hy, I--ahem!--I--that is----"

"You kidnapped me, and that is a serious offense."

"No! no! I did nothing of the sort!" cried the man, and his face showed
actual misery. "Oh, Porter, don't blame me for it! I made a big
mistake! I was a fool to listen to those others! But I needed
money--times were very hard--and they said it was only a schoolboy
trick--that is, that is what they said first. But afterwards----" The
pretended doctor did not finish.

"Who said it was a trick?"

"Those two young men, Merwell and Jasniff. They were angry at you
because of something of which I know nothing. They wanted to get you in
their power for a lark--that was the story they first told. They
promised me twenty dollars if I would aid them--and I never got a
cent--not a cent!" added Hooker Montgomery, almost tearfully. "Oh, don't
prosecute me! I am down and out! My practice has been ruined--some folks
even want me arrested for practicing without a state certificate--and
those rascals never came to my aid! And after all I did for them!"

Dave was a good judge of character, and he saw at once that Hooker
Montgomery was assuredly in a pitiable condition. Drink had made him
lose his practice and his ability to induce people to buy his medicines,
and now he had relied upon Merwell and Jasniff to aid him, and they had
failed to do so. Evidently the man was not so much of a rascal as he was
weak-minded.

"So Merwell and Jasniff promised to pay you if you aided them?" said
Dave.

"Yes."

"But you got me to come to your boarding-house."

"So I did, but it was those two fellows who put me up to it."

"Where did Shime come in?"

"Oh, he only furnished the auto for a consideration. He was under
Jasniff's thumb--and now he is down and out, too."

"You say it was the plot of Jasniff and Merwell to get me in their
power. Why did they want to do this?"

"If I tell you, Mr. Porter, will you--ahem!--will you prosecute me?"
asked Hooker Montgomery, tremblingly.

"I may prosecute you if you don't tell me."

"As I said before, I didn't understand their plot at first. They said it
was only a schoolboy trick. But it was not,--as I found out later. It
was a villainous plan to get you into serious trouble."

"What trouble?"

"I don't know all of the particulars, but I know some. From that old
stone building you were to be taken to some town near by. I heard them
say something about breaking into a jewelry factory, and you were to be
drugged