“Well, the thing, now, is to save the women—and how?”
“Pay, if need be!” exclaimed Croyden. “The two hundred thousand I got for the Virginia Development bonds will be just enough.”
Macloud nodded. “I’m in for half, old man. Aside from any personal feelings we may have for the women in question,” he said, with a serious sort of smile, “we owe it to them—they were abducted solely because of us—to force us to disgorge.”
“I’m ready to pay the cash at once.”
“Don’t be hasty!” Macloud cautioned. “We 303 have ten days, and the police can take a try at it.”
“That, for the police!” said Croyden, snapping his fingers. “They’re all bunglers—they will be sure to make a mess of it, and, then, no man can foresee what will happen. It’s not right to subject the women to the risk. Let us pay first, and punish after—if we can catch the scoundrels. How long do you think Henry Cavendish will hesitate when he learns that Elaine has been abducted, and the peril which menaces her?”
“Thunder! we have clean forgot her father!” exclaimed Macloud. “He should be informed at once.”
“Just what he shouldn’t be,” Croyden returned. “What is the good in alarming him? Free her—then she may tell him, or not, as it pleases her.”
Macloud held out his hand.
“Done!” he said. “Our first duty is to save the women, the rest can bide until they are free. How about the money? Are your stocks readily convertible? If not, I’ll advance your share.”