ly
miserable, he threw himself upon a bench and lapsed into gloomy
meditations. The light-hearted laughter of the children--Putney
Congdon's children--was borne to him fitfully to add to his
discomfiture, but he was held to the spot. There was something weirdly
fascinating in their propinquity, and in the thought that he alone of
all men on earth could ever tell them just what had happened in their
house when their father went there to search for them.

He sat half an hour pensively, noting an occasional pedestrian or the
flash of a motor that rolled through the unfrequented driveway. But for
the hum of the cars the deep calm of a June afternoon lay upon the
landscape.

Then a piercing scream, the shrill cry of a child in terror, brought him
to his feet.

"Help! Help! Oh, Edith! _Edith!_"

The cries sent him at a run toward the place in which he had left the
Congdons.

Rounding a curve in the path he saw a man rushing down the road with
Edith in his arms. The mother was racing after him, while the little boy
lay wailing where he had fallen in his frantic effort to follow. In the
distance stood a car, with a woman waiting beside the open door.

Archie redoubled his pace, passed Mrs. Congdon and gained the car as the
man with the child in his arms jumped into it. The woman, who had
evidently been acting as watcher, stumbled as she attempted to spring in
after them and delayed flight for an instant. The door slammed viciously
on Archie's arm as he landed on the running board. The car was moving
rapidly and a man's voice bade the driver hurry. Within the child's
screams were suddenly stifled, the door swung open for an instant and a
blow, delivered full in the face, sent Archie reeling into the road.

When he gained his feet Mrs. Congdon stood beside him moaning and
wringing her hands. A mounted policeman rode upon the scene, listened
for an instant to Archie's explanations and, sounding his whistle, set
off after the car at a gallop. A dozen of the park police were on the
spot immediately, followed by a crowd of excited spectators. Mrs.
Congdon had fainted and several women were ministering to her. The
little boy, sobbing plaintively, tried to answer the questions of the
sergeant who took charge and despatched men in every direction to search
for the kidnapers and send the alarm through the city.

Archie's nose bled from the rap in the face and his back ached where he
had struck the earth. The sergeant plied him