midnight
It leaked out , too , that there were two men with the cab which carried John Allingham , lest , -- the people said , -- he should try to break the plate glass front and jump from his moving prison . But that the plot was a well-matured one was proven by the fact that outside locks had been placed on the doors to both cabs , so that they could not be forced open from the inside . No definite clue , however , could be obtained to the perpetrators of the kidnaping scheme , although both sufferers from it had put private detectives at work upon the affair . But , like many startling public events , the midnight ride of the two candidates was a `` nine days ' wonder '' and then the public interest centered around the newly elected mayor . Gertrude had need not only of public sympathy , but of all the courage and clear-sightedness which she had inherited . This she realized more fully than ever , when the excitement of campaigning was over . If she had chosen to spend her time and strength and money on automobiles or fine clothes , people would have passed upon her choice as the natural thing , and envied her way of living ; but now that she had elected to work hard and to give herself freely to fighting for principle and establishing good government in her city , her friends of different tastes whispered among themselves , `` How strange ! ''