He had left the town and was about to put on speed so as to carry him easily up a hill just ahead of him when he saw a man suddenly come around a turn just ahead of him.
He slacked up in an instant and then heard a sharp whistle behind him and at the next moment heard rapid footsteps, the man in front suddenly running toward him.
Before he was aware some one had sprung over the back of the car and had thrown a pair of strong arms around him.
Then the man in front ran up, jumped in and took the steering wheel, quickly backing the car and turning into a narrow lane a few rods behind.
Jack, meanwhile, had been blindfolded and gagged by the man who had seized him from behind and had no idea where he was going.
He was held tight as well and could not move, his captor being evidently a very powerful man.
“I’d like to know what this means, so close to town,” he thought. “If it were two or three miles out I should not wonder and yet I have never been molested as long as I have been driving the car, or was I when I carried fruit and returned with money in my pocket.”
By this time it was dark but if it had not been it would have made little difference to Jack with a heavy bandage over his eyes which shut out all light.
They were running on the level, as he knew by the motion but at length they began to ascend a considerable rise, the speed being increased and the car being higher in front.
The boy was utterly in the dark as to the identity of his captors or their intentions and could not hazard a guess on either point.