Out of Traeger's they poured. Rattleton led them. He took them to the dark street where the gang had suddenly jumped out and pounced upon Merriwell and himself.
"It was right here," he said. "Yes—here's my hat. I got a soaker in the jaw—knocked me stiff for a moment. They piled onto Merry. Had a cab waiting—bundled him into it. Before I could give him a hand, they were carrying him off in the cab."
"How many of them?" asked Pierson.
"I don't know—six or seven."
"Well, they have got away with him. They're gone. There is no cab in sight. What are we going to do?"
"Try to follow some way!" cried Diamond. "We must find them! We must stand by Merriwell! Oh, curse it! We might have known something was up when Jones told us he saw Mason outside."
"Sure!" agreed the others.
"I said there was something in the air," put in Griswold, but no one paid the slightest attention to him.
"We should have gone along with Merry," grated the excited Virginian. "Then, if the gang had tried to jump him—oh, we'd given them a hot time!"
"What do you suppose they'll do with him?" asked somebody.