Charlevoix county herald., 1915-06-05
Continued Chapter XIV.


to the detective who summoned him.
cit all happened so quickly hardly
know, sir" the man explained. IL saw
three men jump out of the shadow
and run toward us. One of them
caught hold of the horses and it went
down. i drew my revolver and fired,
but just then the driver yelled and
fell against me so heavily that l
slipped off the seat. / guess the fall
stunned me a bit, for l hit my head,
and when l got to my feet, all could
see was a little group running down
the street. l looked into the cab and
saw him there moaning-alone. Then
/ turned and started after the men
who were running, but by that time
they had turned the corner. / fired
again and shouted for help, sir, but
when l reached the corner they were
gone as though the earth had swal-
lowed them up!
"And them" MacBee pressed him.
"Then l ran for you, sir"
A score of hobbies arrived upon the
scene, and as they pushed back the
crowd MacBee gave them few hasty
instructions. Then he hurried away
to his office and sat down by the tele-
phone. Through the night he remain
ed there sending and receiving mes
sages. Telegraph wires hummed with
queries and instructions, and messen-
gers hurried in and out constantly.
The events of the past hour had
changed the whole complexion of the
case, and far from complicating it
MacBee was confident that this double
kidnapping Of the two men he wanted
most would simplify his work. This
time, however, he did not mean to let
his prisoner slip from his grasp so
easily. 1t was practically impossible
for Kandwahr to have been spirited
out of the city by this time, and al
ready the great dragnet of the Lon
don police was spread to prevent his
ultimate escape. Like spider in his
web, MacBee sat at his desk directing
the search and determined that the
remaining hours of darkness would
not be passed before Kandwahr should
again be in custody. And this time
he would have others, too-prisoners
from whom he could quickly force the
information required.
But by morning no trace of Kand-
wahr, or his deliverers had been
found. From the moment they had
turned the corner no trace of their
whereabouts was discovered. Even
the great conservative newspapers of
the capital grew hysterical over the
events of the night. The Towneshend
murder, followed closely by the dis
appearance of well known peer, now
the escape of another suspect, and
the killing of two detectives in the
very heart of the city, stirred the
most stolid Londoners to a storm Of
frightened protest. 1t shrieked of an
archy, the newspapers Numbered. A
band of organized criminals held the
city in their grasp, and the most Sc
we're censure was piled upon the police
and upon MacBee, whose removal for
incompetence was fatty demanded.
MacBee had not slept and he
glanced over the morning editions
with but scant interest. Their charges
and demands did not disturb him in
the least, and he continued his work
without comment. At noon he held
a conference with his staff, and then
lay down for brief nap.
An hour later he was aroused and
had batch of kilograms. They came
from every port at which it would
have been possible for Henry Cor
nish's yacht to have touched since
its departure, and each contained a
disappointment, for at none of them
had the Murita been sighted.
MacBee smiled. Just as
thought he murmured to himself
Hes keeping at sea. Harcourt is
quite as safe there as he would be
here under my thumb. 1t now re-
mains only to find the others"
Then he turned his attention to
another telegram, and was just ans
wering it when Darlington was an
nounced.
"You are wearing yourself out
working like this" Darlington said as
he shook MacBee's hand. IF you're
not careful you'll break down."
II hope not before my work is fin
ished," the inspector answered. "It
will take time, but they have me in
a corner now, and I'm determined to
get out of it for the sake of my owr
reputation as well as my desire tc
clear Lord Harcourt."
"You have had no news of his