The Holly chieftain., 1906-11-23

~ one OF the provisions that you prom
lee not to 60 to the police about 1t. In
the frst place. l have made my ar
rangements to dodge them. and in tho
Dsxt you won't care to give yourself
away and b made q laughing stock
a."
You reason logically" replied The
Hon. Charles as he also lighted cigar
II have had this house hired for the
last i've months. am supposed to be
q bachelor and fairly well of, having
only man to cook and wait upon me.
BIS name 10 Thomas, and he Ia an ex-
coalent servant. You can rest assured
that he never will bring you into ridi-
cule over this AFFAIR"
ITO sum up my friend, this is q put
w Job. have been lured here In or
der that ! may be forced to buy my
liberty. You want $1,000. must con-
Tess that, while the price is not extrav-
agant, l cannot see my way clear to
paying II Just now What conclusion
I may come to after three or four days
I cannot say"
every we'll" replied the explorer. "It
Ii thirteen feet to the partly opened
skylight, with no chance whatever Of
your reaching 1t. Thomas will bring
you bread and water three times
day. and at night you shall have a
mattress to rest on. Three days hence
l shall appear again. There is no hur-
ry about this thing. After my next
appearance the price OF your liberty
l,x,n nd t, 80
day. You can afford to pay, and / can
afford to,walt"
1t was o'clock In the afternoon
when the Hon. Charles Bingham was
left alone in the garret room. He did
not waste his energies by crying out
or trampIng round. He did not look up
at the skylight except at long intervals.
The American was no fool. He had
taken his precautions before bringing
a prisoner to the house. At 8 o'clock
the man Thomas came in. One look
at him was sufficient to prove that he
was loyal to his master. He had
frank and honest face, but he also had
keen eye and was stouty built. He
brought bread and watsr. He was ~
spectfuI In his demeanor.
Sorry for your poor fare your hon
or" he observed, but 1t only depends
on you to get better. The evening pa
pers may help you on q bit. I'll bring
In the mattress later. Also candle"
"A faithful servant 10 q Jewel of rare
value" replied the captive AZ he ate
and drank and seemed very much At
home.
Later on the mattress and light
were brought in, but not another word
was spoken. The Hon. Charles was
not man who Jumped at conclu-
stons. That $1,000 could be paid with
out feeling the loss, but he wanted to
think things over bit Was he worth
the ransom money to himself or the
public3 Was the American prepared
to proceed to extremities in case he
did not get his money? The Hon.
Charles held that the London detective
was the sharpest man on earth. The
great man would be missed and hue
and cry raised. Would the sleuths
strike the trail and follow 1t up?
The room was rather warm that
night 1t being summer, but the cap
i've managed to put in a very comfort
able night. He was up and ready to
bow to Thomas when the bread and
water and morning papers were
brought in, and he was In fairly good
spirits at the end Of the third day,
when the explorer called for his an
swer. 1t was not ready for him. On
the contrary, tho captive pleasantly
observed:
you see. my dear sir, this expert
snce IL 10 unusual with me that must
have little more time to think it over.
At the end Of another three days
ahall doubtless be prepared to give you
q dsanite answer"
He was told that the three days
would add $500 to his ransom, but
there was no argument over that. His
captor retired, the same food and old
mattress were brought in, and a. the
evening grew old the prisoner stretch
Cd out for q rest. He was falling
asleep when he heard the skylight soft
ly raised. Then he caught sight Of 4
head and heard voice asking:
"Is there anybody down thersf'
"Only me-" answered the honorable
- he realized that the voics belonged
to young girl.
"Ars you rich or poor. old or younsr
Il am fairly rich, and am q man
seventy ysars old"
'That won't d." said the girl. II
am an orphan. living with nv aunt