Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-07-20

the same position-head dangilngA
shoulders resting against the rods OF
the step, back bent painfully over the
steelshod threshold of the carriage
floor, legs inside. gripped In hold
not all his struggles could break. His
ankles still were bound. 30, for that
matter, were his wrists, with his
hands behind him. The scarf bandag-
Ing his eyes had slipped partly to his
forehead. SO that he could see a little;
but, in his upside-down position, he
could not see the sidewalk; only the
treetops and the dusk line of the
Palisades were in his line Of vision.
The gag was fixed as firmly as ever.
He tried to call for help, but the cry
was smothered in his throat
Then began as strange struggle
as any in which Britt had engaged in
all his exciting career. The men in
the cab strove to pull him inside; he
battled against their efforts. Bound I
though his hands were, his fingers J
were twined tightly about the step
rods. He had grip on the rods a.
powerful as that with which one OF
his captors held his ankles. The
CTOSSluB vi Ills W Dlhu
wrists had made his hold only the
frmer. All the leverage of each
sinewy wrist strengthened the other.
The rods were SO small they hurt his /
hands, but unless they broke his grip
could not be loosened. Britt clutched
them with an iron resolve not to be
drawn into the brougham again. Safe
though his life might have been at the
outset he was not certain 1t would be
secure after his daring defiance of the
odds against him. He still knew moth
ing of his captors. Even their nation
ality was problematical, TO say moth
ing Of their purpose He felt that his
grip on the rods might be his last
hold on existence-and Britt, in any
stage Of his career. would have said
he was tolerably satisfied with life.
thank you!
This said Britt to his inner con-
sciousness, with a touch Of the grim
: humor his colleagues often found dis
: concerung, lis hill-climbing under diff
= ficulues.' For the coachman, in spite
: of-perhaps because of-the silent
!, struggle going on furiously at tie door
gallop, and was speeding them up
slope. Over the edge Of the scarf
that had slipped from his eyes, Britt
II got glimpse of the Soldiers and
. Sailors monument. He knew exactly
where he was then. Next moment his
d eyes fastened themselves on the faces
= in the carriage, and he tried with
all his might to make out the dark
features OF the three In the gloom of
the cab; but their features still were
u shadowy. He would not have liked to
pick them out OF a line in police
S station. it was point of honor with
the lieutenant always to be sure OF
l. his man before making an Identified
ton. In part. that accounted for the
failure OF almost every defendant in
any Of his cases to establish an alibi.
Lean hands stretched forth from
the dark interior and caught him
about the middle. Other hands seized
/ his legs, while the pair clutching his
ankle frightened their grasp. but he
= only twined his fingers the more firm
ly around their slight circumference.
s BY now the carriage was rolling and
8 not been held SO stoutly by the six
lean hands above, and his own iron
l. clutch below, the motion might have
swung his head against the step
K again with force to crack it in dozen
q places. The very fury of the battle
made for his safety.
!, The horses struck a slope that took
= them out of the Drive. Britt guessed
they could not go far without encoun-
- tering a policeman. II they did not
. meet a mounted patrolman or a bicy-
- Gle bluecoat in the avenue, it was al
= most certain they would strike an
', ordinary policeman in one of the by
:, streets. Britt chewed the gag savage
ly in the hope of freeing his voice.
:, Finding the bandage too tight to force
it out of his mouth he tried to swal
- low the silken ball inside his teeth
Gulp as he might. his reversed posi-
ton distressed him so he could not
', get the ball behind his tongue. And
g owing to the elusive texture OF The
v gag, not all the biting and grinding OF
e his strong teeth could shred it.
It Abrupt as it's beginning was the enc
of the struggle. Britt, his eyes still
Is boring into the inner murk, saw one
h OF the long, lean hands slip forth
" again. This time the hand clutcheC
"a something between thumb and fore
Is finger. The arm extended until the
h hand was close to the detectives
h. wrist. Suddenly the sleuth felt
II frightful burning pain in the back Of
his hand. The agony was duplicated
4 in the knuckles OF the other. Strive
l. though he did with all his grit ano
10 strength to retain his grip his finger:
le opened against his will. the tendon'
n. contracted by the biting agony, and
" Britt knew a powerful acid had been
O. sprinkled on his hands. He could no
le close them again in the first monlen
T. of his torment, and before his muscle:
If could recover from the shock, thu
TO sway OF the brougham swung hin
clear of the rods, Then. by the unite'
ID strength of the three inside, he wa
Id jerked upward, and dragged with
e, single tug into the carriage. the doc
Id was slammed, and the coachmal
in brought his horses back to their high
X stepping trot. Suddenly they slowe
as to walk