"O, Mr. Sherman, Bloody Jim has been here. I expect it was he, and we were watching for him, too, but we didn't any of us see him come. I was watching on the east side of the house, and mammy was watching in the kitchen, and I could see Miss De Wolf through the long hall, standing right by that window there, looking out, and Bloody Jim came up behind her sly, and catched her before she saw him at all. She screeched out, and tried to get away, but he held her tight, and hollered, 'come on, boys.' and two men run right in, and they tied her hands, and stopped her mouth, and just strapped a big blanket around her, and carried her off, and I ran and hid, for I thought they'd kill me if they saw me." "How long since they were here?" said Edward, eagerly. "O, it's only a little while, and may be you can ketch 'em," said Sorrel Top, brightening up a little. Sorrel Top's reply infused a bright ray of hope into Edward's highly wrought feelings, and, accompanied by his friends, he immediately started in pursuit. Just outside the house they met Mrs. Hawley, who informed them, that sometime before she had seen three men going towards the brewery. To the brewery they quickly went. The wily proprietor denied having seen the fugitives, and feigned excessive emotion when informed of their inhuman deeds. "In what direction would you advise us to search, Mr. Glutter?" said Edward. "O, you had better strike off among the bluffs. They could hardly take the river by daylight without being discovered. Probably they will reach some point above here after dark, and cross to the other side under cover of night. I will dispatch a messenger to Pendleton for aid. My men, unfortunately, are gone after grain, and I am uncertain when they will return. Dr. DeWolf, I am sorry to say, is perfectly helpless to-day. While I was out a few minutes he helped himself too freely." Hank Glutter faithfully performed his promises. The same evening officers of justice were sent out from Pendleton, and a party of young men volunteered their services, and like Edward and the Doctor, travelled many miles. But all in vain, Bloody Jim had escaped with his prize. CHAPTER IX. BLOODY JIM'S ADVANTAGES--THE FAINTING CAPTIVE--THE TRAGIC QUARREL--OUTWITTED AT LAST--THE REFUGE. His intimate acquaintance with the wild region of country, over which he directed his course, gave Bloody Jim an immense advantage over his pursuers. While they were floundering in treacherous sloughs, or climbing unknown heights, he was riding safely and swiftly along in company with his prisoner and the two villians, whom Sorrel Top described as having assisted in kidnapping her mistress. Little Wolf was so narrowly watched by the trio that escape seemed impossible. As each hour bore her farther from civilization, and nearer to the Red River country, her heart sank within her.