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Show An Attempted Abduction By MICHAEL J. PORTER iHB MIBBWiy Mil !UigM" tiwinii i ill gaMPTOMi mbhmjmbhiMI (Copyright, igia. by Associated Literary Press.) "I'll hunt him down, if I have to put bloodhounds on his trail!" "Now, major!" soothed the wife. "Now, papa!" soothed the daughter. daugh-ter. "The scoundrel shall not escape!" roared the major as he paced the room. "I'll have the police after him within an hour within a quarter of an hour!" "But, major!" "But, papa!" Marjorie had been uptown to do tome shopping. The major had been talking of buying an auto, and expected ex-pected to close the deal that day. If the event came off the machine would be at the depot to meet her as she came home on the 7 o'clock train. She had only stepped off when a man touched her arm and raised his cap and said: "This way to the auto, please." So her father had closed the deal, and was probably sitting In the auto outside waiting her appearance! But be wasn't. The machine was tenant-less, tenant-less, but the man gave her a hand to reach the tonneau, and as she seated herself It whizzed away. It didn't take the right direction, but she didn't notice this fact for a minute. When she did Bhe called out: "You are going wrong! You must turn around!" "I'll get you there, all right," was the reply. Then Miss Marjorie opened the door and leaped straight out, to lose hr balance as her feet touched the ground and fall and roll over and over In the mud. At the same time he screeched. . It wasn't a dainty little scream, but a long-drawn I Z It Wasn't a Dainty Little Scream. screech that was heard a quarter of a mile away and started men running for the scene. "Here what's the matter!" demanded de-manded the driver of the auto as he came to a sudden stop. "Help! Help!" Speed was put on and the auto disappeared. dis-appeared. "By George, Miss Graves!" ex claimed a first comer, who at least knew the girl by sight, "but this is about the boldest thing I ever heard of around here!" "Was was he trying to carry me off?" was gasped. "Sure thing! Yes, ma'am, it was a bold attempt at abduction, and the wonder is that he didn't have a confederate con-federate to choke you into silence and helplessness. By George, but this village Is getting to be worse than New York city!" The scoundrel had been noticed at the depot by men who thought he acted suspiciously. No one had taken the number of the auto, and It was considered useless to follow. The major hadn't closed the deal for the auto, and he wasn't at the depot either with or without it. Of course, Miss Marjorie had a story to tell when she got home, and it was the attempted crime that roused the father's Ire. Was this the twentieth century? Was the police force of the village, consisting of two men, being paid enormous salaries to catch criminals crim-inals red-handed or to play checkers and sleep? The major asked a great many other questions that neither his wife or daughter could answer, and wound up with the threat to have the tate militia called out. Meanwhile something had happened at a manor frous two miles away. Ruth Forest was coming down that evening for a stay of two weeks with her old school chum, Mrs. Thurston, a bride of two years. Harry Thurston, Thurs-ton, brother of the husband, had already al-ready been there a week. It was for him to take the auto and meet Miss Ruth. She would surely be looking for somebody to meet her, and there could be no mistake. With that spirit of carelessness so prevalent with young men, he selected select-ed a tall, willowy girl, Instead of a short, stout one, and bore her away. He fully intended to introduce himself him-self and do some talking after getting get-ting clear of the depot, and when he lost his passenger in the way he did he was too astonished and rattled to do the right thing. There came as instant suspicion that he had somehow some-how picked up the wrong young lady, and In his Bustratlon he put on speed and disappeared. Arriving home, his explanation was that Miss Ruth was not among the passengers that got off. This passed all right for half an hour, and then the missing guest showed up to disprove dis-prove it. Harry then owned up, and after a gasp of astonishment, his sister sis-ter said: "A rather tall, slim girl, eh?" "Yes." "And she knew you were headed1 wrong?" "Yes." "Then it must be some one living In or near the village. She didn't command you to stop? She didn't demand to know where you were taking tak-ing her?" "Not a command nor a demand," answered Harry. "She just opened the door and jumped, and as she jumped she screeched Lord, how Bhe screeched!" "Well, young man, I think you have got yourself In trouble. I believe be-lieve the girl you tried to abduct was Marjorie Graves, only daughter of Major Graves, one of the most peppery pep-pery men In four counties." "But it was a simple mistake." "Yes, but the trouble will be to make him believe it. And the lamentable la-mentable part of the whole thing la that I wanted you and that particular particu-lar girl to fall In love with each other." "Can't we do it just the same?" '"Why. Major Graves won't let you come within ten rods of his house! And If you were to meet the young lady elsewhere what could you say?" "I guess you'll have to match me up with some one elee. She ought to have had a placard bung about her neck stating who she was. All her fault." The major's deal for the auto went through three days later, but he did not let the excitement of it turn him from the trail of the would-be abductor. ab-ductor. He made many moves, but he got no clews. Ten days later he and Miss Marjorie were riding out The major had taken three lessons In running the machine and felt that he knew all about It. He had done very well for an hour at a slow pace so well that he decided to 'hit 'er up" to about thirty. The daughter protested, but the hitting took place, just the same. Half a mile had been covered when the machine swerved out of the highway into an unfenced meadow and began to cut up all kinds of circus tricks. It wiggled and wobbled. wob-bled. It ran in circles. It shaved the whiskers off of stumps. Young Harry Thurston heard Miss Marjorle's screams, and the major's cuss-words and calls for help, from the brook where he was fishing, and he was soon on the scene. He dodged here and there and shouted instructions, instruc-tions, but the major was repeating the Lord's Prayer and his daughter continuing her screams. The only way was to take a flying leap for the footboard as the machine came along. It needed courage and confidence, but the young man landed right, and soon discovered what was wrong and remedied reme-died it. Miss Marjorie reached the ground to faint away, and the major fell out to gasp and swear and tell what h would do to the seller of the machine. It was for Harry to act as chauffeur to get them home, and when he had done so and been invited in he mustered mus-tered up the courage to tell the story of the attempted abduction. The result he told his sister-in-law and Miss Forest three hours later. "The major called me a scoundrel," he said. "And then said he owed me hlr life." "And the daughter?" "She said I must be an idiot to make such a mistake, and then added that she was glad I did." "And and " "Ask my wife and me to visit you 'ibout a year from now." Milky Way Causes Glaciers. Another suggested cause of glacial periods is that they have been due to the shifting of the milky way, such as is known to have occurred. Assuming that much of the earth's heat comes from the stars, Dr. Rudolf Spitaler finds that the change of position in relation re-lation to the milky way might have given a different distribution of temperature tem-perature from that existing at the present time. The stars are not only crowded in the region of the milky way, but many of them are of the hottest hot-test type. His Opportunity. "Going to Wombat's wedding, over on the north side?" "Not I. I was engaged to that girl. Wombat cut me out." "Well, come to the wedding. You may get a chance to biff him in the Viw with an old shoe." It's an easy matter to forget an injury, in-jury, provided you don't keep forgetting forget-ting you have forgotten It. We all admire a man who says Just what he thinks about other people. THE DOCTOR: "DISCOVERED!" Impolite. "Why wouldn't you put out your tongue for the doctor this morning, Karl?" "Oh, Emmy, I couldn't. I don't know him well enough." Fllegende Blaetter. Surgeon In Ancient Tlrnes! High honorariums were paid s: geons in ancient times. When bar fus, the son of Hystaspes, spralnM his foot Damocedes was called j another surgeon of renown havin failed to effect a cure. Damocedes was successful, and the king took him to his harem and introduced the doc tor to the ladies of the court, ladles filled a vase of gold with rnone' and precious pearls, which a eutuiea was- ordered to carry to the ("octor The eunuch 4et fall the vase, and th9 careful historian tells us that slave3 gathered up the pearls. The One Sure Thing. "We can always be sure ot on, thing," said the wise man. "What is that?" asked the tooijsu one. "That we are never sure of any. thing." Some people impress us as beltg too polite to get all that's coming to them. The man who wants the right ol way wants It right away. |