lock. Above
him he could hear the low grumbling growl of the voices of his guardians.
But they came very faintly.

"Lucky thing they are in the front room," thought Roy, as he worked on,
"otherwise, they might hear this."

At last the file had cut far enough into the hasp for Roy's strong fingers
to be able to bend the metal apart. With a beating heart, he replaced the
little tool in its case and pulled the ring of the padlock out of the
hasp. Then he gave an upward shove, but very gently. For all he knew, the
door he was pushing upward might open in another room. But when it gaped,
an inch only, Roy saw the faint radiance of a clouded moon. A gust of
fresh, clean air blew in his face, as if welcoming him from his noisome
depths. An instant later, with throbbing pulses and flushed cheeks, Roy
stood out in the open. Above him light clouds raced across the moon,
alternately obscuring and revealing the luminary of the night.

But Roy didn't linger. He crept across the field, keeping close to a
tall, dark hedge-row till he reached the automobile. As he had guessed,
neither of his captors knew how to run it, and it stood just where he had
left it.

"Glory be!" thought the boy, climbing in, "I'm all right, now. I don't
know where this road goes to, and it's too narrow to turn round, but I'll
keep straight on and I'm bound to land somewhere."

He turned on the gasoline and set the spark. But the engine didn't move.

"Queer," thought Roy.

He got out and walked round to the front and then the rear of the car.
There was a strong smell of gasoline there. Stooping down, he found the
ground was saturated with the fuel. What had happened was plain enough.
The cunning rascals who had captured him had drained the tank of gasoline.
The auto was as helpless as if it had not had an engine in it at all.

"Well, this is a fine fix," thought Roy. "However, there's nothing for it
now, but to keep on. Those ruffians are cleverer than I gave them credit
for."

Stealing softly toward the woods, the boy sped into their dark shadows.
Aided by the flickering light of the moon, he made good progress through
the gloomy depths. He did not dare to slacken his pace till he had
traveled at least half a mile. Then he let his footsteps lag.

"Not much chance of their discovering me now, even if they have awakened
to the fact that I have escaped," he said to himself, as he strode on.

Suddenly he emerged on a strip of road that somehow had a fa