The Washington times., 1910-01-25
CHAPTER XII.
4 STRANGE RIDE AND ITS
ENDING

forced to the top Of my bent 1 Had
scored not one point
Now, as I faced Elstchford's conf
dent, haIf-amused visaSe, a sudden
righteous fury possessed me- 1 vas
no dme-u0vCI HCr0-nCr. villain either
to be rofIed and baffed everywhere
BY the ksener wits OF others And
with the wholesome rase came a
quickeninE OF my tired Wits a gen
Pral nraciuE and Strengthening eti
along the line / was once more lLe
dgErer- No longer the sUplne pupPet OF
t6iRl something OF this purpose
must have shown II my lace For
BlatChfOrd. VINO had stepped toward
4 hone YOU won't be so unwIse as 10
resist, AIr. Lee he urged Hands up
nv own hands were in the side pocket
OF my sack coat suppose ne mus
have thought I carried some weapon
there, for as he spoke he drew re-
EoIver and Ieveled Il at me
He was in the doorway OF the inner
room, his vide bulH b-ochlilE t-l5
threshold. over his shoulder l0oHea
the policeman head
I looked at the leFeled weapon whose
mUzzIe was barely two feet from my
f-Ce. and laughed
-.Retter cock that thing before YOU
t-y TO shoot IT, suggested Honlcl-liy +,
EIELClr0Td-as ul1e-E-nIDe men out OF
a hundred would iufallibly have done
d -opp-d his keen saze momentarily
rom Ine to his pistol hammer
And, as he did so. ] struck Ny leIt
hand. palm Open hit with fuH force
against his wrist The revolver few
from his fingers at the lightning impact
Of my open handed blow and struck
against She opposite wall
With pI practically a simultaneous move
ment, I brought my right hand, also
palm open, down with all my might
on TOP of the stiff derby he wore
- 20
man was not only disaTmed- but his
wrecked hat was driven down tight
over his ears and eyes.
The whole thing was a ruse by which
on a sightseeing tour in Boston, I had
once witnessed the SlDEle-naDde1 cap
trre Of q LElG who was holding a
CharlestONn water front crowd at bay.
So, you Sc, even in this, was not
As the rIstoI few out Of Blatchford's
hand and the hat collapsed over his eyes
! lowered nv head and drove i with
al my might into the center OF ms
chest. Back he spun against the police
man who with cry was Just spring
ing forward
Before the latter could clear the
threshold Of his blinded, prDfaDe- STTuC-
cling ally ] had dashed from the recep-
ton hall. barely eiudiuE the Wild grasp
OF SIgncriua Eerri- The woman S
screams for help filed the whole cor
Tidor-
But in less than a second had reach
ed the nearby elevator that was Just
dTsEOrEing a load OF clean linen ar that
floor
ing the uniformed boy from MS place
al the lever and SIauuiuE shut the door
IN the very face OF the policeman
threw over the lever to fun speed
and the car shot downward
Past the first floor we spun and into
the caveruOUs depths Of the basement
The elevator came 10 q Earring stop
- HH 9Hr ~
into The dim lit uaSsaEevvaT- leaving the
hoy paTalTzed and gaping at the sudden
ness or the whole QUICK scene
was no<zeSSed only by the primal
animal instinct Of escape Time
enough later TO confront the COuse-
uucuCeS Of what I had just done For
Ele present 7 needed all my wits And
for once they served me CALAMITY
There was a patch Of sunlight at the
7assa EeWaE-s far end Toward this I
lFltaH- Luckily Tor me. d was the
hrea E1aSt hour ana most OF the ser
wants were lu me IlClenS or dlnlnS
rooms or iu the lodging floors above
knew I probably had the fraction
OF time necessary for the alarming Of
the hotel and until BIatclford could
learn at what floor T had left the car
7 reached the patch Of sunlight 1t
was pouring through one OF the SIDE
dOO-waES leading into the basement AS
7 got almost 10 It an uucouth figure
blocked the way
stepped lightly TO one side. II was
q market man. bowed over By the
weight OF. 2 huge basket on his ShOul-
derS. Coming in from the sunlight
glare he did not see me in the dim pas
sage at his side
And as he staggered past under his
ioad 4 whipped by him and up the
short flight Of steps into the side street
Directly in front Of me. backed 20 the
curb, stood the market mans great
few empty barrels and crates ir was
vacant He had evidently just carried
I'm his last load Of vegetables
The street. too. at that early hour
was almost unpcopled No one vas
looking at me-
7 vauIted over the back board Of the
va Eou. into the shadow vegetable
scented interior I crouched In the
front of me and barricadinE myself stiII
more fully with a couple Of crates
7 had acted on Impulse II was prob
able the hue and cry might ferret me
ont there. and drag me dusty and dis
heveIed. to justice. On the other hand.
tae wagon seemed my only hope. For.
in another few minutes every policeman
in Washington would have description
heels
So I crouched low in my maIodorous
hiding place and waited Il is inert
waiting that tries the nerves ten thOus-
and times more than the most desperate
action.
heard running steps along the side
walk. Then excited voices from some
where in the hotel Then ploddinE feet
assembled the basement steps and cross
Cd The pavement
II dunno. heavy voice replied q
some question Of a passerby. Some
body caught r0bbinE q room. 7 guess
The hotels like a hive fun OF riled
bees They'll get him all right
wish 7 had time 70 stay and see the
fun
The speaker passed around the side
Of the wagon, and then springs creak-
- as he c1ambered 70 the high seat in
front
.'CidaDf~ he admonishe5 his mules.
The wagon started with q lurCh that
Almost feTked me cut OF NV corner.
Other running feet could be heard as
we rounded the corner. A voice from a
window OF the hotel hailed the driver
Matthew's. didn't see anything OF z
fellow sneaIinE out the side basement