There was a large shed attached to the mill, and entering this, the young machinist looked carefully around to see if he could find any trace of the man. But a brief search assured him that the place had not been disturbed for months.
Passing through the partly open door, he entered the lower floor of the mill, and found himself in the presence of Dennis Corrigan, Mosey's brother-in-law.
"What do you want here?" demanded Corrigan, springing up from the bench upon which he had been seated.
Jack could hardly form a proper reply. With two men against him, he realized that he was in a bad fix.
"Why, I didn't know that you were here, Corrigan," he began. "I thought----"
Jack never finished the sentence. He heard a noise behind him, but before he could turn to see what it was, he received a cruel blow on the head, and then all became a dark, terrible blank.
CHAPTER VII.
INTO THE RIVER
Slowly and painfully, with a dull ache in his head, and an uncertain look in his eyes, Jack returned to his senses. A thin stream of blood trickled down his neck, and putting up his hand he felt a large lump under the hair.
"It must have been Mosey who struck me," was his first thought as he gathered his scattered faculties together. "Well, thank God, he didn't kill me."