# Bound to be an Electrician/Chapter 30

CHAPTER XXX.
FRANKLIN SHOWS HIS PLUCK.
With slow and thoughtful steps the young electrician left the vicinity of the river, and made his way towards the park which he had before visited.
Franklin realized that he was now embarking upon a project that was entirely foreign to that upon which Belden Brice had sent him. But he could not resist Mrs. Bliss's appeal, and he did not know but what the exposure of Montague Smith and his methods would ultimately result to the speculator's credit.
When the young electrician reached the park, which, by the way, is one of the prettiest sights in the city of Milwaukee, he ran up to the top of the little hill which fronts upon the great lake, and gazed earnestly out upon the broad expanse of water, now shimmering in the glare of the midday sun.
His long look was well rewarded. Some distance out, but still near enough for him to make no mistake concerning her identity, lay the Sunflower.
​As far as he could make out, only a single sailor was on deck. Neither Captain Cosgrove nor the others were in sight.
"They have come ashore again," thought Franklin. "And the question is, where have they gone?"
Franklin watched the freight boat for some time and then turned his steps once more in the direction of the residence in which Mrs. Bliss was kept a prisoner.
"That Fipher will not dare to leave that new girl with Mrs. Bliss too long," he reasoned. "He will soon be coming back to learn if matters are all right."
As Franklin turned into the street upon which the house stood, he saw a close carriage driven along at good speed. The carriage stopped in front of the Fipher place and Fipher and Montague Smith alighted.
At once the young electrician sprang out of sight behind a tree. He saw Fipher lead the horse around to a stable in the rear of the house, and then he and his companion entered the mansion.
Burning with curiosity to learn the meaning of Montague Smith's second visit to the lady, Franklin resolved upon a bold movement. That was to enter the house by a side window, which he saw was open, and gain some position where he might hear and see what took place.
​When once his mind was made up the young electrician did not hesitate to act. He had soon passed through the window, which was but a few feet from the ground, and now found himself in a handsomely furnished library.
Franklin heard the murmur of voices in the hall beyond, and then a hand on the knob of the door. He had barely time to conceal himself behind a large revolving bookcase when Fipher and Montague Smith entered.
"I think you handle her too well, Fipher," Montague Smith was saying. "She will never break down under such kind treatment."
"I don't handle her well at all," growled Nathan Fipher. "I do everything I know how, outside of starving or striking her, to bring her to terms. But it ain't any use—she won't give in."
"I think I could manage her if I tried," returned the part owner of the battery works. "What has she to say when you approach her?"
"Sticks to it that Wilbur didn't give her the drawings, and that she doesn't know anything of the inventions."
"But he said she had them."
"I know he did. But what are you going to do about it when she denies it?"
Montague Smith bit the ends of his elegantly-waxed moustache nervously.
"It's a confounded shame, Fipher! I might ​make a fortune out of that invention if I could only get the plans and specifications."
"As valuable as that, eh?"
"Yes—if they are brought to light soon. Of course in a few years they may be valueless—if somebody else comes along with something better."
"Well, I've done the best I could for you," responded Nathan Fipher, doggedly. Why don't you try to make an impression on her yourself?"
"By jove! I will!" cried Montague Smith. "But then, you know, she thinks I helped get her brother out of the way," he added, suddenly.
"Why don't you hint at the truth and promise to let her know all if she does as you wish her to?"
"That's an idea, Fipher! I've a good mind to go at once!"
"We've got a couple of hours to spare. I'll go out and look after the horse, and you can go up if you wish. I reckon it won't do any harm."
The two talked the matter over for a minute longer, and then Montague Smith determined to carry out the plan.
Nathan Fipher immediately passed out of the house in the direction of the barn. In leaving the room he almost brushed against Franklin's coatsleeve, and the young electrician hardly dared to breathe for fear of discovery.
Montague Smith lost no time in carrying out the plan that was in his mind. He walked out ​into the hallway, and Franklin heard him ascending the stairs swiftly.
"What's to be done next?" the young electrician asked himself several times.
It did not take him long to answer the question. Now he had once embarked upon his perilous enterprise, he determined to go through with it to the finish.
Accordingly, no sooner had he heard Montague Smith unlock the door and enter Mrs. Bliss's apartment than he entered the hallway and crept noiselessly up the stairs after the man.
Montague Smith had closed the door behind him, evidently that he might not be disturbed by the servant girl, who was supposed to be in the kitchen preparing dinner. But by stepping close to the barrier, and placing his ear to the keyhole, Franklin readily overheard what was said inside.
"Look out for that battery!" he heard Mrs. Bliss cry in alarm. "You will knock it from the stand if you are not careful."
"Confound the thing," returned Montague Smith. "What is it, anyhow?"
"It is a medical battery Wilbur constructed for me years ago. Poor Wilbur! Oh, how could you have the heart to—to kill him?"
"There, let us talk of something else, Mrs. Bliss," returned the part owner of the battery works. "I want to know vhat you have done with the papers your brother Wilbur left with you."
​"He left no papers with me, and if he had, I would have burnt them up before I would give them to you. Fipher has asked me for them, too, I suppose on your account, you base villain!"
"There, there! don't get excited, madam. You must remember that we are doing our best for you here."
"Indeed! I do not see it. Why don't you set me free?"
"It would not be best for you to be free. Your mind needs rest and quietness."
"I shall be free some day, and then I will have you punished," cried the woman, pointedly.
"What do you mean?" demanded Montague Smith, in alarm.
"Never mind, I shall be free as sure as there is a sky above!"
"Has any one been communicating with you—the servant girl or any one else?"
"I shall not answer that question."
"Yes you will, returned Montague Smith, roughly. "If that girl has been doing outside errands for you I want to know it."
"Mary has done nothing for me," returned Mrs. Bliss, "excepting to treat me better than any of the others ever did."
"But you have heard something in some way," persisted Montague Smith, whose suspicions were now aroused.
​"Supposing I have, I shall not tell you all I know. Now leave me, I would prefer to be alone."
"I won't leave until you have revealed your secrets to me, Mrs. Bliss. Remember you are in my power."
"I know that only too well. But you have threatened me before, so I am not so fearful as I might otherwise be."
"But you must know that there is a limit to everything. You must tell me all you know or suffer the consequences," and Montague Smith caught the woman by the arm fiercely.
"Let me go!" she cried, in alarm. "Let me go, Montague Smith!"
She began to shriek in terror, and thinking that the rascal meant to do her bodily harm, Franklin shoved open the door and sprang into the room.
"Let go of Mrs. Bliss!" he cried, as he advanced upon Montague Smith. "Let go of her, or I will crack you over the head with a chair!"
And catching up the article of furniture he had mentioned, he stood ready to strike.