h Congdon," said the Governor, smiling. "Your mother
wants you very, very much and I've come to take you to her. If you will
jump into the car you will see her very soon. We must be in a hurry or
that woman will catch you. You needn't have a fear in the world. Will
you trust me?"

The child hesitated, and Archie, enraged at the deliberation with which
the Governor was managing the abduction, really leaving it to the child
whether she should go or not, saw the look of fear she bent upon the
approaching woman--a look that yielded to wonder and amazement and hope
as she jumped nimbly into the machine.

[Illustration: "We must be in a hurry or that woman will catch you"]

At the same moment two men sprang out of the second car and rushed at
Archie. One of them flung a carriage robe over his head and twisted it
round his throat, then they gathered him up, head and heels, and tossed
him over the fence. The thing could not have been managed more neatly if
it had been rehearsed. The Governor leaned over the fence and gazing
upon Archie, wriggling in a patch of briars, unconcernedly recited:

"'She who comes to me and pleadeth
In the lovely name of Edith
Shall not fail of what was wanted;
Edith means the blessed, therefore
All that she may wish or care for,
Shall, when best for her, be granted!'"

The two cars were enveloped in a cloud of dust when Archie, tearing the
blanket from his head, rose to confront the screaming woman. Twice he
had seen the child stolen, and the first occasion had not been without
its drama, but the Governor had made of the second the sheerest farce.
The woman berated him roughly for his stupidity while he attempted to
explain.

"The man who talked to the little girl knew her--called her by name.
They've probably just gone for a ride."

This only increased the woman's indignation and he roused himself to
placate her.

"I had better run to the house and telephone to the Tiffin police," he
suggested.

To his infinite surprise she declared in alarm that this must not be
done; she would go herself and tell the child's father what had occurred
and let him deal with the matter. This was wholly beyond his
comprehension and to conceal his emotions he fell back heavily upon his
role of the country bumpkin, complaining of imaginary injuries and
vowing that he would have the law on the men who assaulted him. The
woman glanced carefully about, as though to make sur