Footsteps were heard ascending the stairs. The men looked at each other and seemed alarmed. CHAPTER XVIII HELD CAPTIVE There came a peculiar rap at the door. First two blows, then a pause, then three light taps, followed by three raps at long intervals. “It’s----” began the tall man. “Shh-h!” cautioned his companion. “No names, remember. Let him in.” The other opened the door. A well-dressed man entered. “Have you got him?” he asked. “Sure,” replied the two men at once. They had stood in front of Larry, so that the new-comer could not see him at first. At this, however, they moved aside and the well-dressed man got a glimpse of the boy. He gave a start. “That’s not the one!” he exclaimed. “Not the one!” cried the tall man. “Sure he’s the one. He’s the one that was pointed out to us. Besides he has the papers in his pocket. I saw him put ’em in.” “Are you sure?” “Of course.” The tall man with a sudden motion plunged his hand into Larry’s inside pocket and pulled out the bunch of copy. The new-comer glanced hurriedly at it. “It’s the stuff,” he said, “but, all the same, you have the wrong one. You got the messenger boy. The one we wanted is the reporter who has been writing all this stuff about the strikers. He’s the one we want to get even with.” At last Larry understood why he had been kidnapped. The heads of the strikers, incensed at the articles Mr. Newton had been writing about them, had determined on revenge. Whether they thought that by capturing a reporter they could stop the articles from going into the paper Larry could not guess. It was more likely, he thought, that the men merely wanted to scare Mr. Newton and make him tone down the descriptions of the acts committed by the strikers. Persons who thought it to their advantage to keep out of the public notice, Larry knew, often tried to intimidate the reporters assigned to write them and their doings up, but he had never heard of such a bold attempt to bring about silence. He realized that a plot must have been formed to capture Mr. Newton. But the men detailed to carry it out had mistaken Larry for the reporter. “What shall we do? Turn him loose?” asked the short man with a nod at Larry. “It’s a bad blunder to make,” spoke the well-dressed man, who seemed to be in charge. “I don’t see how you came to make it. But we dare not turn him out yet.” “Why not?” “Why, he’d give the whole thing away, and the strike’s not half won. As soon as he got out of here the police would come.” “I will not tell on you if you only let me go,” said Larry. “I must get the copy to the paper. They’ll think I’ve run away.” “They’ll have to think it then,” rejoined the leader. “I promise I will not tell,” repeated the boy. “We can’t trust you,” replied the short man, in hard tones. “We’ll have to keep him here for some time,” went on the well-dressed man. “Then we’ll have to make another try for the real one.”