It was not very long before the noise of carriage wheels were heard, and
Moriarity running out on the ice assisted Cummings in carrying Chip to
the land and placed him in the carriage, which he had caught on the way
to town.

The driver, who had been told that "one of the boys had got more than he
could carry," did not concern himself to investigate too closely, and
having received his order, drove briskly from the scene.

The darkness and open country gave way to gas-lights and paved streets,
over which the carriage rattled at a lively pace. Turning into a side
street, Dan pulled the check-strap, and the carriage turned to the curb
and stopped.

The detective, still unconscious, was lifted out, the driver paid and
dismissed, and the two men, bearing Chip between them, entered a dark,
narrow alley.

Proceeding up this for some distance, they entered the low door of a
basement and placed their still insensible burden on the floor.

The damp, moldy smell of an underground room filled the air, and but for
a slender beam of light which flashed beneath an adjoining door the
place was dark as night.

Softly stealing to the door, Moriarity applied his ear to the key-hole,
and hearing no sounds within, gave a peculiar double rap on the panel.

Receiving no answer, he cautiously opened the door and disclosed a