dave and roger lost no time in getting back to the business section of crandall, and there they inquired their way to police headquarters. they found the chief in charge, and introducing themselves asked him if he knew about the disappearance of the girls.

“oh, yes, i know all about that,” answered the chief. “we’ve been on the watch for them, but so far nothing has come to light.”

thereupon dave and roger related what they had heard from the lame boy and those at the bliss house, and then what the little girls had told.

“this is mighty interesting,” mused the chief. “but i don’t see what i can do except to have my men on the watch for that automobile. if it turns up, do you want the party running it held?”

“i certainly do!” answered dave. “or better yet, if you get the chance, have the auto followed and see where it goes to—especially if it goes down the kapton road.”

“all right, i’ll do that.”

239from the police station the two young civil engineers hurried down to the telegraph office, and there sent a long message to the folks in crumville. no message had arrived for them, so they took it for granted that no news had come in at the wadsworth place since their departure.

“and now what’s the next move?” queried roger, who in this affair looked to dave as the leader.

“i think we had better travel along that kapton road and see if we can find out anything more about that automobile and those in it,” was the reply. “there is certainly no use in our continuing the trip along the railroad.”

it was growing dark when crandall was left behind, and they journeyed forward on the kapton road slowly, keeping their eyes open for anything that might suggest a further solution of the mystery they were endeavoring to unravel.

“we might stop and question that mr. merrick the little girls mentioned,” suggested roger.

“yes, we can do that, although i doubt if the old man can add much to what we already know.”

they found mr. aaron merrick a very fussy old individual and hard to talk to. he remembered the incident of the automobile very well, and was highly indignant, but he could not tell anything about who had been driving the car or who was inside.

240“they went by me jest like a comet!” he explained. “i had to jump fer my life, or i’d been run over sure! all them pesky rascals ought to be put in prison. i don’t believe in autermobiles, anyway,” and he looked rather indignantly at the two chums.

“well, we are after the fellow who ran that auto,” answered roger. “and if we catch him he’ll go to prison fast enough.”

“what’s the matter? did he steal that there car?”

“he did worse,” answered the senator’s son. “but we haven’t got time to talk about that now,” he added, and hurried away, followed by our hero. mr. merrick came after them, anxious to know what might be wrong, but they did not enlighten him.

half an hour later found the machine rolling into the little village of kapton. they had stopped twice on the way, but had learned nothing more concerning the big touring car with the battered mud-guard and the cracked wind-shield.

“do you think we ought to stay here all night?” questioned roger.

“that will depend on whether we can get accommodation or not,” returned dave. “anyhow, we want to make some inquiries before we leave this place.”

241they soon learned that kapton boasted of nothing in the way of a hotel or boarding-house.

“but you can get pretty good accommodations at the bliss house in crandall,” said the storekeeper, who gave them the information. “or else you can go to the american house at frytown.”

“is that in the opposite direction to crandall?” questioned dave.

“yes, sir; it’s on the same road that you came up on. the road runs right through frytown to cullomburg, and it’s a pretty fair road all the way.”

“then i guess we’ll go on to frytown. by the way, can you give us any information about a big touring-car that went through here about ten days ago—a touring-car that had a battered mud-guard and a cracked wind-shield and was driven by a fellow who looked like a foreigner—a chap with a small black mustache?”

“why, yes, i saw that car!” cried the storekeeper. “the fellow who ran it came in here and bought a lot of groceries.”

“he did!” exclaimed both of the chums in surprise.

“yes, sir.”

“when was this?”

“let me see——” the storekeeper rubbed 242his chin reflectively. “i guess it was just about a week ago to-day. the fellow came in and said he was in a good deal of a hurry, so i and my clerk hustled to get the order out for him. we packed it in a big box, and put the box in the tonneau of the car. but what about this—is the man some friend of yours?”

“hardly a friend,” answered dave quickly! “but we are very anxious to locate him. have you any idea where he came from or where he went?”

“all i can say is that he came into this place from frytown way, and he turned around after he had the stuff and went back the way he came.”

“did he give you any names, or say where he was from?” questioned roger.

“no, he didn’t say anything excepting that he was buying the things for some folks who were sick in a camp and couldn’t get away. i asked him one or two questions, but he acted as if he didn’t want to answer them, and so i didn’t say too much. you see, he paid spot cash for what he got, so it was none of my business,” added the storekeeper.

“do you remember the things he got?” questioned dave. and then, as the storekeeper showed that he was becoming suspicious, our hero added: “i may be perfectly frank with you, mr. linton. we suspect that the man who is 243running that automobile is a fellow who escaped some time ago from prison. in fact, we are not sure that he owns the automobile he is running, and it is possible that he may be mixed up in the abduction of two young ladies. that is why we are so anxious to get on his trail.”

“you don’t say! well, i’d want to get on the trail of a rascal like that myself. yes, i think i can tell you pretty near everything the fellow bought.”

and thereupon the storekeeper enumerated a number of articles, including coffee, sugar, flour, butter, and a quantity of canned goods.

“and was that all?” asked roger, as the storekeeper paused.

“no. after he had those goods, he asked about a good strong clothes-line, and then he bought a lock, some screws and nails, and a hammer and a screwdriver.”

“and was that all?”

“that’s all, so far as i can remember. oh, no! he did buy some smoking tobacco and a couple of pipes and some packages of cigarettes.”

“and how did the fellow look? can you describe him?”

“i can’t say much except that he was rather tall and thin and had, as you said, a little black mustache, and heavy black curly hair. his face was very dark, as if he had gotten well tanned. 244he kept on his automobile goggles, and had his cap pulled down well over his forehead, and his dust-coat was buttoned up tight around his neck.”

“you haven’t seen him since?”

“i think i saw the automobile going by the door late one evening a couple of nights ago, but i am not sure. you see, i am getting old, and my eyesight ain’t none too good,” concluded the storekeeper.

when dave and roger returned to the automobile and headed the car in the direction of frytown, both were in a meditative mood.

“i think i can begin to figure this out, roger,” said dave slowly. “it looks to me as if jessie and laura were being held prisoners somewhere in this vicinity, and that that fellow who ran the car, whoever he is, came down here to buy supplies for the crowd.”

“yes. and do you remember what the storekeeper said about the clothes-line and a lock and nails? more than likely they’ve got the poor girls tied fast in some room, and they have put a new lock on the door and nailed up the windows.”

“what you say would fit in very well with what the storekeeper told us. if that rascal came here to get his supplies, it would seem to indicate that the place where the girls are being kept prisoners must be somewhere in this vicinity.”

“yes, unless they did not dare to go to any 245town that was closer by. for all we know, he may have come from twenty or thirty miles away—or even farther than that.”

“well, we’re on the right trail, anyway, and that’s something,” returned dave hopefully. then he gave a sudden exclamation. “my gracious! why didn’t i think of that before?”

“think of what, dave?”

“don’t you remember what the storekeeper said about that fellow purchasing some cigarettes?”

“what of it?”

“why, just this: one of the things that fastened the crime on jasniff and merwell at the time mr. wadsworth’s jewelry factory was robbed was the fact that both of those rascals were inveterate cigarette smokers, and smoked a certain brand of turkish cigarettes—a kind that had a peculiar gold and blue band around the box. i’m going back and ask that storekeeper what kind of cigarettes that fellow got.”

and so speaking dave made a sharp turn and brought the car around, and in a moment more was on his way back to the store.

“back again, eh?” said the proprietor. “you weren’t gone very long.”

“i believe, mr. linton, you said that fellow we were talking about purchased some tobacco and cigarettes?”

246“so i did.”

“can you remember anything about the cigarettes? please try to think exactly of what happened when he asked for them.”

“hum! let me see!” the storekeeper meditated for a moment. “oh, yes, i remember now! he asked me if i had any doradas or mimoras, or any other turkish cigarettes. i told him no, we had very little call for anything like that. so then he took half a dozen packages of these,” and the storekeeper pointed to some cigarettes in his showcase.

“thank you. that’s all i wanted to know,” answered dave. “good night”; and he hurried away to the automobile with roger following.

“well, what do you make of this?” questioned the senator’s son quickly.

“i think we have found another clue, roger. that fellow asked for doradas cigarettes. they are a turkish brand, and come in a box having a blue and gold band around it—the same kind of cigarettes that jasniff smoked when he and merwell robbed mr. wadsworth’s safe.”