"I will venture my fate with you," said the lady, clinging tightly to Franklin's arm. "Oh, do not let them catch us!"
The servant girl had appeared on the scene, but, brushing her aside, Franklin flung open the front door. He and Mrs. Bliss were soon on the piazza.
"I wish I had a carriage handy," said the young electrician.
"Oh, never mind; I can run!" cried the lady, and leaping to the garden path she sped toward the gate, just as Montague Smith appealed in the lower hallway.
The man had his handkerchief up to the side of his face, and had evidently suffered not a little from the acidiferous chemicals which the battery had contained.
"You young villian, you!" he cried, "Come back here this instant!"
To this command Franklin paid no attention. He followed Mrs. Bliss out of the garden, and the two ran as far as the corner, which they turned and then continued on at a somewhat slower gait.
"Will they follow us, do you think?" panted the poor lady, as she stopped for a moment and put her hand to her heart.
"That's hard to say. If they do we can have them arrested. They have no legal right to keep you a prisoner."
