“They done took Kitty—­in an auto,” he gasped.  “Right before my eyes.  Claimed a lady had fainted.”

“Who took her?”

“I dunno.  Some men.  Turned the trick slick, me never liftin’ a hand.  Ain’t I a heluva man?”

“Hold yore hawsses, son.  Don’t get excited.  Begin at the beginnin’ and tell me all about it,” Clay told him quietly.

Already he was kicking off his house slippers and was reaching for his shoes.

“We was comin’ home an’ I took Kitty into that Red Star drug-store for to get her some ice cream.  Well, right after that I heerd a man say how the lady had fainted—­”

“What lady?”

“The lady in the machine.”

“Were you in the drug-store?”

“No.  We’d jes’ come out when this here automobile drew up an’ a man jumped out hollerin’ the lady had fainted and would I bring a glass o’ water from the drugstore.  ’Course I got a jump on me and Kitty she moved up closeter to the car to he’p if she could.  When I got back to the walk with the water the man was hoppin’ into the car.  It was already movin’.  He’ slammed the door shut and it went up the street like greased lightnin’.”

“Was it a closed car?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Can you describe it?”

“Why, I dunno—­”

“Was it black, brown, white?”

“Kinda roan-colored, looked like.”

“Get the number?”

“No, I—­I plumb forgot to look.”

Clay realized that Johnnie’s powers of observation were not to be trusted.

“Sure the car wasn’t tan-colored?” he asked to test him.

“It might ‘a’ been tan, come to think of it.”

“You’re right certain Kitty was in it?”

“I heerd her holler from inside.  She called my name.  I run after the car, but I couldn’t catch it.”

Clay slipped a revolver under his belt.  He slid into a street coat.  Then he got police headquarters on the wire and notified the office of what had taken place.  He knew that the word would be flashed in all directions and that a cordon would be stretched across the city to intercept any suspicious car.  Over the telephone the desk man at headquarters fired questions at him, most of which he was unable to answer.  He promised fuller particulars as soon as possible.

It had come on to rain and beneath the street lights the asphalt shone like a river.  The storm had driven most people indoors, but as the Westerner drew near the drugstore Clay saw with relief a taxicab draw up outside.  Its driver, crouched in his seat behind the waterproof apron as far back as possible from the rain, promptly accepted Lindsay as a fare.

“Back in a minute,” Clay told him, and passed into the drug-store.

The abduction was still being discussed.  There was a disagreement as to whether the girl had stepped voluntarily into the car or been lifted in by the man outside.  This struck the cattleman as unimportant.  He pushed home questions as to identification.  One of the men in the drug-store had caught a flash of the car number.  He was sure the first four figures were 3967.  The fifth he did not remember.  The car was dark blue and it looked like a taxi.  This information Clay got the owner of the car to forward to the police.