The Young Bridge-Tender Part 52

"Well, I presume I will have to make a clean breast of it. Toglet is more or less insane. His folks do not care to place him in an asylum, and so I offered to take care of him for a while. It was his sudden fit of insanity that caused all of the trouble."

"What made you point your gun at me in the woods?" asked Ralph, who could not help but doubt Martin's story.

"I wanted you to stop so that I might have a chance to explain. I was afraid you would return home and have us arrested."

"After you pushed me over the cliff why didn't you try to find out whether I was dead or alive?"

"Please don't say I pushed you over. It was Toglet, and directly after you disappeared he turned on me and I had all I could do to keep him at bay."

"You don't look as if you had a very tough time with him," remarked Ralph, bluntly.

"Luckily, I am a strong man, and I soon overpowered him. But he then got a strange fit, and I knew I must get him to a doctor at once. So I took the boat and left the island. If I had thought that you were still alive you may rest a.s.sured I would not have left you behind."

Ralph hardly knew what to say. He did not believe that Martin was telling the truth, plausible as the villain tried to make his story appear.

"You took him to a doctor's?" he asked.

"I did. Then he got away and disappeared in the woods. I had just found him when I saw you. That is the whole story. Why, my young friend, what reason would I have for pus.h.i.+ng you over the cliff?"

"I don't know," returned Ralph. "That is something I have been trying to find out."

"I had none in the world. I never saw nor heard of you previous to hiring your boat, and I might have hired anybody in Glen Arbor for that matter."

"How is it you are in New York now?" questioned Ralph, suddenly.

"I brought Toglet home to his folks."

"Does he belong here?"

"Yes. He lives but a few blocks from here. I will tell you what we had better do. We had better go to his home, and you can interview his folks and make sure that I have told you the truth about him. Perhaps he will even confess, if he is in a proper state of mind to do so."

Ralph hesitated. Martin spoke with so much apparent candor that he was half inclined to believe the man's story concerning Toglet's mental condition.

Besides, as Martin had said, what reason could there have been for such an attack if it was not that of a madman?

"Come on, if only to please me," urged Martin. "You will find Toglet's mother a very nice old lady, and you will certainly believe her, even if you will not believe me."

"You say it is but a few blocks?"

"Not more than four. Come, I will show you the way."

Martin linked his arm in that of Ralph, and together they proceeded down the street.

Presently they came in sight of a large tenement house, although Ralph, being a country boy, did not recognize it as such.

"Here we are," said Martin. "Mrs. Toglet lives on the upper floor."

He led the way into the hallway and up the somewhat narrow and dirty stairs.

They pa.s.sed up two flights, and then reached a floor which was not occupied. Martin threw a quick glance around and entered an empty room, the door of which stood open.

"They are getting ready to move up-town," he said. "This neighborhood is no longer nice enough for them."

Ralph followed him into the room. Hardly had he done so, when Martin slammed the door shut and sprang upon him.

Ralph was taken so off his guard that he went flat on his back. His head struck a block of wood that lay near, and for the moment he was dazed.

Before he could recover, Martin had his hands bound with a strap he took from his pocket.

"Make a sound and I'll choke you!" he cried, in a warning tone.

Then he struggled to fix a gag in Ralph's mouth. A fierce fight ensued, but finally the rascal was successful. Then he bound Ralph's legs.

The poor boy was a prisoner at last!

CHAPTER x.x.xVI.

MICKETY TO THE RESCUE.

"That was easier done than I antic.i.p.ated," muttered Martin, grimly, as he gazed down at his young prisoner. "Now what is best to do? It's good I remembered these rooms were empty."

He walked about the bare apartment and then paused to listen.

All was silent save for the rattle of the wagons and the shrill cries of the playing children in the street below.

"Humph! I thought I heard a footstep," he went on. "I must be getting nervous."

He left the apartment, and was gone several minutes. When he came back he raised Ralph in his strong arms as if the boy were a small child.

"Now I am going to lock you in a closet for a few hours," he said, harshly.

"Don't you dare to attempt an escape, or it will be the worse for you, mind that!"

He walked with his burden to a rear room. Here was situated, in one corner, a large kitchen pantry, now bare of even the shelving.

Into the pantry Ralph was thrust, in a sitting position. Then the door was closed and bolted on him. Presently he heard Martin leave the room and hurry downstairs.

The poor boy was dazed and bewildered by the rough treatment he had received. For some time he sat where he had been placed, not daring to move for fear his tormentor would come back and finish his evil work.

"There is something behind it all," he thought, dismally. "Martin is doing this for some purpose. What can that purpose be?"

Ralph did not brood over the mystery long. As the minutes pa.s.sed slowly by and Martin did not come back, the youth began to speculate on the chances of escape.

"If I could only get free of these cords I might burst open the door," he thought. "Let me see what I can do."

Ralph struggled manfully, but it availed him but little. He was no great contortionist, and his efforts resulted only in a painful laceration of his wrists and ankles. Martin had done his work well, and the bonds could not be severed without outside aid.