visit the theater in which she
was performing, and Nick decided to have a look at the audience that
evening. He was sure he could identify Kilgore or any of his gang, even
if disguised, as would be very probable.

Nick's second object was that of learning the exact relations between
Señora Cervera and Rufus Venner, and a part of that work he confided to
Chick. With himself in the front of the house, and Chick on the stage,
Nick believed that nothing worth seeing would escape them.

His own search early in the evening, however, proved futile. It was the
last week but one of the mammoth vaudeville attraction, and the theater
was densely crowded. Though Nick watched the lobbies and the smoking
room, and also made a systematic study of the auditorium, he could
discover no sign of the parties he was seeking.

About nine o'clock he returned to his chair in the orchestra, and
settled himself to have a look at Cervera, whose act was one of the last
on the program.

Just at that time Chick Carter, in the overalls and blouse of a scene
shifter, made his first pertinent discovery--that Rufus Venner, clad in
immaculate evening dress, and carrying an Inverness topcoat on his arm,
had arrived upon the stage.

"He seems to be at home behind the scenes," soliloquized Chick,
furtively watching him. "Evidently he has some kind of a pull with the
manager, or he could not get admission to the stage. Probably through
his friend, the Spanish señora."