A TERRIBLE NIGHT.

At just about the same moment when Teddy and Dan were running with Hazelton's money at full speed toward the museum tent, with the chance of escape very much against them, Sam was in a decidedly painful frame of mind.

After he had been securely tied the two men conversed in low tones for several minutes, and then, as if having arrived at some definite conclusion, began to make preparations for leaving the place.

At the same spot where Sam had been interrupted while scraping away the dirt they proceeded to dig with a shovel which Phil procured from somewhere outside the building, and during this labor the prisoner could hear fragments of the conversation.

Once Long Jim ceased his work long enough to say:

"When you come to look at the matter quietly it doesn't seem as if we'd got into sich a very bad scrape. You can manage to bring the rest of the stuff down the creek between now an' Friday mornin' and I've got a plan for givin' anybody who may come after us a good clue to the boy's disappearance."

Phil made some remark which Sam could not hear, and his companion replied in a louder tone:

"It can all be done so's to make folks think we've gone up the creek, an' we've got to lay low for a while, which won't be a hard job while the weather is warm."

"But I don't like the idea of totin' that cub with us so long."

"I'll take care of him, an' will make him earn his board, or somethin's bound to break."

From this time until several packages were unearthed Sam could hear nothing; but what had already been said was sufficient to convince him that he was to have a very unpleasant experience, and for at least the hundredth time he fervently wished he had never so much as heard of detective work.

After the goods had been brought to light the earth was replaced in the excavation and pounded down carefully. Then fully half an hour was spent digging in different places, probably for the purpose of misleading any one who might come there in search of plunder, for Phil said in a tone of satisfaction as he ceased the apparently aimless labor:

"It'll take at least a day before all of these suspicious looking spots have been investigated, an' in the meanwhile, unless we're chumps, we shall know what's goin' on. I'll take one load to the boat; make sure the coast is clear, an' then the three of us can carry the balance. Have the boy ready for a quick move, an' see to it that he can't give an alarm."

"I'll knock his head off if he so much as thinks of such a thing," and as Phil disappeared with a portion of the plunder Long Jim began to unfasten Sam's bonds, saying as he did so:

"We've made up our minds to hold you with us a few days 'cause you're sich jolly company. If you obey orders an' keep your mouth shut there's a chance of gettin' outer this scrape mighty easy; but I'd slit your throat in a jiffy if you tried to give us the slip or made any noise."

Sam made no reply; but his captor could see very plainly that the boy was nearly paralyzed with fright, and it was safe to infer he would follow the instructions given to the letter.

Phil returned in a very short time and reported:

"The coast is clear. There's not a craft to be seen on the creek, an' we can leave without danger."

The rope had been removed from Sam's limbs, and Long Jim proceeded to load him down with bundles until he staggered under the weight.

"Now, see that you walk a chalk line," the burglar said, fiercely. "Foller Phil, an' I'll keep behind to make sure there are no tricks played. Remember what I promised!"

The men could carry the remainder of the goods in one load, and the three went out of the barn hurriedly, Sam not daring to so much as lift his eyes from the ground lest Long Jim's threat should be carried into execution.

Arriving at the water's edge the boat was loaded, the prisoner ordered to take his place at the oars, and then the final preparations were made.

Phil uncovered the boat in which Sam had come, launched and overturned her. Then taking the hat from the unresisting boy's head, threw it far out in the channel, afterward giving the little craft a shove which sent her a long distance from the shore. Next the two oars were sent after the hat, and Phil said with a laugh:

"The current ain't very strong; but with the aid of the wind I reckon that stuff will drift up to the fair grounds before dark."

Sam's despair was already so great that it did not seem as if it could be increased; but the last vestige of hope fled when he realized that these things had been done in order to make it appear as if he were dead.

"Teddy and Dan won't think of huntin' for me after the boat is found," he thought, "an' these men are sure to kill me before this scrape is over!"

The two burglars seated themselves comfortably in the stern-sheets, the packages being placed at the bow to trim the craft properly, and Long Jim said, sternly:

"You've been showin' off your skill as an oarsman for two or three days, an' we want you to do it now. Put in your best licks, for it'll be tough if we don't get through the water mighty fast."

Even Sam's worst enemy would have pitied him at this moment. No galley slave chained to his seat could have been more utterly helpless, and he exerted himself to the utmost in order to please those who professed to be so willing to punish or kill.

Every stroke of the oars took them farther away from the fair grounds, and each puff of wind carried the evidences of the prisoner's death nearer the only ones who might take the trouble to search for him.

Not until fully an hour had passed did the burglars give any sign of a desire to end the journey, and then Long Jim said:

"We must be six miles from the fair grounds by this time, an' that is as far as you'll want to pull to-night, Phil. There should be plenty of good hidin'-places in this bit of woods, an' I think we'd better haul up."

"All right. Steer her into that ditch over there, an' we'll look around."

Thus far in his experience as a detective this was the only thing Sam had had for which to be thankful. His arms were so tired that it seemed as if he could not have pulled another stroke, and his clothes were literally wet from the perspiration that came from his body.

Phil went ashore, leaving his companion to watch the almost exhausted prisoner, and in a few moments the former shouted:

"Load that cub up, an' bring him over here. This is a capital place to locate in for a couple of days."

Staggering under the heavy burden Long Jim placed on his shoulders the amateur detective was forced on through the underbrush in advance of his captor until the two arrived at a perfect tangle of cedars.

Phil returned to the boat for the remainder of the goods, and all the plunder was placed inside the thicket where the foliage was so dense that one might have passed within a few feet of the spot and not had any suspicion men were hidden there.

A tiny brook ran past one side of the hiding-place, and Sam took advantage of the opportunity to check his raging thirst while the men were laying plans for the future.

"I'll go back soon after sunset," Phil said, as he lighted his pipe and proceeded to make himself comfortable. "We can leave the boy here to look out for the stuff, an' you'd better come with me up to the barn so's to learn if any one visits the place. I shall be back before morning, an' you can let me know if the coast is clear."

"Shall you try to finish the job we were talkin' about?"

"No; things are so hot jest now that it won't pay to take any more risks than are absolutely necessary. What we want is to get out of this portion of the country as soon as possible."

"All right. I'll leave you to manage the rest of the business, an' promise to follow orders."

"I think it's about time you said that, Jim. If my plans had been carried out in the first place we wouldn't be in sich a muss; but could be havin' the cream of the pickin's at the fair."

"Well, what's the use of harpin' on that all the time? The thing has been done, an' we've got to make the best of it. Do you think it'll be safe to leave this cub here alone while we're away?"

"It will be when I get through with him," was the grim reply, and Sam, terrified by the vagueness of this remark, more even than he had been by the plain language previously used, cried, piteously:

"Please don't leave me here alone to-night! I'll pull the boat, an' do everything you say, without so much as yippin'."

"Them as starts out in the detective business have to take what comes, 'specially when their own foolishness brings it about. You joined our party of your own accord, my son, an' must put up with what we choose to give."

Sam said nothing more. He was reaping what he had sowed, and decided that matters could not be much worse even if he was caught trying to escape, therefore he resolved to take desperate chances in an effort to give his captors the slip.

There was no opportunity to make the attempt, on this night at least, for when Phil had finished smoking he proceeded in a very methodical manner to secure the prisoner.

Sam was ordered to seat himself on the ground, with his back to the trunk of a cedar-tree, and he was fastened skillfully, with his elbows tied back in such a manner that he could not bring his hands together. Both feet were bound, and then, with a sudden movement, Phil forced the boy's mouth open, shoving into it a short piece of pine wood about an inch and a half in diameter.

This was secured in such a manner that the prisoner could not free himself from the uncomfortable bridle, neither would it be possible for him to make the slightest outcry.

"Now, don't shout for help while we are gone, an' unless the bears eat you up we shall meet again about daybreak," Phil said, with a coarse laugh as he and Jim went out of the thicket toward the creek.

Poor Sam had never thought of the possibility that there might be bears in this section of the country until the burglar suggested it, and he was so terrified as not to realize it was impossible there could be any dangerous animals in such a thickly-settled portion of the State.

Therefore, in addition to the danger to be apprehended from his captors, he had constantly before his mind this new cause for fear. The rustling of the leaves, the flight of a bird as it sought a perch for the night, or the soughing of the wind among the branches were to him so many proofs that a violent death would be his before morning.

If the beginning of the hours of darkness was so terrible it can well be fancied how he suffered before another day dawned.