Omaha daily bee., 1905-10-08

it perhaps wouldn't have availed me much
n I had. as their SLOUGH hats were pulled /
down over their eyes. and their coat collars /
were turned up over their chins. and about /
all could see was their noses. It was very /
dark. too. and the men kept their faces
averted as much as possible.
Arouses First Suspicion.
LAS we approached the Leavenworth car |
line saw a car coming toward us from the |
west II was brilliantly lighted within. and. |
as It Stacked up at the crossing caught a |
glimpse of the conductor and recognized |
him.
There Is a man who knows me- ex-
claimed. That conductor Will identify me;
call to him.
Immediately my captors turned the
horse westward on Leavenworth street and 1
whipped him into a gallop. One held the
reins and piled the lash. while the other
seized me roughly and tied a handkerchief
over my eyes. Then, of course l began to
realize the true situation knew then that
had been kidnapped. and stories l had read
of horrible cruelties visited upon hostages
flashed through my mind.
We continued to drive rapidly. it seemed
10 me for the greater part Of the night and
during all this time my captors exchanged
not a word. They seemed to have had
every move planned in advance. so they
knew just what to do and where to go. I
could tell by the jolting of the buggy that
we were driving over rough, unpaved roads
most of the time Finally. however. when
It seemed to me hat It must be near morn
ing, the vehicle suddenly struck paved
streets again, and by sort Of sixth sense
felt that we we're in South Omaha In
deed. caught two or three whiffs from the
packing house district, and this assured me
that my conjecture was correct, though, of
course, had no sense OF direction; north,
south. east and west were all one TO me.
Finally the vehicle came 20 a standstill.
One Of the men got out and tied the horse,
while the other held me. Then they lifted
me out,and one of them tied my hands be-
| hind me. The other examined the bandage
over my eyes to make sure it was secure.
! The next move was to lead me up flight
| Of rickety stair steps and into a room that
had damp, musty smell.
Put Irons on Him.
81 could tell by the way the mems foot
| steps resounded throughout the house that
it was vacant and stripped of furniture. 1
! observed also that they struck no light 1
! would have been conscious of a sense Of
| light had they made one, for the bandage
| could not have excluded all its rays. The
men still moved about in absolute silence,
exchanging no word. one of them found an
old rickety chair some place and pushed
me down upon it. Then he removed the
cords from around my wrists and substi-
tuted for them a pair Of handouts with
chains attached, and made the latter fast
to the rungs of the chair. pair of leg
irons were clapped upon my ankles and
the chains of these were also locked about
the legs of the chair.
I'm this uncomfortable position 1 spent
most of the twenty-four hours of my in
generation, though at one time, for a
period of about five hours, I should judge
the chains from my wrists were removed
and 1 was permitted to lie down on the
floor. One of my captors kindly provided
an overcoat which served as a pillow.
tried to sleep, but my nerves were toe
badly shattered to permit of it. I think
l fell into a light doze, however, for If
teen or twenty minutes.
During all of this time / ate but once
though the man who was with me Otter
asked me If wanted anything. Once
said l did, and he went and got me a cuI
of coffee and some crackers.
? Il forgot to tell you that as soon as
was chained to the chair one OF the mel
q went away, but he kept returning at inter
, walls of every few minutes, when he woul,
2 tap lightly upon the door and would engag
! my guardian in a whispered conversation
a / couldn't catch a word OF what they said
a After each one of these interviews the mai
y on the outside would go away, and afte
: a moment or so 1 could hear the tinkle of
4 telephone bell which sounded a long wa,
: off. believe they were in telephone com
D munication with some person or persons Il
Omaha all the time.
I The man who kept watch over me wa
v drinking heavily all the time. At first h
e didn't talk at ALL but after we had bee
e alone together for six or seven hours h
a began to get garrulous. He talked about al
2 sorts Of things, and his talk rambled
[ though whether from drink or design
couldn't say. Finally he became holder
). Two or three times he touched upon tn
I subject of my abduction, and 1 gathers
$ from his remarks that there were six mel
a in the gang Of which he was a member. II
y said one thing which was very much to tn
k point, and which startled me.
d Wanted the Little Girls.
e DO you know he asked. that we hav
y been watching that house Of yours on
n there for the last two months? Well, W
d have. What we really wanted was to ge
g one of the little girls-your sister, but W
Q didn't get a chance. Finally we becam