he room, locking the door after him.

As soon as the man was gone Dave tried to loosen the rope that bound his
feet together. It was a hard task and took some time, and bending over
seemed to make his head swim. When he straightened up his head grew even
more dizzy, and almost before he knew it he was staggering around.

"What a queer sensation!" was his thought. "What in the world is the
matter with me?" And then like a flash came the answer. "That tea! It
must have been drugged!"

The captive was right in his surmise. The tea had been drugged, and soon
poor Dave felt so dizzy he had to rest on the bed. He tried several
times to rouse up, and then his senses forsook him completely.

Dave had been unconscious for about a quarter of an hour when the man
came in, looked at him, and shook him. Then he went below.

"Well, we've got him," he said to the others. "He is practically dead to
the world."

"Good!" was the answer. "Better bring him down right away. We want to
get this job over."

CHAPTER XXVI

A DASH FOR LIBERTY

When Dave regained his senses he found himself in the tonneau of a big
automobile that was speeding swiftly over a dark country road. On either
side of him sat a person who was masked, and in front were two persons
whose faces he could not see. His hands were tied behind him, and his
ankles were made fast to the foot-rest in the bottom of the tonneau.

He wondered where he was being taken, but knew it would be useless to
ask any questions. How long he had been unconscious he did not know, but
felt it must have been a considerable time, for it was now night, and
whenever they passed a farmhouse it was without lights, showing the
occupants had gone to bed.

Dave fully realized that he was in a position of peril. His enemies had
treated him in an outrageous fashion, and what they proposed to do next
there was no telling. He felt that he must escape if it could possibly
be accomplished.

He had roused up a little, but now deemed it best to let the others
think he was still unconscious. Accordingly, he uttered a deep sigh, and
then slipped further down on the seat, and let his head fall forward on
his breast.

"Pretty well dosed," he heard one of the party murmur, and now he was
sure he recognized Nick Jasniff's voice.

"Say, Shime, I hope you didn't give him too much of the drug," said
another of the party, and Dave felt certain it was Link Merwell who was
speaking. "If he shouldn't r