doing something
before we were committed to any place more secure than a carriage. If I
had been alone I should have opened the door and jumped out; but Kate
could not do this. While I was considering what I could do, I heard the
driver speak. I raised myself up to the window, and listened for the
reply of the other man.

Though I could not tell what was said, I recognized the voice of Tom
Thornton. I had come to the conclusion, as soon as my suspicions were
aroused, that it was he; for it was not likely that he would trust the
execution of his scheme wholly to others. I confess that the sense of
being injured was not the only emotion that disturbed me. I was filled
with anger and indignation at the trick which had been put upon me. I
wanted a weapon like my trusty base-ball bat, and I felt that, if I had
it, I should do good service with it.

The thought of the bat suggested an idea. In going up to Chambers Street
in the forenoon, I had seen a hackman oiling his wheels at the stand by
the Park. When he finished, he put the iron wrench he had used under one
of the seats in the carriage. I felt for one in this vehicle, and
realized a savage gratification when I placed my hand upon the article.
The implement was about a foot and a half in length, but not very heavy.
Having decided upon the plan of the intended assault, I buttoned my sack
coat, and thrust the wrench into the open space between two of the
buttons.

Half paralyzed with terror, Kate asked me what I was going to do. I told
her in a whisper to keep still. In a fair, stand-up fight with two men,
I should be instantly vanquished, and it was necessary for me to obtain
the advantage of a surprise, if possible. The rear window of the
carriage was open. Though the aperture was small, it was large enough
for me to crawl through, and I worked myself out upon the baggage-rack.
The jar which I communicated to the vehicle by this movement attracted
the attention of the men on the box.

"Be aisy for a minute more, and you'll be at Madison Place," said the
driver.

"How much farther is it?" I asked, thrusting my head into the window, so
that he would not suspect that I had got out of the carriage.

"Only a short piece farther," he added.

Placing one foot on a ledge at the side of the hack, and the other on
the bottom of the back window, I scrambled to the top of the carriage,
where I was obliged to spread out like a frog, and was in imminent
danger of sliding off.