At first Larry thought they were perhaps only trying to play a joke on him. He involuntarily moved to one side, but, as he did so, one of the men grasped him by the coat collar. Larry began to struggle, but another of the men clasped him about the arms, and a hand was placed over the boy’s mouth to prevent any cry issuing.  
“Whistle for the cab!” the shortest of the men whispered, and a shrill note came from the lips of someone.
 
Larry felt himself lifted up and borne down the stairs. He heard a confused noise and then a loud explosion. It subsequently developed that some of the strikers set off a bomb at that time. This drew a big crowd near the scene of the explosion and the vicinity of the elevated railroad steps was almost deserted.
 
A carriage drove rapidly up to the foot of the steps. Larry, struggling against he knew not what, was unable to free himself. He was bundled into the cab, two of the men followed, and the door was slammed shut. Then the driver140 cracked his whip and the horses started off at a gallop.
 
Even then Larry could not believe that the men meant to take him. A number of explanations came into his mind. He thought he was mistaken for another person, and again he imagined it might be some prank of college students, though the men did not look like youths who attended a university.
 
One man had kept his hand over Larry’s mouth, but once they were in the cab he removed his palm and substituted for it a cloth gag which effectually prevented the boy from calling out.
 
Larry strained his ears to catch anything the men might say, in order to learn what their purpose was regarding him. In this, however, he was disappointed, as the men maintained silence. The only sound was the rumbling of the carriage over the cobblestones. Occasionally this would cease as an asphalt stretch would be reached.
 
“They’ll release me as soon as they find they have the wrong person,” thought Larry. “It would make a good story if I could find out all about it and what their real object is.”
 
Even in his somewhat perilous position Larry had a thought for his paper, as all good reporters should have. Now the cab seemed to be in a less thickly settled part of the city. By glancing through a small crack in the window shade, Larry could see stretches of field instead of solid blocks141 of houses. The men, too, seemed to be less apprehensive of pursuit, for they began to talk in low tones, though Larry could not hear what they said.
 
At length, however, Larry heard one ask the other:
 
“Has he got the papers with him?”
 
“Sure,” was the answer from the other man. “I saw him put them in his pocket. Shall I take them out?”
 
“No, we’ll wait for the boss,” was the answer.
 
Larry heard and wondered. What papers could the men be referring to? Clearly they had made a mistake, and must have expected to capture some other person.
 
“I haven’t any valuable papers,” thought the youth.
 
Then, with a start, he remembered the bunch of copy with which he had started for the Leader office when he was caught. He realized that if it was not soon delivered it would be too late. The thought of this made him half wild, for he did not want to fail in his mission.
 
He began to struggle to free himself with a strength that, for a moment, took all the power of the men to subdue. Larry kicked with his feet and struck out with his arms. He tried to get rid of the gag to call for help, but it was too tightly fastened on.
 
For a few minutes there was a lively time in the142 carriage, but the driver did not appear to notice it, for he kept his horses going. At length the men succeeded in getting hold of Larry’s arms and legs and holding them firmly.
 
“Shall I tie him?” asked the shorter of the two men.
 
“No, we’re almost there now,” was the answer from the other. “We can easily hold him until then.”
 
“He certainly put up a good fight,” was the other’s comment. “I never saw such a lad. I hope he doesn’t make another row.”
 
“We’ll fix him if he does,” said the tall man.
 
Larry was exhausted from his efforts. He saw that it would be of no use to fight the two men, and so he resolved to remain quiet until he found a better chance of escaping. At the same time he could not help wondering what in the world it was all about, and why any men should want him. He was also much alarmed over his failure to get back to the office with the copy, but he did not see how he could help himself.
 
The carriage containing the boy and his captors now began traveling over more uneven roads, and Larry rightly guessed that they were in the upper part of the city, in the section known as the Bronx.
 
For perhaps an hour longer the vehicle moved on. Then it came to a stop. One of the men raised a curtain and peered out.
 
143 “Here we are!” he exclaimed. “We’ll carry him in. Is anyone looking?”
 
“Not a person in sight,” was the reply as the other man gazed up and down the street. “Go ahead.”
 
Larry was picked up as if he was a baby and carried from the carriage, across the sidewalk, and into a dark hallway. During the short trip across the pavement the boy noticed that it was getting dusk............