st at the
tournament, and the time he had to spare from "grinding" was given to
hard physical work.

Then he went down to a summer cottage on the sound. The cottage was
located near Southport, and there he continued his training, taking long
runs into the country.

The day before the great tournament came at last. That afternoon Frank
took his last run in training. He waited till near evening, and then
jogged gently out along the country road.

It was dusk when he turned back toward the cottage where he knew Bruce
Browning, Rattleton and Diamond were loafing on the veranda and awaiting
his reappearance.

As he was passing through a small patch of woods, a cord that was strung
across the road, about six inches from the ground, tripped him, and he
fell heavily.

Frank was stunned by the shock. Before he could recover, dark forms
rushed out and flung themselves upon him.

Frank realized that he had been attacked, and he tried to make a fight
of it, but the shock of the fall had taken away his strength, and then
he found there were three against him.

"Work lively!" growled a hoarse voice. "He's worse than a tiger in a
scrap!"

His hands were twisted about behind his back and held there, while a
cord was bound about them. In a remarkably brief space of time he was
rendered helpless.

Then Frank's feet were bound, and he was forced to submit to the tying
of a blindfold over his eyes. Before this was accomplished, however, he
saw the three men through the gloom, and discovered that all wore masks
to hide their faces.

When Frank was blindfolded, the man who had given all the commands, and
who seemed to be the leader, said:

"Bring out the team."

Frank's ears told him that one of the men went away, and soon, by the
sound, the boy decided that a team was being brought from some place in
the woods, where it had been concealed.

"What sort of a job is this?" thought the captive lad. "It seems to be a
case of real highwaymen right here in Connecticut. And still they do
not seem like highwaymen, for then they would have robbed me and let me
go. They are up to something else."

He soon found that his captors meant to remove him from the spot, for he
was lifted from the ground and tossed into the bottom of the wagon, like
a sack of grain. Then the men climbed in, the horses were whipped up,
and away they all went.

After a drive of at least two hours, during which Frank had several
times asked where they were t