The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-30

Shaking his head, he plodded back to the hcathouse. MT. Cranford had been abducted. Most amazing!
 At 6 o'clock that evening be had come to the conclusion that as detective he. was blooming 6zzle. He had, during the afternoon, detect
 ed new rubber heels on the. shoes of seven men-a guest at the hotel the local druggist, a man who had a sum- mer cottage in the village, the, tin smith, the hotel proprietor and the bar tender 1
 The guest, the man who had the cot tage and the tinsmith all had automo~
 piles with the same make of tires. Uncle Billy did not sleep well that night.
 Neither did the object of all these earnest endeayors. Cranford's bedroom was circular affair, windowless, ] whose sole entrance, and exit was a trapdoor some five feet beyond the ! reach of his fingers. l Briefly, an empty cistern in a desert I ed farmhouse four or five miles inland. l Whenever he wanted a drink of wa ter he had to ,grope for the pail. For nearly forty-eight hours, two : days, he had been incarcerated in this unusual prison. From the fight in the y i question had been asked. SHe had not 1 even seen his captors since night be- fore last.
 1 The candle they had left him had I gone out in a sputter of wax.
 Three matches left He fumbled l them undecidedly. Surely they would return to renew ] his meager larder. At length he could resist the temptation no longer. He struck a match and found that it was almost 9. Ere the glow of the match | died he heard the butter of an auto l mobile. It paused. i His heart beat quickly. He tried to count the minutes between the death of that noise and the birth of another ]: Game the muf11ed closing of door They had come at last.
 td This affair was Diana's, and never
 should these rascals learn anything
 from him, He knew nothing; he would
 not have to lie or dodge or evade. He 5. would tell them frankly that they were i wasting their time and let it go at l that .s
 The trapdoor opened, and a ladder i came s1ithering down.
 Come up,'I said voice f Cranford climbed out of the cistern
 and stood blinking in the light of g J detached automobile lamp i For awhile he remained at the edge
 of the cistern waiting till his dark smothered eyes resumed their func-
 tions. Then he saw Hanchett and Dem 1 nison and, in the gloom of a%eornef a third man.
 Without thinking of the tinge. of
 melodrama in the act Cranford filled
 his pipe and began smoking. He had not dared to smoke in the ciEtern; he would have suffocated. An, but the
 smoke tasted good!
 f ..Well, gentlemen sp he said quietly Hanchett smiled.
 Dusty, cobwebbed and disheveled,
 Cranford presented really a comic pie
 ture, and the sang froid with which
 he lighted his pipe made him irresist-
 iblea to Hanchett,s every ready appre-
 citation Of the ludicrous.
 "Cranford, we shan't waste time
 beating about the bush It doesn't
 matter how or when you learned. We
 want what you took from Pidgfn is
 lahd.''N
 s s.SNhat. was it I took?'' Hanchetf smiled again. tsYou~ can't
 pass your hand up like &hat. Cranford,
 we do not wish you injury or incon- i venience. Clever idea of yours to have
 that telegram delayed. We found 1t
 out, however.
 E/ Cranford held his surprise in check !
 What a woman! Not a detail had
 escaped her. 'I dare say by this time
 you've been through my belongings at T the hotel.''
 .ewa have frankly. And found
 nothing; else your guide would be re leasing you,''
 Do you want the truth?'' LAS quickly as you can give it-'
 The prisoner smoked for a minute or two. Well, then, yosl'Ye shad all your
 trouble for nothing I haven't the slightest idea what fs going on, what
 it is you're trying to smuggle across
 To this is added the fact that I should
 not tell you if I did. l realize, in the parlance of your particular world. you , are out to do me for the crutches. : Smead rose and limped into the light. t'Cranford. give them up. Otherwise, on my word you'll stay here till the
 crack of doom
 Cranford puffed and let the smoke
 drift up into his nostFils. We haven't got all night
 You've got just as much time as I r have,
 } ''Gfve him his bread and fill up the . pail,'' said Smead. Another twenty four hours will bring him to reason Would you object if I washed my face and hands first? Water is neces
 sary inside. of course, but I'd feel ;
 tride more comfortable with fev l handfuis on the outsider l Get your pail,'' said Hanchett. ? Cranford went down the ladder anC fetched tse pail. 1 "cDennison, I appoint you Gany mede,', declared Hanchett loftily.
 Whats the matter with Fagin2" Well, them Fagin, off with you | 7 the weIl.'' Fsgin returned presently. and SC ? down the pail befogs. Cranford.
 .-That's right; coddle him." sneere. Fl Smead.