u may require him.

"The best thing you can do is to get back to town," he said kindly to
that young man; "you need a little sleep. It is not a pleasant prelude
to your marriage. By the way, that is to-morrow, is it not?" he asked,
suddenly.

Frank nodded.

"I wonder if that has anything to do with your kidnapping," said T. B.
thoughtfully. "Is there any person who is anxious that this marriage
should not come about?"

Frank hesitated.

"I hardly like to accuse a man," he said, "but Poltavo----"

"Poltavo?" repeated T. B. quickly.

"Yes," said Frank; "he has some views on the question of Miss Gray."

He spoke reluctantly, for he was loath to introduce Doris' name into the
argument.

"Poltavo would have a good reason," mused T. B. Smith. "Tell me what
happened in the car."

Briefly Frank related the circumstances which had led up to his capture.

"When I found myself in their hands," he said, "I decided to play
'possum for a while. The car was moving at incredible speed, remembering
your stringent traffic regulations,"--he smiled,--"and I knew that any
attempt to escape on my part would result in serious injury to myself.
They made no bones about their intentions. Before we were clear of
London they had pulled the blinds, and one of them had switched on the
electric lamp. They were both masked, and were, I think, foreigners. One
sat opposite to me, all through the night, a revolver on his knees, and
he did not make any disguise of his intention of employing his weapon if
I gave the slightest trouble.

"I could not tell, because of the lowered blinds, which direction we
were taking, but presently we struck the country and they let down one
of the windows without raising the blind and I could smell the sweet
scent of the fields, and knew we were miles away from London.

"I think I must have dozed a little, for very suddenly, it seemed,
daylight came, and I had the good sense in waking to make as little stir
as possible. I found the man sitting opposite was also in a mild doze,
and the other at my side was nodding.

"I took a very careful survey of the situation. The car was moving very
slowly, and evidently the driver had orders to move at no particular
pace through the night, in order to economize the petrol. There was an
inside handle to each of the doors, and I had to make up my mind by
which I was to make my escape. I decided upon the near side. Gathering
up my energies for one supreme effort, I sudde