They stuffed his own handkerchief in his mouth and tied a cord tightly around his ankles.
Then they lifted him, while the rest of the gang and Snell and Leonard looked silently on, and took him from the room by a door that opened upon a stairway.
Down the stairs and along a short passage they carried the helpless detective, and at last laid him upon a cemented floor.
Not a ray of light was there.
The men stumbled in the darkness as if they were not familiar with the place.
“Say yer pra’rs, tenderfoot,” remarked one of them, with a harsh chuckle, as he started away.
“He’s got nerve,” said another, noticing that no sound came from their victim’s throat.
“More likely he’s scared silly,” returned the first.
One of them was feeling along the wall.
“Hurry up,” said the other.