e other side.

"Shall I hold his head, doctor?" asked Merwell. "Maybe he won't be able
to swallow if----"

Merwell got no further, for just then Dave leaped to his feet with an
agility that surprised even himself. Stiff though he was, he ran at
Merwell, hurling him flat. Then he bumped into Jasniff, who made a weak
attempt to stop him. The two swung around, and Jasniff was sent crashing
into the table, knocking over the lantern. Then Dave leaped for the
doorway.

"Stop him!"

"He must not get away!"

"Ouch! Don't step on me!" came from Link Merwell. He was on his back,
and Jasniff's foot had landed on his stomach.

The four rascals had been taken completely by surprise. As the lantern
fell it went out, and in his endeavor to get to the doorway, Shime
bumped into Jasniff. The doctor ran into the bench, and his glass of
medicine went splashing into Merwell's face, eliciting another protest
from that bully.

Dave did not care about what happened in the building. His one thought
was to get away, for he fully realized that in a hand-to-hand encounter
he would be no match for his four enemies.

Had he had time he might have jumped into the automobile, and started up
the machine. But he was afraid to risk this, and so ran down the wood
road a short distance, and then plunged into the bushes. He did not stop
there, but kept on, until he calculated that he was a full quarter of a
mile from the stone building.

"I don't think they can follow me to here, at least not in the
darkness," he told himself.

He stopped to rest and to consider what he had best do next. The effects
of the drug were now entirely gone, and he felt once more like himself.

"I ought to have the whole crowd locked up," he reasoned. "But it would
be the testimony of one against four, and they would most likely deny
everything."

He went on again, and presently came out on the main highway. As he did
this he saw the flash of some lamps in the distance. He crouched down
behind some bushes, and a minute later saw the automobile whizz by,
with his enemies in it.

"They are going back," he reasoned. "I suppose now I have gotten away
from them, Merwell and Jasniff will return to the academy as fast as
they can, and Shime and the doctor will return to Rockville; and they'll
all play the innocent."

As he walked on, Dave wondered what the plot against him was. He felt
convinced that carrying him off was only the beginning of it.

"Well, whatever it