Page:The House On The Cliff.pdf/73

 him they'd hardly go to all that bother of kidnapping him," he pointed out. "Perhaps they just want to keep him out of the way. Perhaps they were afraid he would tell about their chasing him and setting fire to his motorboat."

"They were mighty anxious to get their hands on him, when they would come to the house in broad daylight and tie up Mr. and Mrs. Kane. Gee, it's lucky we came along when we did! They might have been left there for hours without being able to get loose."

When they got back to the farmhouse they found that the farmer and his wife had somewhat recovered from their harrowing experience, although they were still unnerved. Mrs. Kane, ever the true housewife, was already beginning to tidy up the kitchen and living room, for the intruders had upset everything in the struggle.

"We lost them," said Frank.

Kane nodded.

"I didn't think you'd catch them," he said. "They left here in too much of a hurry. But I hoped you would. They had a big, high-powered car and they didn't waste any time getting away."

"There were four of them, you said?"

"Four. Ugly villains."

"What did they look like?"

"I didn't get much of a chance to see. It all