CHAPTER IV.

THE CLEW IN THE BASIN.


A cry of alarm escaped Old King Brady when he saw the Frenchman.

"Harry," he gasped, "he is trying to kill us."

"There goes the cable!" muttered the boy, and a cold chill darted through
him as he heard the ominous snap of the parting strands.

"The safety-clutch may save us, Harry."

"No! It don't work," groaned the boy as the car shot down.

A sickening sensation passed through the pair as the falling car went
plunging down at lightning speed.

They expected to get dashed to death at the bottom as they went flying down
past the different floors, and heard a fiendish chuckle from the Frenchman
above their heads.

Like rats in a trap, the two detectives were held so they could do nothing
to aid themselves.

All they could do was to wait for the final crash, and visions of the
wrecked car and their bodies crushed to a pulp flashed across their minds.