Kidnaped! There was no question about that; but how could such a thing have happened? A sturdy boy, able to put up a fight, and the thing done so silently as not to waken a soul in the house. Healthy, sound sleepers, depending on a dog—and that poor beast put down and out. Poor Tony! What would they do with him!
Bill and Gus hastily related their affair with the ugly Sicilian and that of which Tony had told them. They at once found that the big car had turned about and gone. Footprints in the snow proved that the occupants of the car had been the kidnapers.
The farmer and his family were duly excited over the case. Nothing so dramatic had ever before happened to them. Merritt was also wrought up to a pretty high pitch, for Tony had hired him very generously. The young Italian had shown himself to be a courteous, well-bred gentleman and had commanded respect. The manner of his disappearance, and the possible tragedy lurking behind it, had earned the sympathy of them all.
But the Farrells deferred everything to Bill and Gus who were both eager to act, and to investigate the too evident, yet mysterious crime, though they were rendered helpless by the snow-piled roads.
“We’ll have to use your ’phone, Mr. Farrell,” said Bill. “We will pay all the tolls. We’ve got to make this thing known and put Tony’s people wise. His father’s a wealthy Italian banker in the city, and he’ll begin to move things when he hears about this.” He turned to Gus: “If we could only get to the school and get a whack at the transmitter, couldn’t we make things hum?”
“Why, my lads,” said Mr. Farrell, “that is just the thing to do and I can get you there in a hurry. These automobiles have got it all over our horses for speed, but not for power. My bays will land you at the school in short order and through the biggest snow that you ever saw. Wait till I hitch them up to the Dearborn.”
He was as good as his word. After promising to keep the Farrells and Merritt posted as to the progress of the hunt for Tony and its outcome, they were on the road behind a pair of splendid, steaming, plunging horses, and soon back at the Tech. The Doctor, about to depart for church, was startled by the news, and he at once turned the transmitting station over to the boys, going himself to the ’phone and keeping it busy. Mr. Farrell remained a short time. Then wishing the boys success, he departed.
The county detective, the mounted police force, the city force and a private detective agency were all informed of the circumstance, with a full description of Luigi Malatesta. The incident became a “nine-days’ wonder” in the newspapers. Soon it was learned that the Sicilian had, on the very day before Tony’s disappearance, sold his restaurant in Guilford for a song. He had disappeared with several others, questionable characters with whom he had been associated, and on whom he had evidently relied to do the kidnaping. It was discovered also, through the confession of a Sicilian suspect, that Tony had been shadowed for weeks as he went about the school.
But all knowledge of the boy’s whereabouts was totally lacking. Clues were run down without success. The search had failed. Mr. Sabaste, with a famous detective, came to the school and talked with Bill and Gus. He went with them to see the Farrells, where he investigated every detail. The search went far and wide, with no trace of Tony.
The banker offered five thousand dollars for information that would insure his son’s return, and smaller sums for any positive data, which might lead to the arrest of the kidnapers. Tony’s mother was dead. An older brother who had been in business in the far west was once a victim of the Malatesta clan. In spite of every possible effort, the disappearance of the boy remained a mystery; nor could any of the Malatesta relatives, known by various names and suspected as accomplices, be found.