The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-02-06

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row."
1t was the colonel, also, who elm
mated Mrs. Millicent by the mastery
sratagem of suggesting that she pass
the news to Mrs. Wigglesworth. He
artfully added that it would require
tact to let the lady from Boston un-
derstand that the lad had been found
without in any way gratifying her
natural curiosity in regard to the man
ner of finding or the cause of disap-
pearance. I'll have to leave that to
you," he concluded. Maybe you can
see way out; | confess my hands
are in the air"
Millicent thus relegated to the am
bassador's shelf, the colonel slipped
comfortably into his pet armchair
facing his nephew on the lounge be-
tween Aunt Rebecca and Miss Smith.
Miss Smith looked frankly, charmingly
happy. Aunt Rebecca looked rather
| tired.
"Of course" he remarked, II under
stand, old man, that you have promised
secrecy to the Fireless Stove gang,
as We'll call them; but the other kid
napers, the crowd that held up your
car and then switched you of on a
side track while young Fireless was
/ detained-they haven't any hold on
you?"
mo, SIR" said Archie: "but-you
: see, that strange gentleman and Aunt
Millicent-I was scared lest Id give
something away"
They're not here now. All friends
here. Suppose You make a clean
breast of your second kidnapping. 1t
may be important you should"
Nothing loath, Archie told his story.
Left outside while Tracy went into
the office with a policeman, to whom
/ he gave his assumed name. he re-
manned for hardly two minutes before
q gentleman and cop came up to
him, and the latter ordered him to
descend from the machine-but not
until they had found 1t impossible to
move the vehicle. When they did dis
cever that the key was out and gone,
the man in citizens clothes hailed a
cab and the officer CURLY informed
Archie that Gardiner (Tracy's travel
ing name) had been taken to another
court and he was to follow He didn't
suspect anything beyond collision
with the speed regulations of the city,
but had he seen a chance to dive under
his escorts arm the boy would have
taken It. Such chance was not af-
| Co. T. Ill III - IL
was to lean out suddenly as they
passed the Palace and to wave at Ran
dali. II wanted them TO stop and let
me get some one to pay my fine" said
Archie, "but they said | was only a
witness. They wouldn't let me stop;
they run down the curtain-at least
so far as it would run. 1t was like
all those hack curtains, you know-all
out of order"
Archie" the colonei interjected
here, was one of the men little fel.
low, clean-shaven, with round black
head, blue eyes-one of his eyes winks
a little faster than the other?'
Eyes, sir. How did you know"
II didn't know; guessed. Well. get
on; they wanted to pump you when
they got you safely out of sight?"
YES" Archie said. "they put me
into the sweat-box, all right"
did you tell them anything?" asked
Mrs. Winter.
Archie looked at her reproachfully.
Did she think that he had gone to
boarding school for nothing? He ex-
planned that. being a stranger in the
town. he could not tell anything about
where he'd been There was an agent at
the house trying to sell stoves, and they
let him take him of back to the hotel.
The man seemed to know all about
who he (Archie) was. and about his
having gone away. The men asked
him an awful lot of questions about
how he was taken away. He said he
didn't know, and he'd promised not to
tell. He couldn't tell. They said he
would have to go to Jail IL he didn't
tell, because the men who had him
we're such bad men. But he didn't
tell.
did they try to brighten you-to
make you tell?" said Mrs. Winter.
"Oh. they blurred little" returned
Archie. carelessly. yet, the keen eyes
on him-eyes both worldly-wise and
shrewd-noted that the lads color
shifted and he WINGED the least in the
world over some remembrance.
But they didn't hurt you? They
didn't burn you or cut you or twist
your arms, or try any other of their
playful ways?" Mrs. Winter demanded !;
and Janet began feeling the boys
arms, breathing more quickly. The
colonel only looked.
mo, they didn't do thing. knew
they wouldn't. too" Archie assured
her, earnestly. Il told them II they
did anything Uncle Rupert and you
would make them pay"
"And you weren't frightened, away
from every one-in that hideous quar-
ter?" cried Miss Smith. ooh, my
dear!" She choked.
well, maybe was little scared
I kept thinking Of a rotten yarn OF
Kipling's; something happened to him
down in the underground quarter, in