Page:Ned Wilding's Disappearance.djvu/224

214 to avoid the coal man, Ned did not notice an open hole down which the black diamonds were being shoveled. Before he could save himself he had plunged into it.

Lucky for the boy the cellar underneath was almost full, the coal coming to within a few feet of the sidewalk, so when Ned toppled in he only went down a little ways. There he was, his head and shoulders sticking up above the pavement, while his feet and legs were buried in the pile of coal underneath.

"Now I've got you!" yelled the colored man, as he ran up to Ned, and hauled him from the hole. "I've got you! What'd you steal?"

"I didn't steal anything," Ned answered. "It's all a mistake. Please let me go!"

"Hold him!" cried Cassidy, appearing at that moment from the front entrance of the house, up the stairs of which Ned had dashed a few minutes before. "Don't let him get away!"

"He'll not get away," replied the negro.

Cassidy came up and took charge of Ned. Quite a crowd gathered, but the lodging house keeper answered none of the many questions asked him.

"Guess he's a detective," was the general