CHAPTER XXIV
The Flight of the Kidnapers
Searching parties were organised and sent out to scour the country, late
as it was. Swift riders gave the alarm along every roadway, and the
station agent telegraphed the news into every section of the land. At
Boggs City, the sheriff, berating Anderson Crow for a fool and
Tinkletown for an open-air lunatic asylum, sent his deputies down to
assist in the pursuit. The marshal himself undertook to lead each
separate and distinct posse. He was so overwhelmed by the magnitude of
his misfortune that it is no wonder his brain whirled widely enough to
encompass the whole enterprise.
Be it said to the credit of Tinkletown, her citizens made every
reasonable effort to recapture the men. The few hundred able-bodied men
of the town rallied to the support of their marshal and the law, and
there was not one who refused to turn out in the cold night air for a
sweeping search of the woods and fields.
Rosalie, who had been awakened early in the evening by Mr. Crow's noisy
preparations for the pursuit, came downstairs, and instantly lost all
desire to sleep. Bonner was lying on a couch in the "sitting-room,"
which now served as a temporary bedchamber.
"If you'll just hand me those revolvers, Mr. Crow," said he, indicating
the two big automatics he had taken from Davy and Bill, "I'll stand
guard over the house as best I can while you're away.
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