prevent direct communication between Columbia and Fayette!

A second and a third metallic "pink" announced that the man up
among the cross bars was indeed using his cutters with effect. At
that rate he would have the entire sheaf of wires severed in
another minute or so.

The matter began to assume gigantic proportions to the boy, as he
sat there in the car and listened. Certainly these men must have
desperate need for delay in the pursuit, if they went to such
extremes in order to accomplish it. And they seemed to have
provided against such a contingency, too, which would indicate
that they were now only carrying out a part of a well-laid plan.

What could he do? Half a dozen ideas thronged into his brain, but
they seemed so utterly useless that he discarded them as fast as
they arose. He must in some manner get away from their company
before arriving in the neighborhood of Fayette; because if they
were as desperate as they appeared the chances were they might see
fit to tie him up, and leave him under some farmer's haystack,
where he would not be found for hours.

"That light ahead is the doctor's place," he said, finally.

The man called Bart had apparently severed the last of the wires.
He was even then coming down the pole hastily, as though eager to
be on the move.

"It is, eh?" remarked the other, with a plain sneer, as though he
guessed the sudden hope that had leaped into being in the heart