Marion Marlowe in Chicago, or, Trapped by a Lunatic — page 23: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 Miss Ellis forgot all her jealousy of Miss Watson as Bert drew her head to his shoulder and murmured: ‘We will find her! Don’t cry; we will send out an alarm, as Alma says, and then we will go, ourselves,:into the dark- est corner of those alleys! There is no spot on earth so dark but that we would search it for Marion!” Dr. Brookes was in time to hear the last sentence. | “She shall be found, and to-night! I swear it!’ he said, hoarsely. “We will- ferret her out in spite of everything ; but, Alma, you and Miss Ellis must not go; it will be too dan- grous! It will only hamper us in our work if we are obliged to protect you!” “Then go, this instant!’ cried Alma, quick- ly. “See, there is the cab with the drunken driver! Make use of it, you two, while we drive on to the hospital! They will surely keep us! If you get any news, communicate it to us there, and, whatever we learn, we will ‘phone to the station-house in this precinct!” The words were imperative, and no one dreamed of disobeying them. The two young men made a rush for the cab, but it was absolutely impossible to awaken the driver. “Vank him down!” bawled Bert, as he caught the fellow by the leg. Dr. Brookes got hold of an arm and stead- ied him a little, but even a hard bump on the cobblestones failed to arouse him to full con- sciousness. “Tt’s a plain, ordinary drunk, I am sure of it,” said the doctor. ‘Bundle him in here, Bert; we can’t run away with his cab entire- ly, and as soon as we see an officer we'll ex- plain the situation.” “And he'll say we are running away with the whole shooting match—driver, cab and all,” laughed Bert; “but there isn’t any dan- ger of our seeing an officer!" A moment later the drunken man doubled up inside of his own cab, and the two young men were on the box, the doctor keeping an eye on their passenger while Bert did the driving, Miss Allyn and Miss Ellis were on their way to safety, but these two loyal hearts were going straight into danger, perhaps to death, in their search for Marion. was MY QUEEN. © CHAPTER X. THE CAPTURE OF JONES. “There’s the ‘station-house at last!” ex- claimed Bert. They had been driving carefully for nearly twenty minutes, and had inquired their way four times of men who seemed skulking along the streets, and who had infinite trouble in speaking the English language. With a sigh of relief the doctor sprang from the box and rushed into the station- house to make a few explanations. It took very little talking to satisfy the © officer on duty. He was accustomed to stories of crime in his precinct. “Dago alley is a bad place, but my men have been there before, and they'll go again,” he said, promptly. “I'll dispatch a squad at once. Do you want to go with them?” The doctor assented eagerly, and just then two officers of the station dragged in the drunken driver. The fellow was awake now, but decidedly cloudy in his mind. After a great deal of prodding he told them where Marion left his cab,- but of her whereabouts after that he could tell them nothing, . | “Tt’s a plain case’ of highway abduction,” said the sergeant, shaking his head. “Some- | body followed the girl for a reason, and when this brute insulted her, as he must have done to make her jump from his cab, the other rascal’s work was dead easy.” While the men were getting ready, Bert and the doctor held a quiet consultation, © “Shall we both go with them, or had one of us better go back to the hospital and see Preston?” asked Bert. “Exactly what I was thinking,” was the thoughtful answer. “If the fellow is really cuilty, he is likely.to let out something, and a clew is what we are badly in need of at pres- ent.” | “Then you go and see him,” said Bert, de- cidedly. “You know how to talk to the loon, and I’m blest if I do. I'll borrow a ‘pop’ and vo with the officers. Now, no objections, old man! One end of this deal is just as impor- tant as the other!” Dr. Brookes was forced to yield. He knew that Bert spoke wisely {5 yoya)'<s com *