The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-09-10

1 what she ought to take were some kimonos and house dresses. A Strange Man The housekeeper hesitated before
 she went on with the rest ot the story, as if fearful of relating it.
 When your mother, MT. Bob, came back, she wasn't In taxicab at all!
 She was in a big fine car with the strangest looking man you ever saw.
 While he had on good clothes and
 everything. MT. Bob-if you'll pardon
 me-he looked, Mir. Bob-just like a like a bad man--almost a brute.
 Your poor mother. in the machine
 leaned her head on the back seat
 when he jumped out to get the grips, and, 1 tell you, if ever I saw fear and despair on anyone's face it was on hers.
 T had often read of peoples being
 Kidnapped, and that was the first
 thought that struck me. I knew she
 didn't want to gol But when ran down to speak to her-for I could
 see she was bodily very weary and | suffering--she wouldn't say anything but:
 Don't worry about me. I'm going
 to have-such--a-good time. III l write"
 But before she got to finish, tha
 man rushed up and gave her such a
 look that she became dumb. She
 didn't say another word.
 Then, without even looking at me.
 the man took control of the whole | situation, put on his utmost speed and drove away. I know I thought if he kept that up he'd be arrested. I looked particularly for number on the car, but 1t said Texas, with q
 number Into the thousands. While I was trying to remember 1t. the car flew around the corner"
 What Manf
 The mention of a man in the case | was so astonishing to Bob that he found it difficult to control his emo- l ton.
 True enough, he had had a vague | idea of his mothers having been in duced by some agent to purchase
 some worthless stock. but he could 1 conceive of no reason why she should be forced to flee with such a man.
 Bob tried to think of every man his mother had spoken to in all her life. | Bob knew them, and they were ex- l tremely few. Bpt a man with heavy black mustache. who peered out from under shaggy eyebrows, with promi- nent teeth@a and weighing 1855 pounds was not in the calendar. l He grew impatient. | "Yes.-and what then7" Then, nothing. I haven't heard | anything since"
 But you went to the address she gave you?''
 l Yes, but the people in the house said they never heard of such per I son. Then I inquired all over the neighborhood, but nobody knew her" What was the address she gave you?"
 False Address The housekeeper ran to fetch the piece of paper. The address was in a section of town where Bob was positive his mother had never been in her life. Bob knew almost every hour of his mothers life. It had been an open book to him. But this! | Had she told deliberate false- l hood? He had never known her to do that before.
 ] He passed a hand across his fore I head.
 The one plausible explanation was , a terrible thought. Someone may have been threatening his-Bob's life and his mother had thus been in- duced to beg money from him. The ! demand had been made that she Lring the money in person? | What wretched, thoughtless. careless individual-and son-he had ! been! He should never have loft | town!
 1 Then, what did you do when you couldn't locate her?' l Nothing, MT. Bob. I was scared to report it to the police without your
 consent I just wired to you. Oh, isn't this terrible?" | Terriblel It's a thousand times worse You were right. Anything on earth might have happened l Repetition Further questioning merely | brought repetition of the same de- | tails and Bob was grateful to .Nr. and Mrs, Elberton that they remained | quiet; did not shower him with sym pathy. but took on the attitude of | actual helpers
 What must we do7" It was Elberton. Bob considered
 T don't intend to turn the matter | over to the police yet" + Not even the vaguest Idea of her whereabouts was gleaned Then-because he must not leave | any stone unturned--Bob was forced
 to ask the aid of the police depart- | ment. Mrs. Landon had not left by any
 train or from any station in the | city, and inquiry within a hundreu- l mile radius failed to show that two l persons Of any such description had been seen in any smaller hamlets. A cold fear that she might be a captive in some mountainous region near Birmingham overcame Bob; and for days search was made in all | directions.
  l details of the disappearance. and repugnant as 1t all was to Bob's very soul. he could not help but feel that maybe somewhere such stories would be the means of his finding
 his mother again. So he did not suppress any details asked. The papers dwelt at great length and speculated. upon the $10.000 cash she was known to have in her pos- session, and which had been ob- | tained for Mrs. Landon by her law | yer. to whom she had telephoned and who had brought the money to
 the house before her departure. One morning the telephone rang in- sistently, at 10 o'clock. in Bob's room. He had slept practically none the ] night before--having searched all night. It was Annette on the line II think it's perfectly terrible for you not even to phone me a word, | or to drop by. Maybe there's some thing I could do--even If it's noth- | ing but to speculate with you. Don't | you know, sometimes women's l guesses are a whole lot better than
 mems slow mathematics. Anyway, I want you to come overnight
 away"
 To See Annette | Bob did not want to so. Over l wrought as he was, the only thing l &tcx .-..,> l,-.